The Weather Outside: Exclusive Q&A with director Jason Freeman

"The Weather Outside" mastermind Jason Freeman

 I recently had the chance to review a very advanced screener of Jason Freeman's "The Weather Outside" I had reviewed his brother Todd's film "Cell Count" previously. It was Todd who sent me the screener and volunteered his brother for this Q&A. A huge thanks to The Brothers Freeman for their contributions.

"The Weather Outside" is a neo-noir supernatural Christmas story in the vein of "It's A Wonderful Life" but with a little less optimism. As Jason says here, it is NOT a remake. It's an original and slightly haunting piece of fiction. Maybe not as frightful as the title implies, but it will keep you thinking. Read my full review for more.

(photos courtesy Levy Moroshan Photography)

Lamb Chop-Ups - A Contest, An Obsession, A Victory

 Play Lamb-Chop Ups every Monday at The LAMB.

Click HERE to see the puzzles from Round 1.

Round 2 started today.

Lamb Chop-Ups is a contest on the Large Association of Movie Blogs aka The LAMB. It's the brainchild of BubbaWheat who runs the excellent superhero-themed movie blog "Flights Tights and Movie Nights". He also contributed a review to my Quirky Documentary Series for "Confessions of a Superhero".

The game starts with a message. That message usually has a hidden meaning that can be decoded for bonus points. For instance, a recent puzzle was "A History Report" and the bonus movie was "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure". The message is composed from letters that have been cropped out of movie posters. The next step in the game is to identify which poster each one came from. Usually there is a theme. With the aforementioned puzzle all the posters were from time-travel movies.

The Weather Outside (2012)

Directed by Jason Freeman
Starring Michael J. Prosser and Erin McGarry

Runtime 89min. - Not Yet Rated

3.5 Stars (out of 4)

"The Weather Outside" has its world premiere on Oct. 19th at the Eugene International Film Festival.

For more dates and times "Like" the official Facebook page and keep checking the Official Website.

Dir. Jason Freeman did a Q&A with me about the film which you can find at this link.

The prologue of "The Weather Outside" sees a man named Max (Prosser) stumble out of a bar yelling "I don't care". Following max is a stern looking man with a fedora who looks like he stepped out of a classic film noir. The man tells max that he has one year. One year for what? It's left unsaid. My brain is primed to form answers based on previous film experiences. In this instance my brain told me the shady character was a minion of Satan who had given Max a year of something precious in exchange for his immortal soul. That was the first of many instances where I came to a conclusion only to have it dismantled.

Children of the Stars: Exclusive Q&A with director Bill Perrine

Bill Perrine on the clock

My review of "Children of the Stars".

Watch the movie online via Amazon Instant.

Buy the DVD from the "Children of the Stars website".

See it on the big screen at the Blue Ridge Film Fest.
Watch the trailer for "Children of the Stars".

I'm honored to feature this Q&A with the writer and producer of "Children of The Stars", Bill Perrine. I found Bill online after I learned there would be an exclusive screening of his film in Buchanan, VA which isn't far from my home. He was nice enough to send me a DVD and answer some questions. The context he provides here may have altered my review had I read it beforehand. I love his answer about including skeptics in the documentary even though I myself am a hardline skeptic. I also didn't detect the resemblance to "Gates of Heaven", but now that he's mentioned it, it seems obvious. Really, all of Errol Morris' documentaries have share the same unobtrusive quality as opposed to a Werner Herzog documentary that features his voice and thoughts in every scene.

Enough from me, let's hear from the man himself.

Children of the Stars (2012)

 Directed by Bill Perrine

Starring Archangel Uriel

Runtime 78min. - Not Rated

3.5 Stars (out of 4)

"Children of the Stars" has its world premiere tonight (9/22) at the Salt Lake City Film Fest.

For my local readers, the film plays in Buchanan, VA at the Blue Ridge Film Festival on October 12th at 2:40pm.

For more festival updates or to order the DVD visit the official website.
Available to watch instantly on Amazon. 

Part of my Quirky Documentary series. 

(The director of this film was nice enough to participate in some Q&A with me which you can find here.)

 

I had never heard of Unarius until I came across "Children of the Stars". I'm not quite sure how to describe Unarius. It's a cult. It's a religion. It's a group of filmmakers. It's a school. In my opinion, it's a collection of highly suggestible individuals who celebrate their shared delusions. Then again, that's my opinion of most major religions as well. I think that might be the message of the film, if there is one. Who are we to say these people are crazy when most of the world's mainstream religions have equally absurd beliefs when viewed with no bias?

Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012)

 Directed by Lorene Scafaria

Starring Steve Carrell and Keira Knightley

Runtime 101min. - Rated R

3.5 Stars (out of 4)

The DVD is available in October but can be pre-ordered now at Amazon.com.

For someone as morose as myself, finding humor in the portrayal of an impending apocalypse is next to impossible. If I were to laugh at the fictional simultaneous death of 7 billion people, it would do so during this film. Actually, I did summon a chuckle or two when the story sufficiently distracted me from its own context. The beginning and ending, however, left a lot of room for me to drift off into that dark corner of my brain that only daily medication can keep at bay. That isn't necessarily a negative aspect of the film. To keep me nihilistically ruminating on life's big questions is a sure sign that I was intellectually engaged. I was certainly never bored.