31 December 2007

In a recent interview, Angus Scrimm – known around the world as The Tall Man in the Phantasm films, and soon to be known for his role in Red 71 – had high praise for director Patrick Roddy and for the film's lead, Nathan Ginn:

"Patrick's first feature Mercy blew me away ... so it [Red 71] was irresistible. The lead is a young Chinese-American actor of striking screen presence reminiscent of Warner Oland, Victor Buono, or Laird Cregar whose name is Nathan Ginn."

See the entire interview at The Phantasm Archives.

28 December 2007

While on the Leila shoot, Derek invited me to be in the commercial for his new business, Director’s Seat Productions. Jack and Jeremy were there too, as well as Doug Van Zee, from 13th Hour and Leila’s video. I was also happy to see Jalyn and Jill from Visors Down, Frank from Visors Down and Take Me Somewhere Nice, Jackie from 13th Hour, Mike from Dark West, and Michelle from the Leila video. It was one big happy family and the shoot went great.

26-27 December 2007

I worked on a music video for Leila Lopez with my buddies Jack (director), Jeremy (producer), and Derek (DP). My business partner, Bob, provided the location for the first day of shooting, which was great. You will soon be able to see the video, Hit and Miss on Leila’s web site and her MySpace page. Their last video of her, Tonight is also available there on the “EPK” link. Her music is very cool and so is she, so check it out.

25 December 2007

Merry Christmas! My sister, Angie, gave me The Kingdom on DVD. I didn’t think it was coming out until tomorrow, but there it was. It was lots of fun for me to pause the movie when I was on the screen and savor the experience. For those of you who might want to do the same, I can be found at the following times:
0:04:03 – cooking a hot dog
1:03:55 – through the car window, past Jamie and Ashraf
1:14:02 – my big close-up!
1:41:37 – fifth soldier from the right

The DVD was apparently released on 21 December, debuting as the No. 10 DVD rental for the week. Stay tuned.

21 December 2007

The final DVDs of Romance at Frisky’s Bar have arrived. The director will be out of town for a couple weeks, so I’ll have to wait for my copy. Any of you who want one can order them on-line, or wait until we secure a distribution deal. I expect that to eventually happen. I’ll keep you posted.

18 December 2007

Justin Kreinbrink sent me a picture message of The Decoy on the shelf in a Blockbuster – the first time he has seen that. The movie has been in Hollywood Video stores and available on-line through Blockbuster, NetFlix, and every other outlet. But, this was the first he knew of that it was actually in a Blockbuster store. He is in New Mexico working as Jake Gyllenhaal’s stunt double in the film Brothers, so I guess the film was in a Blockbuster there. Ironically, the Tucson stores don’t seem to have it yet. Oh well.

17 December 2007

I received the flyer for my January stand-up show. It’s nothing fancy, but you can check it out if you want. The e-mail announcement said:

“COMEDY TONITE! returns Sunday, January 13, 2008 at The Top Hat Theatre Club. Host Tom Potter welcomes comedian Brian Mulligan and the incredible comedy magic of Norm Marini. The show begins at 7:30 P.M.

“Brian Mulligan performs comedy in clubs and for private groups around the country, including at Universal Studios’ CityWalk, the University of Notre Dame, the world famous Comedy Store in Hollywood. He has also an acted in over 50 films, including The Decoy which aired on Showtime and the Universal Pictures movie The Kingdom.

“Headlining the show is award-winning magician, Norm Marini. Norm has been performing his unique brand of comedy magic for over 20 years. The producer and headliner of the Gaslight Theatre’s IT’S MAGIC, has been seen in 10 productions of STARS OF MAGIC at The Temple of Music and Art. In addition, Norm’s peers consider him a master of close-up and stage magic. He will combine all his talents in this entertaining evening.

“The $10 tickets are going fast for this one-time-only show; reservations are suggested.”

I’ve written about the show to several hundred friends, so we can hope for a good turnout. And, funny jokes.

16 December 2007

At the end of November, I mentioned that my listing for The Kingdom had been added back on IMDb and I wondered how it would impact my STARMeter ranking. Then, I forgot to mention in this blog what the answer was. Sorry. Here is the answer. First, the ranking of 2,500,000 on 18 November 2007 turned out to actually be an error (as I had guessed) and it was corrected to just over 300,000 (still by far my lowest since I was initially included in The Kingdom). Then, in the three weeks since being added to the credits for The Kingdom, my ranking has improved to about 70,000. Of course, this all means nothing, but it is still interesting to watch. When The Kingdom comes out on DVD in a couple weeks, we’ll see what happens to the rankings then.

11 December 2007

Red 71 got another review, this one by Cinema Crazed. Although the writer tends to emphasize his criticisms, he actually gave a pretty positive review. Some of his praise included:
"Patrick Roddy has his shit together"
"Red 71 is a damn fine production"
"One of the more interesting neo-noir attempts in the indie world"
"Roddy once again creates a film of great production value and visuals and knows how to direct a film damn well"
Again, he neglects to praise me by name, but I’m sure it was just an oversight.

10 December 2007

While compiling my Christmas wish list on Amazon, I decided to see if they had a release date for the DVD of The Kingdom, which they did. It will be available on 26 December, just in time for your after-Christmas sales. Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Barnes & Noble, and Borders all showed the same release date. Everyone shows a list price of about $29.99 and a sale price of $18.99. Blockbuster, Netflix, and Hollywood Video all list the DVD, but show no availability date. Once I have a copy, I’ll post a note here letting you know exactly when I can be seen in the film. This is exciting all over again.

7 December 2007

At the First Friday Shorts gong show contest at The Loft Cinema, I talked with Shipherd Reed, who writes a blog about the monthly contest. When I got home, I read what he wrote about Collision Course last month. All he said was, "That was followed by Collision Course by Brian Mulligan, a tale of road rage with a twist at the end. It was a clever idea that needed a tighter execution." I can live with that. On an even brighter note, my friend Sarah introduced the audience to the term "dakini" through her film.

5 December 2007

Alan Barley has coordinated with Access Tucson to repeatedly air the 2006 and 2007 IFASA Three-Minute Thrillers through January and February. This will, naturally, include my film Collision Course. As the time approaches, you should be able to find the exact schedule on the Access web site. The films will also be used as filler throughout the year, so they will appear unannounced from time to time.

1 December 2007

I got two more pieces of news about Red 71. First, a distributor is already banging on the door to represent the film. They are really excited about the film and have eagerly asked Patrick to sign with them. We have agreed that the best course is to wait and see how things go at festivals, but at least this is a good sign of things to come. Two other distributors who read the 10kbullets review have also contacted Patrick to request screener copies. So, things are starting to look good.

Not as good was a review by Rogue Cinema. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t really hot. On the bright side, all he really criticized was the pacing and some acting. And, he admits that some people would like the pacing. Otherwise, he had several complimentary things to say, things that address elements that we emphasized in the making of the film. So in that sense, it is a decent review. Positives he wrote were, "Some of the cast did a really good job with their roles ... a lot of really nice, well done shots ... set design was also nicely done ... a very nicely styled look ... editing was quite well done … If you're into slow paced films with gangsters and stylish cinematography, like some of the ones Japanese director Takashi Miike has made, then I think you might enjoy it … I do see a lot of future potential in director Patrick Roddy's work though, and would definitely be interested in seeing what he comes out with next." I count this as qualified good news.