Culture Surfing

Film Love curator Andy Ditzler, who brings experimental and avant-garde cinema to Atlanta, needs your help setting up his for his screening at Landmark Midtown Arts Cinema this week. If you have a half-hour to kill around 1 p.m. or 6:30 p.m. tomorrow (Thursday) please e-mail info@frequentsmallmeals.com.

This week’s Film Love is part of the Out on Film Festival. The weeklong event of contemporary films dealing with LGBTQ themes concludes by delving into two of Andy Warhol’s most influential works of the 1960s.

Blow Job (1964) features the titular sex act performed on an anonymous jacketed male. But don’t get too excited … the camera is focused on the man’s face for the film’s 36-minute running time. For this reason, the work reads as an intimate of exploration of human sexuality and excitation rather than an explicit portrait of oral sex.

The second film, My Hustler (1965) focuses on the same themes as Blow Job but in a vastly different way. Largely improvised by its actors, the raucous comedy focuses on Ed Hood, a Harvard grad student out for a weekend on Fire Island with the beautiful (but rented) Paul America.

$10. 7 p.m. Thurs., Oct. 8. Landmark Midtown Arts Cinema. 678-495-1424. www.landmarktheatres.com.

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Hollywood has lost another great director.

John Hughes, director of The Breakfast Club and writer of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off died earlier today at age 59 from an apparent heart attack.

Hughes was well known for creating his own unique spin on kid and teenage genre movies. He addressed the often awkward journey of teenagers, now and forever labeled as “teen angst,” with nostalgic humor and a surprising respect. Instead of the typical after school special hot topics of drugs and peer pressure, Hughes focused on the everyday situations teens face like acceptance, class, and the various tribulations of navigating through the high school social hierarchy. Starting with his first teen movie Sixteen Candles, Hughes re-engineered the genre set a new standard of family filmmaking.

Twitter is abuzz with testimonies from celebrities and fans alike. On CelebrityTweet.com Hollywood notables chimed in and shared their thoughts on his passing:

Diablo Cody: Truly saddened by passing of John Hughes. Was an idol to this magna-zoom-dweebie.

Ben Stiller: John Hughes…made so many classics. GREAT film maker. Planes Trains and Automobiles an underrated gem. influenced comedy in a huge way.

Kevin Smith: The flag’s at half-mast in Shermer, Illinois: John Hughes, the man who spoke for geeks way before anyone else did.

Fred Durst: I’m so sad about John Hughes. My sincere regards to his family and friends. His films and writing have been a huge (cont) http://tl.gd/bvj3

Chris Jericho: RIP-John Hughes Planes, Trains, and Automobiles is one of my top ten favorite movies of all time…

Marlee Matlin: So sad to hear that John Hughes passed. Home Alone, Breakfast Club. Was a fan. It’s been a tough year in Hollywood.

Larry King: Movie director John Hughes has died. What a shock! He was 59. What’s your favorite John Hughes movie?

In Atlanta, Criminal Records has posted several tweets about Hughes’ passing and his influence including a message informing followers of an upcoming memorial event:

@CriminalRecords: next Tuesday (Aug. 11), the W hotel at Perimeter is showing “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” for free, poolside: http://tr.im/vNSg

If you’re a fan of the music from Hughes’ films (and who isn’t), imeem.com has a created a “RIP John Hughes” where you can hear 39 songs featured in the movies. Sign up is free.

In memoriam, here’s a fan clip from youtube with one of his film’s most popular songs, “Don’t you forget about me” by Simple Minds.

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Day Two: 8:32 p.m.

Ferret Goddess Productions joined the many other filmmaking groups to get their films into the vault by 7:30 p.m. There was definitely mixed feelings of anxiety, nervousness, and excitement happening at the Atlanta Film Festival this evening.

For those who want to see all the films from the 48 Hour Film Project, they will be screened this week, from Tuesday, June 30 through Thursday, July 1 at Midtown Art Cinema. You can get more information at www.atlantafilmfestival.com. To buy your tickets for the event, simply go to www.ticketalternative.com.

It will definitely be an entertaining evening of impromptu films, and there will be a chance for the audience to vote for their favorite.

Hope all of you come out to support local filmmakers and the 48 Hour Film Project.

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Day Two: 15 Minutes Left

One person at ATL Film Festival.  One driving with the tape.  One driving there with the paperwork.  One driving there with the second tape.  Five hours of sleep in two days, and stress headaches, but what a great way to spend a weekend!

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Day Two: 9:03 a.m.

After wrapping, the final task of editing begins and goes all through the night.  With a 7:00 p.m. deadline, there is no time to spare!  And soon, the rest of the crew will be stirring and making sure to get all of the details ready to add to the final version.

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Day Two: 8:37 p.m.

And it’s a wrap for shooting Moment of Clarity!

Time for alcohol and lude analogies on 3 hours of sleep!

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Day Two: 7:40 p.m.

Down to the last thing, and Ferret Goddess begins planning ahead for tomorrow’s long day of editing. The most important detail being to Photoshop photos to add to the film, just so the audience fully understands how deep the characters really are!

Must also to have background music, and credits, and voiceovers, and so much more to coordinate before the editor gets the tape.

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Day Two: 7:01 p.m.

Thank goodness for Zesto after being soaked in the rain!

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Day One: 5:56 p.m.

It would start to drizzle during the last outdoor shot that Ferret Goddess has to film.  Of course, what this really means is that the script gets interpretted to fit the conditions.  So, for those who will watch the film, just imagine that it rains in the morning and gets sunny 30 minutes later, like really sunny.

That happens all the time, right?

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Day One: 4:54 p.m.

Hello Party House!

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Day One: 3:50 p.m.

To the inventor of air conditioning,

Thank you.

Sincerely,

The Crew of Ferret Goddess Productions

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Day One: 3:28 p.m.

When you are amateur group of filmmakers, like Ferret Goddess, there are always new things to learn when creating the perfect scene. Today, the crew learned that if a slutty, cleavage-bearing nurse attacks the main character, beating him profusely with her heels and a stethoscope, then it is likely that her boobs might come out during the shot.

Oh well! Live and learn, and save for the outtakes reel on the DVD.

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Day One: 2:19 p.m.

Time to smoke and drink as much water as possible.  It may only be 94 degrees, but it feels like 100, after being outside in the sun for 3 hours.  The heat causes a few problems, like fake mustaches falling off, and actors getting sunburned in the middle of a take. 

The crew of Ferret Goddess Productions is definitely ready to finish up and get back to filming dialogue shots, preferably by a pool.

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Day One: 2:11 p.m.

No, the girl in the short, cleavage-bearing nurses uniform is not a real hooker, so cars, please stop honking.

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