bone blog chicago #3

bonesters

world premiere day, I'm up early getting coffee for the gals and smoking, it has become impossible in the free united states to rent a hotel room and smoke in it. I sit by the post office on clark and adams, admiring the post office itself. It's a one story structure 30 feet high, but the interior is all plywood walls 16 feet high, polished brass mail boxes, and spherical ceiling lighting, it all makes for a better bpx.[I find out later it's mies van der roe] I take the coffee up and plug in my dead phone, which immediately starts ringing, jai [co-producer] is at the airport with Courtney [actor] and Lauren [ad and actor], a minute later andrew calls [an editor and script supervisor]/ Everyone's here, I arrange to meet everyone in front of the theater at 4pm. Jai arrives from midway and we all have breakfast at the marquette inn on w. adams, jai orders a beer, not a good sign.

At 4pm in front of the theater only Daisy and Andrew show, jai is stuck in traffic, what traffic? Lauren courtney swear they will be at the hotel at 6pm. The three of us, w/ devin added, go in search of a fed ex kinkos open to make more post cards, jai shows up at six, I tell him to introduce himself to the festival director Brian and pass out cards.

At six fifteen, lauren and courtney show at the hotel, and they go upstairs to shower and dress. At the cinema everyone is there and Brian introduces the film, I say a few words and the movie begins in silence, NO SOUND, that is soon fixed and it begins again, the sound plays a little hot but the film runs without interference for the next 85 minutes, towards the end I run out to wiz and get back in the theater as the credits are finishing, Jai runs up to the stage hijacks the mike and proceeds to give a rambling speech about production, All the horrors of production are now playing live on the stage, he reduces the film to let's all get drunk. We finally all get on stage and I try salvage what I can.

Afterwards everybody is screaming at me.

ouch, ouch and ouch again.

the bone blog

ouch, ouch, ouch.


http://cellar-film.com/

bone blog chicago #2

dear bonesters

Chicago is fantastic - brilliant sun and warm breezes- I'm up early getting coffee for the gals, taking in the morning streets of the loop, everyone hustling on the streets, selling god in that great chicago detroit black accent, i miss it. We have lunch with larry lee a professor at the school of the art institute, in the old marshal field building on state. He gives us free passes to the art institute where we check out the "NEW", [everything is new here] contemporary wing at the museum. Warhol looks fantastic, less so lichtenstein/stella/serra [b 4 his theme park period] and katz, [that guy is so finished]/and gober.. They have shockingly elegant smithson, as well as a calzolieri, and brilliant eve hesse's and gustons. The late afternoon is fantastik we absorb the incredible architecture here. Chicago is seducing all of us.

First film, "The boy with the sun in his eyes" by Todd Vertow [bangor films] is a beautiful decadent romp through paris, milan and berlin, the film has a great energy and nicely lensed and another feature, [bangor films has made 15 features in less than 10 years.] I feel great, indie, alternative, anti film is alive in chicago. I split the next two screenings, one a feature, Impolex,[a dissipation of pynchons novel gravity's rainbow, is slightly uneven but looks great and nice talent, the other is a block of shorts a couple of them causing deep belly laughs. Afterwards it's back to the Bottom lounge, on W. lake [my favorite new spot with the pink line el, passing every five minutes, completely drowning out the conversation, as a wanning half moon rises over the lake. We all hang with the film makers knocking down beers and taking in this gorgeous night. overheard conversation Chicago is like a lover in the summer, who seduces you again and you realize that everything is possible, the summer makes you forget all the bad times, that winter has brought you. Again Daisy and I are under the el enjoying herbal remedies, when Ms. Yi joins us, all three of us scream [a cabaret moment] as the el roars above us.

french kisses

the bone blog.

http://cellar-film.com/

bone blog chicago

dear bonesters

it's been exactly one year since the last entry from London. Now, it's Chicago and a new film, "Cellar" [84mn]. where we will be premiering saturday night.

The weather here is fantastic, caught the plan w/o incident, traveling with hyewon and Daisy Payero is much better than going w/ bunker [the other glimmer twin]. Arrived at midway and caught the orange line into the loop, where a drunk white girl, [it's one thirty pm] deposited donut fragments into Daisy's hair, but daisy true to her loisida roots took no shit. Checked into the hotel, windows don't open, no smoking allowed and the air is truly questionable.On the walk to the theater we grabbed the chicago reader, to read a disappointing review of our new project, but they tore all the films apart, note to the critics, this is an UNDERGROUND festival not the oxygen network. I gave the print to Brandon our projectionist who projected it into theater Number one, a truly amazing house, the gene siskel theater is state of the art. We ran into bryan, the festival director who has done an amazing turn around with the festival, his 16th as director.

Opening night film, "it came from Kuchar", a doc about the kuchar brothers from the bronx, which i found interesting despite it was a doc, after the film was screened Mike Kuchar had done a 10 min. film about his mother who has recently passed, I had no idea what I was watching, it didnt make sense, there was no sense of rhythm, no wide shot, cu it looked as though it had been formed by mistake, IT was brilliant, haunting, end of film.

Onto the after party at the "Bottom Lounge" on W. lake right under the pink line el. They had a 2nd floor deck that the el came shooting by like clockwork, you held on to your beer. But the best part of the night, Daisy and I slid it out with one of her hand made pipes and smoked the herbal remedy while the el raced above us we both screamed at the top of our lungs. Now we're in Chicago.

more later.


http://cellar-film.com/