Hue's Blog

Interview with James Wallace

"I am hardly an authority. But I think the discussion of “new distribution” actually harkens back to film’s roots. Back in the silent two-reeler days, people shot films, paid for the prints, went on the road and showed them directly to the public. Now we have festivals, and markets, and lots of people in-between, which means lots of entities that have to make their profit margins. I can’t say what the future of film will be, but my guess is that it won’t be able to support so many intermediaries, financially."

I did an interview with James Wallace, for Gordon and the Whale.  James and I discussed Saint John of Las Vegas, the pitfalls of cookbook screenplay writing, and the disintermediation of indie film.  You can read full interview here.

The San Francisco Bay Guardian

Saint John of Las Vegas got a great write-up in the San Francisco Bay Guardian.

"When their journey ends, you can't help but be disappointed because you really don't want this sweet-natured first film by director-writer and onetime Silicon Valley hotshot Hue Rhodes to end. It's such a treat to watch Buscemi work, pulling the spooky-tooth tics and rattled nerves out of his bag of mannerisms. And it's fitting that he has arrived here, because from its star to its bit players, Saint John offers a gentle Hail Mary to the usually less-than-visible guys and gals in the cameos."

Read the full review here.

Conversation with Brendon Connelly of /Film

"The film is pricked with references to Dante’s Inferno, though certainly has it’s own narrative which requires no knowledge of the Divine Comedy to understand - think how the Coen Bros. and Homer blended into O Brother Where Art Thou. And whereas the Coens’ film stood on the shoulders of Preston Sturgess, the equivalent influence on St. John would appear likely to be Ozu or Milos Forman."

I had a series of conversations with Brendon Connelly, about Saint John of Las Vegas.  We discussed career paths, film grammar, movie financing and the Bellagio Hotel.  Read the full interview on /Film here.

The Inferno

"Midway in the journey of our life
I came to myself in a dark wood,
for the straight way was lost."

- The Inferno, Canto I

The Inferno, by Dante Alighieri, was my writing inspiration for Saint John of Las Vegas.  My friend and Dante scholar Robert Hollander urged me to capture the poem's spirit, rather than to try a literal adaptation.

The Inferno is about a man who gets a brief guided tour through hell.  At each level he stops and talks to the damned.  He gives them his sincere attention, and in exchange he gets information.  At the start of the poem he is confused about how he should live.  By the end he is clear.

In the beginning of Saint John of Las Vegas, our hero John is in denial.  He meets characters who would rather live in a hell of their own making than conform to society's "heaven."  Instead of judging them, he empathizes with them, and in exchange he gets information.  At the end of the movie he is content with who he has been, all along.

The poem's influence extends deeper into the film.  The individual characters, Virgil's race, and the abruptness of John's "love" interest come from Dante.  But mapping that out seems academic.  If there is any value in highlighting The Inferno's influence on Saint John of Las Vegas, it is to draw attention to the beautiful, lyric and surreal nature of the poem itself.

Romany Malco profile in the LA Times

"It's weird; you do this indie and it's like, the hardest job of your life," he says, fondly. "That whole job felt like turning a new leaf. And I don't mean in just business; I mean a whole new perspective."

Romany talks about family, loss, and Saint John of Las Vegas.  He made incredible sacrifices for this movie.  I'm not sure what I would have done in his shoes.  Read the full interview here.

Harold Pinter

In his essay "Writing for the Theatre" Harold Pinter writes about talking and silence.

There are two silences. One when no word is spoken. The other when perhaps a torrent of language is being employed...The speech we hear is an indication of that which we don't hear. It is a necessary avoidance, a violent, sly, anguished or mocking smoke screen which keeps the other in its place...One way of looking at speech is to say that it is a constant stratagem to cover nakedness.

I thought about this while writing Saint John of Las Vegas. At one point John surrenders to his gambling demons, in a minimart.  Embarrassed, he launches into a tirade.  Instead of saying "I can't believe how weak I am" he says (to the counter girl):

You gotta be lucky...luc-ky...are you lucky?  That’s a dumb question.  I know you are.  I can feel you...no, not like that, I mean you feel lucky, it feels lucky...in here...whew!  But it is hot...does that bother you?  That they keep it hot in here?  Maybe it’s good for the food...keeps it fresh...although you’d think it’d be better cold...for freshness. (beat) Fresh-ness.

NY Post profile of Steve Buscemi

About Saint John of Las Vegas:

“The lead character was charming and funny and smart, and I understood his need to gamble and being in denial about it,” Buscemi says. “To me, that’s the fun of acting: to play characters that have problems and are complicated.”

Read the full article here.

Hue Rhodes Eats, Cooks and Talks to The Retrospective

"...For social media, I think most of the discussion and its effect on indie film, etcetera, is kind of putting the cart before the horse. Social media for me reflects a new kind of need: it's not a channel to reach people - it's a reflection of the desire to express and contribute."

via theretrospective.com

The Retrospective is a great music|art|fashion|culture|technology site. Read the full interview here.

The Coming Revolution in Indie Distribution

"Last November inside a conference room at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, a film consultant named Peter Broderick was doing his best to foment a revolution. Mr. Broderick, who helps filmmakers find their way into the marketplace, was spreading the word on an Internet-era approach to releasing movies that he believes empowers filmmakers without impoverishing them economically or emotionally. Mr. Broderick divides distribution into the Old World and New, infusing his PowerPoint presentation with insurgent rhetoric."

via www.nytimes.com

There is a saying, meant to temper the enthusiasm of film students, which goes "it's not show art, it's show business." But these filmmakers, defying the odds and the numbers to get their films out, highlight the root of all art, which is the irrational compulsion to express.

Steve Buscemi interview

Steve Buscemi gave a great interview about Saint John of Las Vegas.  Here's an excerpt.

Choosing a script: “I always look for scripts that are character driven,” says Buscemi of the film. “I mean, there’s certainly plot, but it seemed like the characters were driving the story rather than the other way around.”

First time directors: “It’s exciting to work with somebody who’s sort of discovering things and the enthusiasm and excitement that they have in making their first film,” Buscemi explains. “It’s really nice to be a part of that and to contribute. I like working with writer/directors, because then you have everybody right there. Hue is the best person to ask any questions that I had."

You can read the full Campus Circle interview here.