Check it out

Haymaker & Sally co-director Jason “Reidster” Reid remains as prolific as ever. Tonight, he’ll be flaunting his acting, directing, and cinematography skills at Rawstock Media “Aural Fixation” (9:00 PM at Seattle’s Act Theater). See Reid star in “Movies Are Enjoyable” With Gary; direct Haymaker & Sally actor and co-score-writer Lil Kriz’s Vegas video; and display his cinematic eye as the Director of Photography for Grey Linings, a city symphony short.

More info here

Artwork from Vegas by Andrew Miller.

Jason “Reidster” Reid as Gary

On wikipedia the other day, the featured entry was on French novelist and playwright Honore de Balzac, and the featured image in that entry was this one:

Ding ding ding!!

Jonathan M. Lovitz, thy bell has rung!

Imagine the possibilities: young Balzac taunted for his name (it’s pronounced balZac!); sulking at his choice of a career in the law (I feel you, Honore! I feel you!); competing with Franz Liszt for women; and generally just struggling to be an awesome writer.

We could have Chris Elliott, whoever does Grey’s Anatomy (though I fear that might be a computer program, or a lonely, hormonally and emotionally unstable teenager with a library of Hallmark cards and self-help books), and me (since it was my idea) write the script, and have Michael Mann direct it (lots of close-ups, slow-mos, and sunglasses). If Sofia Coppola can make a movie about Marie Antoinette, then why can’t we make one about Balzac?

Seattle readers looking for something to do tonight:

Haymaker & Sally co-director Jason Reid was the director of photography for Grey Linings, a short appearing in the City Symphony Film Challenge at the Northwest Film Forum. Here’s the Northwest Film Forum’s snippet about the Challenge:

With all the new development happening in Seattle, there’s no better time document this cultural, architectural, and social change going on! The City has inspired filmmakers from the beginnings of cinema. This quarter’s film challenge asks Seattle filmmakers to create their own city symphony, a genre with roots that go back to the everyday images recorded by Auguste and Louis Lumière in the 1890s and came into being with MANHATTA in 1921. City Symphonies are motion pictures that capture the spirit and uniqueness of a city by assembling images of everyday life in that city. Use the city to explore ideas of reflection, space, rhythm and transformation.

You can buy tickets here.

Below you will find photos from both the New York and Seattle premieres of Haymaker & Sally.

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There are only about 14 left, though, so get to the Admiral Theater ASAP to get yours!

Yesterday, I was interviewed by the fine folks at West Seattle Blog. Click on the Haymaker & Sally action shot below to read what I had to say!

I don’t know if I’ll be able to make it, and it is a little pricey, but this one sounds really cool, and the money goes to a very worthy cause, the Innocence Project Northwest. Darryl Hunt’s a guy who did two decades in prison for a crime he didn’t commit–the second decade after DNA tests showed he wasn’t the culprit. I’m just gonna copy the press release from the UW Law School site:

Innocence Project Northwest Celebrates 10th Anniversary with Special Screening of “The Trials of Darryl Hunt”
Innocence Project Northwest (IPNW) will celebrate its 10th anniversary with a special screening of “The Trials of Darryl Hunt”, with Darryl Hunt, and his attorneys Mark Rabil and Ben Dowling-Sendor, in attendance to discuss Darryl’s 19-year struggle for freedom.

THE TRIALS OF DARRYL HUNT
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Screening begins at 7 p.m. (Please allow at least 15 minutes for check in)
Varsity Theatre
4329 University Way NE, Seattle, Washington

Since 1997, the IPNW has represented prisoners in Washington with credible claims of actual innocence. Originally a volunteer organization, the IPNW is now a clinical law program at the University of Washington School of Law. The IPNW students, professors and volunteer lawyers have successfully challenged twelve convictions in just ten years.

Most recently, the IPNW Clinic won the first reversal of a conviction in Washington based on newly discovered DNA evidence. The Washington Court of Appeals granted Ted Bradford a new trial and reversed his 1996 rape and burglary convictions on the basis of post-conviction DNA evidence. The IPNW was previously involved in overturning convictions in the Wenatchee sex-ring investigations. Forty-three people were charged with more than 29,000 counts of sexual abuse involving some 50 children. Many of the accused were poor, uneducated or developmentally disabled.

Tickets: Purchase tickets on-line: General Public $50 // Friends of IPNW $100 // Angels $250. $25 student or limited income tickets are also available. The fair market value of the event is $25.

After-party: Following the screening of “The Trials of Darryl Hunt”, the IPNW Clinic will host a reception at the Burke Museum (located just 3 short blocks from the Varsity Theatre on the northwest corner of the UW campus at the corner of 17th Ave and NE 45th St.). There will be complimentary hors d’oeuvres and beer and wine.

RSVP today!

Lincoln Playa (Chip Baker) and the Shah of Southtown (Nirav Shah) pose with Lincoln’s famous cards. Photograph taken and painted by Andrew Miller

The reviews are in, Readers, and it seems Haymaker & Sally is a hit!

Print Media:

“With enough crass dialogue to make Tarantino blush and more gunfire than the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan, the film succeeds due to its adroit pacing, silly-but-smart one-liners, a gloriously realized undercurrent of sleaze, and a bearded Special Forces villain (played by Reid himself) who’d whoop John Rambo in a staring contest.

The Seattle Weekly (emphasis theirs)
(Be sure to read this review—it’s the best summary of the movie I’ve read)

The Blogosphere:

“Isn’t destined for Cannes any time soon…some great one-liners and hysterical performances.”
B.W.o.P.

“Super cool graphics…the writing and performances were terrific”
Medusa’s Castle

So if you’re going to be in Seattle Saturday night, do yourself a favor and buy a ticket. It’s showing at the Admiral Theater in West Seattle at 9:30 PM. Tickets are $5.00, $6.12 with service fee. Get yours now—they’re going fast!

The time is upon us, readers. The Haymaker & Sally production team departs tonight for New York, where on Saturday we will premiere our opus. Stay tuned for pictures and an account of the grand showing.

The H-Man and Clyde say “if we can make it there, we’ll make it anywhere!”