Film Review: Goodnight Mommy

Lukas and Elias are twins whose mother has just returned from reconstructive plastic surgery following some sort of unexplained accident. The boys become convinced that who or what is in their home is most certainly not their mother. After a series of tests, confrontations and continued abnormal behavior from their mother, the boys decide to figure out the truth once and for all.

Goodnight Mommy is a captivating and beautiful film that manages to evoke an atmosphere of dread and palpable sadness, shot in a fairly minimalist Kubrickian style. Cinematographer Martin Gschlacht did a wonderful job; every scene, no matter how mundane the setting, looks amazing. The directorial team of Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz, who also wrote the screenplay together, crafted a tense and genuinely creepy film with strong characters and scenes that will stick in your memory well after the movie ends. While the acting is impressive from all three of the leads, in a film with some scenes that could veer into the ridiculous, the characters always maintain some semblance of reality.

Now for all the praise I am heaping on Goodnight Mommy I can’t let it go scot-free without mentioning that it is very similar to one of my favorite films of the early 2000s, but I am in no way accusing the filmmakers of outright copying as Goodnight Mommy is definitely its own film. And while I won’t name names, to not potentially mar anyone’s viewing enjoyment, I felt that it was indeed similar enough that it should be called out for liberal borrowing.

I’m giving a huge recommend to Goodnight Mommy, as it is certainly one of this years stand out horror titles. If you’re a fan of horror or looking for a way to kick off the Halloween season without the crowds of the multiplex, then this is the film for you.

Goodnight Mommy opens at The Cable Car Cinema on Friday, September 25.

Goodnight Mommy AKA Ich Seh, Ich Seh (2014); Directors: Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz; Starring: Susanne Wuest, Lukas Schwarz, and Elias Schwarz Film Review: Black Panthers: Vanguard Of The Revolution

Black Panthers: Vanguard Of The Revolution is a documentary that explores the formation and history of The Black Panther Party, a revolutionary African American political organization started in 1966. We are shown an overview of the party’s formation, ideals and actions through a series of news footage, period interviews and modern interviews with members and contemporaries alike. The documentary covers much of the party’s good side focusing on their fight for civil rights, the many community programs they operated, and most interestingly, of their legal problems with the FBI who were actively attempting to undermine them at every turn.

Black Panthers: Vanguard Of The Revolution is a fascinating documentary about an intriguing political organization and is filled with numerous interesting stories. At times, however, it feels like its not giving us the whole story. I in no way mean to imply that the film misrepresents itself or gives false information as The Black Panthers were indeed a target of the FBI’s COINTELPRO (Counter Intelligence Programs) operations, many of which were illegal forms of surveillance and attempts to discredit members of the party, and the FBI’s actions certainly lead to the murder of Fred Hampton by the Chicago Police Department. But it doesn’t seem fair to the audience that the documentary never mentions the darker side of The Black Panther Party, such as the massive embezzlement of donations along with the torture and even the admitted murder of one member thought to be an informant. What we are left with may be an incomplete version of the story, but it is still an important story and much of The Black Panthers’ good side still resonates in these times. We are still striving for some of the basic ideals that The Black Panthers were fighting for and we need to be reminded of that.

I am going to recommend that anyone interested in this topic, in political activism, or in the social climate of the late ’60s / early ’70s check out Black Panthers: Vanguard Of The Revolution because overall it is a well-made documentary, chock full of interesting information and stories. Just follow it up with a little reading about the party so you can get the full story.

Black Panthers: Vanguard Of The Revolution opens Friday, September 18, at The Cable Car Cinema.

Black Panthers: Vanguard Of The Revolution (2015); Director: Stanley Nelson

Film Review: The Visit

Becca and Tyler are two young teens who have never met their mother’s parents due to their mother being estranged from them. When the grandparents reach out to the mother via the internet and request she send Becca and Tyler to visit them for five days, the mother begrudgingly agrees. Once Becca and Tyler arrive, they are told that bedtime is at 9:30pm sharp and they find that to be odd. Little do Becca and Tyler know that the early bedtime will be the least of their grandparent’s growing eccentricities as mood swings, erratic behavior and possible ill intent become the ever-increasing norm in the household. Becca has been videoing every moment of their visit for a documentary about she and her brother forging a relationship with their grandparents. Tyler and Becca begin to piece together a frightening pattern of disturbing behavior and fear that they may not make it to the end of their five day visit.

M. Night Shyamalan may finally be pulling himself out of his slump with The Visit. While it’s not perfect and gets a bit predictable at times, I had fun watching The Visit with a packed audience. The film’s premise works while the conceit that the granddaughter wants to record everything for her own documentary never seems like a gimmick and fits with the development of her character. The characters themselves are all fairly well written and believable in their progression. The story itself is interesting, but gets clunky at times when you can start to sense what’s coming next. The Visit went over great with the crowd I saw it with; there were plenty of well-played jump scares and an abundance of creepy atmosphere along with a surprising amount of welcome laughs. I would definitely recommend The Visit to horror fans and general film fans looking to kick start the Halloween season with something fun and scary, but not overly gory. I have to think that taking on a lower budgeted project and working with Blumhouse Productions really helped to get Shyamalan back to the basics of good storytelling. I think this is his best film since Signs and I hope this upswing continues.

The Visit (2015); Director: M. Night Shyamalan; Starring: Olivia DeJonge, Ed Oxenbould, Deanna Dungan, Peter McRobbie

Film Review: Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter

Kumiko is a 29-year-old office lady in Tokyo with no career prospects and no boyfriend, but she does have a VHS tape of Fargo and she believes it will lead her to “untold riches.” Kumiko abandons her life in Japan and heads to America in search of the money Steve Buscemi’s character buried at the end of the 1996 film. Convinced in her delusion, no one can convince her that Fargo was simply a movie and she perseveres on her mission no matter what obstacles she faces.

Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter is a unique film in its ability to be both massively depressing and uplifting. Director David Zellner co wrote the film with his brother Nathan Zellner, and they craft an intriguing tale out of the urban legend surrounding the real life death of Takako Konishi; who was found dead of a apparent suicide near Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, in November 2001. It was rumored at the time that after a bad relationship break up and the loss of a job that Takako Konishi had been searching for the money buried at the end of Fargo. That story was debunked, but the Zellner brothers have crafted a story around this legend that somehow seems part neo realist cinema and part fairy tale. Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter is a beautifully shot film; cinematographer Sean Porter’s photography lends elegance even to the most mundane of locations while making the fantastic outdoor settings look vibrant even in the snow. The acting is also top notch with special attention being deserved by Rinko Kikuchi in the lead and director David Zellner as a well-meaning police officer who tries to help Kumiko.

Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter has been available on VOD for a little while now, but is certainly worth seeking out. This is probably one of my highest recommendations of this year so far.

Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter (2014); Director: David Zellner; Starring: Rinko Kikuchi, Nobuyuki Katsube, David Zellner

Calling All MSTies … Joel Hodgson has Landed

That’s right fans of “Mystery Science Theater 3000,” Joel Hodgson himself will be making a personal appearance at the Greenwich Odeum on September 18 and 19. There will be two nights of events, which will include screenings, Q and A s and a meet-and-greet.

Joel Hodgson is one of the creators and stars of “Mystery Science Theater 3000,” a comedic television show that ran from 1988 until 1999. The early seasons featured Hodgson as a janitor who was launched into space by evil scientists and forced to watch bad movies accompanied only by robot friends he built himself. “MST3K” developed an ever-growing cult fan base and introduced the concept of enjoying and making fun of bad movies to generations of film fans to come.

The weekend’s events include a “Mystery Science Theater 3000” Mini-Marathon on Friday, September 18. “Mystery Science Theater 3000” creator, Joel Hodgson, will host two “MST3K” episodes along with a questions and answers session. The episodes were selected by Joel and represent the best of the TV Series that ran on first Comedy Central and eventually SciFi Network (series ran from 1988 – 1999). The Friday Night “Mini-Marathon Double Feature” Event starts at 8pm and runs until approximately 11:30. And on Saturday, September 19, the Greenwich Odeum presents a VIP meet and greet proceeded by “Riffing Myself” and “Joel’s Favorite Shorts.” With “Riffing Myself,” Joel will dive deep into the history of B-movies, tell the legendary origin story behind “MST3K” and its humble beginnings at local Minneapolis-St. Paul station KTMA TV 23, and Joel’s projects since “MST3K” and what the future holds for Joel and the bots. Get to know the man who provided you with countless laughs on the Satellite of Love alongside Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot. Followed by the added bonus of “Joel’s Favorite Shorts, ” Joel’s handpicked favorite “MST3K” short films.

I was given the opportunity to ask Joel a few questions in preparation for his visit to our state and I chose two questions relative to his appearance and one left fielder.

Josh Gravel (Motif): “Mystery Science Theater 3000″ was a cult hit early on, but did you ever picture the show having a continuously growing cult following?

Joel Hodgson: People often ask if I’m surprised people liked the show “MST3K.” And I contend that you don’t go ahead and make a TV show unless you think a wide audience will like it. However, yes, it’s been 25 years since I created the thing, and it is more famous now than ever. Weird.

JG: Have you ever been to our fair state of RI? And is there anything besides the event that you plan to do while here?

JH: Never been to Rhode Island and I’m very curious about it. Usually, it takes so much of my energy to put these things on I don’t have much left over to do any sight seeing. However, if I’m careful I can land a few meals at some famous eateries. So yeah, I’m a bit of a foodie when I travel.

JG: Someone online posited an interesting question, “Who had a greater influence on movie watching, Roger Ebert or ‘MST3K?’”

JH: Oh, now that is interesting. I think Roger Ebert is clearly in a class by himself. If anything, I’m really proud that “MST3K” exposed a broader audience to the concept of the ironic viewing. I believe it’s critical in today’s media-soaked world that you can take pleasure in watching something that hasn’t been pre-sold to you before you consume it. If it’s done right, movie riffing should be a bit like exploring a haunted house on the dark side of town with some funny friends.

I asked Kevin Muoio, event organizer, about his fandom and getting this event booked. He responded, “As a fan of ‘Mystery Science Theater’ from way back, I was aware from Joel’s Twitter feed that he was taking the ‘MST3K’ show on the road in places like Chicago, LA, Minneapolis, Austin, and Philadelphia and I wanted to bring that action to New England. At the Greenwich Odeum, our performance committee selects our calendar and this is one show that I personally wanted to get on the calendar.”

When asked what he was most excited about in this upcoming weekend he told me, “Without a doubt the Saturday night event, which is really HUGE. It starts off with a VIP-only event (tickets will sell out for this) where people get to meet and greet Joel, take photos, autographs and meet other MSTies. Additionally, all VIP attendees on Saturday will receive exclusive swag (not available for sale, made specifically for the VIP event). After the VIP event, the Saturday night festivities are a combination of the live performance “Riffing Myself“ and classic MST3K goodness “Joel’s Favorite Shorts.” Joel’s one man show “Riffing Myself” will tell the history of “MST3K,” along with his own personal stories, photos and videos. Think Joel Hodgson running a PowerPoint except it will be incredibly amazing. The night also includes a handful of Mystery Science Theater Short Features aka ‘Joel’s Favorite Shorts.’ These were hand-picked by Joel.”

I for one can’t wait to check this out, I wonder if they’ll be selling any hamdingers at the concession stand?

The Mystery Science Theater 3000 weekend will be September 18 and 19 at the Greenwich Odeum located at 59 Main St., East Greenwich, RI 02818. Ticket information can be found at http://theodeum.org. Film Review: Sinister 2

Sinister 2 follows the events of the first film with now Ex-Deputy So & So obsessively researching the Bughuul mythology and investigating similar deaths to find out where this boogey man will appear next. His investigation leads him to a remote farmhouse where a family had been killed in the land’s adjoining church only to find single mother Courtney Collins living there with her twin sons Dylan and Zach. Knowing what he does about Bughuul’s practices and the fates of families who occupy the homes of his recent victims, Ex-Deputy So & So must act fast and find a way to defeat Bughuul and his group of ghost children.

Sinister 2 is a slick-looking film with lots of jump scares, but unfortunately doesn’t deliver the same visceral impact that 2012’s Sinister did. The sequel has all of the elements that made Sinister a stand- out film — good characters, tons of creepy atmosphere, the family death films, unsettling music and Bughuul — but somehow the sequel just doesn’t manage the same unnerving tone throughout that I experienced with the first film. It seems far too reliant on jump scares than atmosphere while giving us way too much Bughuul and delivering a less interesting score, which lacked all sense of dread heard in the first film.

Now before I dig too deep a hole for this film, I do want to say that I enjoyed it a great deal and I am recommending horror fans check it out, but it is a hard comparison when the first film was one of my favorite films of 2012. Director Ciarán Foy has done a great job creating and developing characters that the audience can really care for while also building out the mythology and back-story of the film. The film is shot wonderfully and the films within the film still retain that feeling of “something you shouldn’t be watching.” The end sequence was also a pleasant surprise as I thought I knew what was going to happen and the filmmakers delivered a great finale with some wonderful tension, character moments and scares that went beyond my expectations. It didn’t hurt that the most memorable music from the first film made a return in this sequence as well.

Sinister 2 is well worth a ticket purchase for horror fans and folks who are looking for a good shock. I am eagerly awaiting a third film, sure to be in the works.

Sinister 2 (2015); Director: Ciarán Foy; Starring: James Ransone, Shannyn Sossamon, Robert Daniel Sloan, and Dartanian Sloan

Film Review: Best of Enemies

Best Of Enemies is a documentary that focuses on the 1968 televised political debates between William F. Buckley and Gore Vidal as part of ABC’s Republican and Democratic National Convention coverage. ABC was the last place network at the time and couldn’t provide the comprehensive coverage of other networks so instead they opted to have the conservative Buckley and the liberal Vidal engage in a series of 10 nighttime debates to discuss the issues in what ABC dubbed their “Unconventional Coverage.” Besides a rehash of the debates themselves, we are given a wealth of informative back-story for the conception of the debates, as well as background information on Buckley and Vidal for historical context. All of this wraps up with a look at how the debates not only affected the television news landscape, but also the long-lasting effect they had on Buckley and Vidal personally.

Filmmakers Robert Gordon and Morgan Neville crafted a truly illuminating documentary with Best Of Enemies that gives us a good understanding of the late ’60s political landscape, as well as of the moment that television news and political commentary became less about the news or issue and more about the personality of the person discussing it. Through various interviews with columnists, contemporaries and archive interviews with Buckley and Vidal themselves, a full picture is given that focuses more on just those 10 debates. Although I don’t want to downplay the entertainment value and historical importance of the debates, especially since the film features rare footage of the long lost 9th debate in which Buckley lost his composure and used some very regrettable language on live television.

I found this documentary to be invaluably informative and entertaining, as someone born well after these debates happened. I had heard of them historically, but frankly knew little of the details surrounding them or of their content. I found the filmmakers’ use of the actual debates, archive interviews, interviews with modern political journalists, as well as readings from the public and private writings of both Buckley and Vidal to add a great depth to the subject. No matter which side of the political landscape you fall on, I believe that Best Of Enemies is worth a watch and I highly recommend it.

Best Of Enemies will start screening Friday, August 21, at the Cable Car Cinema.

Best Of Enemies (2015); Director: Robert Gordon and Morgan Neville; Starring: Gore Vidal, William F. Buckley, Dick Cavett

RIIFF Notes: Theory of Obscurity

Part of a series of personal observations from the Rhode Island International Film Festival.

It seems an undeniable paradox to be famous for being obscure, but The Residents have managed it. Widely regarded as the world’s most influential band (or avant-garde performance artists pretending to be a band) that no one is sure exists, they have nevertheless produced a flood of work including over 60 albums both studio and live as well as numerous films.

Known for challenging and cerebral experimental music that is impossible to describe, but sounds a bit like dadaist punk played by musicians landing airplanes on the roof, The Residents emerged from early 1970s hippie culture in San Francisco and, over more than 40 years of prolific work, acquired an ardent, almost fanatical fan base, much of it among other musicians and performers – including from Devo, Primus, Ween, Talking Heads, Pinback, Henry Cow and Penn Jillette (of Penn & Teller), all of whom are interviewed in this film. Funded in one month to 161% of a $25,000 goal on IndieGoGo, the filmmakers enjoyed unprecedented and apparently carte blanche access to the band, their live shows, and their extensive archive.

Consistent early adopters of new technologies and do-it-yourself home recording techniques, the band, using primitive videotape in the 1970s instead of 16mm film, produced some of the very first music videos. They were among the earliest bands to release on Laserdisc, an expensive and now-forgotten format that was designed to appeal to the video equivalent of an audiophile. They were among the first musicians to use digital sampling in the 1980s, acquiring the pioneering Em-u Emulator that used 5.25- inch floppy disks: serial number 001 went to the more well-known Stevie Wonder while serial number 005 went to The Residents. They were among the first to produce a multimedia experience on CD-ROM.

The Residents carefully guard their anonymity as individuals, always performing in heavily disguised costume and preferring to be regarded as having solely a collective identity. Despite long-term alliances with other performers who have often appeared on stage with them, the core of the group has always consisted of four members, but no one knows who they are nor whether they have always been the same people. The band has made a point of deliberate inconsistency: although they never want to sound or look like any other band, they do not want to sound or look like themselves, either. The most iconic appearance of the band is when the four members don helmets that effectively replace their heads and faces with giant eyeballs crowned with top hats. These signature eyeballs have been appropriated as either plagiarism or homage, depending upon point of view, by others ranging from Ke$ha to Adventure Time. The fetish for anonymity extends even to the name of the band: when they submitted a demo tape to Warner, the band had no name and supplied only their return address, so Warner replied with a letter addressed to “Residents” at that address and the accidentally but ideally suited name stuck.

While it is challenging to become famous for being obscure, it seems even more quixotic to make a documentary film about a band whose members will not allow themselves to be photographed out of costume and who as a matter of principle never grant interviews. The band has what claims to be an independent business and management arm known as the Cryptic Corporation whose four founders are interviewed, more or less, for this film, including Homer Flynn and Hardy W. Fox, who remain Cryptic officers, and former officers Jay Clem and John Kennedy, who left Cryptic in the 1980s. John Kennedy says in his interview that he became president of Cryptic because he “had the right name” but possessed no other qualifications. Despite persistent rumors that The Residents and Cryptic Corporation are one and the same, all concerned emphatically deny this.

The Wednesday night screening was attended by Laurie Amat who followed the film with a question- and-answer session, and hopefully she will be able to do the same for the Friday screening. Over a period of about 10 years when she lived in San Francisco, Amat was a vocalist and collaborator with the band, and she appears in the film. Now Amat, who grew up in Warwick, has returned and is an artist-in- residence at AS220 in Providence.

Focusing more on the artistic concept behind The Residents, although including a fair amount of their musical product, this documentary offers a great introduction to viewers from a background of interest in or familiarity with experimental art in any form, especially music or film, who need to correct a lack of prior acquaintance with arguably the ultimate underground band of the past half-century.

Theory of Obscurity: A Film about The Residents, directed by Jon Hardy, RI International Film Festival http://www.film-festival.org/ Fri (8/7) 7pm, The Greenwich Odeum, 59 Main St, East Greenwich. http://riiff2015.sched.org/event/a7f9d4e20376858d35db6e1c1128db8d

Film: http://residentsmovie.com/ Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ov5EqmOeuPY

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Residents

YouTube official channel: https://www.youtube.com/profile?user=theresidents The Best of the 48 Hour Film Project Comes to AS220

The Best of The 48 Hour Film Project will play on August 22 at the AS220 main stage. Although the films selected have not been announced yet, there will be plenty to choose from as over 50 teams competed.

The competition challenges teams of filmmakers to make a movie in less than two days. That means you do everything — write it, shoot it, edit it, cry and sleep. To keep teams honest (although there is a theory that some teams try to write ahead of time), the teams are given a prop, a line of dialogue and a character at 7pm on Friday night. These elements must be incorporated into the film. This year’s character was Van or Vanna Trumbull, a detective, so plan on seeing a lot of fedoras. The prop was a helmet and the line of dialogue was, “Where did that come from?” Each team was required to incorporate these elements into the genre they chose out of a hat.

This is the 10th year that the Rhode Island Film Collaborative held the competition in Providence. The teams ranged from high school students to families looking for a weekend activity, professional filmmakers, film students and more than a few whackos. (I’m talking about you, Megaporker Productions.)

The purpose of the 48 is inspiration, and this year inspired some truly cool moments. “I’m pretty sure one film was partially filmed in Japan during the team leader’s honeymoon,” said Mel Rainsberger, producer. There also was a film made in a nudist colony and another whose characters all were cats.

The Best of show will cut out the riff-raff and leave you with about a dozen of the finest films ever made about a helmet wearing detective named Van (or Vanna) Trumbull.

Awards will be given at the screening/party. The nominees will be posted soon at 48hourfilm.com/- providence-ri

Who Shot It? An Interview with the Director of Who Did It? The Story Behind The Clue Mystery Game

One of the hallmarks of the 1980s was the growth of home entertainment options — whether it was television, movies, music or gaming, there was an explosion of options in the marketplace. As the videotape gained in popularity, it didn’t take the other forms of entertainment long to utilize it. First the musicians started releasing home videos of concerts, but then the real strange thing happened: the board game industry turned an eye toward the VHS market.

One of the most popular of the VHS games was created by Parker Brothers and was a new version of the game Clue. In the video version, a group of actors were hired for a live action scripted mystery, which players navigated by fast forwarding or rewinding to specific parts of the tape in the fashion of a “choose your own adventure” style book. The most interesting aspect of this game for us, though, is the fact that both the Clue VCR Mystery Game (1985) and it’s sequel Clue II: Murder In Disguise (1987) were produced locally, shot in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, respectively, with a cast and crew of New Englanders.

Now some 30 or so years later, local filmmakers Tim Labonte and Victor Franko have tracked down the cast and crew for their own retrospective documentary, Who Did It? The Story Behind The Clue VCR Mystery Game. Who Did It… is truly an interesting look back at both a successful experiment in home entertainment as well as an interesting, but now overlooked, medium in gaming. Their documentary brings back memories of struggling through what at the time seemed like an overly complex game. Many, including myself, simply gave up on the game and watched the weird story bits. This documentary answers many lingering questions about the game itself and provides an understanding of the game’s background since we not only get interviews with the people who made the video, but with those who envisioned bringing the popular game to this new medium to begin with.

I had a lot of questions about the documentary and its making so I was excited to interrogate … I mean interview the documentary’s producer, editor and co-director, Tim Labonte.

Joshua Gravel: What brought you to this topic for a documentary?

Tim Labonte: A few years ago my friend Frank Durant gave me a call asking if I could edit an Indigogo trailer for this project he was trying to get going. At this time, Kickstarter, Indiegogo and crowdfunding was a very new idea. I’m sure you remember — with too many ‘success stories’ maybe? He told me about this Clue VCR Game he would play and watch as a kid. I had no idea what he was talking about. But he told me how when he was working as an extra on Underdog he recognized Walter Covell, the gentlemen who played Colonel Mustard, and got to talk with him. And he found out that Parker Brothers, being a local company, actually filmed and produced the game video locally, which was a risk not using NY or LA. Frank got inspired, then proceeded to track down the actors, producers, director and creator of the game and tried to use the Indigogo to raise money to bring them all together to the first RI Comic Con. He wanted to do a panel and a session playing the game, and the money would go toward travel and hotel for the Clue VCR crew and I would film the event. So I was intrigued right away. I found the film online and used it to produce a campaign video. In the end I think we made $25.

Fast-forward a year later. Frank recruited me to work on some sketch comedy, and after a meeting we were walking outside and I asked, “What’s going on with Clue?” He said, “Nothing. We made no money to get everyone together.” I said, “You have their addresses. Why don’t we go to them?” He called me a week later. Everyone was on board and we had our travel dates. We packed the car and drove to Maine, New Hampshire, Upper Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island — it was a blast. We filmed in two weekends. Ed Buffman, the director, is in Pennsylvania so he Skyped with Frank and had a friend film the conversation and send us the footage.

JG: Had you played the game?

TL: I had never even heard of the game when Frank brought the project forward. Literally after the phone call, I went on eBay and found a still shrink-wrapped copy for 30 bucks. I was born in ’84, so I was 1 when the game was released. Nintendo (The VCR Game’s killer) was my game, but I told friends about Clue and everyone was game to hang out and play it when it arrived. I transferred the tape to DVD (I think I’m the only one of my friends that still has VCRs) and went to my buddy’s house. We gave up during the instructions and ended up just watching the movie. I could not follow the instructions at all, which I learned happened all the time. Even to the actors!

JG: As the Clue game was 30 years old, were there any troubles finding those involved?

TL: I think Frank did a lot of Facebook and white pages, taking a chance the person on the other line was Miss Scarlet or Mrs. White. I remember begging to include the sequel “Murder in Disguise” in the documentary. The man who played the instructor Didit the Butler in Clue I passed away shortly after the game’s completion. For the sequel they brought in another Inspector Pry, played by Peter Kovner. Frank found two Peter Kovners and left messages. The Peter we wanted returned the call! But a lot of it was the connections and friendships the cast maintained over the years. You find one, they give you a number, then they give you a number, then you’ve found everyone. JG: Was there an attempt to revisit the locations for the documentary?

TL: We drove by the Clue I mansion in Wenham, Mass! Gorgeous place — I wanted to see it, and it wasn’t too far from one of the interviews. Frank did call and try to film in there. The family still owned it, and the kids remember them filming. But they wanted insurance and all this stuff if Frank and I were to, I don’t know, knock over a vase or whatnot. So we decided it really wasn’t that important. It’s actually up for sale now if you have $5,500,000 lying around.

Belcourt Castle in Newport, RI, where Clue II was filmed we didn’t go because we had already decided not to use the first location. But take your family this summer!

JG: Where there any major hurdles in the production?

TL: So when Clue II was in production in Newport, WBZ in Boston brought their show Evening Magazine to do a story. I only knew about this story because some Clue VCR fan sites has stills, audio and a description of the entire spot. They had behind the scenes video of making the film! Frank and I both e-mailed the websites — and nothing.

There’s this site called TheArtofMurder.com, seriously, the ultimate Clue collector’s paradise of information. I was very surprised how big of a fan base there was for Clue, especially in England where it’s called Cluedo. I went to the forums on there with no luck as well. I then messaged someone I knew who had it on the board, and they responded, letting me know when they’d get the footage to me when they get back from out of town. That cherry on the top the documentary needed!

That person disappeared. I would write to him every couple months, even to the point offering to send my VHS/DVD recorder, blank discs and money to ship back, but nothing. Frank and I then contacted WBZ, they said they gave all the archives to WGBH. We contacted WGBH, they said they got rid of them. Defeated after the year of searching, I posted online that the film will be released in March, unfortunately without the Evening Magazine story. While exporting the film, Michael Dell’Orto (Monsieur Brunette) messages me on Facebook, “The Evening Magazine spot? I have that in my closet!” He sent me the footage right away. It was Christmas. I worked it into the final film and announced the June 9 release date.

JG: I know the doc screened at the RI Comic Con, did you do other festivals?

TL: This is where I need to do a shout out for Steven Perry, the founder of RI Comic Con. Frank is good friends with him, and he’s the one they gave us a little money for travel and food to produce the film. He then let us show it at the 2nd RI Comic Con. In the meantime I had been hired at WaterFire Providence at the start of the 2013 season. I don’t know how on earth I finished the first cut. I remember taking days off and my fiancé, Amanda, was transcribing the phone interviews for me. I exported the movie at 7am, then went to the Comic Con screening for 2pm.

A few months later my good friend Nathanael Tronerud was very generous and composed the music for us. He took each character and wrote a piece around them. The different themes he wrote I was able to place all through the film. With music now, I submitted to the SENE Film Festival last year. It was such an awesome night — I really consider that the premiere. We had a room full of people, and some amazing question and answers. Then we took home an Audience Choice Award for Best Documentary! The whole plan with the film was to release it publicly with no financial gain. So it’s really for anyone who wants to sit back and feel nostalgic for half an hour. We had a lot of fun making it. But I am now contacting Cable Access stations to air it and blogs to link it. We’ve also been submitting to New England Festivals and Comic Con Fests. Because the Clue VCR Game is so rich with local film and game history, it’s such a particular audience and niche, we feel they would place better here in the area or the audience that most likely played and remember the game.

JG: What upcoming projects do you have?

TL: I’m shooting and editing a web series called Magicland for my friend Jenn Dlugos now, between the day job schtickery of course. I just made animations/music videos for Danny Weinkauf of They Might Be Giants, and Marc with a C and his project Claire and the Potatoes. I’ve been working with Al Gomes of Big Noise and this October we’ll be a making a music video for The Young Presidents with Beach Boy Blondie Chaplin (many dreams have been coming true, believe me). I have three more documentaries I want to pursue. I’ve talked with the people involved with the subjects I want to cover, but it’s still too early to tell or give any official information. I do video and media work for a school, so just waiting for the school year to end and clear my head and get back in the game.

For more information about Who Did It? The Story Of The Clue VCR Game check out https://www.facebook.com/WhoDidItClueVCR or http://standstillpictures.com. Trust me this is well worth seeking out and will be of interest to vhs and Clue enthusiasts everywhere.