Featuring GEP films by Graham Reznick and Glenn McQuaid. Coming to your tv set July 11th.

AMERICAN JESUS continues its theatrical tour in Los Angeles at the Downtown Independent starting tomorrow with a Q&A screening at 8pm with Director Aram Garriga, contributors Pastor Phil Aguilar (Set Free Soldiers), Craig Gross (“The Porn Pastor,” XXXchurch.com) & comedian Kerri Pomarolli.

Village Voice (LA Weekly) on AMERICAN JESUS: “Doc American Jesus is a Concerned Examination Rather Than an Assault on Christian Belief”

Yahoo on AMERICAN JESUS:
“American Jesus Takes an Unflinching Look at Faith in the United States”

The film is available now on iTunes, Amazon, Cable VOD and more.

GEP pal Jim Mickle will show a sneak preview of his new film, COLD IN JULY, in NYC at IFC Center tonight, 8pm. He and Don Johnson will be on hand for a Q&A, moderated by Fessenden. Tickets here.

More on COLD IN JULY from IFCCenter.com:

How can a split-second decision change your life? While investigating noises in his house one balmy Texas night in 1989, Richard Dane puts a bullet in the brain of a low-life burglar, Freddy Russell. Although he’s hailed as a small-town hero, Dane soon finds himself fearing for his family’s safety when Freddy’s ex-con father, Ben, rolls into town; hell-bent on revenge. However, not all is as it seems. Shortly after Dane kills the home intruder, his life begins to unravel into a dark underworld of corruption and violence. Twists and turns continue to pile up as the film reaches its inevitable destination: a gore-soaked dead end.

Michael C. Hall brings a shell-shocked vulnerability to his portrayal of Dane that contrasts perfectly with the grizzled “badasses” portrayed by Sam Shepard and Don Johnson. Directed with an excellent eye for the visual poetry of noir, this pulpy, southern-fried mystery is a throwback to an older breed of action films; one where every punch and shotgun blast opens up both physical and spiritual wounds. Cold in July is hard to shake as an east Texas summer.

Last night saw a sneak peek screening of two new short films from GEP, “The Caregiver” directed by Graham Reznick and “The Trouble With Dad” directed by Glenn McQuaid. On July 11th, they’ll be released as part of Chiller TV’s anthology film, CHILLING VISIONS: 5 STATES OF FEAR.

From Fangoria:

Genre network Chiller TV has dove headfirst into the original movie game, most notably ushering a new Larry Fessenden film (BENEATH) into the world earlier this year and branding their own anthology series in CHILLING VISIONS. In revealing the lineup for the second CHILLING VISIONS omnibus feature, it seems the channel is sticking in the Glass Eye Pix business, leading the film with two frequent Fessenden collaborators, Glenn McQuaid and Graham Reznick.

Premiering Friday, July 11 at 9 p.m. CHILLING VISIONS: 5 STATES OF FEAR will feature segments helmed by McQuaid (I SELL THE DEAD), Reznick (I CAN SEE YOU), Brett Simmons (HUSK), John Poliquin (GRAVE ENCOUNTERS 2) and Zao Wang, whose short HONEYMOON SUITE got plenty of buzz at the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival.

Find the rundown of the filmmakers’ shorts below, as well as the ‘state’ of fear each corresponds with. The first CHILLING VISIONS, subtitled 5 SENSES OF FEAR is now on DVD & Blu from Scream Factory, and features work from Emily Hagins (MY SUCKY TEEN ROMANCE) and Eric England (CONTRACTED)

• Ego Death (“Sandy”) Written & Directed by Brett Simmons Produced By, Brett Simmons, Andrew Ducote, Kellen Moore for Brett Simmons Productions

• Separation (“The Trouble With Dad”) Directed by Glenn McQuaid Written by Glenn McQuaid & Clay McLeod Chapman Produced By, Larry Fessenden, Jennifer Wexler for Glass Eye Pix

• Mutilation (“Tick Warning”) Written & Directed by John Poliquin Produced By Dan De Filippo, Dave Marken for Pipeline Entertainment

• Extinction (“Ghost Daughter”) Written & Directed by Zao Wang Produced By Zao Wang, Andrew K. Li for Chilling Coastline, LLC

• Loss of Autonomy (“The Caregiver”) Written & Directed by Graham Reznick Produced By Larry Fessenden, Jennifer Wexler for Glass Eye Pix

 

Q&A with directors Graham Reznick, Glenn McQuaid, and
actors Peter Rogan, Bridget Dolan, and Clay McLeod Chapman

Check out more pics from last night’s sneak peek screening, held at the Made in NY Media Center in DUMBO, Brooklyn.

From The Village Voice:

“…[American Jesus] is a restless, sunnily shot, one-thing-after-another travelogue of the peculiarities of American worship and belief, and he could have pulled a full movie from most of its many, many pit stops: a West Virginia roadhouse of snake handlers and boogie-woogie piano; ’80s Christian alt-rocker Steve Taylor’s bizarre satirical anthem “I Blew Up the Clinic Real Good”; the entrepreneur behind a clothing line mixing Christ with MMA fighting; tough-guy pastor Keenan Smith, whose Team Impact preaches the word through feats of strength, snapping a board over his knee and later declaring “[America] was never founded for a freedom of all religions. It was founded for the freedom of Judeo-Christianity.

The vignettes pile up, all fascinating, many heartening. Garriga emphasizes non-denominational pop-ups catering to surfers, bikers, skaters, rockers, and believers disinclined toward main-line churches. A pastor at Amarillo’s Arena of Life says of his cowboy parishioners, “They feel like when they’re out in their pasture they’re closer to God than they can ever be in a building.” There’s a pair of comedians who target Christian audiences — and actually seem funny. Some of the pastors we meet even bother helping out the poor, a thing the Gospels mention more often than clinic-bombing.

The good feelings ebb in the final third, when Garriga turns the film over to journalists and authors like Michelle Goldberg and Frank Schaeffer, who thumbnail the currents that have given us Left Behind, the Creation Museum, and Evangelical Zionism, a movement whose endgame involves nothing less than ending the world for the betterment of all of us. All that deserves a full movie, as do most of the film’s subjects — but Garriga’s quick treatment of each is distinguished by stirring photography, empathetic interviewing, and a shrewd sense of who to let talk and who to cut off.

Especially strong: the surprise animated sequence illustrating a short story by David Dark that should rattle the teeth of the most literal-minded of believers. Scenes like that, along with many of the film’s portraits of the exotic flora sprung from this same ancient seed, mark American Jesus not as an assault upon Christian belief but as a concerned examination. There are ways to hold to something grand in your life without assuming everyone who doesn’t is going to spend eternity being flayed…”

See the full review at VillageVoice.com.

From Steve Dollar at The Wall Street Journal:

Punk Rock Girls at BAM, ‘American Jesus’ and More in This Week’s Repertory Film

“In his quest to explore obsessive religious practice in the American heartland, Spanish filmmaker Aram Garriga discovers what Werner Herzog meant when he described the U.S. as being the most exotic place he ever visited. While drawn consistently to interview some of the most extreme subjects he can find on the fringes of Christianity—Pentecostal snake-handlers are only the beginning—Mr. Garriga is more comfortable with clear-eyed observance than a rush to judgment. Even evangelical surfers find a place in his documentary, which frames unconventional displays of faith against larger questions of national identity.”

See the full post at online.wsj.com.

AMERICAN JESUS is currently playing at IFC Center. For tickets: IFCcenter.com

Last night saw the premiere of AMERICAN JESUS at IFC Center in NYC!

Producer Carles Torras, Producer Brent Kunkle, Director Aram Garriga, and Producer Larry Fessenden at the New York Premiere of Glass Eye Pix’s AMERICAN JESUS, 5/14/14 © Kristen Driscoll Photography

Director Aram Garriga at the New York Premiere of Glass Eye Pix’s AMERICAN JESUS, 5/14/14 © Kristen Driscoll Photography

Check out more pics from the event here.

AMERICAN JESUS is currently playing at IFC Center. Not in NYC? The film’s also playing on streaming services & DVD. It arrives in Rhode Island at Cable Car Cinema tomorrow, Los Angeles at Downtown Independent starting May 23, and Chicago at Facets Cinematheque starting May 30. Check out AmericanJesusTheMovie.com for more venues.

NYC Premiere: IFC Center, 7:30 pm TONIGHT

Get Tickets

LIVE in Person!: Director Aram Garriga, writer Xavi Prat, composer Zlaya Hadzic, producers Larry Fessenden and Brent Kunkle, author Frank Schaeffer and special guests

NOW AVAILABLE

iTunes – iTunes Canada – Comcast – Amazon Instant Video – Sony Playstation – GooglePlay – DVD

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“American Jesus is an important documentary that will redefine how the world looks at America and how we Americans look at ourselves…” –The Huffington Post

“AN AMAZING FILM….one of the best and most interesting documentaries on religion.” –Twitch

“…REQUIRED VIEWING FOR EVERYONE.” –Red Letter Christians

“…Hallelujah for AMERICAN JESUS.” –Movie Shark Deblore

AMERICAN JESUS is coming to your town!

LOS ANGELES : MAY 23-30
Downtown Independent

RHODE ISLAND : MAY16-18
Cable Car Cinema

CHICAGO : MAY 30 – JUNE 5
Facets Cinematheque

Check AmericanJesusTheMovie.com for more venues

GEP pal Robert Leaver continues his crawl up Broadway from the bottom of Manhattan to his home in Washington Heights. The Odyssey began last Halloween and takes him about 10 blocks at a time, about once a week. The meaning of it all remains up to the observer and the many citizens and denizens of the city he encounters on the streets and in his blog.

Check out the blog entries that chronicle this enchanting journey for more insight. Fessenden has served as loyal wing-man for most of the trek, through Fall and Winter, employing various styles of shooting and editing for the purpose. This week’s entry is remarkable as it was a tribute to a fallen friend. Read about it here and enjoy the video below, a rare instance where the footage was edited to a song by the crawler himself, Robert Leaver.

Read more at IcrawlHome.com

Indiewire article ponders the state of indie horror, pits Spectrevision against Glass Eye Pix (unnecessarily) and wraps up with a sentimental finish involving child murders and Tales from Beyond the Pale:

Two years ago, the fan site Couch Cutter wrote a piece called “Fuck You, an Open Letter to the Horror Community.” Though two years is a lifetime in the internet age, the piece’s sentiments are still profoundly relevant right now. The anonymous author blames the fans for the plethora of bad indie horror movies and the apparent lack of good ones; not mincing words, one articulate commenter opined, “99% of current horror movies suck balls.”

In a recent Writer’s Guild profile, John Carpenter disagreed. “Horror today is pretty much like it always has been,” he said. “Ever since the beginning of cinema, it’s been with us. Most horror films are awful, some are good and there are a very, very few that are really good. It’s always kind of been that way.”

Two years ago, the fan site Couch Cutter wrote a piece called “Fuck You, an Open Letter to the Horror Community.”Though two years is a lifetime in the internet age, the piece’s sentiments are still profoundly relevant right now. The anonymous author blames the fans for the plethora of bad indie horror movies and the apparent lack of good ones; not mincing words, one articulate commenter opined, “99% of current horror movies suck balls.”

In a recent Writer’s Guild profile, John Carpenter disagreed. “Horror today is pretty much like it always has been,” he said. “Ever since the beginning of cinema, it’s been with us. Most horror films are awful, some are good and there are a very, very few that are really good. It’s always kind of been that way.”

Read the article at indiewire