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We make no secret of our love for The American Astronaut and Stingray Sam eccentric Cory McAbee in these parts. A multi-talented musician, writer and director there's simply nobody else quite like McAbee anywhere in the world and any time he undertakes any new endeavor it's something to celebrate.Cue up McAbee's latest effort, a solo musical effort that he performs under his own name - a playful riff on motivational seminars he labels Small Star Seminars with McAbee himself taking on the role of an ultra sincere motivational speaker who encourages people to be quiet and accept their limitations.You can find all of the Small Star Seminar songs over at Bandcamp and, true to form, McAbee has released some very odd visual accompaniments, including the...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

There’s always something a little magical about capturing child spontaneity in a narrative context. Northern California emigre Cory McAbee (of cult favorite The American Astronaut) made his daughter an integral part of 2009’s hilarious sci-fi musical Stingray Sam, then starred by then seven-year-old Willa and two-year-old John in last year’s freewheeling short feature Crazy & Thief. Their unchaperoned adventures on the streets of NYC are echoed by native New Yorker Alexandre Rockwell’s Little Feet, in which his own son and daughter wander L.A.’s Echo Park over an hour’s whimsical course.>> - Dennis Harvey...

There’s always something a little magical about capturing child spontaneity in a narrative context. Northern California emigre Cory McAbee (of cult favorite The American Astronaut) made his daughter an integral part of 2009’s hilarious sci-fi musical Stingray Sam, then starred by then seven-year-old Willa and two-year-old John in last year’s freewheeling short feature Crazy & Thief. Their unchaperoned adventures on the streets of NYC are echoed by native New Yorker Alexandre Rockwell’s Little Feet, in which his own son and daughter wander L.A.’s Echo Park over an hour’s whimsical course.>> - Dennis Harvey...

Back in 2010, writer, director and musician Cory McAbee shot "Crazy and Thief," a no-budget (well, $1500 budget) film featuring his two young children Willa Vy McAbee and John Huck McAbee, with little thought about who would eventually see the sweet film, which involves the two kids, a homemade star chart, a cyclops, a giant and a time machine. McAbee, writer and director of "The American Astronaut" and "Stingray Sam," had just written a screenplay for another project, which was very dark and violent. "I reached a point where I thought if I get to make one film before I died, I didn't want it to be that film. I would want to make this film ("Crazy and Thief") because it's kind, and I don't that to mean 'nice.' I view kindness as a form of bravery. It's also about time and it's a portrait of childhood," McAbee recently told Indiewire by phone.

The Sundance Institute has 13 independent films available through a variety of platforms to rent, download or stream via the Institute’s Artist Services program. Titles include 2012 Sundance Film Festival films Detropia, I Am Not a Hipster, The Atomic States of America, and We’re Not Broke. For full details on where to access these films, please visit sundance.org/nowplaying. (The complete list of new titles available follows below.)

“With the proliferation of new digital outlets these days, Sundance Institute saw a real need to help filmmakers and producers easily access these platforms and to provide information on how best to navigate and take advantage of independent distribution,” said Keri Putnam, Executive Director, Sundance Institute. “ It's exciting to see these filmmakers charting their own path towards finding audiences.”

In addition, to making it easier for audiences to find Sundance Institute and Film Festival films all year long, this year’s online film guide and mobile app for the 2013 Sundance Film Festival includes a new feature from GoWatchIt.com which creates a universal ‘queue’ so fans can be notified as soon as films they are interested in become available in the marketplace. Sundance Institute has also installed GoWatchIt on the Now Playing page (www.sundance.org/nowplaying) for the titles accessing distribution through its Artist Services.

Look for the Artist Services films on iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, Hulu, Microsoft Xbox, Netflix, SnagFilms, Sony Entertainment Network, SundanceNOW, Vudu and YouTube. Special bonus video content from the Institute’s archives is available for select titles. The Artist Services program provides Institute artists with exclusive opportunities for creative self-distribution, marketing and financing solutions for their work. New Video, a Cinedigm company, is the exclusive aggregation partner for distribution across all portals in the program. The Artist Services initiative is made possible by The Bertha Foundation. These deals were brokered via pro bono legal services generously provided by law firm O’Melveny & Myers, which has built the legal framework for the Artist Services program and participating filmmakers since its inception.

Titles That Are Available:

The American Astronaut (Director and Screenwriter: Cory McAbee) — Sundance Institute Screenwriter’s Lab Fellow Cory McAbee stars in his sci-fi feature film as an interplanetary trader. The film also stars 2012 Independent Spirit Award nominee James Ransone (Starlet, HBO’s Treme and The Wire) as Bodysuit. (2001 Sundance Film Festival)

The Atomic States of America (Directors: Don Argott and Sheena M. Joyce) — Don Argott and Sheena M. Joyce’s provocative documentary takes viewers on a journey to nuclear reactor communities across the country. (2012 Sundance Film Festival)

Budrus (Director: Julia Bachas) — Documentary filmmaker Julia Bacha’s award-winning 2009 documentary follows a Palestinian community organizer who unites local Fatah and Hamas members along with Israeli supporters in an unarmed movement to save the village of Budrus from destruction by Israel's Separation Barrier. Budrus was produced by Just Vision, a nonprofit dedicated to increasing the power and legitimacy of Palestinians and Israelis working nonviolently to end the occupation and resolve the conflict. (2009 Sundance Documentary Film Grant)

Detropia (Directors: Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady) — Winner of the Best Documentary Editing Award at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and nominated for Gotham and Cinema Eye awards, Detropiachronicles the lives of several Detroiters trying to survive and make sense of what is happening to their city – once an industrial utopia, now on the brink of bankruptcy. (2012 Sundance Documentary Film Grant, 2012 Sundance Film Festival)

High School Record (Director and Screenwriter: Ben Wolfinsohn) — In Ben Wolfinsohn’s semi-improvised 2005 “mock doc,” four exceptionally awkward 17-year-olds struggle through their senior year as moments of humiliation and triumph are caught on tape in a documentary shot by fellow classmates at a performing arts high school. (2005 Sundance Film Festival)

I Am Not A Hipster (Director and Screenwriter: Destin Daniel Cretton) — Featuring music by indie electronic band, Canines, and a break-out performance by Dominic Bogart (Flash Forward), Cretton’s music-focused drama premiered at sold-out screenings at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. (2011 and 2012 Cinereach Project at Sundance Institute Grant, 2012 Sundance Film Festival)

Primer (Director and Screenwriter: Shane Carruth) — Shane Carruth’s cult classic won the Grand Jury Prize and Alfred P. Sloan Prize at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival. Timed to the premiere of the director’s much-anticipated follow-up film, Upstream Color, at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. (2004 Sundance Film Festival)

Pursuit of Loneliness (Director and Screenwriter: Laurence Thrush) — Award-winning director Laurence Thrush’s (Left Handed) 2012 Sundance Film Festival premiere stars a cast of non-professional actors depicted in their own workplace roles. (2012 Sundance Film Festival)

The Slaughter Rule (Directors: Alex Smith and Andrew Smith) — David Morse (Treme) and Ryan Gosling (Drive) star in Alex and Andrew Smith’s feature writing-directorial debut about a fatherless high-school quarterback. Nominated for the Independent Spirit Awards’ John Cassavetes Award.. (2002 Sundance Film Festival)

Stingray Sam (Director and screenwriter: Cory McAbee) — Cory McAbee’s 2009 follow up to The American Astronaut features writer-director McAbee as Stingray Sam and “Crugie” as The Quasar Kid, two space convicts in a series of episodic adventures narrated by David Hyde Pierce (Frasier). (2009 Sundance Film Festival)

to.get.her (Director and screenwriter: Erica Dunton) — Five teenage girls with a shared secret get together for a weekend of “no consequences” in this 2011 Sundance Film Festival premiere that won the Best of Next <=> Audience Award. Actress-model Jazzy De Lisser stars in a “mystery” written and directed by Erica Dunton (The 27 Club). (2011 Sundance Film Festival)

Wave Twisters (Directors: Eric Henry and Syd Garon) — Animators Syd Garon (Superheroes, Last Call at the Oasis) and Eric Henry’s “turntablism-based musical” won the 2001 Midnight Films Audience Award at the 2001 SXSW Film Festival. Scripted to a recording by “scratch” artist DJ Qbert, Wave Twisters follows a group of heroes traveling through inner-space on a quest to save the lost art of Hip Hop. (2001 Sundance Film Festival)

We're Not Broke (Directors: Karin Hayes and Victoria Bruce) — A timely exposé on how the government has allowed U.S. corporations to avoid paying taxes, and the growing wave of discontent that is has fostered. A 2012 Sundance Film Festival premiere from the filmmakers of The Kidnapping of Ingrid Betancourt. (2012 Sundance Film Festival)

Sundance Institute

Sundance Institute is a global nonprofit organization founded by Robert Redford in 1981. Through its artistic development programs for directors, screenwriters, producers, composers and playwrights, the Institute seeks to discover and support independent film and theatre artists from the United States and around the world, and to introduce audiences to their new work. The Institute promotes independent storytelling to inform, inspire, and unite diverse populations around the globe. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival, Sundance Institute has nurtured such projects as Born into Brothels, Trouble the Water, Son of Babylon, Amreeka, An Inconvenient Truth, Spring Awakening, I Am My Own Wife, Light in the Piazza and Angels in America. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Cory McAbee, the ingenious, idiosyncratic talent behind The American Astronaut and Stingray Sam, is on the festival circuit at the moment with his most recent film, the 50-odd-minute Crazy and Thief. (This sweet portrait of childhood, starring McAbee’s children, Willa Vy McAbee and John Huck McAbee, premiered at Laff last month, moving on to BAMcinemaFest shortly afterwards.)

Despite having just put one new work out in the world, McAbee has already launched his next creative project, the very intriguing Captain Ahab’s Motorcycle Club. Here’s how its website describes it:

Captain Ahab’s Motorcycle Club was conceived by filmmaker/musician Cory McAbee. The club was established in 2012 by McAbee and filmmaker/documentarian Gregory Bayne. It is a national and international collaborative, a club and a production studio. Participation will take place at live events and online. Participation equals membership. Local chapters are developing worldwide.

The first two departments...

Musician-turned-filmmaker Cory McAbee's first two movie musicals, "The American Astronaut" and the episodically-distributed "Stingray Sam," brilliantly melded a concept album approach with expressionistic science fiction imagery for a unique form of pop art. At just under an hour and driven by the thinnest of stories, his third feature "Crazy & Thief" is stylistically distinct from the earlier efforts but still hails from the same enjoyable realm of musical fantasy. Shot on the cheap and co-starring his two very young children, "Crazy & Thief" is a gentle treat for McAbee enthusiasts and a mildly curious study of juvenile behavior for everyone else, which is certainly enough to satisfy this fan. Adorable to the extreme, the movie centers around McAbee's children Vy and John, alternately identified by the titular names as well as "Johnny" and "Yaya," informal designations that fit their youthful spirit. ...

"Crazy and Thief" director Cory McAbee's roots are musical. "When I was young I painted and performed music," he says, adding that his first films were "hand-painted animated musicals. His first two features were "The American Astromaut" (a musical comedy/sci-fi that debuted at Sundance in 2001) and "Stingray Sam" (same genre, it debuted at Sundance in 2009). Now he ventures into fantasy with "Crazy and Theif." What it's about: "With a homemade star-map to guide them, a seven-year old girl takes her two-year old brother on a fantastic voyage through the real world." On childhood: "There are qualities of childhood that are universal, some that develop as a result of culture and environment, and then there are those unique to the individual. Crazy and Thief is a portrait of childhood that embraces these qualities without being sentimental or contrived,..I would like audience members to feel a...

Director Cory McAbee

Director: Cory McAbee

Festival Entry: Crazy & Thief

Narrative Competition

With only a homemade “Star Map” and their own imagination to guide them, a brother and sister take a fantastical journey through the real world in this ode to being a little kid from cult director Cory McAbee.

Directed By: Cory McAbee

Producers: Cory McAbee, Scott Miller, Steve Holmgren

Screenwriter: Cory McAbee

Cinematographer: Scott Miller

Editor: Matt Cowan

Music: Cory McAbee

Cast: Willa Vy McAbee, John Huck McAbee, Gregory Russell Cook, Graham Standford

We asked Crazy & Thief director Cory McAbee about everything from his inspirations to the challenges of working with a tantrum-prone two-year-old. Here’s what he had to say:

Who are you and what do you do?

My name is Cory McAbee. I’m the writer/director of Crazy and Thief. My past films include The American Astronaut and Stingray Sam. I am currently performing as...

The American Astronaut and Stingray Sam director Cory McAbee is headed back to the big screen and this time he's taking his kids with him. It's not the first time, of course, McAbee's daughter Willa having played a key part in Stingray Sam but this time out Willa and McAbee's young son Huck will be taking the leads as the titular Crazy & Thief.A seven year old girl takes her two year old brother on a voyage of chance and fantasy. They begin their journey by following a star chart that they had created by splashing paint on an old envelope. They search city streets, store windows and garbage for star shaped images that coincide with the dots on their map. On their adventure...

As 2012 dawns and the conversation in the film (and greater artistic) community shifts from ‘Diy’ to the advent of the ‘artist-entrepreneur’, I find myself pondering the meaning of all this in my own career and life, while thinking about one of my most enduring inspirations to go it my own way, my friend Cory McAbee.

The bulk of this post was originally drafted in the fall of 2009 right after the release of Cory McAbee’s film, Stingray Sam, and was written simply as a fan of Cory’s work and aesthetic. I was first introduced to Cory’s work when The American Astronaut garnered some notoriety out of the 2001 Sundance Film Festival. It was a film that, after a single viewing, locked me in as a true fan. I absolutely loved it. Everything about it. From the film itself, to the accompanying music, all the way down to the DVD packaging and design.

Writer/director Todd Rohal‘s latest film, The Catechism Cataclysm, is a genuine discovery. Quirky doesn’t begin to describe the film, which despite some wackier elements, is more of a comedy than anything else. The Christian-tinged farce about a priest and his idol going on a canoe trip is downright hilarious. The social awkwardness of Eastbound & Down‘s Steve Little carries the film as his idol Robbie [Robert Longstreet] tells many stories-within-a-story that continually deliver laughs. All of it is capped with a perfect song about God f-cking you up if you do bad things. Yes, it goes there.

When I got the chance to interview Rohal I had to jump on it and below you can find our conversation. We touch on the oddity of the title, the crazy stories within the film, how it all started, what kind of freedom he had, the involvement of Kickstarter and the support he received,...

It's coming, oh yes it is. Fans of iconoclastic film director and musician Cory McAbee have been waiting quite some time now for his Werewolf Hunters Of The Midwest. McAbee actually began work on the project before his feature debut The American Astronaut and, therefore, well before cult sensation Stingray Sam and there have been trickles of news on the film for years. But now it's really happening. It shoots in the spring, it will - once again - be a sort of cowboy musical, though this time of the horror rather than science fiction variety, and McAbee and his cohort Bobby Lurie have just released a song from it online. Check it below.

It's coming, oh yes it is. Fans of iconoclastic film director and musician Cory McAbee have been waiting quite some time now for his Werewolf Hunters Of The Midwest. McAbee actually began work on the project before his feature debut The American Astronaut and, therefore, well before cult sensation Stingray Sam and there have been trickles of news on the film for years. But now it's really happening. It shoots in the spring, it will - once again - be a sort of cowboy musical, though this time of the horror rather than science fiction variety, and McAbee and his cohort Bobby Lurie have just released a song from it online. Check it below.

Life is good for fans of Cory McAbee, the writer-director of cult hits The American Astronaut and Stingray Sam. Why? Because his long rumored werewolf musical Werewolf Hunters Of The Midwest is a go, with location scouting under way and principal photography scheduled to begin in early 2011. Why else? Because according to his blog, McAbee has also just completed a new micro budget feature, which he is currently remaining tight lipped about beyond the fact that it exists and he is proud of it. For conclusive proof of why this is awesome I present below Fredward, from Stingray Sam.

Typically lost amongst all the big media hoopla of panels, booths, celebrity appearances, etc., is that San Diego’s annual Comic-Con hosts an International Independent Film Festival that runs concurrently along with the convention, which will be this year on July 22-25.

This is a full-fledged fest with short and feature-length films from all over the world that are typically either genre or comic book related. The full lineup of films screening this year is listed below. Screening blocks are broken up by genre: Action/Adventure, Animation, Comics, Horror, Documentary, Humor and Science Fiction.

Not listed below are the assorted panels that will be held specifically for the festival. Plus, on Sunday there will be an Awards Presentation followed by repeat screenings of all the winners.

The festival is doing something a little bit differently this year in that it’s not going to be held in the actual convention center.

Is it a revelation or a revolution? It’s both! The Revelation Perth International Film Festival is tackling the theme of “Revolution” when its 13th annual edition begins violating Australia on July 8-18. Get set for 11 days filled French zombies, Belgian cowboys, outer space outlaws, Beat poets, cat ladies, gospel musicians and other revolutionaries.

Actually, one of the main features of the festival this year is a slew of music documentaries, mostly spotlighting both American and Australian music. On the U.S. side of things there’s Wheedle’s Groove, a look at the history of Seattle funk; Rejoice and Shout, which examines gospel music’s impact on African-American culture — and vice versa; Tom Dicillo’s Doors documentary When You’re Strange; plus The Family Jams and 72 Musicians. And, from Australia, there’s Megan Simpson-Hubberman’s classic concert film The Night of the Triffids.

There’s lots more than music docs,...

The fifth annual Haapsalu Fantastic Film Festival has come to an end and I write this from the Tallinn airport lounge while massively sleep deprived. This proved to be a trip with minimal wifi - hence the lack of updates - but stacks of fantastic people.

After the previously mentioned kick-off - a zombie walk and an outdoor screening in the magnificent ruins of a 13th century castle - things got going in earnest on Saturday. The day began with a brief break from the dominantly hard edged horror theme with back-to-back screenings of Cory McAbee's stellar scifi cowboy musical Stingray Sam - which left me, once again, singing the theme song incessantly for the next two days - and Yoshihiro Nishimura's delirious splatter comedy Vampire Girl Versus Frankenstein Girl.

Swedish slasher Detour was an overly-familiar and weakly plotted bit of work saved - to the extent it...

One of the many things we love around here are the pair of retro-future space-western rock-a-billy noir-tinged musicals of The Billy Nayer Show's Cory McAbee.  Yes you have read us gush over both The American Astronaut and Stingray Sam in these pages many times.  But have you spent the time tracking down these ultra-indy films?  With the handsome face-lift of the American Astronaut website which has a tonne of new stills and a new audio commentary for the film, along with behind the scenes test-footage, storyboards and other fixin's there are digital copies to be had of both the adventures of Samuel Curtis - As American Astronaut comes up to its 10th Anniversary, they've gone ahead and digitally remastered the film - and his newer more sprightly cousin, Stingray Sam.   Space is not such a lonely town anymore!

The new website is here.

You like new and different movies. We like new and different movies. That’s why it is such a privilege to be allowing a handful of you the chance to see on of the most innovative and fun films I saw all of last year. As my CineVegas review can attest, Cory McAbee’s Stingray Sam is not only the best sci-fi/western/musical/comedies out there, it’s one of the best times you’ll have with independent cinema.

And, not only are we giving the DVD away to a lucky few of you, we are also throwing in the film’s highly original soundtrack on CD to boot.

Here’s all you have to do:

Follow this link (Stingray Sam) to Cory McAbee’s official “about” page. In the player that pops up on the right side, play the song “Fredward” from Stingray Sam. Leave us a comment...

Oh, Stingray Sam is not a hero, but he does do the things that folks don't do that need to be done ...

It's amazing how many people didn't get that right - particularly when it's right on the DVD cover pictured to the left and in our original contest post - but Donivan Arnold and Mike Langlie certainly did and, as the first two names drawn with the correct answer both have just won themselves a copy of Cory McAbee's Stingray Sam on DVD plus a soundtrack CD. Congratulations!

"Stingray Sam is not a hero..." but musician-filmmaker Cory McAbee's drolly inventive sci-fi/western/musical has made a heroic self-distributed leap to DVD. [Official site here.] From my original review last year:

Rocketing through another monochrome corner of the gently surreal, weird-humored universe shared by his lovely, Lynchian 2001 intergalactic musical The American Astronaut (any film with characters named "The Blueberry Pirate" and "The Boy Who Actually Saw a Female Breast" makes my cut in this decade's cult canon), musician-filmmaker-actor Cory McAbee again follows his heart and whimsical mind to the outer limits with Stingray Sam. Modeled after old Buck Rogers serials and the like, McAbee's musical space-western yarn spans six serialized episodes, each "presented" by fictional every-corp Liberty Chew Chewing Tobacco, a satirical stand-in for the annoying overlap between entertainment and consumer culture (commercials, ubiquitous product placements, having to whore oneself to make a living).

GreenCine Daily has a Stingray Sam DVD...

We do love us some Cory McAbee here at Twitch and we're more than happy to say that we've just been offered up two copies of McAbee's latest film odyssey Stingray Sam on DVD along with a pair of soundtrack CDs to give to you, the lucky Twitch reader.  This one is only open to residents of North America but if you want to stake your claim to be one of our two lucky winners of a DVD / CD combo then email me here and answer me this question: If Stingray Sam is not a hero, then what is he?

Winners will be drawn Monday.

The soundtrack to Stingray Sam, the Fantastic Fest fave that had people singing for days afterwards, is now on sale. Written and performed by director Cory McAbee and co-produced  with Robert Lurie, it's full of delightful absurd and often deconstructed songs like "Lullaby" or the progeny naming song "Fredward."  

The episodic interplanetary adventure musical is still on the festival circuit, wowing crowds with its old-school serial wrapped in Western sensibilities. Both the soundtrack and the movie itself are available for purchase online at corymcabee.com, as digital media downloads or as discs.

To celebrate, we're giving away DVDs and soundtrack CDs. Find out how to win after the jump.

read more...

Diary Of A Bad Lad is a no holds barred, unflinching look at the British underground crime scene told through the eyes of a cinephile documentarian who finds him self in too deep with the subjects of his latest project. Having a limited five day release on the dailymotion.com website last year, Diary Of A Bad Lad was viewed by over 167,000 people which created a wealth of interest in the film. Mr. Williams kindly spared some time to discuss the film and to also reveal that UK & Ireland distributor Classic Entertainment is set to give the feature a UK theatrical release targetted for late April, with UK & Ireland DVD across the Hight St release late May/early June. The film’s web-site can be found here.

How would you describe Diary Of A Bad Lad to Reelloop readers not aware of the project?

It’s a no-budget film about what happens when documentary filmmaker,...

Hope everyone has had a wonderful Christmas, whether it's a holiday you celebrated or not. Or at least a better one than me, I had the flu. Movies were watched, just not in the theater. I still need to see The Road. I couldn't even muster up the concentration to watch my new District 9 Blu-ray.

Hollywood has no movies opening this week. The only films that aren't simply switching theaters or times are two special engagements at the Alamo Ritz.

Stingray Sam opens for a special three-night run. This crowd pleaser is an episodic space musical about Stingray and his friend the Quasar Kid, who are compelled to rescue a little girl from a planet with a surprisingly twist on genetics. This homage to old-school sci-fi serials as well as musicals has catchy music you'll be singing to yourself for days after. The twinkle in director/writer/star Cory McAbee...

Rocketing out of the furthest reaches of the galaxy to stir up a massive amount of shocked reactions at Fantastic Fest 2009 was the manic intergalactic comedy musical Stingray Sam from writer/director/star Cory McAbee (The American Astronaut). Well, we decided that there was no better way to strike out against a new decade than with additional screenings at The Ritz (this Sunday through Tuesday) of this aggressively unique slab of movie insanity.

The Story: A dangerous mission reunites Stingray Sam with his long lost accomplice, The Quasar Kid. Follow these two space-convicts as they earn their freedom in exchange for the rescue of a young girl who is being held captive by the genetically designed figurehead of a very wealthy planet.

“McAbee’s incredibly engaging story, not to mention the beautiful black and white photography, makes it just about the most fun you’ll have in the independent theater this year.

When Cory McAbee’s American Astronaut debuted at Sundance in 2001 critics where all tripping over themselves to attribute superlatives to the genre-bending film whilst struggling to describe exactly what they had just seen. Having made numerous appearances at Sundance for the better part of two decades, McAbee returned earlier this year with Stingray Sam. The David Hyde Pierce narrated sixty minute feature once again baffled but delighted critics. Both features are now available exclusively at Cory McAbee’s web-site and you can also follow him on Twitter. Mr. McAbee generously donated his time to discuss his work.

You’ve made a name for yourself as one of the most original voices on the independent film scene with projects such as American Astronaut and Stingray Sam, both available at your website, across scores of festivals. Both projects are unique in that they blend genres that aren’t seen as natural fits to create whole new paradigms.

Looking over the team's top-five of 2009 lists today it struck me what a diverse year for genre cinema it was. Oh sure, there are certain titles that managed to make it onto almost everyone's lists (Moon and Antichrist being two clear winners), but, put together, the titles run the gamut of film styles - like the best film festival program you could image.

I certainly didn't think I'd see films like The Hangover bumping up against The Road, or a double bill of Ursula Meiers' French oddity, Home, and Stingray Sam, but it's all just too cool of a mash-up to ignore and I may have to program a little private festival of some of these titles for viewing over the holidays.

But anyway, sit back, grab a drink, peruse the lists and refresh your memory of all the films you should be netflixing, buying or borrowing in the new year.

It's been over a week since the last edition of Slackery News Tidbits, so it's time to play catch up. 

Fantastic Fest favorite Stingray Sam will return to Austin on January 3, 2010. Folks enjoyed this quirky film from Cory McAbee so much that many festival go-ers saw it twice. Check Alamo Drafthouse for screenings. Austinite Kayla Kromer, known for her creative custom beds, like the Hamburger Bed, has gained the attention of Star Wars fans worldwide with her Millenium Falcon bed.  Kayla and her latest bed have now appeared on the official Star Wars Blog.

Team Alamo has launched the American Genre Film Archive (Agfa) to preserve 35mm prints of exploitation and horror films. This non-profit is so new, the site is only a placeholder, but it does include a paypal link to make tax deductible donations.  Earlier this year, the Alamo Drafthouse helped save nearly 200 Shaw Brothers films that would have been destroyed.

Well, it's October now, and just as all sites set their... well, sights on all things horror, Horror Squad's been ahead of the curve by covering it all year round! A-ha!

Seriously, though, as Weinberg told you, we've kicked off our Fates Worse Than Death series -- today's entry from yours truly regards that ever grisly Event Horizon. (Your suggestions are also welcome.) Peter's got the latest on the best in this week's genre discs (Trick 'r Treat, ho!), and newbie Brad McHargue keeps up the Fantastic Fest coverage with his look at Jake West's horror-comedy, Doghouse.

Mind you, the Sci-Fi Squad crew ain't slouching either, whether it's concerning their new genre DVDs of the week, their Fantastic Fest interview with Stingray Sam director Cory McAbee, their wonderfully gonzo glimpse at next month's disaster-tastic 2012, and a gallery of the downright geekiest tattoos I have ever seen.

So get crackin'!

Cory McAbee is not your average indie filmmaker. He's more of a self-taught Renaissance man who paints, writes, composes music, and also directs mind-bending films. At Sundance earlier this year, I had a slot to fill in my schedule and I thought Stingray Sam sounded interesting. Science fiction meets the Western? Sign me up.

What I didn't know was that I would be treated to a bizarre musical that was sliced up into a serialized format, complete with dance numbers, elaborate 60-second long handshakes between partners, and social commentary on everything from the U.S. prison system to tobacco companies. It's great stuff, and the songs will stick with you long after the movie ends.

Cory is no stranger to film festivals, having been at Sundance with three different films. I spoke with Cory at Fantastic Fest, where he was screening Stingray Sam. Check out the full interview after the break.

Every once in awhile Fantastic Fest delivers something way out of left field.  The programmers from time to time will discover something truly special that, while it may or may not fit one of the three signature genres on which the fest was founded (horror,sci-fi, and fantasy), still manages to delight the audience.  Stingray Sam technically does fit the sci-fi theme, but had I seen it before it was announced as part of this year's slate, I never would have guessed that it would play Fantastic Fest. Stingray Sam is about a cowboy lounge singer working in a nightclub on Mars.  Oh yeah, that's right.  It takes place in a future where Mars, once the entertainment capital of the universe, is a forgotten wasteland of middling performers and corporate sponsorship.  Stingray Sam meets up with his former cohort, the Quasar Kid, and embarks on a mission to rescue a kidnapped child.  Apparently...

Not many official films today, as the festival is winding down, at least for me.  I didn't manage to catch Yesterday as planned because a press screening started late. I can't say much about that, but I think I can say that if you like Vampire stories, you're in for a special treat for the Closing Night film.

I did manage to catch Stingray Sam after having had a nice chat over at the Highball with director/star Cory McAbee (shown at left). Chris Holland and I introduced him to the wonder that is Dublin Dr. Pepper, which the pharmacy next door stocks.  If you haven't had one, it's very good, and made with real cane sugar. Nice guy, and he looks like he should be a regular at the Highball. 

Anyway, Stingray Sam is a lot of fun, and people applauded throughout this episodic film. When I mentioned seeing the film to other festgoers,...

That's right folks, we reported just a few days ago that auteur Cory McAbee's latest film, Stingray Sam will be premiering online today at 7pm Pacific time. (That's California time) Scifi? Western? Comedy? Musical? Genius? Check.

You can read our review here and watch the trailer here.

To boot, Stingray Sam is still running the fest circuit and it will be screening here in Colorado in what we all affectionately (*cough*) call the Republic of Boulder this Friday, September 18th at 7pm as part of the International Film Series. I will also be there, so if you want to meet up, use our contact form.

Tickets are available here.

That's right folks, the man behind one of the greatest films ever made (American Astronaut, like I need to tell you that) will be releasing his latest film online on September 15th in a live broadcast complete with Q&A afterwards! Our own NY correspondent Bob Doto saw the film at a private screening and loved it. You can read his review here

What is it? A genre-bending pastiche of humor, science fiction and western from one of the most overlooked talents this side of the globe.

But it gets better. If you head over to the official website, theres a link at the bottom of page to download the first episode. Unfortunately in it's in an ipod format (which those of us who run a Real operating system like linux can't play, ahem!), but most of you should be able to play it.

A dangerous mission reunites Stingray Sam with his long lost accomplice,...

Just as several folks steered me to check out Stingray Sam, the episodic six-part serial musical space-western designed for mobile phones that debuted at Sundance 2009, writer-director-musician Cory McAbee, one of many filmmakers these days taking distribution into their own hands, posted the following: The Premier Of Stingray Sam Hello my friends. Stingray Sam is coming September 15th to screens of all sizes! And to celebrate this event, Stingray Sam will …...

Just as several folks steered me to check out Stingray Sam, the episodic six-part serial musical space-western designed for mobile phones that debuted at Sundance 2009, writer-director-musician Cory McAbee, one of many filmmakers these days taking distribution into their own hands, posted the following: . The Premier Of Stingray Sam Hello my friends. Stingray Sam is coming September 15th to screens of all sizes! And to celebrate this event, Stingray Sam …...

‘Stingray Sam’ was one of the biggest surprises coming out of CineVegas this year. You can check out my review, or you can hop a ride to Austin, Texas later this month. The film, written and directed by Cory McAbee, is going to be playing at this year’s Fantastic Fest. Fortunately for those of us who can’t make it to Fantastic Fest, the film is coming our way, fairly soon, at that. Like September 15th soon. At least, this is what’s been spelled in the email McAbee sent out this afternoon.

But, don’t take my word for it. Read for yourself:

Dear friends of Stingray Sam,

Stingray Sam is coming September 15th to screens of all sizes!

And to celebrate this event, Stingray Sam will premiere simultaneously in the theater and online! It’s free for everyone, and we cordially invite you to share in the festivities.

Say what you will about Cory McAbee. The guy’s got the market cornered on sci-fi/western/musical/comedies with a heart. He’s currently making the rounds on the festival circuit with his latest offering, ‘Stingray Sam,’ of which you can read my review right here. While maybe not as polished, not as heartfelt, and with songs that aren’t quite as catchy, McAbee’s first feature film, ‘The American Astronaut,’ is still light years better than most big-budget offerings studios give us today. It’s the type of film that cries out “cult classic,” and it lives up to that moniker in every aspect imaginable.

McAbee stars as Samuel Curtis, an interplanetary trader in an alternate history where every planet in our solar system, and most of the moons, are inhabitable. Curtis finds himself in an asteroid saloon where he is delivering a cat. In exchange for the cat,...

Cory McAbee&#8217;s got a little present for you.  With his latest scifi-musical opus still doing the rounds on the festival circuit and due for a DVD release before the end of the year, McAbee is offering up a free, downloadable version of the trailer for the picture along with a previously unseen song clip for your enjoyment.  Giddyup!

Hit the button below to get yourself the download codes and you can check out a streaming version of the trailer below the break.

 ...

Film festivals are often a conumdrum for me because I sometimes wonder how they get started and, more to the point, who picks the films that get shown at them. My problem is that the films selected for many of the festivals don&#8217;t usually seem all that appealing (at least to me) and are often a collection of &#8220;art for art&#8217;s sake&#8221; films overwhelmed by their own sense of self-importance.

Fortunately, I don&#8217;t have this problem with the Fantastic Fest in Austin, which runs from September 24th to October 1st. The films selected for this festival represent an eclectic mix of genres and filmmakers and what I consider to be some of the most interesting, innovative and creative films being produced today. Sure, they&#8217;re not all potential Hollywood blockbusters, nor are they for everyone, but they are all pretty much guaranteed to be interesting, entertaining and in their own way,...

That's right, the first 32 titles have been announced for Austin's Fantastic Fest and the opening film will be the latest from Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite) which stars Jemaine Clement (Eagle vs Shark)! I think I'm going this year!

Also playing will be the likes of...

Nicholas Refn's Bronson (review)

Pieter Van Hees Dirty Mind (review)

Esther Gronenborn's Kaifeck Murder (review coming shortly)

Lawrence Gough's Salvage (review)

Cory McAbee's Stingray Sam (review)

Full list of features and shorts after the break.

42nd Street Forever Volume 5: The Alamo Drafthouse Edition

The hugely popular Synapse trailer compilation series 42nd Street Forever is featuring the Alamo Film Archive for it's fifth volume. Here's your chance to check out a sneak preview screening of the actual 35mm trailers which are featured in the DVD compilation

Breathless

(dir. Yang Ik-june, 2009, South Korea)

Breathless is a foul-mouthed drama that delivers an unlikely mix of pathos,...

It is time boys and girls, the first wave lineup for Fantastic Fest 2009 has been announced, and we are bringing it to you right&#8230; now:

Also, Do Not forget to go buy your damn tickets!

Features:

42nd Street Forever Volume 5: The Alamo Drafthouse Edition. The hugely popular Synapse trailer compilation series 42nd Street Forever is featuring the Alamo Film Archive for it’s fifth volume. Here’s your chance to check out a sneak preview screening of the actual 35mm trailers which are featured in the DVD compilation.

Breathless

(dir. Yang Ik-june,

2009, South Korea)

Breathless is a foul-mouthed drama that delivers an unlikely mix of pathos, brutality and humor. First-time director Yang Ik-June plays an angry thug named who gets involved in a dysfunctional relationship with a high-school girl. It eventually becomes apparent that the pair are linked in ways that neither of them realize.

Bronson

(dir. Nicholas Winding Refn,...

If there's a throughline to the films screening within the various competions and sidebars at CineVegas, it's that those marked by qualities that would make them anomalies at other festivals here play as standard fare. You come here expecting to see genre hybrids (such as Alex Ross Perry's verite-style comic WWII fantasy Impolex, or Cory McAbee's half-animated space cowboy sci-fi musical Stingray Sam, about which much more later); stylish art films that push the boundaries of craft and form but may not offer the pleasures of a traditional narrative (see Asiel Norton's Redland -- or don't, if gorgeous experimental cinematography isn't enough to interest you in a story that drowns ...

Two of our guys have seen this and I have yet to catch a glimpse.. Come on Cory, screening in Colorado please! Anyways, if your in NYC you can catch the second public screening of Stingray Sam in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. Here's the deets:

Date: 6/6/09

Venue: Brooklyn Technical Institute

Address: 29 Ft. Greene Place, Brooklyn, NY

8:00Pm: Doors open

8:30Pm: Sound Fix presents live music by The Woes (http://www.myspace.com/thewoes)

9:00Pm: Film

Tickets: $9 at the door or online at going.com (http://newyork.going.com/event-602737;Rooftop_Films_Stingray_Sam#)

A dangerous mission reunites Stingray Sam with his long lost accomplice, The Quasar Kid. Follow these two space-convicts as they earn their freedom in exchange for the rescue of a young girl who is being held captive by the genetically designed figurehead of a very wealthy planet. This musical space-western miniseries is designed for small...

No doubt about it, we’re smitten with director Cory McAbee around these parts and I’m anxiously awaiting my chance to catch his latest sci-fi / musical / western Stingray Sam. I’ll have to wait a little longer myself but if you’re in New York City you only have to wait until Saturday, June 8th when the film will be screened by Rooftop Films in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. Hit that link for details! And check the trailer below the break!

Yes.. Cory McAbee's quasi-sequel to American Astronaut has a new trailer which is packed with a bit more on the storyline. I have yet to see this as Cory is still hand carrying the film to all fest screenings (he hasn't even been submitting it!) but hopefully it will be coming out my way soon (Denver/Boulder please!). Our very own Bob Doto got to go to a cast and crew screening and meet Cory and do a review. Lucky.

A dangerous mission reunites Stingray Sam with his long lost accomplice, The Quasar Kid. Follow these two space-convicts as they earn their freedom in exchange for the rescue of a young girl who is being held captive by the genetically designed figurehead of a very wealthy planet. This musical space-western miniseries is designed for small screens and perfect for screens of all sizes.

You'll find the new trailer after...

Hi y’all! Time to get silly.

Having never seen Cory McAbee’s previous film “American Astronaut” I had no clue what to expect from his latest sci-fi non-epic “Stingray Sam”. So as I waited for the venue to open its doors, I checked out the scores so far for the Silver Scream Award, which is the Imagine Film Festival’s yearly award based on audience ratings. Guess what: “Let The Right One In” dominated the chart as expected. But to my surprise “Stingray Sam” was in second place with almost the same score!

This made me very curious to say the least, as on paper this title didn’t look in the least like like an audience pleaser.

For “Stingray Sam” is mostly shot in black & white and on an below-low budget. It’s also allegedly meant to be seen on mobile phones as a series of six ten-minute episodes,...

It occurs to me that while we’ve made a few passing references to this year’s upcoming SciFi London festival over the past weeks we have yet to dedicate a proper post to it, Which is rather a large oversight on our part considering that the festival features the world premiere of Eyeborgs - a film we’ve written rather a lot about here - as well as UK premieres of Cory McAbee’s Stingray Sam, contemplative Japanese scifi picture The Clone Returns and an impressive lineup of older fare including a special screening of City of Lost Children with co-director Marc Caro in attendance. And, of course, there is the proverbial so much more. It’s an impressive lineup this year, get out if you can.