Little Noises and 'The Limits of Control'

Today I went to Rochester to pick up my Press Pass for the High Falls Film Festival. On the way, I passed by The Little Theatre, Rochester's best known art house movie theater. What are they playing?

The Soloist. And State of Play. Real Art House movies, you know?

The Little used to play all kinds of quirky independent films. I realize this not a great time for the economy, or mainstream independent films, and maybe they're bringing in more mainstream movies to offset losses. Either way, it's a shame. I saw so many entertaining independent films at SXSW this year, and the only reason why they're not coming to The Little is because they don't have mainstream distribution. The Little is a non-profit organization, so it's not like it can't take a chance.

In other Independent Film News, Salon.com's Andrew O'Hehir has an interesting interview with Jim Jarmusch about his new movie The Limits of Control. Dunno if this one is coming to The Little, though. Doubt it. Also, Richard Linklater was named Woodstock's Maverick for 2009. I like his response:

"Although the term 'maverick' was greatly devalued in last year's election cycle, I'll humbly take on this honor and as a Texas filmmaker help reclaim the term in the tradition of the famous Texas cattleman Samuel Maverick who refused to brand his cattle. I would like to think it was for humane reasons but the legend goes that he was just too lazy and uninterested in ranching to care. I think there may be an indie filmmaking analogy in there somewhere... regardless, I look forward to being with all of you up in Woodstock this fall."

I only hope I can go back! This should be a good year!

Ra Ra Ron Howard

Ra Ra Riot were terrific. I took many pictures, but ¾ of them were blurry. I still might post a few of the pictures, though. Guitarist Milo Bonacci said, "It's weird being on stage here. I used to come here and watch movies," he said of performing at the Smith Opera House. It was weird to hear people discuss The Animal Collective in Geneva, of all places. Before the show, I stopped at Parker's and drank two Smirnoff Ices. Shut up. Shut. Up.

Today was really nice- 45 degrees outside -and I took two walks. One was my "normal" walking route, the other an extended, longer route. It's supposed to be cold and snowy again this week, but I hope there are more mild days like today, even if the temps are in the 30s. It would be nice to drive to be able to drive to Ithaca again.

Later in the afternoon, I got to work on my zine again. I began work on it back in October, following the unceremonious exit from my job. After I set up this blog and got hired at my temp job, it sort of fell by the wayside. Today I finished an essay about my trip to the Woodstock Film Festival that I started writing back in November. I also transcribed a text message conversation between me and my sister that relates to the essay that I will publish as a "sidebar".

Last weekend, I checked out the movie Frost/Nixon, which was AWESOME. Later on in the week, I watched one of Ron Howard's early directorial efforts, a TV Movie titled Cotton Candy:

Movie: Cotton Candy

Charles Martin Smith (who previously worked with Ron Howard on American Graffiti) plays a high school senior who decides to put together a band after he gets the brush-off from the lead singer of their eventual rival band, Rapid Fire. Like all good Ron Howard movies, it features his brother, Clint.

IMO, I found the Mean Girls-style rivalry between the two bands a little unrealistic. Any "Battle of the Bands" is competitive, but who really gets that vicious? Other than the pretty boy front man, I don't see how Rapid Fire would have a following, since they play the worst version of "I Shot the Sheriff" EVER. But overall, it's a sweet entertaining fluff of cotton candy.

Past, Present, and Future

I did go to Ithaca on Tuesday, and I took my father with me. We paid a visit to a friend of ours for about an hour. I didn't go to the Workforce office there, but I did do a weekly stop at the office here yesterday. I think it's best to wait and hold off on stopping at that office until I know that the weather will be dry and safe enough to commute back and forth.

Wednesday it snowed like crazy, so I spent a good portion of yesterday morning shoveling. I don't mind it, because it is a good workout.

I've been doing a lot of thinking about future projects, and reflecting on past ideas and projects and why they did or didn't work out. So much has changed for me in the (almost) four years since I made Are You From Bingo?. I realize now it doesn't have to be a crapshoot; I know there's some kind of audience waiting. At this point, it's a matter of committing something to paper.

For awhile, I've thinking about shooting it in Ithaca or Binghamton, but today I've been giving serious thought to shooting it in the Woodstock/Kingston area. I used to love traveling through there when I would travel to New York from Oneonta, and of course, this past fall, I attended the Woodstock Film Festival and since then, I've been looking for an excuse to return. Also, I think it might be easier to get a cast and crew up to that area than further up New York. We'll see.

Earlier this afternoon, I did an interview with Binghamton University's Pipe Dream newspaper, and that went well. Tomorrow night, I'll be going to see Ra Ra Riot at The Smith Opera House. I'm looking forward to it.

First Post!

At the beginning of this month, I travelled eastward to the Woodstock Film Festival to work as a volunteer. The Friday Night of the festival, I was working the merch table by the main office when I encountered a notable filmmaker and blogger who'd recognized me from my YouTube videos. He noticed that I hadn't made too many videos in recent months. The encounter inspired me to put myself out there again. I figured there were a few people who still wondered what I was up to. If you're one of them, I made this blog for you.

So what happened? After I got back from SXSW, I had a lot of footage to edit, and I eventually exhausted myself making those videos. Also, I felt like I had accomplished what I intially set out to do in making those videos. A few weeks after my return, I passed my road test to get my driver's license at the ripe old age of 26.

Meanwhile, I was really starting to chafe at my job. When I had been hired there in the Summer of 2005, I was broke and needed the job to survive. I liked the company and the camaraderie (which is why I stuck it out as long as I did), but never really liked the job itself. In November 2006, I had been given a warning, which led me to go into counseling and helped me turn my situation around. I took time off here and there--to go to New York, SXSW, and to take Improv 101 at the UCB Theater. Everytime I would come home and return to my job, it became, "I've had such a good time, and I have to go back to this???" I could never bring myself to turn in my two weeks notice, because I feared falling back into my pre-job situation. As much as I didn't like my situation, I felt that it was still better than having no job.

By August, I was getting restless, and I got careless. To be frank, I began taking my frustration out on a few customers who had been trying my patience to begin with. Finally, on September 30th, the day after the Dow dropped 700 points and two days before I was supposed to go to Woodstock, they decided to terminate my employment. In addition to the recent events, they took the 2006 warning into consideration.

I take full responsibility for the actions that led to my termination, and I deeply regret the way it ended. Had I known that things would turn out the way they did, I would have seriously started looking elsewhere at the start of the summer. Since the warning they based it on dated back to 2006 (usually, warnings are removed after six months), I plan on writing a letter to the corporate office, but only after my unemployment insurance is straightened out.

The good news is that I had three interviews in the span of a week, and hopefully will be getting called for a second interview for one of them soon. Even though it's grunt work, I'm excited about the position. It would be nice to actually have a job using skills that I was trained in in school. I plan on looking for a place to stay on the day of my second interview.

And the videos? I'll go back to that eventually...maybe. But this blog is my way of staying in touch with people. Now more than ever, I need to reach out to people as I get things straightened out.