BUTTERKNIFE 1: Plastic Hassle

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It’s finally here: we happily present the first episode of Joe Swanberg’s latest web series, Butterknife, embedded above.

Butterknife stars Ronald Bronstein (Frownland director/star and Joe’s Sundance Video partner) as a private detective whose frustration on the job is counterbalanced by his happy home life with his wife (played by Ronnie’s real-life wife, Mary Bronstein). We’ve done tons of coverage of Butterknife over the past few months here on SpoutBlog, all of which you can check out here. You can also go to Spout.com’s Butterknife page for more info, to watch future episodes, to talk about the show, and to sign up for email updates.

It’s no secret Karina and I have been advocates of Joe Swanberg’s films since his debut, Kissing on the Mouth, hit festivals two years ago. In light of the recent debate about conflict of interest in the film blog community, I think it’s a good time to clarify our relationship as critics/fans versus the sponsorship/distributor ventures we’ve been getting into, most recently with Butterknife.

For Spout, some may say it’s a conflict of interest for a company employing ardent supporters writing about Swanberg to then distribute his work online, as if our support has been engineered for two years to help Butterknife. So, before the record is even bent, I’ll set it straight.

We have felt since seeing Kissing on the Mouth that Joe is a filmmaker to watch. Trying to spread the word about his movies is what we do. There was no talk of distributing his work until recently. That said, after Spout’s promotion of Four Eyed Monsters in June, Joe contacted me and said he had an idea for a web series he would be shopping around later in the year. In September, he shot the first four episodes of Butterknife and showed me a rough cut. It was unanimous here, everybody wanted to show it and we bought the Internet distribution rights.

So, we officially switch hats here. We will be promoting Butterknife on SpoutBlog in the coming months. I think we’d be covering it anyway as we have all of Joe’s work, but it is true we now have more than an altruistic reason to promote it.

And now… a shameless promotion: Sign up to get notified when Butterknife is released at butterknife.spout.com.

Welcome to the Butterknife blog! This will be a combination production journal/random thought catcher. We are shooting the second half of the season in December, and I will post plenty of pictures and thoughts from the set of the show, but for now I’m excited to present the trailer, featuring scenes from the episodes we’ve already completed.

Butterknife is my idea of a “genre” project. Obviously we’re doing something really different with our private-eye, but we’re still tapping into some of the conventions and hopefully adding a memorable new character to the long list of great on-screen investigators.

We’re very grateful to spout.com for sponsoring the show and making it available for free to everyone. The first episode will premiere in January, so make sure you sign up for email alerts. You won’t want to miss it.

-Joe Swanberg

Going beneath the surface of Superbad (Judd Apatow, Seth Rogen). Questioning the “substance” of R. Kelly’s Trapped in the Closet. Also, the high school comedy that should have made it, Karina investigates whatever happened to High School Record.

Download FilmCouch #34 or subscribe in the iTunes store (search for “filmcouch” or click here to launch iTunes) and a new free episode will download every Friday. Join the FilmCouch group

Superbad Trapped in the Closet High School Record

Kevin and I get emotional about No End in Sight, a documentary on the Iraq war in theaters now. The controversy surrounding this film is the product of how comprehensive it is.

The 11th Hour–starring Leonardo DiCaprio–opens tonight. Karina Longworth asks if Leo and activism go together like icebergs and boats.

Download FilmCouch #33 or subscribe in the iTunes store (search for “filmcouch” or click here to launch iTunes) and a new free episode will download every Friday. Join the FilmCouch group

An artist takes on the remake of a canonical film by opening up the creation to the YouTube generation. Interviewing artist Perry Bard who is calling for people everywhere to shoot pieces of their lives to remake Dziga Verdov’s Man with a Movie Camera (1929) shot by shot. Also, Karina Longworth gets personal about Broken English (2007) starring Parker Posey, Gena Rowlands and directed by Zoe Casssavetes. We also discuss The Gleaners and I (2000).

Download FilmCouch #32 or subscribe in the iTunes store (search for “filmcouch” or click here to launch iTunes) and a new free episode will download every Friday. Join the FilmCouch group

Origins of story: Interviewing Justin Evans about his new book soon to be a film, A Good and Happy Child. Rescue Dawn, Werner Herzog’s new movie opened this week starring Christian Bale. We interview actor Jeremy Davies and producer Harry Knapp. It’s the fictional portrayal of Dieter Dengler, the only man to escape a POW camp and be rescued during Vietnam. Herzog made a documentary on Dengler in 1997, Little Dieter Needs to Fly.

Download FilmCouch #27 or subscribe in the iTunes store (search for “filmcouch” or click here to launch iTunes) and a new free episode will download every Friday. Join the FilmCouch group