Blog-o-STIFF

David Carradine's Midget Sex Scene and Michael Jackson

I was at the Central Cinema watching Break tonight and I had the pleasure of seeing one of the last scenes that David Carradine ever recorded, in which he plays a weird sort of criminal type whose home is overrun with a bunch of sex slaves.  One of the sex slaves is a little person led around by Carradine on a leash.  Something about seeing David Carradine tighten that leash around his hand was quite surreal considering that the guy's death a couple weeks ago was dripping in sexual intrigue.  Having Carradine order our hero to nail The Luscious Brunette played by 2007 Penthouse Pet of the Year, Jamie Lynn was a nice way to top the scene off though.  (Break comes out on DVD July 14th - Load your Netflix queues)

But even with all that  weirdness to chew on, the only thing I can think about is this set of photo's of Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch Auction taken by The Stranger's Lindy West.

David Carradine's Final Film - TONIGHT ONLY

 

 

7PM @ Central Cinema

$10 or FREE with STIFF 2009 Badge

 

Director:  Marc Clebanoff (in attendance)
 

'Break' is a stylistic noir drama about an introverted hit man named Frank who is contracted to carry out an unusual job. When the city's crime boss, known only as "The Man", discovers that he's terminally ill, he enlists Frank to carry out his own assassination. "The Man", however, is selfish and jealous, and doesn't want to die alone, and makes it clear to Frank that he is to take out the woman he loves in addition to himself. When Frank discovers that The Woman is his own long lost lover, Frank alters the job making himself the next mark. In an action-packed Kill Bill style chain of character-driven events, riddled with dark humor and visual spectacle, Frank and The Woman take on the many enemies set out before them before they can free themselves from The Man's jealous grip.

 

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Break is one of the last films that David Carradine, of Kill Bill fame, starred in before his unfortunate and untimely death.

 

Break director, Marc Clebanoff credits Carradine as instrumental in bringing  Marial Arts to the maintream: "he's one of the instrumental elements that helped make that happen," said  Clebanoff. "He helped put [Martial Arts] on the map and make it something that's very recognizable and mainstream." 

In Honor of the Transformers Midnight Premier

Scott Moran, Andy Haynes and David Cope talk about the orginal Transformers movie

STIFF 2009 Volunteer BBQ

STIFF 2009 Volunteer BBQ, originally uploaded by Clint Berquist.

Volunteers, Filmmakers, Entertainers, Film Lovers and everone who helped make STIFF 2009 a huge success. Please join us for a celebratory BBQ.

Don't bring anything, but yourself. We'll have a keg, jello-shots and plenty of food.

When: Saturday July 11th
Time: 12 noon to whenever
Where: 6447 Flora Ave S.; Seattle WA 98108

Please RSVP here if possible, so we'll know how much food to buy, but don't a lack of RSVP stop you from coming.

STIFF 2009 Awards

The STIFF 2009 Awards Ceremony happened Saturday night which resulted in the heaviest bar tab of the last ten days as it usually does.  I think that a good time was had by all who stuck around.  Emmett Montgomery hosted for the third straight year, but I was struck by how much the awards ceremony has changed the last few years.  It used to just be about the Film Challenge awards, but has started to become more and more about the presentation of the glass STIFFY awards, especially the Grand Jury Award which includes the meeting with a Hollywood Video Acquisitions Executive.  I understand why filmmakers are excited to find out who the winners of those awards are.  But it does make me wonder if we all end up putting too much emphasis on the wrong things because of it.  For me, the festival is a big party where people who love strange and beautiful films can get together for 10 days, have a great time and experience some new things.  A film festival is only as good as the films in it.  And I think that the incredible array of films that were included this year meant that STIFF 2009 was an overwhelming success. 

Only one film can win the Grand Jury Award.  But, the sum of all parts is really what makes STIFF the event that it is.  In my mind, the Sexiest Vampire STIFFY is equally important as the STIFFY for Best Feature Film.  Nothing would make me happier than to give a physical STIFFY to every filmmaker who screens their film at STIFF, but the cost is too prohibitive for us, so we are forced to just pick a handful to present actual awards to.   If there are filmmakers out there who would like to have a STIFFY of their own to put on their mantle, these “functional art” pieces can actually be purchased here: 

The winners of the STIFF 2009 Awards

2009 Grand Jury Award Winner – Bad Kung Fu (Finalists: Yesterday and Eve’s Necklace)

2009 Best Feature Film Winner – Boppin at the Glue Factory (Finalists: The Death of Alice Blue and Jackson)

2009 Audience Award – I speak soccer

2009 Most Kickass Award Winner – Bronx

Paradise

(Finalists: Frat House Massacre and Walking to the Cage)

2009 Film Challenge Award Winner – Zarkan: Son of Mahnphar, The Musical

Last Day of STIFF starts at 1:30 Today

Some of us are a bit hung over after closing down the Rendezvous' with a succession of weird shots that taste like juicy fruit.  But we are throwing in some coffee and going full bore in our final day.  Please join us as we kick off with the short film Bite Size at 1:30, which comedian Emmett Montgomery calls the best film in STIFF 2009 about a genetically engineered shark that lives in a hot tub and eats people.

There are some great films to close the night at the Jewel Box with The Providence Effect at 4PM, a shorts block at 6:15, La Cruzando at 8PM

Central Cinema closes tonight with two excellent local films:  Keep Your Day Job Superstar at 7PM and Lucella Green at 9:30.

Bronx Paradise - Tonight!

bronx paradise, originally uploaded by Clint Berquist.

One of my favorites of this year's fest is playing (Fri June 12, NWFF, 9:30 pm; Sat June 13, Rendezvous, 4 pm). Come check out Bronx Paradise. The Stranger's Lindy West says:

"An intimate, mockumentary-ish look inside one man's road rage, Bronx Paradise is a nicely constructed little hard-knock story about a bald dude named Wayne who yells a lot. A LOT. And beats the shit out of people. And punches girls in the head. All of which is confusing, because Wayne, a semicriminal family man, is the moral center of the film. His constant aggro freak-outs are grueling and the shoestring budget can't quite pull off gritty mob-movie swagger, but it has a scrappy charm."

Walk into the Cage - Tonight!

walking to the cagel, originally uploaded by Clint Berquist.

Local Filmmaker Matt Hickey takes us into the world of MMA with his independent film, Walking to the Cage. This isn't the big, high-sponsorship and high-dollar fighting that they show on Pay Per View bars like the Liquid Lime in Kirkland. This is its low-budget bastard offspring where hard-core mofos work 10 hours a day at some menial job and spend every other waking moment training to work out their aggressions by squishing somebody's head (and often pay for the privelege).

Over the holidays, Kevin Gilbert, the old STIFF Program director, was telling me about taking some classes at a gym to stay in shape and thinking about fighting in some bouts. I told him I had just seen this movie and mentioned that almost everyone had experienced some sort of injury in the process.

Filmmmaker Matt Hickey and several of the fighters will attend. Check out what the Seattle Weekly's Damon Agnos has to say about it here:

Unlisted Tonight at 7PM

unlisted, originally uploaded by Clint Berquist.

Check out this great review of the documentary Unlisted by Judy Lightfoot.  You can join us for a second screening of Unlisted tonight at Central Cinema 7PM. Filmmaker Delaney Ruston will attend and participate in a Q&A afterward.

The Weekly Wire Recommends - On Paper Wings

On Paper Wings, originally uploaded by Clint Berquist.

Kevin Capp of the Seattle Weekly recommends tonight's screening of On Paper Wings in the Weekly Wire. On Paper Wings screens tonight with Forced Into Comfort at 7PM at the Northwest Film Forum. Plenty of tickets will be available at the door. Read Kevin's review here.