The Rectify / OurStage promotion has been going so well that the fine folks at OurStage have decided to extend it until May 12th. If you haven’t already done so, please sign up for an OurStage account by clicking here. It only takes a minute and they don’t do anything lame like sell you out to the Nigerian Spam Mafia. I promise.
I got the call on Saturday. Both Rectify and The Addict have been invited to screen at the Seattle True Independent Film Festival. This is the first time I have had one of my films accepted into a festival so I’m pretty excited. The festival organizers are still creating the schedule so no word on dates or venues just yet. I will post new information as it comes in.
Also, this is the final week of the OurStage promotion so if you haven’t already done so please take a minute to go here and sign up for an OurStage account even if you have already seen the film. They won’t spam you, I promise. =) So far we’ve raised enough money for one festival submission but I would like to double that by the end of the week. Thanks!
So I finally checked Casablanca off my list. The list to which I’m referring is the “dude you’re a filmmaker so you need to see these movies” list. I make no claims that my list is “complete”. I have a strong dislike for pretentious film snobs that the only good movies are the “important films” so I’m sure my list differs from most. That said, I don’t want to be ignorant of some of the more influential movies that have been made.
To be honest, Casablanca was better than I expected. In general I’m not a big fan of older movies. Maybe it’s because the movies I enjoy most stem from the time period that I live in, grew up in or heard a lot about from my parents. Maybe the romance of the stiff acting, soft focus, and harsh lighting is lost on me. Maybe I just find it hard to relate. Whatever the reason is I don’t normally go out of my way to see the old black ‘n’ whites; but this was an exception I was glad I made. The story explains itself enough that you didn’t have to be alive in the 40s to appreciate what was going on. Rick’s character, while uber-cool, was still relatable. The story was interesting with plenty of twists and turns. I actually found my self hurrying back to my chair after a mid-DVD pit stop to find out what was going to happen next. It was a well made film in all respects.
I’m sure that to the die hard fans of Casablanca find my review akin to saying Mozart was good at making pretty sounds. I’m fine with that. If you are a die hard fan of Casablanca then this review isn’t for you anyway. This review is for the average movie watching person like myself who might skip over a good movie it because it looks “old”. Yes it is old but it stands the test of time. If you haven’t seen it yet then toss it into your Netfilx queue and let me know what you think.
Next on the list… Easy Rider.