It’s been quite some time since we’ve posted anything here, busy as we’ve been chasing hedge funders to invest in our next flick (were you guys aware that there’s some kind of money crisis going on? Since we have none, we hadn’t noticed, just seemed like business as usual), so we’re delighted that our first Halloween season missive is about something as cool as this…

The Murder Party Matinee & Soiree!

If any of you are going to be in the NYC area on the early evening of October 19th, you have to be there….I absolutely insist upon it!

It’s a pre-Halloween movie n’ music benefit show for  Child’s Play, a fantastic international charity that provides games and toys and books to children in hospitals. Check out their page…

http://www.childsplaycharity.org/

Coco66 (66 Greenpoint Ave, Brooklyn, http://www.coco66.com/) is the excellent venue that’s graciously hosting this event, which will consist of a screening of everyone’s favorite Halloween-time screwball bloodbath movie (rhymes with ‘blurder farty’) and performances by three bands associated with it in one way or another.

 So, it’s doors at 5pm…

At 5:30, Murder Party celebrates its one-year birthday with its first public screening in…well, in some time.

At 7pm, East Hundred plays, featuring Brooke & Will Blair who wrote the movie’s score, not to mention Beril Guceri who played the tragic Unfortunate Photo Assistant. Catchy sexy pop from Philadelphia. (They’s gonna be huge in ‘09.)easthundred.com

Next, at 8pm, Stacy Rock, Brooklyn singer/songwriter extraordinaire, performing with her full band. Since she won’t be dressed in a filthy unitard or cackling like a crazy bitch, you may not recognize her as having played Lexi in the movie.(And pssst…it was Stacy who conceived and organized this whole thing…she’s good people!)    http://www.myspace.com/stacyrockmusic  

And wrapping it up at 9pm (hey, it’s a school night), we have Ain’t Rights. No “the”, no bass, no bullshit….just gits & drums & wailing ass vocals rock featuring Bill Lacey who played William, the Baseball Fury maniac supreme. (There’s no Ain’t Rights web page as of now…you’ll have to take my word for it they’re fucking ferocious.)

Plus there’s gonna be a raffle, a snack special (bucket o’ fries and a baby Bud for $5!) and other not-yet-determined fun stuff…

So with all this goodness it’s probably a pretty expensive ticket, right?

Nope. It’s on the “suggested donation” tip: $10 or a new video game (rated E10 or less) or video game console or children’s book. It’s whatever you can (and want) to pay and all proceeds go to Child’s Play!

Rock n’ roll and Murder Party and cheap fries annnnnd it’s all for a good cause? What’s better than that?!

(Answer: nothing.)

Check this link for further details and updates and an advance donation thingy:

www.murderpartymatinee.com

Hope to see you all there!

I am a big fan of today. Today has a lot going for it.

For starters, check out this photo that was sent to us by M.P. fan Jason Copeland of Portage, Indiana…but beware: your face might possibly be melted off of your skull by the sheer concentration of cuteness.

http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=131298914&albumID=0&imageID=26312664

Isn’t that amazing? The lil’ fella nails it! Befuddled expression and all…

Also, THANK YOU SO MUCH to everyone who cast a vote for my brothers’ band in that Open-For-Coldplay Contest. (Lookin’ at you, Rock Immortals.) Thanks to your efforts they did indeed make it to the final round! They’ve now got a one-in-three chance at winning the whole thing (I guess Coldplay themselves picks the winner now) and I think they’ve got a pretty good shot: they got a cute singer (Beril played the Unfortunate Photo Assistant in M.P.!), a cute keyboard player, a buncha dudes with well defined chins and eyes that aren’t too badly crossed, and their tunes are pretty catchy, too. I’m proud of ‘em.

And as if all that ain’t enough to delcare this Friday a solid winner, I’m gonna sneak out of work early to have a margarita or two (or ten) in the sunny courtyard with my special lady friend and then we’re going to see Hellboy 2 with my good friends William the Baseball Fury and Chris the Brown Knight and all this with the knowledge that tomorrow we’re gonna have a huge cookout and the only thing I gotta do all day is buy ice and steaks and beer!

So you can see why I’m delighted.

Have a beautiful weekend er’body!

xo

Heya people!

I hope your Fourth of July Weekend was a great one! Where I’m at, nobody fell off the roof or blew up their hand and my meat sweats and beer farts are starting to lose some power by this afternoon- much to the delight of my office mates- so I call the whole thing a success.

Hey–check out our new best friends Jason and Tim pulling a Brown Knight double-team! (Hmm…possible title for Murder Party porno spinoff?)

http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=131298914&albumID=0&imageID=26066301

And check out this awesome page from a backup story in an upcoming issue of  Fear Agent (“the sci-fi comic with balls”), drawn by the crazy talented Antonio Fuso and written by Macon from Murder Party. We’ll letcha know when it hits the stands!

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3147/2630383219_69a0685dc4_o.jpg

As we chew our nails and hold our breath waiting for some good news about the funding on our next movie (some potentially cool shit is in the works–hopefully we’ll have an announcement soon!), we’re keeping busy with shorts (that’s ’shorts’ like short films as well as short summery pants, which we’re really really into) and music videos and one such video will be shot next month and it’s for a band from Philly called East Hundred. (And yes, my little brothers are in it and yes they also did the score for M.P. and I know I covered this already a million times but, y’know, for the new folks here…)

Anyways, the guys have gotten themselves in a contest where the winner gets to open for Coldplay (big opportunity for these kids) and if you’d like to help ‘em along, I know they’d appreciate it. Just click this link and vote high for the ninth video down, the one with the bluish-purple shot of a band on stage that opens with the title card ‘South Philadelphia.’ (Not sure why Mssrs. Coldplay didn’t simply name each video clip with each band’s name but hey, that ain’t my bro’s fault…)

http://coldplayontour.com/wmmr/

Closer, ever closer now to the Boner Vortex of 2008. Wall*E kept things rolling beautifully– to be so thoroughly unmanned by that goggle-eyed robot was not only self-illuminating but also terribly cathartic,…just sobbing in the aisles with all the children staring at me– and I have every reason to assume that Hellboy will maintain the momentum until the ultimate piece of amazement arrives with…well, you know.

Despite being diapered by Indiana Jones, it’s one of the best movie summers in a while.

Welp…back to work! (And by that, I do of course mean making believe that I am in Mad Men.)

xoxo

First Tim Russert. Then Stan Winston. Now George Carlin. Sheesh…

Yes yes yes, we’re all gonna die and I know that probably at least dozens of non-famous but equally righteous folks have passed away as well lately but still…hearing about those three in such a rapid succession was a serious sad-maker. I raise a glass to them, knowing they’re smart-talking and monster-making and joke-telling at the big commentary show/effects studio/mic & a stage in the sky.

So…The Incredible Hulk anyone? Damned if that shit wasn’t way better than I expected. And this whole “common universe” approach that Marvel Studios is going with is the best thing about it. I’m not sure how they’ll balance the gods-and-trolls-fantasy world of Thor with the this-is-some-true-science-shit world of Iron Man and Hulk, let alone how they’ll pull off Captain America in the er’body-hates-America 21st century but I’m confident it can all be fixed with heaping portions of CGI and therefore cannot fucking wait for the inevitable Avengers movie. And what would be truly spectacular would be if Marvel Studios could wrangle back the rights for X-Men, Spider Man, FF and all the other properties that got broom-handled to greater or lesser degrees at outside shops so that we could get into some heavy Secret Wars type shit.

My best friend, he’s fretting about saving for his daughter’s college. Me, I’m all jammed up over a possible Kree-Skrull movie. Different strokes, y’know?

And speaking of unhealthy misguided anticipation: I got mah tickets to Dark Knight! Said I got mah tix to Dark Knight! (back flip-hitch kick-jazz hands) Ohh yes I got my motherfucking tickets to The Darrrrrk….Kniiiight! (thunderous applause)

Hey, here’s a groovy review Murder Party got on FilmCritic.com…

Murder Party

A film review by Brian Chen – Copyright © 2008 Filmcritic.com

While watching Murder Party you can just imagine Jeremy Saulnier chuckling to himself while writing the script, and you can’t help but chuckle along. It’s the pretentiousness of a lot of independent movies that makes them so bad. And it’s Saulnier’s humble, self-deprecating charm that makes this satiric Halloween movie so hilariously good.

Speaking of self-deprecating, the movie’s “hero” is kind of an endearing loser. Imagine if Jon Arbuckle were a parking enforcement officer living in Brooklyn. That’s the best way to describe Chris (Chris Sharp), who’s such a pushover he can’t even get his cat to get off his chair. Like Arbuckle, Chris is a loner; he’s so lonesome, in fact, that when he finds a random “murder party” invitation, he looks up directions, slaps together a costume, and shows up right on time — at a shady looking warehouse.

Little does he know this isn’t an ordinary Halloween party. This is literally a party for his murder. The party hosts knock him out and tie him to a chair. Apparently this is a collective of art students whose project is to videotape a murder. They’re eagerly trying to impress a rich man named Alexander, who promises the collective a large grant once he’s thoroughly wowed.

With a premise as silly as this one, Saulnier delivers a surprisingly sharp and witty script. And as over-the-top as the movie gets, there’s an element of realism in the dialogue — a sheer frustration over the uncertainty of the future and the constant need to impress someone, which many art students can relate with. (It’s no wonder: In an interview, Saulnier admits much of the script is based on his own pent-up frustration from years of trying to break into the movie biz.)

The beauty of a good independent film is the raw innocence of every element. There’s a very quirky, self-needling, tongue-in-cheek humor running through Party — which probably wouldn’t make it past major studios. Most of the actors use their real names in the movie, and they’re so natural they feel organic, presumably because they can identify with their characters (i.e., struggling artists) so easily. Saulnier’s passion for ’80s films clearly inspires the costumes, which give a nod to Blade Runner and The Warriors. In short, Party is an inside joke that somehow everybody gets.

Whether or not Saulnier has wowed whomever Alexander represents in the film industry, he’s at least managed to entertain his viewers, winning two audience awards and other festival recognitions. Party is a rare gem that glistened in theaters very briefly before it went straight to DVD. Hopefully the director has more for us soon.

..

Pris would tell you: Time to die.

http://www.filmcritic.com/misc/emporium.nsf/reviews/Murder-Party

Thanks so much, Brian! I love that you likened Chris to Jon Arbuckle. I’m not sure which one of the cast would be Garfield but I’m pretty sure that Alexander would be both ferns and Mondays.

And now, here’s another rave from the Netflix customer comments section!

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Cleva Queenpen

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This movie sucks on so many levels. The “panning” camera shots, the dumb dialogue, the obvious blood squids from the gun shots, the crappy set, and the list goes on. It looks like a student film, which I can understand, but for 80 minutes? It was just ridiculous. I agree with the other reviewers..pass on this one, or you’ll wish you had.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Thank you, Cleva! You ain’t kidding: that was one crappy set, no two ways about it. Crappy as in “C” for freezing cold and…um…”rappy” like rap music, which also sucks. So yes, I totally agree with you there. However, the blood squids we used were rhomboids (also known as diamond squids) and they are universally regarded at the premiere special effects cephalopods in the business. You simply cannot do better than these babies and that’s why we committed so much of our already limited budget to having a two-ton  filtered saltwater tank on set, not to mention the hundreds of pounds of feeder fish necessary to keep the noble creatures well-fed and happy until it came time for their scenes with the guns and whatnot. So on that point, I respectfully disagree with you. Otherwise, straight shootin’!

Hey, here’s a fun little game. An enterprising gent (or perhaps a lady, I ought not jump to conclusions) going by FD Fantic has posted this on the Murder Party IMDB message boards, wherein you do some sort of mysterious math type thing that eventually determines the best character in the movie. Drop by if you wanna kill a little bit of time!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0878695/board/thread/109837097

And check this mastermind out:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/eastham/1795525123/

His name is Chris Hudson and here he is in a perfectly recreated Brown Knight costume along with his pals, Scarlett Johansson and my father at age 30. Well done, Mr. Hudson!

And on that high note, I’ll end this boobery…have a great week everybody!

xoxo