I really don't like the tone of this "meme." I don't know anyone affiliated with this film, but I still don't feel right pointing and gawking at someone's honest effort, even if it objectively "sucks."

Let me say right now that I've seen plenty of films -- DIY and Hollywood and otherwise -- that my friends and I could easily mock just as hard, if not more. This includes films that have received acclaim on this blog and other indie film sites that I just find so stupefying awful that I cringe on behalf of the indie film community. You wanna direct your mocking constructively? Point it at soulless $100 mil. sequels, self-congratulatory poverty porn, and hollow "shock" cinema.

It's one thing to wonder how the heck this supposedly cost $5 million (maybe that's a mistake) and got a distribution deal. It's another to actively spew/promote venom on what simply looks like, on the whole, the average student-level film.
# posted by  Anonymous @ 6/06/2009 11:09 PM  

 
I agree with you in some regards. When Indiewire published their negative review of Bujalski's "Beeswax" by a journalist that hadn't seen the entire film, I thought that was in very poor taste. Bujalski is someone clearly passionate about their work, and something like that does nothing to help him or his film.

However, for this film - the director has literally done zero press (aside from one accidental interview), and to me, THE ONLY audience out there for this particular film are people like us who seek out and champion potential future cult classics. In this case, it helps the film way more than it hurts it - just to get the buzz going within really the only subculture that will support it. Because if it wasn't for Filmmaker Magazine drawing my attention to the trailer in the first place - that theatre would have had ZERO people there instead of five. I think the oddball success of Tommy Wiseau's "The Room" is a perfect comparison, and I can see "After Last Season" playing midnight screenings or at the cinefamily for years to come.

But I totally hear what you're saying, and just think that this particular film is a complete and utter anomaly. We genuinely loved the experience of watching it, and wanted to share our excitement with the likeminded people who would also support this film.
# posted by  michael @ 6/07/2009 4:28 AM  

 
I'd really like to see this film. The trailer's meaning completely and utterly eluded me, I couldn't pin it to anything, which is kind of amazing. I kept showing it to other people to watch them react the same way I did.

Any idea if it will screen in Australia?
# posted by  Nils @ 6/07/2009 8:13 AM  

 
I don't see a lot of people "spewing venom" at this movie, many of us are just curious - the trailer & lack of indformation about the movie is baffling, & the whole thing is entertaining to contemplate - how that trailer & this movie came to be, how people will react to it & what the movie may possibly mean - both as a creative work & as a commercial phenomenon. Awfulness or goodness is a matter of taste (i know some people who get very angry when they see Jarmusch movies - as in watching those movies was a waste of time - , but I like most Jarmusch movies a lot), so there could be people out there who genuinely dig ALS. And the attention being generated by bloggers for ALS could result in those people finding out about the movie. The trailer for the movie is very unusual, compared to most mainstream movie trailers, thus people are curious.
# posted by  The Sujewa @ 6/07/2009 10:18 AM  

 
Thanks for all these comments.

To the first Anonymous, I understand your larger point but I would say that I think we have been really careful on this blog not to "spew/promote venom" about this movie. Yes, we have been baffled, incredulous, doubting and curious, but not venomous. Maybe in the number of posts we've devoted to it we've wound up conveying the impression that we are mocking the film, and I'm sorry if that's come across as the case. As Sujewa said here, I don't think the reason this film has generated so much commentary in the blogosphere is because people want to point a finger at a "bad movie" but because they are curious about the intentions of its filmmaker. All the other indie/DIY/Hollywood movies you say we could criticize -- that's not the point. We know why those films were made and what the directors were trying to achieve. But the trailer for "After Last Season" is genuinely odd and unique, and, more importantly, it feels in its oddness that there is a sincere attempt by the filmmaker to communicate something. We just don't know what that something is. I must have watched it a dozen times when it first went up, and I was mystified and wanted to know more about the film.

Then, after getting his trailer on iTunes and building a website, the director gave only the most minimal info about the film and did not issue press screenings or make himself available for interviews. In the internet age, that's a strategy (probably on his part an inadvertent one) to whip up even more intrigue about the movie.

Finally, I think that if you put your movie in the theaters, you have to be prepared for what you get. I was a producer on a film called by the lead critic of the The New York Times the worst film of the year, and, frankly, we took that as a badge of honor and even argued with the distributor that it should go on the poster (alongside some positive comments about the film, of course). So, I'm not someone who thinks that attention and divergent opinions of films are bad things when it comes to building awareness.

I'd like nothing more than if Mark Region were to drop me an email, send me a screener and agree to an interview here and it would certainly be a respectful one.
# posted by  Scott Macaulay @ 6/07/2009 10:57 AM  

 
I think the first poster who refered to this film being a "meme" may be right - but for a different reason.

It seems to be a total scam - probably perpertrated by someone well known (and smug).

IMO you've all been had and I call bullshit on the whole thing.

Will the real Mark Region please stand up or STFU!
# posted by  Anonymous @ 6/07/2009 2:10 PM  

 
Attention Spike Jonze:

Be a good boy and 'fess up to being the perp behind this jolly wheeze.

You little scamp!!!
# posted by  Anonymous @ 6/07/2009 7:19 PM  

 
I'M MARK REGION AND SO'S MY WIFE!!!!!!!!
# posted by  Anonymous @ 6/07/2009 7:35 PM  

 
I'm a bit perplexed by those crying hoax. I've seen a bazillion films that look just like this. The truth is, it's really hard to make a good film; most people who try end up with pretty lousy and embarrassing messes that are shown to friends, family, and posted to a blog or on Youtube. Somehow this one got "distribution" (although it's more likely they paid to show it in the theatre- not uncommon for super indie films that don't play festivals. Otherwise, who's the distributor?). If it is a hoax, it's not a very interesting one. And to say some well known filmmaker put this together is just silly-- if they did, they likely would have orchestrated a much larger campaign around it to make sure it got noticed on a larger scale.
# posted by  Anonymous @ 6/07/2009 7:45 PM  

 
OK. First, a confession: I'm the MRI doctor. There's a lot about this film that is STILL mysterious even to the people involved, but here's what I can tell you: Mark Region, although that's not his real name, isn't Spike Jonze (or even Hal Hartley) and that I believe his intent with "ALS" was 100% sincere. He shot a feature film in 5 days on 35mm with no video tap, one light, and one take per setup...any questions?

When I got the script I found it impenetrable, but thought its sheer weirdness just might make it a cult classic, and tried to play it that way. I have not seen the finished product, but based on my experience of filming, I don't think the video reviewers were being 'venomous' at all; on the contrary, their take is just right: utter amazement and "What IS this?" at the almost anti-film sensibility of the thing. Enjoy!
# posted by  Scott Winters @ 6/07/2009 10:28 PM  

 
Scott, you certainly gave the most experienced performance in the film. Well done.
Did you glean the impressions of the other actors? Was the crew as extensive as the credits suggest? Can you describe Mark Region at all? Do you think this film was some sort of financial scam or tax dodge?

I really hope you get to see the film. I was enthralled.
# posted by  Anonymous @ 6/09/2009 2:43 AM  

 
scott, i have to say are the unsung hero of after last season. your smug, almost smirking, delivery had me rolling.
# posted by  Ragin' Ron @ 6/09/2009 6:05 PM  

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