Check out the last-minute shout-out to Visioneers!

An audience favorite at B-Side partners Austin, CineVegas, Oxford, and Atlanta Film Festivals, B-Side Entertainment’s recent acquisition VISIONEERS exploded onto the street this week and is now available everywhere DVDs are sold. It can also be added to your Netflix and Blockbuster queues and if you need some inspiration, here is a review from an amazon user, “… like a Harold Pinter play got into a fist fight with Office Space, tripped over Lynch and fell into a puddle of Farenheit 451.” If that description is not enough to make you run out and purchase and/or rent the DVD, then knowing it stars the bearded-comedic-genius Zach Galifianakis will be the just the push you need.

Buy Visioneers on DVD now!

Also available at Amazon.com, Netflix, Blockbuster, Best Buy, Borders, and other fine retailers.

2,000 Zach Galifianakis fans can’t be wrong – host your own screening of Visioneers and you could win a trip to NY or LA to attend a special Visioneers event with Zach in attendance!

Visioneers on the web – on Twitter – on Facebook

RIP screening at NYU

A missive from Liz Ogilvie, our VP of Marketing in NYC, about the May 1st screening of RIP! A Remix Manifesto.

With New York City being bombarded by a massive rainstorm it did not come as a surprise when we received an update from the director Brett Gaylor that his early morning flight from Montreal was delayed into JFK. Thinking the weather would pass in time for the RIP! A REMIX MANIFESTO screening and panel discussion, we were on the edge of our seats when the Twitter updates throughout the day from Brett informed us he would be arriving into Manhattan just as the intro was taking place at Wollman Auditorium, Cooper Union at 6:30 p.m.

Wearing waterproofs and galoshes we headed downtown to meet with Howard Weinberg, President of The New York Film/Video Council and Rina Pantalony, Professor, NYU Tisch School of the Arts who had organized the event where we reluctantly accepted the fact there would be no filmmaker and no audience. However, it takes more than a downpour to keep a New York audience away and before long the theater filled up and within seconds to screening time Brett rushed in, set up his laptop, and screened the Ann Arbor Film Festival audience award-winning version of RIP! [it had been mashed since its premiere at SxSW.

The audience responded with boos and cheers and when it came time for the panel discussion Rina was joined by Brett (center in the picture above), Brad Lichtenstein (Director/Blogger, What We Got: DJ Spooky’s Journey to the Commons at left in photo) and Bruce Sinofsky (Co-Director, Metallica: Some Kind of Monster, at right) to a very heated debate about the copyright war from both the audience and panelists.

Photo credit: Peter Bihr

B-Side raunch-fest selection “Phone Sex Grandma” recently surpassed a quarter million views on You Tube. Nine and a half minutes of pure profanity laced creep-itude, the short shows Grandma Opal (the filmmaker’s mother… no kidding) hard at work operating her in-home phone sex line. I never get offended as I easily have the foulest mouth of anyone at B-Side, but “Phone Sex Grandma” gave me a serious case of the “ickies” – a case that still reverberates over a year after my first viewing. That being said, it’s awesome and provocative and points a long ruby-red-fingernail-tipped-finger at sex line callers who truly believe that the babe on the other end of the line is a blonde 36-24-36 bombshell.

NEW: Dirt Road to Psychedelia: Austin Texas during the 1960s

New to B-Side is the Scott Conn-directed music doc “Dirt Road to Psychedelia: Austin Texas during the 1960s”. Examining Austin’s critical part in shaping the psychedelic scene of the era, “Dirt Road” provides historical footage and uncommon insight into the birth of the psychedelic music movement by way of folky Janis Joplin and purveyors of psych the 13th Floor Elevators (fronted by legendary rock hero Roky Erickson). Music fans, especially those of Janis and Roky, as well as popular modern neo-psychedelic band The Black Angels (who recently toured around the film) will dig the jams as well as the historical reference.

NEW: Shadow Company

Also new is the investigative doc “Shadow Company” that scrutinizes the modern day phenomenon of “Private Military Contractors” — more commonly known as mercenaries. With an estimated 20,000 contractors currently on the ground in Iraq and with last year’s Blackwater scandal, the film asks where do these people come from and what compels them to fight for money regardless of the side they are on?

Interested in distributing your film through B-Side? Contact Steph Layton in Acquisitions.

New to B-Side is the stark and inventive documentary “Scouts are Cancelled” that uniquely documents the writings of Canadian poet John Stiles and visually interprets his commentary on small town life in rural Nova Scotia. Recently screened at celebrated B-Side partner festival Hot Docs, the film received a glowing analysis in the current issue of the critical film journal CineACTION.

CICADAS

Great news for Austin filmmaker Kat Candler — her beautifully sweet coming of age story “cicadas” will screen as part of WNET’s REEL 13 series on July 19.

BLOOD CAR

“Are gas prices killing you?” B-Side 40 Fridays* favorite “Blood Car” is back on bside.com after screening at the prestigious Edinburgh International Film Festival last week. Part social commentary, part B-Movie slasher flick, part beer-out-your nose ridiculous comedy, Blood Car has enough sex-crazed, bloodthirsty vegans and inappropriate humor to satisfy everyone — and as the CIA agent says in the film “killing people for fuel is not racist… it’s patriotic”. Celebrate your freedom… buy Blood Car!

*40 Fridays – proper noun 1. Research. 2. B-Side working stiffs’ excuse to start the weekend early, watch movies, and drink malt liquor.

Interested in distributing your film through B-Side? Contact Steph Layton in Acquisitions.

Ever wondered what all that nonsense on the Dr. Bronner’s soap bottle means? “A documentary about obsession, compassion and all-purpose soap”, the weird and wonderful “Dr Bronner’s Magic Soapbox” makes its way to B-Side this month and will answer all your questions about the “Moral ABCs” and “Spaceship Earth”… AND make your parts tingle.

New this month is the mumble-riffic “Confusions of an Unmarried Couple”. Fresh off a hugely successful festival run, “Confusions”, helmed by the Canadian Butler Brothers, chronicles the insecurities and dysfunctions of modern romance. With fiery, realistic dialogue, this movie will surely please mumblecore devotees and ordinary film fans alike.

Also new, the documentary “Dreams on Spec” follows three Hollywood screenwriters as they struggle to see their cinematic visions become reality. With interviews by such luminous talking heads as James L. Brooks and Nora Ephron, will these writers overcome near-constant rejection and humiliation to have their stories seen on the big screen?

No budget? No problem! B-Side is always looking to discover new films and help find them an audience.

Interested in distributing your film through B-Side? Contact Steph Layton in Acquisitions.

But don’t take our word for it, just ask the audiences of the 20+ film festivals where Blood Car has played and won awards. And take a gander at these here glowing sentences of praise:

“As its title admits, ” Blood Car” is conceptually on the primitive side. What lifts it above most low-budget horror comedies (Troma-tized or not) is the loopy, off-kilter humor director/co-scenarist Alex Orr and collaborators bring to the table. There’s something charming about the feature even at its most cheerfully tasteless …” – Variety

“Awesome. Completely awesome. So far in this festival this is the only movie I’ve seen that I’ve thought was a runaway hit.” – Ten Movies to See Before You Die

“The world two weeks from now is a little absurd, and it must be seen to be understood. Grab a bottle of wheatgrass spiked with a squirt of hemoglobin and let “Blood Car” take you for a ride.” – Film Threat

Our fondest memory of Blood Car is the recent midnight screening at the Austin Film Festival, where an audience fueled by caffeine and other substances hooted appreciatively in all the right places. When the lights came back up, Director Alex Orr and producer Tony Holley answered crucial questions about nudity and meat into the wee hours.

Blood Car is available for purchase on DVD or download from the B-Side store at http://www.bloodcar.com/store/.

- Chris Holland

Short: Trevor’s in Heaven

Trevor’s in Heaven is a wickedly funny film by Alec Brownstein that was B-Side’s favorite short at the 2006 Austin Film Festival. It’s also one of the highest rated films on the site. There have been a lot of funny (and not so funny) comedies about dysfunctional families….generating laughs out of all kinds of painful and awkward situations. We think this one is among the best. Don’t let the early tone fool you. It’s hysterical.

Feature: A. (anonymous)

Speaking of painful situations, what if you had a behavioral syndrome that too obscure to merit its own support group? Like a compulsion to wear extremely tight pants. Or an insatiable desire to run things over with your car. In director Daniel Bowers’ very funny mockumentary A. (anonymous), help awaits in a startup group open to the full spectrum of obscure phobias, compulsions and physical shortcomings. During its festival run in 2006, the NY Times called this one “hilarious…I nearly fell out of my seat.” We screened it in the B-Side office with some Friday beers and had a great time.

Feature Doc: Beat Makers

B-Side has had much success with docs that shine a light on hidden corners of the music industry (see: Before the Music Dies and What is Indie?). Our latest is Beat Makers, directed by Laron Austin, which digs into the never-ending hustle of young producers trying to make it in the intensely competitive music business. The film taps into trackmasters at various stages of their careers, as they struggle to make (and keep) a name for themselves. It’s a cool window into the birth of the beats that get our heads bobbing.

Check ‘em out. I hope that tides you over for now…there’s much more on the way.

Later.

B-Side Steve

Shorts

Our latest shorts run the gamut from documentary to experimental.

11:11 takes the classic relationship narrative and turns it literally upside down. The film runs backwards — not like “Memento,” where the timeline is reversed, but the footage is actually run backwards. English becomes a foreign language (subtitled), broken things mend, and gravity reversed. As director Esther Peres explains, “Telling a break up story backwards takes unfortunate events and turns them around.”

11:11 premiered at the Boston International Film Festival, where it was described as “Intellectually challenging and visually engaging, 11:11 plays like a sexy foreign film but is really a hip-hop comedy in reverse.”

Space Thing is a collage of black and white imagery employing photographs, super 8 home movies and stop-motion animation to recall the fragmented nature of dreams and old memories; it was inspired by, and features, the electronic music of Manherringbone. Directed by Tim Busko, Space Thing has screened at several major film festivals include the 2006 Slamdance Film Festival.

Unicorn Pride is a short documentary about a small Texas town’s community who claims to be the only high school in the nation with a Unicorn mascot. Kooky faculty, fanatical parents and students take their dedication of the Unicorn to another level. Mystical Creature or not: Unicorn Pride is justified. Directed by Linnea Toney, Unicorn Pride premiered at the Boston International Film Festival.

Features

Our highlighted features this week look at death from 3 very different angles.

The Boy Who Loved Hearses tells the unlikely story of John Keel. John Keel’s passion was cars; and the cars he loved above all others were hearses. He adored them. He studied them. By the time John was fifteen he was considered by many to be North America’s greatest expert on hearses. By age sixteen John had memorized the entire catalog of every US-made hearse ever built, and had begun working on a comprehensive history of the American hearse. By the age of eighteen John Keel was dead, the cause of his death is still a mystery. Directed by Nicholas Kalikow, this documentary is the story of an all-too-short life, and the remarkable effect his brief existence had on all those who knew and loved him.

Shoot George is the story of George Baxter, an idealistic young screenwriter whose dreams of writing nonviolent movies are ruining his career. But when George mysteriously discovers a handgun on his doorstep, his fortunes suddenly change. This wild comedy of errors reveals the truth about guns, secret identities, and big box office. Directed by Adam Nadler, Shoot George premiered at the Woodstock Film Festival.

Infidel is the story of a street preacher who encounters a man in a greasy rib joint, and becomes convinced that she has been chosen by God to bring this solitary stranger to Jesus. What she doesn’t realize is that he is a hired killer staking out the restaurant as he lies in wait for his intended victim. Both the preacher lady and the hit man are determined to carry out their mission. No matter what it takes. Written and directed by Peter O’Keefe, Infidel premiered at the Rome International Film Festival.

We hope you like these as much as we do. As always, please let us know what you think, and check back next week for more new releases.

- Chris

Today I am excited to announce 6 new b-side films. We have 3 new features, and our first 3 shorts.

This collection should give you a bit of insight into the broad range of films you can expect to find on b-side. Our commitment is to bring you the best films from the festival circuit that you won’t likely find anywhere else. No one person is going to love them all, but each one has an audience out there.

Shorts

We have three great new shorts on b-side to introduce from two new directors, both of whom have made (very different) films inspired by their mothers.

The first are a pair from filmmaker Leah Meyerhoff.

Twitch tells the poignant story of a young girl torn between two worlds: her domestic life where she must care for her wheelchair-bound mother and her escape into the emerging world of sexuality with her eager, hormone-addled boyfriend. A Student Academy Awards finalist, and Slamdance Grand Jury Prize winner, Twitch has screened in over 100 film festivals and won a dozen international awards. Twitch is currently airing on IFC and Skandinavia TV.

Twitch features Toni Meyerhoff, the director’s mother and inspiration for this project. She was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis shortly before her daughter was born, and has been in a wheelchair ever since. This is her first acting role.

Team Queen is an award-winning music video from Meyerhoff that has played at over 80 film festivals. In this “gender-bending, fire-breathing, tassel-twirling, post-punk rock ‘n roll prom,” the new girl in school is thrown into a topsy-turvy madhouse of high school hellcats. The cheerleaders are drag queens, the nerds are nymphomaniacs, the punks breathe fire, and the prom band is none other than the all-girl, post-punk phenomenon Triple Creme. Featuring the best of New York burlesque: including Murray Hill, Julie Atlas Muz, Tigger, and Scotty the Blue Bunny.

On a very different note, we have the first film from director Jack Truman. Phone Sex Grandma is, in every sense of the word, exactly what it says: a 60-something Grandma working a phone sex line in a small Southern ghost town. This shocking short has blown minds at over a dozen film festivals including Slamdance and Cinequest. Roger Ebert’s response was “you’ve got a hit,” and John Malkovich followed with “you’ve got a BIG hit.”

Opal Dockery, the star (and only cast member), is the mother of director Jack Truman. Definitely not for everyone — Phone Sex Grandma has been (fairly) compared to The Aristocrats.

Doc Feature

Our latest doc feature is the beautiful and affecting Garlic and Watermelons. A year before the Athens 2004 Summer Olympics, forty Gypsy families were forced to abandon their settlement next to the main Olympic stadium so that the land could be used for a parking lot. A hit at over a dozen international film festivals, Garlic and Watermelons chronicles their humble battle against racism and poverty.

Narrative Features

Our new narrative features are a pair of comedies that share a connection with James Joyce.

Double Spaced follows the plight of Berkeley grad student Raymond Carey, who has spent the last nine years revising his doctoral dissertation on James Joyce. With the new budget crunch, he’ll be forced out Berkeley’s back door jobless and degree-less unless he can pull through and submit his dissertation by semester’s end. Ray’s professor, Dr. Hansel, agrees to sign off on the dissertation if Ray employs his powers of seduction to test the devotion of Grace, the professor’s mail-order bride.

A Joyce Story is the tale of the owner of the James Joyce Irish Bar, who is about to lose the two most important things to him in life – his wife and his bar. He has only a few hours to figure out how to keep both while dealing the wide assortment of characters always present at his bar.

That’s it for today. Check ‘em out, tell your friends, and let us know what you think.

- Chris