It Follows + The American Scream

Posted on October 15, 2015 by Alice Thirteen
It Follows + The American Scream

A celebration of the all-consuming spooky. ArieScope Pictures celebrates seventeen years! Alice attempts (and fails) to not worry about his film for one hour. Starting October with the festival favorite It Follows. Why people mention It Follows in the same breath as The Babadook. Creating tension out of nothing. Fighting production for a creepy, slow pace. The American Scream via American Movie. Are these Halloween enthusiasts crazy? The passionate genre fanatics of both metal and horror. Filmmaking as a project launch. Halloween down to the last perfect detail. Pragmatism vs idealism. Perfection in film vs perfection in music. Parkinson’s Principle: why you never have enough of what you need when you plan to do a thing. Continue reading →

Brain Damage + The Stuff

Posted on October 8, 2015 by Alice Thirteen
Brain Damage + The Stuff

Off the 1980’s VHS shelf. Beloved filmmakers who very much love themselves. Special effects artists Sheila Mia Seifi and Rob Burman. Unraveling the magic of Brain Damage. An order of magnitude longer than necessary. Is there a secret meaning buried in Brain Damage? (Probably not). Getting right into The Stuff. What is the Stuff made of? More secrets never uncovered. I mean, sure, just light it on fire I guess. The cult appeal! The beauty of surface value. New information on why Paul Sorvino might be a thing. Those goddamn faces though. Continue reading →

Straight Outta Compton + Cop Car

Posted on October 2, 2015 by Alice Thirteen
Straight Outta Compton + Cop Car

America’s evolving relationship with the police. The slasher documentaries. Buz Wallick joins Alice’s upcoming film. Straight Outta Compton is oddly relevant today. The theater experience. That goddamn Alamo Drafthouse. Knowing the NWA today. Dr. Dre’s new album Compton. Revisiting the ideal trailer. Cop Car builds the suspense out of nothing and it’s fabulous. Holy fucking awesome filmmaking. Where is this going? A return to mystery. Hey why not, let’s get some Director’s Cut news. Continue reading →

Frances Ha + Ninotchka

Posted on September 24, 2015 by Alice Thirteen
Frances Ha + Ninotchka

A show about communism. Alice Thirteen announces the cinematographer of his next project, and it’s kind of unreal. No, really, that thing about communism from before is actually in there. Ok, fine, a show about women knowing what they want, not what they need. See, you don’t like that theme any better. So, communistic living in two female led films separated by the decades. Also, Gretta. Frances Ha, the most widely accepted totally-not-a-mumblecore-movie of all time. Joe Swanberg and Ti West. People who wander aimlessly through their 20s will soon be running the world. Ninotchka – don’t pronounce it, see it! Or you could do both, there’s really no harm in that. Melting the icy heart. Continue reading →

Maps to the Stars + Peeping Tom

Posted on September 17, 2015 by Alice Thirteen
Maps to the Stars + Peeping Tom

The perils of human watching. Alice Thirteen is directing a new film. Finding the funding for your movie. David Cronenberg returns with Maps to the Stars. Actors who go for it without fear. Maps to the Stars is not a satire of Los Angeles. What makes LA tick? Determining the motivation of a crazy person. Or maybe she’s not crazy. No, she’s crazy either way. The curious case of LA’s medium income in a large number of neighborhoods. Voyeurism, or: Everything is a slasher film. The Alec Baldwin in the room. Peeping Tom, career destroyer. The impression of a pornographer. Continue reading →

Hits + God Bless America

Posted on September 10, 2015 by Alice Thirteen
Hits + God Bless America

Waaah, American culture. Two comedians help audiences let it all out. Something’s happening and it shall not be talked about. The long overdue conversation about piracy, distribution, and the financial state of film. What is the David Cross directed film Hits actually about? Also, the value of Likes. The waxed mustached Etsy crowd. The price of fame. Does God Bless America represent Bobcat’s views? Surprise! Zero conversations about religion! Is reality TV still destroying everything or are we done with that? The next step in counterculture. Continue reading →

After Hours + A Serious Man

Posted on September 3, 2015 by Alice Thirteen
After Hours + A Serious Man

Physical vs emotional character journeys, as brought to you by gigantic directors. A step outside the expected. Michael’s evolving relationship with Eyes Wide Shut. After Hours as a day in the life of. Everyone’s favorite third host of Double Feature, Franz Kafka. Martin Scorsese makes movies that aren’t After Hours. Citizens of Los Angeles tell each other secrets about Tim Burton. An odd time for the Coen brothers to make A Serious Man. Front-loaded magic and made up stories. A chain of character-driven events. The greatest trailer of all trailers. An introduction to the work of Roger Deakins. Attempting to explain cinematography without visual aids. Continue reading →

Under the Skin + Spring

Posted on August 27, 2015 by Alice Thirteen
Under the Skin + Spring

Lady enigmas. Under the Skin, the challenging arthouse film staring a naked A-list celebrity. Like, actually. Impossible star power and the counterintuitive nature of film investment. What is Under the Skin even about? Surreal somethings. Contrast at many levels. ALEC BALDWIN FUN FACT. You’ve seen the Spring directors before, and they’re still amazing. The animal sacrifice no one has ever been able to pull off (until now). When hot Italian girls are suspect. Oh hi, skepticism. Using the language of science to take a crazy ride. Speculative fiction from by the science literature. Spring as a strange kind of HP Lovecraft romance film. Continue reading →

Zombeavers + They Came Together

Posted on August 20, 2015 by Alice Thirteen
Zombeavers + They Came Together

Genres as plot points. Matthew Donnelly, the bucket machine. A common funding tactic that worked for Zombeavers. Also, come on, Zombeavers: the triumphant face-value monster horror feature! Animated zombie beavers. Animatronic zombie beavers. He came. She came. They came together. Is that even the tagline? David Wain makes more sense. Is it good to follow up? Michael falls in love with Paul Rudd. I’ll fucking say it until it becomes funny! An afterthought changes the entire movie, and probably for the better! Tearing apart in the edit. Alice Thirteen begins to open up about the thing that is happening. Continue reading →

Papillon + Night at the Golden Eagle

Posted on August 13, 2015 by Alice Thirteen
Papillon + Night at the Golden Eagle

Finding a way out of your current life (from opposite sides of the bars). Alice reports in from downtown Los Angeles. Papillon, based on something that happened somewhere at some point, probably. Papillon’s instincts. The will to survive. The bad gets worse. To be labeled a survivor. Using money while in prison. Adam Rifkin has a Night at the Golden Eagle. More on Downtown Los Angeles. The financial district, the jewelry district, skid row and tent city. An old look for a new film. Fresh voyeuristic perspective. Miles Dougal’s yet to be made Night at the Golden Eagle spinoff. Finding an excuse for the b-story. A large, rapid update on Adam Rifkin and Penn Jillette’s film Director’s Cut. Continue reading →