Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project (Documentary)

Marion Stokes

Woman Records TV Programs 24 Hours Daily for 33 Consecutive Years, Archived on 70,000 VHS and Betamax Tapes

Marion Stokes (1929-2012) was a librarian and access television producer who began recording television programs around the clock, beginning in 1979, ending in 2012 upon her death. The recorded TV shows consisted mainly of news broadcasts from stations such as CNN, C-SPAN, CNBC, etc. She had as many as eight VCR machines recording at once, throughout her home. Each videotape had a 6 hour recording limit, so Stokes and her husband arranged their daily routines and schedules so at least one of them was around to switch the tapes when needed.

The result of this was that, after 33 years, she amassed a collection of  71,716 videotapes with a total of 840,000 hours of recorded television programs.

Wow! This makes even Weird Paul look like a slacker archivist .

She also collected newspapers, magazines and computers. All of these were stored in numerous apartments and storage units.

Help Kickstart The Lo-Fi Life of Weird Paul

Scheduled for release in 2017 is the second documentary focusing on "Weird" Paul Petroskey, called Will Work for Views: The Lo-Fi-Life of Weird Paul. It's described as "a documentary film 30 years in the making."

Shooting has finished but now Eric Michael Schrader, the director, has launched a Kickstarter campaign to help with various costs in order to complete the movie, market it and enter it in film festivals.

Here is what the money will go towards:

• Color Correction
• Audio Post Sound Mixing
• Marketing
• Film Festival Costs
• Travel Costs for Talent and Essential Crew

How To Build A Time Machine

How to Build a Time Machine - Teaser from Jay Cheel on Vimeo.

poster by Jesse Philips

How to Build a Time Machine

Directed by Jay Cheel
Produced by Kristina McLaughlin, Kevin McMahon, Roman Pizzacalla
Executive Produced by Michael McMahon
Cinematography by Jay Cheel
facebook.com/TimeMachineDoc
twitter.com/TimeMachineDoc
fastandscientific.com

For information: jay.w.cheel@gmail.com

How to Build a Time Machine is the story of two men, both inspired by H.G. Wells' 'The Time Machine', who have set out on a quest to build their own time machines.

When Rob Niosi decided to build a full scale replica of the time machine prop from George Pal's adaptation of H.G. Wells' novella 'The Time Machine', he had no idea what he was getting himself into. The three month project is now in its eleventh year, and he's not sure it will ever end. His perfectionist attitude and obsessive nature -- cultivated by years of detail oriented, time consuming work as a stop-motion animator -- has elevated his machine from prop replica to a true work of art. His goal? To capture the impression he had as a kid when he first laid eyes on the beautiful machine.

When Ronald Mallett was a young boy, his Father died unexpectedly of a heart attack. This event turned his world upside down. He became ostracized from his friends and family and found solace in science fiction. It was H.G. Wells' The Time Machine that inspired Ron to pursue a career in physics. His goal? To build a time machine so he could go back and save his Father.

'Stripped' Documentary

Stripped is a documentary movie described as "a love-letter to comic strips". Several of the the most well-known newspaper cartoonists are interviewed about their jobs and how dwindling newspapers are changing the landscape of the comic strip business.

Some of the big names who took part in the movie include Dan Pirraro, Jim Davis, Jeff Keane, Bill Amend,  Lynn Johnston, Cathy Guisewite and Mort Walker. See a more extensive list at http://www.strippedfilm.com/about/.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the documentary is the fact that producers/directors Dave Kellett and Frederick Schroeder were able to score an interview with the biggest name of all. Bill Watterson, the retired and reclusive creator of Calvin and Hobbes, granted an interview although it is audio only. Still, this is the first-ever recorded interview of Watterson, so that is quite a coup.

If that's not amazing enough, Watterson also drew the movie's poster which strippedfilm.com states is his first cartoon in 19 years!

But wait! There's more!

Ten of the movie posters will be given away at the movie's premiere.

Stripped poster by Bill Watterson

Tickets now avail for the @STRIPPEDFILM premiere! We're giving away 10 Watterson posters that night! http://t.co/qvmed5X5Fe

— STRIPPED documentary (@strippedfilm) March 10, 2014

So if you enjoy reading comic strips, you just might enjoy Stripped.

James A. Roberson Loves Bad Movies

James A. Roberson is the self-proclaimed “Ed Wood of Cartoon Humor”. If you are familiar with Wood's work (woodwork?) as a film director, you might think that is nothing to brag about. However, Roberson's I Love Bad Movies comic strip is not only an affectionate tribute to crappy cinema, it's also quite funny.

visit www.jarhumor.com

I was fortunate enough to correspond with James by email and he agreed to answer ten questions for this blog.
 

An Interview with James A. Roberson


1. What is your favourite bad movie?

I like that you understand the idea of a good “Bad Movie.” Some people don’t get it. I've always defined a “Bad Movie” as any cheaply made movie that’s too weird for the mainstream, but still has a great deal of entertainment value.

And I don’t know if I can name a single film that I love the most, but there is a type of bad movie I really like... The 80’s Sci-fi Horror. Films like, Chopping Mall, Night of the Comet, TerrorVision, The Return of the Living Dead, Night of the Creeps... you get the idea.

2. When did you start I Love Bad Movies?

In 2004, I started making comics, but I really didn't do much with them because I was focused on becoming a filmmaker. (I was making my own bad movies with friends.)

Then in 2008, I got back into doing comics, and I made one about a group of friends making bad movies. And I called it “I Love Bad Movies.”

That’s when I started getting it out there and BadMovies.org and RogueCinema.com started using it on their sites. And Rogue Cinema still updates my comic every month, so I’m really grateful for that.

3. Is your comic just a hobby or do you have more ambitious plans for it?

The “I Love Bad Movies” comic is still something I do, but it’s a part of a bigger cartoon universe I've created called JARHUMOR. Which includes spoof B-movie posters and funny t-shirts that have a Sci-fi Horror theme.

I’m slowly moving away from the name “I Love Bad Movies” because of ILoveBadMovies.com and the bad movie zine they publish. I like what they do and I think the name fits them better.

I am planning to do a comic book based on the comic strip and my poster art, but it will be called JARHUMOR and the artwork will be a lot better.

4. How would you describe your style?

I call myself “The Ed Wood of Cartoon Humor” because like Ed Wood I have all these great ideas, but I don’t have the skills to make them happen the way I see them in my head.

I never took the time to develop my drawing skills like I should have; I always focused on writing jokes. So, my lack of skill has become my style, (which works in a world where anyone can create a perfect circle in Photoshop.)

5. What tools of the trade do you use to create your comic?

I draw everything by hand, then I scan it, then I use Photoshop to make into something.

And it’s because of the magic of Photoshop that I never have to draw a thing more than once. (This laziness is the reason I never developed my drawing skills.) So, even if you’re looking at a NEW comic, most of the characters and talking balloons were drawn in 2008.

Oh, and the lettering (that looks hand-drawn) is a font I created based on my hand writing. Yep, it’s all smoke and mirrors.

And if you can’t get Photoshop, I would recommend the software GIMP, which is free.

6. Do you plan on making any more motion comics on YouTube?

I’m surprised you've seen them, they’re on my old RobersonHorror YouTube! They’re only 30secs long and an amazing pain in the ass to make. I made them with Adobe Premiere using keyframe editing.

I keep trying to find an easier way of doing them; I even recorded the voice-overs for new ones. I really need to create some new stuff for my JARHUMOR YouTube.

7. You post your comic on several social sites (Blogger, Tumblr, Pinterest, etc.) Which do you prefer?

Most webcartoonist use something called ComicPress on WordPress. I've never used it, but I admire people who are disciplined enough to regularly update their stuff.

I just randomly throw my crap up online. I think Tumblr is great for comics; Pinterest is good for sharing my funny t-shirts... You really have to get your stuff up on as many sites as possible.

There’s a film by the street artist Banksy called “Exit Through the Gift Shop” which is partly about a wannabe artist named Mr. Brainwash who has made a ton of money just by promoting the hell out of his crappy art.

It’s all about promoting!

8. What would you say has been your most popular strip?

Rifftrax was kind enough to repost one of my comics on their Tumblr. It was when they were doing a Birdemic LIVE and my comic is about me making a film called Catdemic. And people really responded well to that one.

9. Who is your favourite horror movie host, if any?

I grew up watching Dr Shock’s X-Ray Chiller Theater; so there’s a special place in my heart for him. I also consider the guys from Mystery Science Theater 3000 as horror hosts and I’ve been really influenced by them.

And I’ve always had a huge crush on Elvira!

10. Have you ever been to a drive-in theater?

I went as a kid, but in the late 80’s, early 90’s; so, it wasn’t a classic drive-in experience. Just whatever lame Hollywood movie had out that summer. My greatest movie experiences were staying up late and watching cheesy horror movies on cable or renting them from a Mom and Pop video store.
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Thank you, James, for taking time to answer my questions. Those are very informative answers.

From this, I learned that James and I have quite a few things in common besides our love of B-movies. We both love Return of the Living Dead. We both love Elvira (how could you not?) Finally, we both like making fun of Twilight.

I'm looking forward to that comic book, too.

WEIRD PAUL: A LO FIDELITY DOCUMENTARY

One of the reasons I like writing these blogs is to talk about obscure or forgotten movies that some people may not be aware of. For this entry, I'm gonna talk about a documentary that I haven't seen, about a musician I didn't even know about up until a few days ago. Credit must go to retroist.com, which brought Weird Paul Petroskey to my attention. When Weird Paul videotaped himself, showing him doing a McDonald's food review and uploaded it to his Youtube channel, the video went viral. That's only fitting because it's as if it were made just for that site even though it was 1984! Since then he's been posting something regularly from his personal video archives. Several of those videos show the young, budding musician playing his guitar and performing songs. Eventually, he started writing his own songs, releasing them and performing small concerts. Some might call him an obscure version of "Weird Al" Yankovic.

Cover art of Weird Paul documentary

Fast forward a couple decades later and he's still at it. Petroskey has garnered followers in the underground music scene. In 2001, filmmaker Stacey Goldschmidt began filming the Pittsburgh native, culminating in the release of Weird Paul: A Lo Fidelity Documentary in 2006.

Project Grizzly

Project Grizzly by Peter Lynch, National Film Board of Canada

If you've ever watched the heartbreaking documentary Grizzly Man, you know that sadly, bears of any kind

Troy Hurtubise wearing grizzly armor

won't pass up a chance to make a meal out of you if they're hungry enough. You can't just pal around with bears and not expect them to at least take a sample bite out of you.

That's why you have to be prepared like Troy Hurtubise.

After a random encounter with a grizzly bear that left him unharmed,  Hurtubise decided he wanted to track down the beast to study it in close proximity. Wanting to avoid the fate that Timothy Treadwell would later face, Hurtubise designed a "grizzly-proof" suit  that would allow him to do so.

The armored suit's appearance and lack of mobility can be compared to an overweight Robocop with arthritis. The rigorous tests the suit is put through (many while Hurtubise is wearing it) is not unlike some of the stunts you would see Johnny Knoxville and the Jackass gang performing. In fact, that's what this movie is. It's Jackass meets Robocob meets Jellystone Park. Yogi Bear would not have liked this Roboranger Smith.

Is the suit a success or failure? Is Hurtubise a few sandwiches short of a picnic basket? Watch for yourself and find out.

SCORE: 3.5 out of 5

Manhunt: The Search for Castmates

Manhunt: TSFC movie poster

"Manhunt: The Search for Castmates" is a short mockumentary about another documentary film called "Hotel Torgo".

It humourously attempts to shed light on what really is the truth behind the deaths and mysterious disappearances of the cast and crew of the 1966 horror film, "Manos: The Hands of Fate". The making of Manos is the subject of Hotel Torgo along with cast and crew member, Bernie Rosenblum, whom the producers claimed was the last surviving member of the former film as of 2004. In the interest of debunking some myths and setting the record straight, Manhunt: TSFC examines what the makers of Hotel Torgo got right and what they got wrong as a result of laziness.

Put together using film clips, curated interviews and researched information from several sources, Manhunt: TSFC is an affectionate tribute to both "Manos" and "Hotel Torgo". I hope you enjoy this short docucom.

Please note that this video was created using public domain material along with some that was used either with permission or under a Creative Commons license. Some original dialogue was also written and recorded  and added to a couple scenes. Sources are listed below video.

A Very Gerry X-Mas!

Film Junk Presents: A Very Gerry X-Mas! from Jay Cheel on Vimeo.

If you've ever wanted to see how a Trekkie celebrates Christmas, then watching the docu-comedy A Very Gerry X-mas is a good way to do it.

The opening credits feature beautiful stop-motion animation by Rob Niosi in an obvious tribute to the Rankin/Bass specials, specifically Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer.

The star of the show is the eccentric and frugal Gerry (aka Reed Farrington) who attempts to bake and build a gingerbread house while battling a cold and decorates his Christmas tree as only a Trekkie would.

Part of the charm of this would-be holiday classic is that the bloopers have been left in. It also has a touching moment as Gerry tells a story of an unopened present that was never presented to the intended recipient. Does this remind anyone of the Island of Misfit Toys?

Of course, what would a holiday special be without a message? I'm not sure what that message is in this one was but it has one, with a special appearance by Film Junk's Frank Knezic.

It might not be It's A Wonderful Life but it is worth watching.