Here’s a verse from Pere Ubu’s “Ice Cream Truck” (found on Cloudland):
There’s too much music in the land.
You hear it everywhere.
Everybody’s in a band – can’t get enough of it.
Brother Jimmy,
Cousin Ray,
Mom and Dad on bass and drums –
someone here’s just gotta quit.
The words occurred to me reading the story in this morning’s Times about the director of Bottle Shock opting for self distribution, particularly this bit: “…indie filmmakers find themselves caught in a glutted marketplace with too few theaters to handle all the movies…”
Are there just too many movies in the land? Is everybody an auteur? Can we get enough of it?
“Are there just too many movies in the land? Is everybody an auteur?” One wishes. I sense (or hope for) a revolution around the corner, in which the building forces of availability (cheap technology, online distribution) and knowledge (DVD and the blogosphere has democratized film history – how many great films has Criterion introduced young film lovers, like myself, to?) coalesce.
What I’ve seen of the indie film world still bears the marks of ghettoization, so that only certain types of movies are made on a low-budget (character-driven, which is fine and often preferable; aesthetically unadventurous, which is not). But I guess I should venture further into indieville and see what’s worth keeping.
Anyhow, the optimist in me thinks that the technological revolution which has transformed social lives may be on its way to transforming art. This can be good and bad, but given the moribund state of American film, do we have anywhere to go but up?
Same old story, same old song and dance. I’ve been making feature-length projects on my own (four of ’em so far, the fifth is currently shooting) and as long as I’ve been reading the lament has been too many movies and not enough slots. The real change here is that four-walling it is becoming less and less of a mark of shame. Self-distribution almost inevitably meant the film being distributed was terrible. Less so now, thanks to the “long tail”.
Although the above can still hold true. From what I heard about “Bottle Shock”, it wasn’t BAD. It just didn’t stand out from the crowd at all.
Dan, are your films available on the Internet? I’d be interested in checking them out.
Heh, did I ever set myself up for this one: some of my work, most of it minor, is available at http://www.youtube.com/user/dualthemovie
You can also find a short I co-directed under the title “Lucatrazz” on Google Video and Facebook.