News Archives 1997—2012
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rants about art | horror | ecology | democracy
2012
21 March 2012
Since 1997 Glass Eye Pix has posted the latest NEWS to these pages. In March 2012 we transitioned to a new home page and a wordpress site. On this page and the dated links above are all the old posts that chronicle our activities over the previous 15 years. |
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RICK ALVERSON'S THE COMEDY at SXSW
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OFFICIAL SELECTION SXSW FILM FESTIVAL "a work of art that's both simultaneously hilarious and disturbing, Heidecker using the same skills he's honed in his TV and live comedy work, but to a terrifying degree...The Comedy is an ambitious, purposefully off-putting film, a dissection of where we find comedy and how we react to it, and a lampoon of the indie style..." |
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5 CHAINSAW AWARD NOMS FOR STAKE LAND!
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Ilya Chaiken's THE UNLOVABLES episode #1 now on Line! Check it!
FESSENDEN'S FRANKENSTEIN MASHUP
created for RADIOHOLE fundraiser 2.18.12
Fessenden in British culture rag LOVE magazine... on stands now.
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April 24
THE INNKEEPERS in Torrington Connecticut Wednesday 8 February
Any horror-centric composer can enter a haunted house and awake the resident spooks by throwing a battery of percussion instruments and equally unsubtle samples down the steps of a dark basement. But it’s one thing to rattle the nerves, and another to truly frighten the listener. With subtlety, and melody becoming many since-deceased composers like Bernard Herrmann and Jerry Goldsmith, a young musical Turk named Jeff Grace is successively scaring the hell out of us with more of a whisper than a scream, even if he might not have his predecessor’s orchestral resources. It’s a similar high-quality, low budget appeal that marks the work of frequent filmmaking collaborators Ti West and producer Larry Fessenden. Their pictures like “The Last Winter” and “House of the Devil” keep their audiences waiting a good long time before delivering the carnage, with minimal blood and effects at that.
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My Premiere: Rick Alverson - THE COMEDY
2/4/12—Ti West and Fessenden interviewed by NPR's Neda Ulaby on Weekend Edition
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Friday Fright! Tales from Beyond the Pale: The Hole Digger! "a fantastic story and makes my top 3 with ease." "this is my favorite Tale. Two shovels up!" "an amazing experience, and an open ending can make the story stick with you much longer than a nice tidy conclusion." |
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AICN: ScoreKeeper's Top Ten Film Scores of 2011!!!
6. THE INNKEEPERS (2011) by Jeff Grace - I love a good old fashioned ghost story! From my point-of-view as a composer, a traditional ghost story is the crown jewel of the horror genre. It's challenging enough to proficiently juggle all the various components of a typical horror narrative. Mix in the additional layers of emotion that accompany a classic ghost tale and it becomes increasingly more complex. Jeff Grace manages to flawlessly capture the entire elemental spectrum of THE INNKEEPERS. It's intensely creepy with spasms of sheer terror wrapped in a melancholic blanket giving the film an emotional weight wrought with sadness and solicitude. He even manages to skillfully weave moments of clarity kissed with a subtle hint of wit allowing director Ti West's off-kilter humor to gel seamlessly with the other components. Not since Alejandro Amenábar's score for THE OTHERS (2001) or Fernando Velázquez's score for THE ORPHANAGE (2007) have I been as captivated, moved and bedazzled by a spectral score composed with such artisanal skill. I've been following Grace's work for several years now and I can attest that he has not composed a mediocre score to date. His work is maturing at an alarming rate as he quietly stakes his claim as the undisputed king of independent film scores. The score for THE INNKEEPERS will be released on CD on January 31, 2012, by Screamworks Records (SWR12001) and will be available for purchase at Screen Archives. It will also be available as a digital download via iTunes and Amazon.com |
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Six Horror Movies Where the “Filler” is Superior to the Horror Horror films are intended to scare. So, it’s unusual when some filmmakers, on purpose or by accident, get the formula backward, going light on scares but big on the aspects most of the genre’s perpetrators don’t care about: acting, character development, strong themes, etc... Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979): Just as his Bad Lieutenant semi-remake isn’t much of a thriller, Werner Herzog’s remake, of sorts, of the F.W. Murnau classic isn’t much of a horror. Instead it subsists entirely on mood, its dreamlike European setting and the sight of Klaus Kinski as a misshapen, pathetic Count Dracula. |
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30 January — Glenn McQuaid quoted in the New York Times appreciation of Hammer Films
by SHOCK VALUE author Jason Zinoman:
Glenn McQuaid, a director whose early love of Hammer inspired his 2008 film, “I Sell the Dead,”
argued in an interview that the vivid coloring in movies like “Brides of Dracula”
anticipated the flamboyantly gruesome movies of Dario Argento.
“It’s stunning,” he said, “the lush, surreal use of lilacs and red and deep purple.”
... and check out recent reviews of V/H/S celebrating McQuaid and other Glass Eye Pix pals for their big-selling found footage fright flick:
“easily the scariest film in years.”
Libertas Film Magazine
“leave it to a couple of the Glass Eye Pix directors, Joe Swanberg,
and a couple other indie filmmakers
to prove that the gimmick can at least be fun”
Slant Magazine
The New Paradigm for the Sundance Breakout? When Audiences Walk Out.
"The Comedy." The term "crowdpleaser" usually applies to movies with commercial potential; at this year's Sundance Film Festival,
some of the most appealing films seem to be ones that only pleased those bold enough to stick around.
When the walkouts began at during Thursday's screening of Rick Alverson's U.S. competition selection "The Comedy," the movie sprang to life.
read more at indiewire
READ THE REST at FANGORIA | Full press release
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
NEWS out of Sundance on Collider.com
THE COMEDY to be presented by Rough House
V/H/S the anthology film is bought by Magnolia
congrats to Glass Eye Pals Glenn McQuaid, Ti West,
Joe Swanberg, Adam Wingard, Dave Bruckner & cast!
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1/25/12 — FESSENDEN JOINS CAST OF MODERN CINÉ'S JUG FACE
critics graple with Rick Alverson's THE COMEDY
read the reviews
VEGAS OUTSIDER reviews THE COMEDY
“Featuring perhaps the most deliciously cringeworthy, homoerotic sequence this side of Jackass,
The Comedy drives a deep, un-ironic stake into the heart of current hipster culture
and devil may care who ends us hurt in the aftermath...
Already, the film has proven polarizing amongst Sundance audiences
but this is perhaps the greatest reaction possible.
For it can be argued that some film critics and bloggers today may easily
be included in this class of overconfident, emotionally immature manchildren.
Far be it from me to name names or throw everyone under the bus,
but often times when one looks in the mirror and doesn’t like what is seen,
the reaction isn’t positive. Ultimately, that may be The Comedy’s greatest virtue,
by mercilessly displaying the solipsism and misanthropy that irony
can induce in individuals through culture, be it through Pabst Blue Ribbon
or too much bad mumblecore. If you like this film then great,
and if you are pissed off at it then that’s probably even better.”
SUNDANCE REVIEW: THE CYNICAL HOPE OF “THE COMEDY”
by Mark Elijah Rosenberg, January 24th, 2012
“The Comedy is a fiction film about a self-absorbed, filthy-rich, entitled, obnoxious,
lazy hipster who goes around insulting his friends and condescending to strangers—
and I genuinely, deeply cared about him. Much like Five Easy Pieces or Mike Leigh’s Naked,
director Rick Alverson and lead actor Tim Heidecker have masterfully created a captivating character study
about an unlikable character. (Fans of Tim and Eric should delight in seeing a new level of skillful acting from the duo.)”
THE COMEDY reviewed in THE HUFFINGTON POST
24 Jan — Heather Donahue (star of THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT)
“The Comedy is the first movie I've ever walked out of. Ever...
The movie is, on second thought, kind of brilliant...
One of the reasons for the visceral churn I experienced was: I've dated this guy.
Not this actual guy, but a version of him. He is an archetype: the New American Manchild. I've dated him more than once.
Not by choice, mind you, but because he's impossible to avoid...
It seems it's primarily the dudes who are responding to the recent American comeuppance (comedownance?)
with a seemingly terminal loss of meaning.”
1/23/12 — R.I.P. Bingham
22 January — Sundance premiere of v/h/s featuring Glass Eye Pals
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Glenn McQuaid with Fessenden; Ti West, Joe Swanberg, Sophia Takal, Kate Lyn Sheil
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The full v/h/s Q&A with Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett flanking their fellow directors;
Ti & Graham; after party with Peter Phok, Graham reznick, Helen Rogers, Dave Bruckner.
22 January — INDIEWIRE reviews THE COMEDY
Sundance Review: 'The Comedy' A Compelling, Layered Look At A Hipster Adrift In Brooklyn
... The Comedy" sees the director working with bigger names but still retaining his sensibilities. We don't have to mention that hipster culture is the new whipping boy (apparently we're hipsters for liking Pixar) and Alverson could've easily fired at the surface, gathering plaudits for being topical. Instead he digs up something that affects more people than just Brooklynites, the lack of sincerity in our lives and this generation's reluctance of commitment. It's a meaty film, filled with ideas unobscured by any generic narrative string, a move that shows not only the confidence of the director but his respect of the audience. This is one that'll have people talking. [A-] |
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21 Jan —world premiere of THE COMEDY at the Sundance Film Festival
19 Jan
NEW YORK TIMES: Take It Slow. Look Around. Watch Out!
18 January
NowOrNever environmental radio features interview with Fessenden
Exclusive Teaser for Sundance Dramatic Contender 'The Comedy' at indiewire
MLK DAY: 16 JANUARY
Meet the 2012 Sundance Filmmakers #40: Rick Alverson, 'The Comedy'
"I spent my childhood as a competitive figure skater and later taught briefly. I grew to be repulsed by that world, its relentless pursuit of perfection, its entitlement, its ignorance to the world outside its boundaries, littered with children fed on utopian dreams. Although it is ubiquitous, something about it seemed an uniquely American preoccupation: excellence trumping usefulness, a manufactured dependency on unsustainable dreams..." |
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FRIDAY the 13th of JANUARY
"Creeptastic!
The Tales from Beyond the Pale collection is a goddamn treasure."
"Talking to Ti West, you find yourself wishing that all young directors
were as committed to their craft as he is. West has made some of the most original,
offbeat horror films in recent years and his new film, “The Innkeepers,” is no exception..."
1/10/12
colider.com exclusive
Sundance 2012: Poster for THE COMEDY Starring Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim
1/9/12 — GLASS EYE PIX FILMMAKERS SPEAK:
Fangoria's Tony Timpone interviews Ti West
Rick Alverson speaks about THE COMEDY
Jan 6 — Killer Chiller fare |
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NOW ON VOD
"The Innkeepers is radiant with inspiration...Genuinely funny...
Yielding a refined and sophisticated sense of dread. Ti West does it again."
— Moviefone
"One of the best, smartest, and scariest indie horror films I’ve seen in a long time.
— Eli Roth (CABIN FEVER, HOSTEL)
"A sneakily scary ghost tale."
— Paper Magazine
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rants about art | horror | ecology | democracy
