“Another depressing movie for the depression,” Abel Ferrara cracked, after a screening of his 1992 film Bad Lieutenant at Anthology Film Archives on Saturday night. The screening was held to raise money for Cinema Nolita, an indie video store on the verge of having to shut down for lack of funds (they’re having another benefit tonight, a concert featuring The Virgins and a DJ set by Animal Collective). Ferrara, who lives in the neighborhood and is a regular patron of the store, turned the the post-movie Q & A into an angry but resigned meditation on the ways in which New York, indie film and the world have changed in nearly two decades, to get us from the point where someone like Ferrara could make a film on the streets of New York, to the point where someone like Ferarra may soon be unable to rent a film on the streets of New York.
“Watching this film, it’s kind of sad,” Ferrara said. “At that time, there was some kind of indie film scene going on, and we could make a film and get it distributed. Why that indie film industry isn’t there [now] is caught up in the changing times.”
Several times during the evening Ferrara grumbled over the compromises involved in getting his upcoming 50 Cent-starring Jekyl & Hyde adaptation off the ground. “We’re just trying to get the movie made, and now every movie’s being made in Grand Rapids, Michigan, even if it’s set in Liberia. I’ve never been to Grand Rapids, but they’re bending over to give movies cash [via tax incentives].”
“I don’t know if we could have made [Bad Lieutenant] in Grand Rapids,” Ferrara said, pausing to laugh to himself. “But in this day and age, if you get money to do a movie, you’re gonna go to Mars.”
Thursday, October 30, Grand Rapids, Michigan. A seemingly average midwestern city. Until the zombies invade. A throng of at least 3,370 zombies flowed through the downtown streets (it’s very likely it was over 4,000) to try and break the world record for the largest zombie walk. The event, organized by college sophomore Rob Bliss, shattered the previous record of 1,375, set just a few days earlier in the Pittsburgh suburb of Monroeville. If Monroeville sounds familiar to zombie fans, it should. The Monroeville Mall was the setting of George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead.
While Grand Rapids may not have the zombie pedigree of Monroeville, it’s no less qualified for an invasion of the living dead. Annalee Newitz recently wrote a post on io9 charting the correlation between civil unrest and zombie movie production. The results are surprisingly revealing. Given the current economic downturn, it’s no surprise that struggling post-industrial areas like Pittsburgh, and the whole state of Michigan, would see an increase in zombie invasions. If Michigan’s unemployment rate cracks 10%, I predict a complete state-wide zombie apocalypse by Halloween 2009.
A new Val Kilmer film, The Steam Experiment, is currently filming in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I got a chance to visit the set the other night, and while I wasn’t able to talk to star Val Kilmer, I did happen to record a video of Armand Assante spilling a martini all over himself (see above).
In the film, Kilmer plays a disgraced science professor with an extreme theory about how global warming will turn the general public into homicidal maniacs. In an effort to get the local paper to publish a story about his theory, he imprisons six innocent people in a steam bath and slowly turns up the heat until his demands are met. Armand Assante plays the tough detective who’s trying to thwart the diabolical plan.
I’ve lived in Grand Rapids for most of my life, and the movie thing is a new development. The state recently passed some very attractive tax incentives in hopes of luring productions to the state. As the Michigan news site Mlive.com reports, “Productions that spend $50,000 or more in Michigan are eligible to receive up to a 40 percent refundable tax credit.” These are reportedly the best tax incentives in the country. It seems to be working, as 50 films have been approved to film here so far this year.
At SXSW this last March I saw Doug Block’s documentary 51 Birch Street. I immediately wanted to show it to my family and friends. It’s just one of those films that’s complete only when you have somebody to talk about it with. The filmmaker, Doug Block, was gracious enough to let us to host a sneak preview screening here in Michigan before it opens later in New York, LA, San Francisco, Chicago, Minneapolis, and Boston.
Over the last several weeks I’ve been showing the film around to friends–by now I’ve probably watched 51 Birch Street half a dozen times. But I love showing it. I may know what happens next, but every time it ends I get to connect with people on a deeper level than what typically happens in everyday conversation. The film addresses the two most fundamental relationships we have: the one with our parents and the one with our wife/husband. What I’ve found is 51 Birch Street scratches an itch we all have, because, let’s face it, some part of our consciousness is always preoccupied with these relationships. It feels good to talk about them every once in a while.
There’s also something I’ve been thinking about around the idea of watching films in crowds. Snakes on a Plane was a blast because I saw it with a bunch of people willing to waste two hours on guaranteed good trash. 51 Birch Street isn’t as rowdy, but it’s also a film that gets better depending on who you watch it with. Although it’s airing on HBO next year, part of the reason we’re hosting this Spout event is I really want to bring it to a theater where people can watch it together, then walk across the street to the local watering hole and dig into some good conversation with each other. At Spout, we’ve always talked about bringing this type of experience to people. I think 51 Birch Street is the perfect film to start with, and there’ll be more to come. Join the 51 Birch Street Group for updates.
51 Birch Street will be showing at 8:00 Thursday, September 28th. UICA Theater
41 Sheldon Boulevard SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49503
We’ve had a bit of trouble getting this episode to go through the iTunes feed, so we hope this re-post will fix the problem. The original post, with episode description and embedded player, is here.
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