Tonight is the premiere of the "Fresno" documentary at 7 p.m. at Tower Theatre. Read my feature story on the flick to get up to speed. If you missed them the first time around, here are a few blog posts to check out also.
If you go the movie, let us know what you think. All your trusty Beehivers will be at tonight's Harry Potter screening.
I believe they will be screening the movie again on the 23rd. I plan to go back and see it again. I thought the director did a great job capturing Fresno and all of its charm!
Attended the premier last night at the Tower Theatre. Good crowd.
Very much enjoyed FRESNO: THE MOVIE. It's an eclectic mix of the housing market downturn + skaters cleaning and using abandoned swimming pools + locals loving Fresno.
Somehow it all makes sense. And, what was surprising for me was the intellectual wisdom displayed by the skaters!
Sincere congrats to Steve Payne, cast and crew.
Oh! FRESNO: THE SONG is also catchy. Kudos to Jenn Beast.
"It's not Fres-NO-- it's Fres-YES!"
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I enjoyed the film--found it informative and entertaining---I wish it had just a smidge more skating, and just a smidge less of the real estate folks--but just a smidge.
The random touches of Fresno 'culture' were fun as well.
I think the film maker not only explained some of the country's serious woes in an entertaining way, but also captured an interesting and authentic perspective of our area.
(Even my two teenage kids enjoyed it.)
For as bad as this city is, the movie was even worse. Springtini, boat engine competitions, public urination, stripper classes at Gold's, the preciousness of the people. WTF to whomever thought there was any redeeming value to a "film" that began with promise only to devolve into a cacophony of random clips that served no purpose. Well at least we know that Ray Appleton likes his summers hot and that Better Than Ezra didn't think Fresno was a complete waste of time like most podunk cities they pass through.
The movie should have been a half hour, focused on the foreclosures and the sub-culture it has spawned...unfortunately, it could not as that connection was proved flawed during the final ten minutes and we were forced to endure some incredibly moving mariachi music accompanied by a lone scooter traversing the train tracks.
What a mess.
hmmm....I don't think any film, any song, any dance production can completely encapsulate an entire city.
I think this film had a valid perspective and showed one side of the town.
At the same time, it explained fairly well the housing crisis faced by us and the entire country.
Sometimes artists can take the 'mundane' and spin the 'mythological':
John Lennon took a very mundane orphanage and it's grounds and wrote the stunning, psychedelic
song 'Strawberry Fields Forever'. On the same bit o' plastic (other side of the 45), Paul McCartney gave us 'Penny Lane'--if you've seen Penny Lane, you'd notice that the area written about is an intersection about as exotic as Shaw and Blackstone---and Liverpool is pretty darn Fresno (if I may use 'Fresno' as an adjective).
[There was a few seemingly random bits in the film--the pole dancing moment popped out in my mind...but yeah, the boat engine noise competition is in there as well---I think that was sort of 'setting the scene'.]
As far as I can tell the director collected a series of interesting soundbites and sequences, uploaded the footage into Final Cut Pro, then hit "shuffle." The director captured the guts of a decent film...great characters, intersting story...topical...but with little to no structure to build upon, the movie had nowhere to go. What a wasted opportunity.