Saturday, April 15, 2006

A blog of no relevance whatsoever. by Scott Rinker
Howdy to all twelve of you out there who actually read these blogs! Gamers fans may be small in number but they’re … well, small in number pretty much sums it up at this point. I gotta say thanks to the two critics who gave such loving reviews this week. Keep this up and Chris Folino may not have to sell one of the twins for mortgage money this month.

So, anyway, I’m trying to figure out what to blog about today when I open up the mailbox and see this week’s copy on Ent. Weekly. Presto-chango, wonder twin powers activate! There’s my topic for today! (Joe Nieves, you’re gonna love this topic)

American Idol. Can you believe it?

First off, yes, I watch the show. And no, I’m not gay.

I gotta tell ya, I don’t know why I'm obsessed with the show. Or what to make of this season. I can’t decide whether I love some of the contestants or just HATE every single one of them. No one can seem to step up to the plate and nail it week after week.

Granted it ain’t easy to do when the show keeps making you sing crap by Barry Manilow and receive coaching from Kenny Rogers. The fuck?! Can you pick someone who’s actually producing shit people under the age of 70 listen to?

As for the contestants themselves, they all seem like nice people but there’s three I think who have a shot at the title… not saying they’re the best, or phenomenal performers but my gut tells me these guys are the ones to watch.

You got Chris, the shaved rocker dude; Kelly, the gal voted most likely to be serving drinks at Coyote Ugly; and Taylor, the weird Joe Cocker-Sam Cooke-Michael McDonald hybrid (aka the gray haired one.)

I think each of them have potential, and at moments they’ve each wowed me but the guy I’m rooting for is Chris. His only problem? Song choice. Song choice. SONG CHOICE!!

This week is a glaring example of it… They get to perform songs by QUEEN, one of the greatest rock bands in history and Chris chooses…. Some song the band never even played live!

What is he thinking? He’s got a great voice, great presence and I gotta say I got chills when they did their little medley at the start of elimination night and Chris sang the opening verse to “Under Pressure.” Why not do that song, you moron?

You kicked ass w/ your covers of “Wanted Dead or Alive” (yeah, I’m also a Bon Jovi fan, sue me) and “I walk the Line.”
My advice?
Rein in the headbanger shit just a bit, think radio friendly rock and go kick some ass… otherwise… well, I was gonna say I’ll stop watching but frankly there’s nothing else on tuesday nights anymore.

Dare I segue way to my list of the five best shows on TV right now? Ok, I will.

1. Battlestar Galactica: hands down the best sci-fi show on TV today and for me, the best overall, as well. My Friday’s are lonely these days without it.
2. Lost: man, I am SO addicted to this show. Normally, I get bored with a mythology-mystery show after about a season (take Alias, for example). But they keep doling out just enough to keep dragging me back. Plus, my boy Jorge’s a regular on the show and you gotta support.
3. The Sopranos: I don’t even know what I’ll do when the show is done for good. My only gripe is that they could really stand to pull the microphone back from Gandolfini’s nose a bit more, say three feet? Jesus, the nose-breathing is killing me!
This next one is getting iffy of late, but I keep coming back, hoping…
4. Prison Break: Again, I’m a big plot driven guy, especially caper plots and this show has been delivering until… the flashback episode. Really, is every con supposed to be just a misunderstood victim? And somebody kill the lawyers already. Also, is just me or are Michelle Forbes and Patricia Wettig about the most ANNOYING duo onscreen today?
5. Don’t have one. Don’t get me wrong, there’s lots of other shows I Tivo on a regular basis but nothing I freak out about missing.

Well, that’s enough ranting for now… I’m gonna go listen to the Flash Gordon album by Queen and roll up some new characters for the Gamers sequel.

posted @ 02:23 AM PDT [link] [Karma: 0 (+/-)] [37 Comments ]

Friday, April 14, 2006

..
posted @ 10:01 PM PDT [link] [34 Comments ]

Friday morning blog by Christopher Folino
Two great reviews in one week and both of those film critics aren’t easy on films.
And these guys live and breath the indie film circuit and did you see the love they gave the movie? It’s awesome for us, because, it keeps you going after you get such warm and wonderful responses from industry folks like the vice president of production at Fox who you email a review of the “Gamers” to and all she can say is “Take me off your mailing list”
Well, Carla.hacken@fox.com you’ll never get an email from me again.
It’s nice to see you’ll write a forward in a book to help people start writing screenplays, however, once they make a movie you can’t be bothered with forwarding the email to the indie division of fox.

I broke the sacred rule of film festivals religion and I emailed the festival directors the reviews. What the hell do we have to lose? We have no connections at any of these festivals or relationships, so what else are you going o do?

We have a few offers on the table, however, nothing that excites me yet.
Two distribution companies have turned us down because, one thought the movie was too specialized and the other which to be honest was from a company I admire. Here’s the email from the head guy.

Hey Chris,

I finally got a chance to sit down with the movie last night. And first off
let me tell you how seriously impressed I am with the film. You have no idea
how many hundreds of mockumentaries I get sent every year. The great
majority of them are unbelievably awful. So it's doubly impressive that your
film is smart, funny and never drags. However, I do feel like it's going to
find its audience on DVD rather than in theaters. And since we are primarily
a theatrical distributor, it's going to be a pass for us. But I really do
believe that you have a much better shot at turning a profit on this by
selling DVDs directly to your audience. The gaming community is a very
tech-savvy bunch who could (and will) eat this up with a spoon and can be
easily (and cheaply) reached on the internet. So many small indies think
that theatrical distribution is the be-all-end-all. But the ungodly costs
involved with releasing a movie to theaters usually means that the
filmmakers never see any profits. However, direct-to-DVD titles, especially
if you sell them on your own site, have huge financial returns. Anyway,
that's just one dork's opinion. But I really want to see Gamers get to the
people who will really appreciate it. I can't believe how you got such
uniformly great performances. It's kind of amazing. Anyway, count me as a
big fan and make sure to keep me up to date with all the developments, not
only with this flick, but also with whatever else you're working on in the
future.

Michael Bell, the man, the myth, the legend, and our narrator of the film sent me an article of quotes titled “Amazingly Bad Judgement” after I sent him that email.

"DO NOT CARE FOR CONNERY....WE CAN DO BETTER"
-NOTE FROM PRODUCER CUBBY BROCCOLI, ABOUT SEAN CONNERY AUDITIONING
FOR THE ROLE OF "JAMES BOND"

"TRY ANOTHER PROFESSION. ANY OTHER."
-HEAD OF NEW YORK'S JOHN MURRAY ANDERSON DRAMA SCHOOL, ABOUT
LUCILLE BALL

"YOU'D BETTER LEARN SECRETARIAL WORK, OR ELSE GET MARRIED."
-DIRECTOR OF THE BLUE BOOK MODELING AGENCY, ABOUT MARILYN MONROE

"GROUPS WITH GUITARS ARE ON THE WAY OUT."
-DICK ROWE, HEAD OF DECCA RECORDS, AS HE REJECTED THE BEATLES
AFTER AN AUDITION

"MENTALLY SLOW, UNSOCIABLE, AND ADRIFT FOREVER IN HIS FOOLISH DREAMS."
-ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHER ABOUT YOUNG ALBERT EINSTEIN

"IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO SELL ANIMAL STORIES IN THE UNITED STATES."
-ANONYMOUS PUBLISHER, REJECTING GEORGE ORWELL'S "ANIMAL FARM"

"IT'S PRETTY THIN, SON. I DON'T THINK PEOPLE WILL FOLLOW IT."
-HENRY FONDA, TO SON PETER, ABOUT THE MOVIE "EASY RIDER"

"IT'S A BAD IDEA. EVERY WOMAN IS FRIGHTENED OF A MOUSE."
-LOUIS B. MEYER, HEAD OF MGM, TO WALT DISNEY

"I'M SORRY, BUT YOU JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW TO USE THE ENGLISH
LANGUAGE."

-ANONYMOUS PUBLISHER, REJECTING RUDYARD KIPLING'S "THE
JUNGLE BOOK"

"GET RID OF THE POINTED-EARS GUY."
-UNNAMED NBC EXECUTIVE, AFTER SEEING THE PILOT FOR "STAR
TREK", ABOUT MR. SPOCK

"THE GUITAR'S ALRIGHT JOHN, BUT YOU'LL NEVER EARN A LIVING WITH IT."
-JOHN LENNON'S AUNT MIMI, TO A TEENAGE LENNON

"THAT KID CAN'T PLAY BASEBALL"
-TOMMY HOLMES, MINOR LEAGUE MANAGER, ABOUT HANK AARON, WHO
WAS TO BECOME THE ALL-TIME HOME RUN LEADER WITH 755 HOMERS

"IF YOU GO ON THE AIR WITH THAT CRAP, THEY'RE GOING TO KILL YOU RIGHT
IN THE STREETS"
MICKEY ROONEY, SAID TO PRODUCER NORMAN LEAR, WHO WANTED
TO CAST ROONEY AS "ARCHIE BUNKER" IN "ALL IN THE FAMILY"

“I do feel like ”Gamers” is going to find its audience on DVD rather than in theaters. And since we are primarily a theatrical distributor, it's going to be a pass for us."

?

posted @ 05:25 AM PDT [link] [Karma: 2 (+/-)] [32 Comments ]

Thursday, April 13, 2006

Indie Film Nation reviews "Gamers"
Not to steal anything from Scott's wonderful and well thought-out blog! Jesus Rinker!
However, here is a wonderful new review of the "Gamers"
It's by Mike Smith from Indie Film Nation and it's been a fantastic week for Gamers!
We are very excited and thankful for the "heat!"

http://www.intheq.com.au/C1025810085/E20060413110636/index.html

Review - Gamers (2006)
By Mike Smith -Indie Film Nation

Gamers is one of those unique films that come along once in a while. A film made by team of unknown filmmakers, made outside of the studio system and completely self financed film with no real budget.

This film delivers a truck load of laughs and I don't mean the little chuckle variety... I mean the genuine belly ache variety. I found myself getting a stitch several times while watching this film from laughing so hard and its been a long time since I have experienced this while watching a film.

Christopher Folino (Writer/Director) has crafted an incredibly funny and very enjoyable film. Gamers was shot in the style of a mockumentary revolving around a group of friends who have been playing Demons, Nymphs and Dragons for a record breaking 23 straight years. The performances by the lead characters of Scott Alan Rinker (Paul), Kevin Kirkpatrick (Gordon), Joe Nieves (Fernando), Kevin Sherwood (Kevin) and Dave Hanson (Reese) are fantastic. This group of unknown actors delivery some very hilarious performances which perfectly capture the essence of the type of people obsessed with a game similar to the Dungeons & Dragons phenomena.

Gamers also features cameo appearances by some very well known and respect actors like John Heard (Home Alone), Beverley D'Angelo (National Lampoons Vacation), Kelly Le Brock (Weird Science) and William Katt (Greatest American Hero). Actors of this credibility don't show up to do a small cameo in this type of film for the money - they appear in them because they like the material. The truth be known these filmmakers couldn't have afforded the huge salaries these actors could have commanded to appear something they really didn't like.

If this film lacks anything it's the chance for exposure to be given an opportunity to find an audience. Apparently it has been passed over by a number of the major film festivals in the USA. Gamers has a redeeming atmosphere and reminds me of what might have happen if the creators of Napoleon Dynamite meet up with the team behind the National Lampoon films.

The production values and quality of this film far exceed its budget and the team behind Gamers should be proud of their film. Gamers is an original and funny independent film, something many Hollywood comedies today don't delivery even with their A list cast and huge budgets.

It's only a matter of time before people discover Gamers and they will not be disappointed.

- Mike Smith
posted @ 10:11 AM PDT [link] [Karma: 5 (+/-)] [30 Comments ]

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Another lame ass blog by Scott
Sorry to all you faithful blog readers out there, looks like I dropped the ball. Again. I’ve been swamped the last couple days and haven’t had time to sit down and write something. I tried to explain that to Chris, but did he wanna listen? No, of course not.

Why the hell do I let Chris talk me into this stuff? That’s the question I keep asking myself as I sit here to compose today’s blog. You’d think I’d be done sucking up to the guy, right? After all, the movie’s in the can and out there in the hands of distributors now, so really what more can I expect to get out of this?
Truth is, I’m just a really lonely guy who wants everyone to like him. Scratch that; NEEDS everyone to LOVE him, and so I’ll do anything that comes along that’ll get me some extra Karma points. (hint, hint)
So now I find myself back at the blogging board trying to figure out something witty to say… aaaaaannnnd, I got nothing. Nada. Zip. Zero. Bupkis. I could go on but I think you get the point, here.
What I SHOULD be doing is working on my material for a film audition I’ve got scheduled tomorrow, but NOOOO, I’ve got some insane need to be Chris Folino’s “go-to” bitch. “Put me in, Coach! I’m ready to play!”
Well, FINE, Mr. Folino, there you go… that’s my Fuckin Blog for today!! How ya like me now?!
Aaaaah, dammit Chris, Why can’t I QUIT YOU?!

C-ya tomorrow night folks, and I’ll fill you in on how my audition went to play a young mormon missionary talking to a death row inmate. Nifty, huh?

posted @ 07:36 PM PDT [link]

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

New Review for "Gamers" by Christopher Folino
Today was a great day for "Gamers"

Erik Childress who is part of the Chicago Film Critics Association, online film critics, efilmCritics and on various radio shows reviewed our movie.

The man gave us five out of five stars!
How did we get him to review the film you ask?
We'll about 10 days ago, I was so pissed with the National Lampoon guy that I looked up a review for "Gold Diggers" which is a movie they produced and I read a review of the movie on www.hollywoodbitchslap.com and it made me laugh because they hate the movie so much that they wished the makers ill will.
I emailed Erik and just took a shot and asked him to be as honest as possible, and he said sure.
I really wanted to see what would happen, if the film sucks and people hate it then that's fine.
You move on in life. However, I feel real proud of the latest cut and I want us to have a shot a real film festival and get a good distribution deal.
The review is amazing and it's a credit to the fine actors and crew we have.
Thanks to Erik we got a call from a larger distribution company today and I emailed a bunch of festivals the article!
It's a nice break from having to get an assistant to the assistant to give you a call back.
posted @ 09:16 PM PDT [link] [Karma: 0 (+/-)]

Film Critic Eric Childress give "Gamers five stars! Breaking news!
http://www.efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=14314&reviewer=198

Sweet!!!!
posted @ 09:43 AM PDT [link] [Karma: 2 (+/-)]

Scott Allen Rinker to Guest Blog starting today by Christopher Folino
It's not every day that the mental institution allows Scott Allen Rinker access to a computer! However, later today, the man, the myth, the legend of the legendary people named Scott will be our guest blog writer!
Let's see if he sucks up to Jennifer Love Hewitt half as much as Dave Hanson!

You do got to give props to Scott, Dave, and Joe for writing in the blog. The two other guys named Kevin's both can't spell, write, or be funny without a script from ME!!
(Just a kidding about the spelling!)

Other news, actor Kevin Sherwood turned 36 on Sunday. So the song "Wake up dick, God made a brand new day" has a whole new meaning for him and his old age!

Folino Out.

And by the way Jack Bauer vs the World for Season 7 of 24 is what I'm pitching to Fox! Of course, the world will have to revolve around Los Angeles.
Season 8 we will find Jack taking on aliens who happen to land in Los Angeles.

posted @ 09:01 AM PDT [link] [Karma: 6 (+/-)]

Monday, April 10, 2006

Monday Review by Christopher Folino
First off, a special thank you to Dave “Reese” Hanson for being our guest blog writer, it was cool to read the excitement in Hanson’s blog and I felt like he took us with him on the set and we were right there when he discovered Jennifer Love Hewitt’s breast and lost all control of his ability to be funny in a blog. You missed you're own viewing of the show? Who the hell do you think you are now Hanson? Kevin Kirkpatrick?

I watched the show with my five year old daughter who was seriously pissed off that Dave Hanson and Scott Allen Rinker were only on for two minutes and to say the rest of the episode sucked without them, is an insult to the word “sucked!”
My daughter kept yelling at the television “They need more Scott Allen Rinker and Dave Hanson!”
The kid has loyalty to “Gamers” and that’s really what saved her this weekend when I came home on Friday and found all her Barbies lined-up naked with one sole Ken doll inspecting them…naked.
What the hell kind of playtime is this?
I’m standing in my living room, looking at 25 naked Barbies and one Ken doll who is pretty girlie looking. So, I was hoping it was an audition for some naked “Bob Fosse” musical.
So, I called her into the room and I noticed she had been crying hard I asked her what was wrong? And she told me that at the school on Friday that her special friend “Spencer” didn’t play with her at all. “It was all about some new girl at school who Spencer appears to like more.
I stopped for a moment and I looked in her eyes and let out a fatherly “Ohhhh” Boo f-ing who! At least you didn’t find him making out with another little boy then maybe I’d take the time out and we’d have to watch the new Rosie O’Donnell documentary to explain it all!
I told it to her straight “You’re five, get use to heartbreak! If it isn’t a film festival director “lecturing how “Gamers” isn’t the kind of art they want to showcase!” it’s an ass munch film distributor promising you “a magic rainbow of endless gold for just thirty percent!” and you see them driving away from the meeting in a jacked-up Ford Focus.
Listen girlie girl, life isn’t fair, and while you’re heart is breaking let’s come clean shall we? There is no Santa, Easter Bunny, Tooth fairy, Snuggles, and it now appears Judas was a good guy and “personality isn’t enough”, don’t listen to those bitches on the “View”! So don’t chub up! Now, go “Beer Me” and make sure you don’t get your “little tears” in my beer and make it flat…again!

My brother Steven finally had his 40th birthday party celebration at his house and his band played. It’s been years since I heard him play guitar and man does he suck. I’m joking, he’s all “Johnny Cash” now and he’s a country “Bad Ass” on the guitar and the rest of the band was excellent. I will let you all know when their next gig is.

What else? I got a voice message from Kelly LeBrock and she called Harry Knowles and told him to watch “Gamers”. So Harry, go watch the fucking movie! Apparently two phone calls from me, Christopher Folino doesn’t even faze you Austin boy! However, you kiss Kelly LeBrock’s ass and promise you’ll watch the movie!
Like you pretend you don’t me? Obviously, you never worked in a Home Depot store where you had a three percent chance of seeing my corporate videos!
That was pretty damn cool of Kelly LeBrock though.
Lastly, I’m excited the great actor Scott Allen Rinker will be our guest blog writer starting Tuesday through Thursday!

posted @ 12:06 AM PDT [link] [Karma: 2 (+/-)]

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