AIMY IN A CAGE

Started by Reel, September 11, 2015, 09:48:44 AM

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Reel

Aimy In A Cage is set in an offbeat world in which rebellious kids are put through Wolworth Surgery, a mind-altering operation that prevents misbehavior. In the backdrop of the film, a plague is spreading through the world and worsening. Aimy's family remains oblivious in their hedonistic lifestyle as things get more and more dire, and Aimy's behavior more out of control.

Written and Directed by Hooroo Jackson
Starring Allisyn Ashley Arm, Terry Moore, Michael William Hunter
Featuring Crispin Glover and Paz De La Huerta
Release date: TBD





Very exciting trailer! This recently premiered at The Portland Film Festival and is creating quite the buzz. My favorite description of it so far is "Looks like Brazil, Alejandro Jodorowsky, and the sitcom scene from Natural born killers met up and had a baby."

read more about the Director's unique approach to funding the film here:

http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2014/06/02/bitbeat-bitcoin-helps-filmmaker-create-celluloid-heroes/

Jeremy Blackman

This is definitely up my alley. Although I'm not sure I like the movie being described as "a Hooroo Jackson trip."

Reel

To be distributed by Osiris entertainment for release early next year!!

hooroo

I made this!! :shock:

The cool part about it... The girl that stars in it, Allisyn, is a disney channel star. it's got to be the craziest role ever for a kid. that this 17-yr old girl goes from wacky disney sitcoms to this

I wrote this movie when I was that age... and had no filter on it because I never expected it would ever get made. so it's balls to the wall rage, emotion, hysteria from beginning to end.

All the freak cinema Lynch, Noe, Ken Russell, I was inspired by... It's a challenging movie that splits people for sure, but I think it fits a certain tradition

Actually some members on this site advised me a little through it... including, alexandro, ghost. and reelist !

We just premiered in the portland film festival and won the 'directors prize' there.

jenkins


Jeremy Blackman

Greetings and welcome to the site!

Congrats on your director's prize! I can't wait to see this movie. Please share teasers and whatever promotional stuff you'd like as those become available.

I could only find one review (from the Portland festival), but it definitely bodes well:

http://letterboxd.com/mikescholtz/film/aimy-in-a-cage/

Alexandro

congrats man!
I didn't know about the award.
Yeah, I was lucky to see a couple of different versions of this movie while in post, although I don't think I have seen the final cut. Nevertheless I've seen enough to say is a fucking blast, crazy from start to finish. The word "trip" is actually pretty accurate.
There are a bunch of great performances and the staging, cinematography, music and art direction, trust me, are something else. Will love to see it sometime on the big screen and to read all those xixax opinions on it. it's a one of a kind film :)

Reel


hooroo

Reviews beginning to pour in! we are about 70 % fresh

Positive
http://www.thespinningimage.co.uk/cultfilms/displaycultfilm.asp?reviewid=10053
http://filmint.nu/?p=16871

Negative
http://twodollarcinema.blogspot.com/2015/11/amy-i-need-you-to-stop-being-so-crazy.html

The negatives seem to think that Aimy isn't likeable enough and it grates on them. While the positives see it as kind of a punk rock anti-hero type of thing.

The 'wannabe Gilliam'! Ouch. The rottentomatoes score will be interesting. The negative guy said:

"Imagine an extended episode of "Pee-wee's Playhouse" with the volume cranked to 11. That's this celluloid version of "Aimy Micry."

Thats the thing, both positive and negs are saying the same thing but yet the score is different. it is both thrilling and horrifying to get reviews, as your fate is pretty much in the critics hands.

jenkins

Quote from: hooroo on November 15, 2015, 10:27:53 PM
Thats the thing, both positive and negs are saying the same thing but yet the score is different.

quoted

Alexandro


Reel

Now available on iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, and VUDU


CONGRATULATIONS HOOROO!!!  :multi: :splat: :rofl: :hammer:




Jeremy Blackman

I just watched it on Vudu. Yeah, wow, that's pretty much what I expected from the trailer. It's bonkers.

The performance by Allisyn Ashley Arm is remarkable. Worth watching for that alone. It's a good thing she's the lead, because she steals every scene, even when she's quiet.

Also, Aimy's grandmother was completely amazing. Not just the performance, but basically everything she says. For example, during a fleeting moment when Aimy is dancing for her: "Oh no, that won't do, but I appreciate the effort." (Correct me if I got that wrong.) I laughed a fair amount during those scenes.

The movie has a real soul and has a lot to say. There's a lot going on, visually, aurally, but also thematically. I think it's about ADD. And family dysfunction. And apocalypse. And eating disorders? I don't know, there's so much to chew on.

SPOILERS

I preferred the first half to the second. It's more dense and diverse, and there's more grandma. The second half (or the last third?) has a lot of yelling and is pretty bleak. The end was quite beautiful, though.

If I had to offer some constructive criticism — There were problems with the sound syncing, and Steve could have been miked better. Otherwise, the production value was top notch.

Reel

I had a BLAST watching this! it is an entirely unique experience. There are so many moments where this world feels like such a real thing. Above all, I have to give credit to the set design. Everything is so intricately laid out in this small place, there's so much to look at and the color schemes are always changing to give it a different hue whenever we revisit them. I'm really proud of Hooroo for accomplishing such a bold vision. I found myself smiling ear to ear at times and truly horrified at others. It's a very interesting feat that will gain you a lot of recognition. I'm so impressed with what you achieved on such a small budget! I'm sure it will be an inspiration for many to come.

hooroo

Thank you guys!! You know one key of it is based on the Graphic Novel, and it is the kind of adaptation that kind of throws the book out the window, and mines it for the stuff I found cool. Like once I got these sitcom actors in it, and this pee-wee herman set, our fates were in motion. As much as it has the auteur influences, it is also Ren & Stimpy or Pee Wee like those truly twisted cartoons.

edit: Oh yeah, Crispin promoted the film on WTF Maron, and Adam Carolla show this week! Carolla is the funniest thing ever becauseit is so jarring. You know the scene in the film where he and Aimy are watching TV, that scene had a lot of debate around it.

That is the exact kind of take you get allowing CG to improvise (which you shouldn't do, because it leads to one big improv competition)

Another funny thing that happened is  he wanted that his character die in a sword fight. so we ended up filming it, at midnight and I let them work out the details on their own, and it was so bad. We already had a knife fight at the end of the film, we did not need him to die in a sword fight on top of that. It was funny. I ended up using how his character leaves the film which I ended up with, where he gives Aimy one last look, that you can read in different ways. I thought they built up this strange bond through the film that makes his last scene powerful.