We Are Movie Geeks

SLIFF 2016 Interview: Griff Furst – Director of COLD MOON

Director Griff Furst’s COLD MOON screens Friday, Nov. 4 at 7:00pm at The Tivoli Theater as part of this year’s St. Louis International Film Festival. Furst and COLD MOON screenwriter Jack Snyder will be in attendance. Ticket information can be found HERE.

The supernatural crime thriller COLD MOON tells the story of Nathan Redfield (Josh Stewart), an arrogant man of great wealth who has either lost his mind or is being tormented by terrible forces beyond even the most paranoid of imaginings. In a sleepy Southern town, the Larkins have suffered a terrible tragedy, but the family is now about to face an even more grievous trial. As traffic lights blink an eerie warning, a ghostly apparition prowls the streets, and corpses erupt from the graves of the local cemetery in an implacable march of terror. And beneath the murky surface of the river, a shifting, vaguely human shape slowly takes form, rising up from the deep to seek a terrible vengeance. Featuring a cast that includes Frank Whaley, Christopher Lloyd, Candy Clark, and “The Room” auteur Tommy Wiseau, COLD MOON is co-written by native St. Louisan Jack Snyder (“Ghost Image,” “Fatal Call”). The film is adapted from a novel by Michael McDowell, hailed as “the finest writer of paperback originals in America” by master of horror Stephen King.

Griff Furst took the time to talk to We Are Movie Geeks about COLD MOON.

Interview conducted by Tom Stockman October 26th, 2016

Tom Stockman: You’re coming to the screening in St. Louis on the 4^th. Have you ever been to St. Louis before?

Griff Furst: Yes, I shot a movie there in 2006 for director Jack Snyder who is from St. Louis. GHOST IMAGE it was called, I had a good time doing it.

TS: I’ve interviewed Jack.

GF: Yes he’s a good friend of mine and we’ve done tons of projects together and are planning on doing more.

TS: How did the script for COLD MOON come about? It was based on a novel, correct?

GF: It came about because I had we re-watched BEETLEJUICE one Halloween and remembered how solid and unique the story was. I looked up the screenwriter, Michael McDowell, and found out that he was also a novelist. I touched base with his manager and find out that he had written a bunch of novels, many of which have never been produced as screenplays. So, I read all of his novels and ended up purchasing the rights to a few of them. COLD MOON was the first to turn into a movie and I’m working on having a couple more of them filled as well.

TS: I spotted a visual BEETLEJUICE reference in the film COLD MOON. That snake monster with a Beetlejuice-type head pops up.

GF: Yes, that’s actually straight from the book. That author Michael McDowell wrote the screenplay for THINNER and he also wrote some episodes of Tales From the Darkside. He wrote BEETLEJUICE and NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS after his novels have been written, so in his movies you see a lot of similarities, and characters with the same names. That snake creature for one, you recognize things that he had already created in novel form, modified and used in the later movies.

TS: I was looking at your filmography. You’ve directed a lot of horror movies, especially a lot of monster movies. Do you prefer these more character-driven horror films like COLD MOON, or do you like the monster stuff?

GF: They’re both fun. I prefer character-driven stuff. I am an actor and I come from theater and I love creating a scene and working with actors as opposed as opposed to working with CGI. But there is some fun to be had with the B-movie monster movies as well especially today because they are so self-aware, you can have a lot of fun. But I definitely prefer the more straightforward horror. COLD MOON is something of a supernatural mystery thriller.

TS: Right, it’s more of a ghost story. Are you a lifelong horror movie fan?

GF: Oh yes. When I was a kid I had every horror movie I could find. I had an extensive collection of VHS tapes of horror movies and I would just wear those tapes out. Loved them. And I still do. Anytime a good horror movie comes out, I am first in line.

TS: Who are some of your favorite horror film directors?

GF: Alfred Hitchcock of course. Genius. I really like the stuff that Marcus Nispel has been doing. Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino are also great horror directors. I also loved the Wes Craven stuff growing up, but a lot of it is just nostalgia, especially when you get high up in a series like Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th. Spielberg is a great horror director though he hasn’t done a lot of that. JAWS is it such a great horror film.

TS: You’ve acted in a lot of films. Who are some of the directors that you work with as an actor that have inspired you?

GF: This past year I worked with Antoine Fuqua on THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN and with John Lee Hancock on THE FOUNDER. I’ve worked with some fantastic directors. Reecntly I’ve had great luck with directors such as Glenn Ficarra and John Requa who directed me and FOCUS and I LOVE YOU PHILLIP MORRIS. Those guys are so much fun.

TS: Let’s talk some more about COLD MOON. Where was the film shot?

GF: It was shot outside of New Orleans in a town called Slidell which is close to where the novel is set. We also shot a small portion of it in Pensacola.

TS: What were some of the challenges in making this particular film?

GF: Whatever you’re shooting a movie in a limited amount of time, which most independent films are, the challenges are to get that studio-level quality in a fraction of the time that a studio would allow, probably less than half. That’s always a challenge on any production. We shot this movie in about 18 days but it felt like more of a 60-day shoot.

TS: You do have a great cast, which of course always helps.

GF: Yes, I think they nailed all of their roles.

TS: How long was Christopher Lloyd on the set?

GF: Just two days. We had two long days with Chris.

TS: How the heck Tommy Wiseau get involved in your film and what was he like?

GF: He’s a nut but he does it on purpose. I think he’s a lot more sane that he leads on to. One of the co-producers on the film was friends with Tommy because they used to work out together in Los Angeles and Tommy just happen to be in the neighborhood with one of the screenings of THE ROOM. It was kind of a spur-of-the-moment, offbeat thing. Tommy came by and had all these wild ideas. He wanted to have a knife fight and a big dramatic sequence that didn’t exist on paper. But he just ended up doing what he did. He has a good sense of humor, he’s a funny guy.

TS: Yes, I’ve interviewed him. I can’t tell whether he’s in on the joke or not, but I guess it doesn’t matter. What about Candy Clark? Tell me about working with her.

GF: She really busted her ass on this film. It was a very emotional role. Her character is in a perpetual state of grief pretty much the whole time. She’s not a method actress, but she may have been borderline method on this shoot, being in a constant state that her character is in after losing her granddaughter. She was fantastic though. A real pro and team player, really down to make the best movie that could possibly be made.

TS: And Josh Stewart. He looked so familiar. I guess I recognized him from THE COLLECTOR movies.

GF: He was in those yes. He was also in THE DARK KNIGHT. He’s done a ton of stuff. He’s got a really nice role in INSIDIOUS 4 which is coming out next year.

TS: Did you allow your actors to have much leeway with their roles, or did you insist on sticking to the script?

GF: I love for my actors to bring anything to the table because if they’re doing their job well, which they were, they know more about these characters than I do. But no one really expressed a desire to go off of the script despite permission from me to do so. As far as far as dialogue and story goes, it was pretty much on page.

TS: How has COLD MOON been received so far?

GF: We’ve shown it at five or six festivals so far. I’ve read some very positive reviews and some negative reviews. Nobody seems to be on the fence about it. But people who get what it is really love the movie. People who are expecting something like THE CONJURING or INSIDIOUS may not get it because it’s not exactly that genre of horror. It’s more of a Tales From the Crypt kind of feel.

TS: What’s next for you?

GF: We’ve done so much since COLD MOON. I’ve just finished a Hallmark Christmas movie which was quite the change of pace. We shot that in Atlanta and are just wrapping that up. Then we’re doing another one of Michael’s novel called How Bitter the Blood. We also have deals coming in from sci-fi and Hallmark so we’re keeping busy.

TS: You’re going to keep acting?

GF: Oh yes, I have several jobs lined up. That’s what I do a lot of the time and I love it.

TS: Well good luck with COLD MOON and I hope you have a good time here in St. Louis at the St. Louis international film Festival.

GF: Thanks a lot

Win Passes To The Advance Screening Of SHUT IN In St. Louis

SHUT IN is a heart-pounding thriller starring Naomi Watts as a widowed child psychologist who lives an isolated existence in rural New England. Caught in a deadly winter storm, she must find a way to rescue a young boy before he disappears forever. Also starring Oliver Platt, David Cubitt, and Jacob Tremblay, SHUT IN opens wide on November 11, 2016.

WAMG invites you to enter for the chance to win TWO (2) seats to the advance screening of SHUT IN on Thursday, Nov. 10 at 9PM in the St. Louis area.

Answer the following:

Name your favorite Naomi Watts film.

TO ENTER, ADD YOUR NAME, ANSWER AND EMAIL IN OUR COMMENTS SECTION BELOW.

OFFICIAL RULES:

1. YOU MUST BE IN THE ST. LOUIS AREA THE DAY OF THE SCREENING.

2. No purchase necessary. A pass does not guarantee a seat at a screening. Seating is on a first-come, first served basis. The theater is overbooked to assure a full house. The theater is not responsible for overbooking.

PG-13

Learn more about SHUT IN:
www.ShutInMovie.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/ShutInMovie

Twitter: www.twitter.com/shutinmovie

Hashtag: #ShutIn

SLIFF 2016 Interview: Beatrice Alda and Jennifer Brooke – Directors of LEGS: A BIG ISSUE IN A SMALL TOWN

LEGS: A BIG ISSUE IN A SMALL TOWN screens Friday, Nov. 4 at 7:30pm at .ZACK (3224 Locust Ave). Co-directors Beatrice Alda and Jennifer Brooke will be in attendance. Ticket information can be found HERE

Set in Sag Harbor, a small, frozen-in-time village in the tony Hamptons, LEGS: A BIG ISSUE IN A SMALL TOWN recounts the controversy that results when a local gallery owned by Ruth Vered and Janet Lehr installs Larry Rivers’ large sculpture of a woman’s legs. Because the artwork is attached to the side of a building, local officials deem it a “structure” — equivalent to a garage or shed — and declare that the owners are in violation of the town’s zoning code. Using a chorus of voices with differing perspectives, the film engages in a lively discussion of public art but also widens its view to encompass a whole range of interesting issues: upholding tradition vs. embracing change, small-town locals vs. summer visitors, long-time residents vs. recent arrivals. And although everyone in Sag Harbor is relatively wealthy, the documentary also smartly explores issues of inclusion from the perspectives of race, gender, and sexual orientation. Unfolding like a long, fascinating conversation, LEGS: A BIG ISSUE IN A SMALL TOWN employs an impressive array of talking heads, folks who prove wonderfully articulate and often quite eccentric (the gallery co-owners preeminently). A few of the residents interviewed are well known — art-world power couple Eric Fischl and April Gornik, guitarist G.E. Smith (who also contributes the soundtrack) — but the film offers a real diversity of viewpoints and refuses to demonize anyone.LEGS: A BIG ISSUE IN A SMALL TOWN ends before the case is fully litigated, but as one of the subjects makes clear, the discussion is just as important as the resolution.

LEGS: A BIG ISSUE IN A SMALL TOWN co-directors Beatrice Alda and Jennifer Brooke took the time to talk to We Are Movie Geeks about LEGS: A BIG ISSUE IN A SMALL TOWN

Interview conducted by Tom Stockman October 26th, 2016

Tom Stockman: Have you guys been to St. Louis before?

Beatrice Alda: No, we’re excited. We’ve never been there before.

TS: How did you get interested in this story about this leg statue?

BA: We actually live in the same town.

TS: Oh you guys live there in Sag Harbor. I didn’t realize that.

BA: Yes we do, it’s been a controversy in the town for quite a while. We really didn’t look into it until a couple of years ago when it was tied up in the courts. Really though, if you live in the town you’re used to the story being in The New York Times. We don’t think that much of it from our perspective as a town resident and we wondered how it could be such big news beyond our little town. We really wanted to understand, besides this piece of art, what is causing this furor. It has to be more than the legs and that’s what the movie reveals, what’s beneath the surface of this controversy. We unfold several issues that we think are universal topics like homophobia and xenophobia.

Jennifer Brooke: This is a big issue because this is a historic whaling town that aspires to keep things as they once were and not advance a change. That’s big topic in our film and I’m sure every small town across the country is dealing with the same issues.

TS: Did you find a lot of people that were against the legs? You keep going back to this woman named Jennifer Houser. Is she the one who filed the complaint?

BA: Yes.

TS: It seems like most of the people that you interview are fine with the legs or indifferent. Even the mayor just seems sort of bemused by the attention.

BA: The mayor is not for the legs at all but he wouldn’t discuss that on camera. And the town board are the ones that implied that the legs were a structure, because they were looking to stick it to the women in a way that would make them have to take it down. We once were at a screening of the film in Vermont and someone in the audience wanted to know if we had taken a vote in the town to see who was for it and who was against it. Doesn’t work like that. It’s not a town resident vote. It’s under the jurisdiction of the village board. That’s why it was defined as a structure. They would not let it be seen as freedom of speech or freedom of expression. It got mired in all of this red tape. It didn’t really matter who was for or against it.

JB: There was a stir, so when you do a documentary, you sort of chase the story. We lined up people that we thought would be for the legs and we lined up people that we thought would be against the legs. We focused mostly on mostly on people that we thought would be interesting people to interview. People that we thought would be against it were frequently for it, Like the woman with the trailer in her yard.

TS: The state Supreme Court ruled that it had to come down. What is the status of the legs now? Are they still standing?

BA: They are supposed to take it down, but they are not taking it down. They’re quite defiant.

TS: What was the story behind Ruth Vered getting arrested for serving alcohol at her art gallery?

BA: She has a well-known art gallery, and they have reception there every so often, and they would serve little glasses of wine. So, the town wanted to insist that she get a permit for that. But she is self-grandfathered in because she’s been doing it for so long and no one ever said anything. No one’s getting drunk by drinking a little wine while looking at artwork, but the police cracked down on her. She is a target because she is so outspoken. She’s very pro-Israel. If anyone comes to town who’s even mildly anti-Israel, she’ll stand on a street corner and protest. She’s outspoken and proud of it and she’s not going to quiet down. She has very conservative values.

TS: Was your film story-boarded, or was it more free-form? Did you follow the story and see where it took you?

BA: We always knew that we wanted to do a film about this small town that we live in and that we love very much. It’s chock-full of real characters. We had a lot of ideas for stories about the town. The legs story seemed like a great vehicle to get into the underbelly of this town. The film was not storyboarded, but we knew most of the characters that we wanted to explore. A few more popped up as we started pulling the story together.

JB: We also wanted to know more about the background of Larry Rivers, the artist who had sculpted the legs originally, for those who didn’t understand the significance of Larry Rivers in the world of art. There are some experts in the film that talk about him. Then as we started interviewing people and all of these themes about outsiders versus insiders, and whether you’re a foreigner, and how the town responds to you as being a foreigner, all of those things started becoming very clear.

TS: Was there anyone who you approached that did not want to speak on camera?

BA: It’s not so much that people didn’t want to talk on camera. Most of the people know us and know that we do very balanced films, But it’s what they were unwilling to say on camera. We didn’t want to push people beyond that. The mayor wouldn’t discuss on camera his exact feelings on a number of topics. You notice he talked around a lot of topics.

TS: Have the residence of Sag Harbor seen your film?

JB: Yes, we did a screening at the Hamptons Film Festival. It was a totally packed house full of a lot of people we know, and a lot of people we didn’t know. They really enjoyed it, but they got every single nuance.

TS: Was there anybody who was unhappy about how they were portrayed in the film?

BA: No. One of the people who explains her story in the film had a very difficult time. Her experience in Sag Harbor was so difficult that the topic is too painful for. She’s put a lot of effort towards moving on. We know her, and we’ve given her the opportunity to see the film, but she doesn’t want to go there and we respect that. She was traumatized by her experience of living here.

TS: Does she still live there?

BA: No.

TS: One thing that stuck out to me in the film was a scene where he gay fellow talks about the all-white local Boy Scout troop that he can’t join.

BA: No, He saying it’s like an all-white group he can’t join. He’s making an analogy.

TS: OK, I was confused. Is this because of a rule against gay leaders?

BA: Yes, at the time there were no gay families that were invited to be part of the scouts. You couldn’t be a scout if you came out as gay or a scout leader if you were gay, so they couldn’t have their children participate.

TS: But at the end of the film, it’s announced that the scout it changed their policy. This story reminds me of something that happened in St. Louis a decade or two ago. On the highway, there was a billboard for a florist that showed a big image of shapely disembodied women’s legs and the billboard said “come enjoy our stems”. Feminist groups here in St. Louis got angry and threw paint on the billboard. It was a big story at the time. Did anyone in Sag Harbor complain because the legs were sexualized?

JB: It’s very hard to get underneath what gets people so upset because they’re not open about it. That’s why we bring in the doctor to comment on these things, someone who’s made a career as a sociologist. He explains that perhaps one of the reasons is that these legs are sexualized in people’s minds.

BA: There are some that think the legs are too promiscuous for this little town that they had signed on for. They had signed on for the charming little village.

TS: Perhaps the billboard in St. Louis offended feminists because they were using sexy legs to sell something while the sculpture there in Sag Harbor is just there for decor.

JB: The sculpture isn’t really disembodied legs it has an ending point. It operates in and of itself. It’s not cut off legs from a woman’s body.

TS: Have you been showing your documentary at some film festivals and how has it been received so far?

BA: It’s probably been in over 20 film festival so far and we have been to many of them, all over. We haven’t been to the Midwest yet. We’re going to Kansas after St. Louis. It’s been received very well because it really does hit it a common chord with people. We’ve received some audience award. What happens after the screenings is that there is a great discussion.

JB: As filmmakers, that makes us feel as if we have accomplished something. It really starts a discussion about how we live alongside each other in small towns when we don’t necessarily agree.

TS: What was your filmmaking backgrounds before you tackled this project?

BA: We did another documentary in 2011 called OUT LATE. It’s about people who came out as LGBT as a senior citizens. We had a great festival run with that. You can see it on Amazon.

TS: What are your roll-out plans for LEGS: A BIG ISSUE IN A SMALL TOWN?

BA: We’re talking to some people about getting the widest distribution possible. Our screenings have been so well-attended, and people are asking where they can get a copy of the film.

TS: How did G.E. Smith get involved with your film? Does he live there in Sag Harbor? I remember him from Saturday Night Live.

JB:Yes, he’s one of the residents of Sag Harbor and he’s a musician who played with Dan Rizzie who scored our film. This was the first time he’d scored a film, which is exciting for him as an artist. He brought in G.E. Smith.

TS: What’s next for you guys? Do you know what your next documentary is going to be about?

BA: We’re researching right now for our next film but I don’t want to go into too many details because it’s a very specific concept. Hopefully we’ll be shooting in the winter.

TS: Good luck with your film and I hope you enjoy your time here in St. Louis.

BA: Thank you.

JB: We’re looking forward to being there.

SLIFF 2016 Interview: Evan Ferrante – Tom Cruise Impersonator and Star of TOP SON

TOP SON screens at the Narrative Shorts: Comedy program Friday, Nov. 4 at 9:45pm at The Tivoli Theater as part of this year’s St. Louis International Film Festival. Ticket information can be found HERE.

TOP SON stars Evan Ferrante as Mike Giavotella, a 30 year old Tom Cruise impersonator who still lives at home in his parents basement. When he learns of a local talent competition, he sees it as his opportunity to hit the big stage. More information about Top Son can be found at the film’s site HERE http://topsonmovie.com/

Evan Ferrante took the time to talk to We Are Movie Geeks about TOP SON

Interview conducted by Tom Stockman October 21st, 2016

Tom Stockman: Your film TOP SON is playing at the St. Louis International Film Festival on November 4. Are you going to be here for that?

Evan Ferrante: Absolutely.

TS: TOP SON was shot here, wasn’t it?

EF: It was. It was shot in St. Charles. It was a blast. My friend Abby Wathen, who I’ve known her for 20 years, plays my sister in that short. It was just a total coincidence that we both know each other because the filmmaker, Joe Puleo, wrote a script about a Tom Cruise impersonator who lives in his parent’s basement and dreams of fame and fortune and leaving his parents basement. He’s in his early 30s and should not be there any longer. Joe needed the best Tom Cruise impersonator out there and Abby told him that she knew me and that’s how I got the role.

TS: So, he wrote the film first? I almost assumed that he met you, then wrote the film around you.

EF: No, he happens to be a very committed Tom Cruise fan and he also loves those great Christopher Guest films. It was very savvy of him as a producer, but he was trying to create a film for very little money that had a lot of substance to it and he came up with that concept. Like the Christopher Guest films or The Office, it is shot in a talking -heads doc style. And he really knows all about Tom Cruise, so you write what you know, so that’s what he wrote.

TS: Was there a lot of improvising during shooting or did you guys stick pretty much to the script?

EF: We stuck to the script for the most part but there was some spontaneity. There are some great outtakes that we did, but we tried to keep it as tight as possible so we decided to mostly go by the script.

TS: I first saw TOP SON when it played at the St. Louis filmmakers showcase where you want to ‘Best Actor in a Short Film’ so congrats on that.

EF: Thanks, yes that was a surprise. The crew and the rest of the cast of TOP SON were all from St. Louis. Everyone except myself.

TS: Are you guys talking about doing a feature length film version of TOP SON?

EF: Yes, Joe the writer and director, and his friend Steve the producer are currently cowriting it together. They made a great short so when anyone asks them about their prospective feature they have that to show. It’s a smart approach. I’ve never met such motivated people. Out here in Hollywood, people move a lot slower. They kind of coast through life. Joe is currently on the second draft of the feature’s screenplay. It will be low budget, probably under $1 million, but we hope to sprinkle some cameos in there from some name actors and comedic actors. I think it’s going to be great. It’s ripe for future adaptation. It gets into the family more and the Tom Cruise moments and the third act is going to go into a very exciting, Mission impossible, Jack Reacher direction, all running parallel to the story of him winning this local contest, Just like LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE. I think it has a lot of potential. Me too.

TS: How much is Mike Giavotella, the character you play in TOP SON, like you?

EF: Well, I don’t live in my parent’s basement, but I did after college, like many people of my generation, for three or four years. I absolutely do a Tom Cruise impersonation. I think I do it a little more professionally than him because I have something of a semblance of a career. But yes, we’re very similar. Joe wrote a close characterization.

TS: What do your real parents think of your Tom Cruise impersonating?

EF: They’ve been very supportive, but they go back-and-forth, wondering maybe if I should pursue something else or find something else to work on. Maybe another character. But it’s a side thing that I do. Maybe 30% of my life and income right now comes from my Tom Cruise stuff and the rest is from producing with my own production company.

TS: Have you met Tom Cruise?

EF: I did. I met him a few years back. It was a totally magical night, totally unexpected. I was at a restaurant in LA eating dessert, and the guy I was with heard a rumor that Tom Cruise was there that night. I couldn’t believe it. This was going to be the night that I came in contact with him! I was very excited about that. My friends I was with were egging me on to make it happen. I was looking for him but didn’t see him. I thought maybe he had left the building and it wasn’t going to happen. Then suddenly I felt his energy near me. He was sitting about 15 feet away from me at a dinner table with a group. I called the waiter over and wanted to send him an expensive bottle of champagne. The waiter stopped me dead in my tracks and told me if I did that, I would be banned from the restaurant and he would lose his job. The restaurant was the Château Marmont, a very exclusive place where a lot of celebrities go to and they don’t like to be bothered, so there are strict rules. I didn’t feel like I would be bothering him, since I had been impersonating him for eight years but I was just happy to be in the same vicinity as him. So, I just kept drinking and having a good time with my friends. My girlfriend, who was there said there was no way I was going through the evening without meeting him. Everyone cleared out of the restaurant except for his group and mine. He finally left and it was just me and my friends in the restaurant’s garden. My girlfriend excuse herself to go to the restroom. It was two in the morning. My friend’s phone rang and he picked it up, then said to me “Tom Cruise wants to meet you in the lobby”. I couldn’t believe it. I raced to the lobby and he was there. We hugged each other. It was a beautiful moment in my life.

TS: Did Tom Cruise know who you were?

EF: Yes. Eight years ago, when I was starting out, I won an award for best Tom Cruise impersonator on that Mario Lopez show Extra! When I won, Tom Cruise was on the show with Mario watching my videos and laughing about them and saying how uncanny my impersonation is. I wasn’t invited to that show, so I never got a chance to meet him, But I won the contest.

TS: How did you get into this? When did you start imitating Tom Cruise?

EF: I was in college in 1998, right after JERRY MAGUIRE came out. My friend Alex and I were freshmen. He’s now a director. We lived in a very anti-social dormitory. It was actually a Howard Johnson’s hotel converted to a dorm. It wasn’t conducive to socializing, so we would make an extra effort to get to know the people living in the dorm on our level. The rest of the levels were actually for hotel guests. Alex came up with the idea because he thought I sounded just like Tom Cruise and had his personality and affectation. So, I learned some lines from JERRY MAGUIRE and some lines from RISKY BUSINESS. Alex happen to do a really good John Claude Van Damme impression, which is hilarious. So together we tag teamed and we knocked on dorm rooms and met women. Then I would do it at parties. Alex would always make me do it. It became like a very popular little parlor trick. I never had any aspirations of doing it professionally even though I am an actor. I have been a child actor from the age of eight to my late teens professionally in New York City. I never thought I would take this Tom Cruise show on the road and make money with. Years later, YouTube came out and I put up a video just for the heck of it. I was moving into producing at the time and had really given up being an actor. But the YouTube videos had hundreds of thousands of views. It did well enough that I got a lot of work out of it. I got work through Disney and other big studios and feature film work and corporate work. I’ve flown to New Zealand and London with it. I’ve done jobs all over the world. It’s been great.

TS: How has TOP SON been received at film festivals?

EF: We are all very close to it, but I don’t think any of us expected it to receive such a warm reception in St. Louis, but we were thrilled. We hope more people have the same reaction to it and we can do something bigger with it.

TS: What’s your next project?

EF: I’m producing a number of music docu-style interview series for Verizon Go90 platform. Those are with my producer partner Adrian Grenier for a company called Wreckroom which is a subsidiary of Reckless Productions. With Reckless we do a lot of socially-minded documentaries and with Wreckroom it’s all music-based. I’m also trying to build a portfolio for a film fund or a TV fund around technology-centric stories, Things like Mr. Robot or EX-MACHINA. Anything to do with technology and its consequences. I did my first appearance on the Tonight Show a few weeks ago with Jimmy Fallon and that was very exciting,. I did a A FEW GOOD MEN sketch with a Jack Nicholson impersonator. I’m hoping that opens up some more doors and opportunities down the road.

TS: Well good luck with everything going on in your career and with the TOP SON feature and we’ll see you here in St. Louis in a couple of weeks.

EF: Thanks a lot!

Evan’s NOT: TOM CRUISE site can be found HERE nottomcruise.com

SLIFF 2016 – Fritz Lang’s DESTINY (1921) with Music by The Rats and People Motion Picture Orchestra Nov. 5th

Fritz Lang’s DESTINY (1921) with Music by The Rats and People Motion Picture Orchestra screens November 5th at 7:30 at Webster University’s Moore Auditorium (470 E Lockwood Ave,) as part of this year’s this year’s St. Fritz Lang’s DESTINY Louis International Film Festival. Ticket information can be found HERE.

There’s nothing better than seeing a silent film with live music and you’ll have the opportunity Saturday November 5^th at 7:30 at Webster University’s Moore Auditorium. There’s a new restoration of Fritz Lang’s DESTINY (Der müde Tod 1921) a dizzying blend of German Romanticism, Orientalism, and Expressionism and Cinema St. Louis will be screening it at this year’s St. Louis International Film Festival. The film will be accompanied live by The Rats and People Motion Picture Orchestra, who will debuting their new original score for the film.

DESTINY marked a bold step for Fritz Lang, then best known for “M” away from conventional melodrama and into the kind of high-concept filmmaking that would culminate in such über-stylized works as “Die Nibelungen” and “Metropolis.”There’s nothing better than seeing a silent film with live music and you’ll have the opportunity Saturday November 5^th at 7:30 at Webster University’s Moore Auditorium. There’s a new restoration of Fritz Lang’s DESTINY (Der müde Tod 1921) a dizzying blend of German Romanticism, Orientalism, and Expressionism and Cinema St. Louis will be screening it at this year’s St. Louis International Film Festival. The film will be accompanied live by The Rats and People Motion Picture Orchestra, who will debuting their new original score for the film.

DESTINY tells the story of a young couple in a small German village (played by Lil Dagover and Walter Janssen) and their encounter with the personification of death in a form of mysterious stranger (Bernhard Goetzke) that appears in a tavern and sits to their table indicating that the time is up for the young husband. After the death of her beloved the young woman is so desperate that she finally manages to enter the kingdom of dead and stand face to face with personification of Death himself (a major influence on Ingmar Bergman’s Death figure in the Seventh Seal later) and ask him to give her beloved back to her. The Death finally yields to her persistence and agrees to deliver back the life of her husband, but only if she manages to find any person that would give up his life in exchange. She desperately tries to convince various people to give up, beginning from a very old man and coming as far as Asylum for mentally ill but all in vain, for how bad the life of poor guys is, they are still very much reluctant to give it up, but it’s only the beginning, the center of the film being three different stories of lost love, told by Death to the young woman, similar to her own, but set in three different exotic locations such as: China, Venice and Turkey.

The great surrealist filmmaker Luis Buñuel once enthused: “When I saw ‘Destiny,’ I suddenly knew that I wanted to make movies. Something about this film spoke to something deep in me; it clarified my life and my vision of the world.”

Don’t miss Fritz Lang’s DESTINY (1921) with Music by The Rats and People Motion Picture Orchestra November 5th at 7:30 at Webster University’s Moore Auditorium!

Watch Jake Gyllenhaal, Rebecca Ferguson And Ryan Reynolds Search For LIFE In First Trailer

LIFE tells the story of the six-member crew of the International Space Station that is on the cutting edge of one of the most important discoveries in human history: the first evidence of extraterrestrial life on Mars. As the crew begins to conduct research, their methods end up having unintended consequences and the life form proves more intelligent than anyone ever expected.

Directed by Daniel Espinosa, watch the first trailer starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Rebecca Ferguson, and Ryan Reynolds.

The sci-fi thriller opens in cinemas on May 26, 2017.

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SLIFF 2016 Interview: Bill Streeter – Director of ST. LOUIS BREWS

ST. LOUIS BREWS (a work in progress) screens Thursday, November 3rd at 8:00pm at The Tivoli Theater (6350 Delmar Blvd) as the opening film of this year’s St. Louis International Film Festival. There will be an opening-night reception with complimentary product from local breweries.Ticket information can be found HERE. A Facebook invite for the event can be found HERE.

ST. LOUIS BREWS director Bill Streeter is the creator of Lo-Fi St. Louis, a pioneering video blog that’s documented our town, with a particular emphasis on its vibrant music scene, since way back in 2005. Inspired by the same-named 2009 book by Henry Herbst, Don Roussin, and Kevin Kious, ST. LOUIS BREWS examines St. Louis’ defining influence on the beer industry and profiles the innovative craft brewers who are building on that storied tradition. The screening features a generous sampling of three extended sequences from the film, and the Q&A will include a number of the brewers featured. Through interviews, archival footage, memorabilia, and visits to brewing sites of yesterday and today, ST. LOUIS BREWS will quench beer aficionados’ thirst for knowledge, and the fest’s opening-night reception will satisfy their actual desire to drink with complimentary product from local breweries.

Bill Streeter took the time to talk to We Are Movie Geeks about his upcoming documentary.

Interview conducted by Tom Stockman October 25th, 2016

Tom Stockman: Last time I interviewed you was five years ago regarding your film BRICK BY CHANCE AND FORTUNE: A ST. LOUIS STORY. What have you been up to since then?

Bill Streeter: I started my own video production business and I’ve been working on this film. I’m still doing Lo-Fi Cherokee and all of that stuff. This film has been on the drawing board for about five years. It’s been sort of on and off again.

TS: What made you interested in telling the story of Saint Louis breweries?

BS: Well first I have a friend named Josh at Reedy Press and they printed the book St. Louis Brews a number of years ago. The second edition was published about a year and a half ago. He suggested that I do this documentary. It’s been a very successful book for them and no one has done a documentary about brewing in St. Louis which is surprising. I was intrigued by the idea. I really wasn’t planning on going into another documentary right away but I knew there would be plenty of interest in the subject. Unlike the movie about bricks, which is something of an esoteric subject that I didn’t think a lot of people would be interested in. I turned out to be wrong about that as it was fairly successful. It took a while to get off the ground. I’ve been into brewing and beer for a long time.

TS: Do you brew your own beer?

BS: I have. I was into home-brewing 20 or 25 years ago, before anybody recognized the whole craft revolution. Craft beer has been with us for about 30 years, but it’s really just take it off in the past 10 years or so. So I had interest in the topic and it really wasn’t a hard decision for me to choose to make this film.

TS: Where are you now in the progress of the film?

BS: I’d say we’ve shot well over 90% of what we need in terms of production. There are a few events that we are waiting on. One of our ‘B’ stories is about Earthbound Brewing. We started following them just as they were getting close to finishing the construction of their brewery, about two months before they opened in 2014. We follow them through their first year and well into their second year. They’re moving into a big space soon and have been working there for close to nine months now. The space they’re moving into is a former brewing building, It’s the last remaining building from the old Cherokee Brewery which closed over 100 years ago. So, in this movie we’re trying to connect the history of St. Louis brewing to the modern-day craft brewing business. That story of Earthbound Brewing, these young creative entrepreneurs starting a small brewery on a shoestring and having this old brewery and turning it back into a brewery, we thought was a really interesting story. That’s one of the stories that we are waiting on. They were hoping to be open this summer, then they were saying October, but I think it will probably be next spring. So, whenever they finish up, we want to have that opening in our film. There are a couple of other craft brewers that we have not interviewed yet that we think are important to include in the story. This work in progress has been really good for me. I’ve been getting material ready for it. The historical piece of the film is really solid so most of what people will see at the work in progress screening next week will be the history, with just a little bit of the craft. This could easily be a five hour long, Ken Burns-style documentary.

TS: 150 years ago there were almost 50 breweries in St. Louis. Why was St. Louis such a beer capital?

BS: The primary reason was that we had a huge influx of Germans. There were some Germans before that, but there was a huge wave of Germans that came to St. Louis starting in about 1849. There’s an old saying “anytime you have 100 Germans together, you’re going to have a brewery”. Germans had a very different drinking culture then Americans did. Americans were very puritanical in terms of drinking. Americans drank alcohol but it was mostly wine or cider. They drank a lot of whiskey, but they did not drink a lot of beer. The beers they did drink were ales which didn’t travel well and turned very quickly after it was made. The drinking culture here at the time was, I’d say, dysfunctional. Germans had a very healthy drinking culture. Beer drinking was just part of enjoying life. They loved to go to the park and drink with their family, they would have their kids there and their wives and they would drink and listen to music on a Sunday. Americans were kind of thrown off by this. Over time Germans figured out how to get Americans to drink beer. Part of that was developing a style of beer that Americans would drink. What the Germans were drinking when they first came here was not something that was particularly appetizing to Americans. It wasn’t until they invented Budweiser and American-style lagers that Americans really took to drinking beer. So essentially it was the Germans, but there were a lot of environmental issues as well. There was good water here and good caves for watering and other things.

TS: Does your film tackle The prohibition period ?

BS: Yes, we talk about prohibition. There were actually a number of prohibition movements that happened. The big one was of course the one everyone remembers because it was enshrined in the Constitution in the 1920s. But there were efforts to start prohibition long before that. We talk about that. We’re not comprehensive but we talk about all the major points in terms of brewing in St. Louis.

TS: What happened to the Lemp Brewery? I know they and Anheuser Busch were pretty much the only ones to survive prohibition.

BS: Yes there’s a big section about Lemp Brewery that we will see you Thursday. Lemp was a very successful brewery here, even larger than Anheuser Busch. William J Lemp, The son of Adam Lemp who started the Lemp Brewery, was the second generation, but was the one who really grew the brewery into a massive business. He was a very ambitious person. They had a number of different beers and were shipping beer all over the world. A couple of things happened. One was that his son Frederick. who he was prepping to take over the business, died at age 28 before William Lemp retired. His wife was ill and his best friend, William Pabst of Milwaukee, committed suicide. His son and best friend died close together and he just went into a deep depression and he eventually committed suicide. When that happened, his son William Junior took over the business. Billy Lemp wasn’t very forward-thinking or a very creative guy. He grew up kind of spoiled and wealthy and did not take a great interest in the business. He didn’t invest the way he should have. And then prohibition of came along and he was very cynical about that. He thought that that was it, that the business was over. Lemp, and all of the other breweries as well, try to come out with other products. Billy Lemp staked all of its future on this one brand of non-alcoholic beer, actually it was a malt beverage, not even a beer, called Cerva. It failed very quickly after six months. It never took off and Billy went into a funk and sold the brand Falstaff to the Griesedieck brothers. He just shut down the business. He didn’t even tell the employees he was closing. The workers showed up one day and the gates were locked. That was the end of Lemp. Billy eventually committed suicide. It’s a pretty sad story.

TS: Your film is based on a book by Henry Herbst, Don Roussin and Kevin Kious. Were these guys involved in your film?

BS: Henry Herbst passed away almost 10 years ago, soon after the book was published. But both Kevin and Don contributed interviews for the film and both of them were very helpful, pointing out certain things and letting me know where some things were. Some of the other people we interview in the film are Maureen Ogle, who wrote a book called Ambitious Brew. She’s up in Iowa. Also Chris Naffziger, who has done some good research mostly about Falstaff and Lemp. And Mimi Harris who I interviewed for the brick film.

TS: The microbrewery scene here in St. Louis is pretty vibrant. It seems like they’re always opening up new ones. Do you think there is a risk of having too many microbreweries here in St. Louis?

BS: That’s not really a question for me to answer, but we’ve brought that up. I guess there could be a bubble but now it’s a growing market. There are more and more people interested. The market for beer in general has been shrinking for a number of years for a number of different reasons, but the craft brewing segment is a growing segment. There’s a general cultural trend in people appreciating local stuff, handmade stuff. One interesting thing is that, you mentioned that over 100 years ago there were between 40 and 50 breweries operating in St. Louis and this year there will be 50 breweries operating in St. Louis, so we’re sort of back to the future with the number of breweries. But we may see a repeat of history happening. In the 19th century there was a whole shift in business and consolidation of breweries and that could happen again. Anheuser Busch has certainly bought their share of craft beer brands. They own maybe six or eight of them now.

TS: How much of the rough-cut will we see Thursday, November 3 at the film festival?

BS: There will be about one hour of material, Mostly the history stuff. There will be about five scenes. There may be stuff that will end up cut out of the final film so there’s a good chance that people who come to the screening may see stuff that won’t be shown again. It will be a good way for me to gauge how it’s going, with audience reaction, see if I’m going in the right direction. It will primarily be about the German immigrants in the origins of American beer. We’ll talk about the Lemp story and the Falstaff story and then we’ll talk a little bit about Earthbound. Those are the main topics that people will see you next Thursday.

TS: And they will be serving beer before and after?

BS: I’m not sure about after but there is a beer reception that starts prior to the film, around 6:30. Seven local breweries will be serving beer.

TS: That sounds good. Good luck with the film and maybe we can review it here when it’s complete.

BS: That would be good. Thank you

Win Passes To The Advance Screening Of ALMOST CHRISTMAS In St. Louis

A new comedy from writer/director David E. Talbert (Baggage Claim) and producer Will Packer (Ride Along, Think Like a Man series, This Christmas), ALMOST CHRISTMAS tells the festive story of a beloved patriarch who asks his family for one gift this holiday season: to get along. If they can honor that wish and spend five days under the same roof without killing one another, it will be a Christmas miracle.

The all-star cast of ALMOST CHRISTMAS is led by Kimberly Elise, Omar Epps, Danny Glover, Romany Malco, Mo’Nique, Nicole Ari Parker, J.B. Smoove, Gabrielle Union, Jessie Usher and DC Young Fly.

ALMOST CHRISTMAS opens in theaters November 11.

WAMG invites you to enter for the chance to win TWO (2) seats to the advance screening of ALMOST CHRISTMAS on Monday, Nov. 7 at 7PM in the St. Louis area.

Answer the following:

Name the classic 1947 Christmas film that won 3 Academy Awards.

TO ENTER, ADD YOUR NAME, ANSWER AND EMAIL IN OUR COMMENTS SECTION BELOW.

OFFICIAL RULES:

1. YOU MUST BE IN THE ST. LOUIS AREA THE DAY OF THE SCREENING.

Rated PG 13

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Win Passes To The Advance Screening Of ARRIVAL In St. Louis

When mysterious spacecraft touch down across the globe, an elite team – lead by expert linguist Louise Banks (Amy Adams) – are brought together to investigate. As mankind teeters on the verge of global war, Banks and the team race against time for answers – and to find them, she will take a chance that could threaten her life, and quite possibly humanity.

From director Denis Villeneuve, the cast also includes Jeremy Renner and Forest Whitaker.

ARRIVAL is in theaters November 11th.

WAMG invites you to enter for the chance to win TWO (2) seats to the advance screening of ARRIVAL on Monday, Nov. 7 at 7PM in the St. Louis area.

Answer the following:

Name the classic 1951 sci-fi film that tells the story of a alien who comes to Earth.

TO ENTER, ADD YOUR NAME, ANSWER AND EMAIL IN OUR COMMENTS SECTION BELOW.

OFFICIAL RULES:

1. YOU MUST BE IN THE ST. LOUIS AREA THE DAY OF THE SCREENING.

PG-13 — Parents Strongly Cautioned for Brief Strong Language.

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Special Screening Of M. Night Shyamalan’s SPLIT Movie To Play At AFI Festival

The American Film Institute has announced that Universal Pictures’ SPLIT — from Academy Award-nominated director/writer/producer M. Night Shyamalan and Academy Award-nominated producer Jason Blum — will play as a Special Screening at AFI FEST 2016 presented by Audi.

Written and directed by Shyamalan, SPLIT is an original thriller that delves into the mysterious recesses of one man’s fractured, gifted mind. Though Kevin (James McAvoy) has evidenced 23 personalities to his trusted psychiatrist, Dr. Fletcher (Betty Buckley), there remains one still submerged who is set to materialize and dominate all the others. Compelled to abduct three teenage girls led by the willful, observant Casey (Anya Taylor-Joy), Kevin reaches a war for survival among all of those contained within him — as well as everyone around him — as the walls between his compartments begin to shatter apart.

Following last year’s THE VISIT, Shyamalan reunites with producers Blum and Marc Bienstock and executive producers Ashwin Rajan and Steven Schneider for the film, which also stars Jessica Sula and Haley Lu Richardson.

The Opening Night Gala will be the World Premiere of RULES DON’T APPLY (DIR Warren Beatty) on Thursday, November 10. Isabelle Huppert will be honored with a Tribute on Sunday, November 13, followed by a Centerpiece Gala screening of ELLE (DIR Paul Verhoeven), JACKIE (DIR Pablo Larraín) will screen as a Centerpiece Gala on Monday, November 14, and LA LA LAND (DIR Damien Chazelle) will screen as a Centerpiece Gala on Tuesday, November 15. Annette Bening will be honored with a Tribute on Wednesday, November 16, followed by a Centerpiece Gala screening of 20TH CENTURY WOMEN (DIR Mike Mills).

The Special Closing Night Gala Presentation of CBS Films and Lionsgate’s PATRIOTS DAY will take place on November 17, 2016, at the TCL Chinese Theatre. The movie is directed by Peter Berg and stars Academy Award^® nominee Mark Wahlberg.

“PATRIOTS DAY is a moving tribute to the strength of the human spirit, the heroes of Boston and our nation’s capacity to unify in the wake of the unimaginable,” said Jacqueline Lyanga, Director, AFI FEST. “Peter Berg brings together a riveting ensemble cast whose emotional performances beautifully humanize and personalize the people whose lives have been forever changed. We are honored to screen this film as the Special Closing Night Gala Presentation of AFI FEST.”

An account of the Boston Marathon bombing, PATRIOTS DAY is the powerful story of a community’s courage in the face of terror. In the aftermath of an unspeakable attack, Police Sergeant Tommy Saunders (Wahlberg) joins courageous survivors, first responders and investigators in a race against the clock to hunt down the bombers before they strike again. Weaving together the stories of Special Agent Richard DesLauriers (Kevin Bacon), Police Commissioner Ed Davis (John Goodman), Sergeant Jeffrey Pugliese (Academy Award^® winner J.K. Simmons) and nurse Carol Saunders (Michelle Monaghan), this visceral and unflinching chronicle captures the suspense of one of the most sophisticated manhunts in law enforcement history and celebrates the strength of the people of Boston.

In addition, the American Independents, Cinema’s Legacy, Midnight, New Auteurs, Shorts, World Cinema and World Cinema Masters in Conversation sections have also been announced. More information about these sections is available here.

In celebration of the 30th edition of the festival, a trio of diverse female trailblazers are featured in both the festival’s 2016 key art and programming lineup. AFI FEST will spotlight Dorothy Dandridge, the first African American nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award®; Ida Lupino, a pioneering director, writer, producer and actress who became the first woman to direct a film noir; and Anna May Wong, the first Chinese-American actress to rise to international prominence.

AFI FEST takes place November 10–17, 2016.

Free tickets to AFI FEST will be available on AFI.com beginning November 1. For the full slate of previously announced titles screening at the festival, visit the Film Guide, now online here.

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