Another Halloween treat has made its way online, this time from The Collective and Bloody Disgusting. Up for another short film to pass the time until you engage in your trick or treating? Then we've got exactly what you need.
In the spirit of Halloween, The Collective and Bloody Disgusting are pleased to present you with an All New short film – Maniac starring Scott Mescudi (aka Kid Cudi) and Shia Labeouf (who also directed). The 10-minute piece tells the story of a film crew following two serial killers documenting their exploits.
Music and score are provided by Scott Mescudi and Dot Da Genius. The short is a Grassy Slope and Ragin4Dayz production in association with Dilated Pixels. Executive produced by Scott Mescudi and Shia Labeouf. Produced by Jeff Balis, T.J. Sakasegawa, and Rhoades Rader.
Click here to watch Maniac, and dig on an official still from the flick below.
In the spirit of Halloween, The Collective and Bloody Disgusting are pleased to present you with an All New short film – Maniac starring Scott Mescudi (aka Kid Cudi) and Shia Labeouf (who also directed). The 10-minute piece tells the story of a film crew following two serial killers documenting their exploits.
Music and score are provided by Scott Mescudi and Dot Da Genius. The short is a Grassy Slope and Ragin4Dayz production in association with Dilated Pixels. Executive produced by Scott Mescudi and Shia Labeouf. Produced by Jeff Balis, T.J. Sakasegawa, and Rhoades Rader.
Click here to watch Maniac, and dig on an official still from the flick below.
- 11/1/2011
- by Uncle Creepy
- DreadCentral.com
We've got a very special Halloween treat that comes courtesy of Shia Labeouf, who has been dabbling in directing over the past year. This summer he took the reigns on Marilyn Manson's new video "Born Villain", and now he's given Bloody Disgusting an exclusive look at "Maniac", his short film starring both Scott Mescudi (aka Kid Cudi) and Chris Palko. In the short a film crew follows two serial killers documenting their exploits. You can watch it over at the Bloody Disgusting Facebook. It's very reminiscent of Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer. Music and Score provided by Scott Mescudi amd Dot Da Genius. The short is a Grassy Slope & Ragin4Dayz Production in Association with Dilated Pixels. Executive Produced by Scott Mescudi & Shia Labeouf. Produced by Jeff Balis, T.J. Sakasegawa, Rhoades Rader.
- 10/31/2011
- bloody-disgusting.com
The one thing 2005’s Waiting… did right was figuring out that people will watch a movie if you put Ryan Reynolds’s face on it. They caught him just before his career took off and studios considered him viable as a leading man for film. What Waiting… did wrong was everything else. It wanted to be for waiters what Clerks was for convenient store employees and what Super Troopers was for highway patrol officers. It wasn’t. It isn’t. The jokes didn’t take and the director never got the knack of comedic timing. At first it seems there’s a chance for its direct-to-dvd sequel as Jeff Balis took over as the director, though Rob McKittrick is still responsible for the writing. Consequently, Still Waiting… delivers a few meager laughs, but it’s still a flop in the comedy genre.
The sequel goes back to Shenaniganz where the...
The sequel goes back to Shenaniganz where the...
- 4/4/2011
- by Lex Walker
- JustPressPlay.net
Comedy Central has handed out a pilot order to Waiting…, a half-hour project based on the 2005 indie comedy of the same name which starred Ryan Reynolds, Anna Faris and Justin Long. Written by the film’s writer-director Rob McKittrick, the project follows the young and not so young employees at Shenaniganz restaurant as they gossip, make fun of customers, and avert boredom and adulthood with their antics. Each of the employees projects their own issues into the restaurant as they grapple with sex, booze, and whether they are temporary or permanent fixtures in the restaurant world. McKittrick is executive producing with Thomas Augsberger and Jeff Balis. Waiting... was featured on Comedy Central's 2010-11 Development slate announced in May.
- 10/25/2010
- by NELLIE ANDREEVA
- Deadline TV
No matter how successful one becomes, they should never forget where they came from. That was the mindset this past Friday as Tampa-born producers Charlie Poe, Jeff Balis and Morgan Simpson graciously brought their latest film Black, White and Blues to the Straz Performing Arts Center in downtown Tampa. The red-carpet event was not just to promote the film - which is starting pile up awards at film festivals across the land - It was mainly put on to benefit four great institutions (Academy Prep – Tampa, The Glazer Children’s Museum, Junior Achievement and The...
- 10/5/2010
- by Joe Belcastro, Tampa Movie Examiner
- Tampa Film Examiner
No matter how successful one becomes, they should never forget where they came from. That was the mindset this past Friday as Tampa-born producers Charlie Poe, Jeff Balis and Morgan Simpson graciously brought their latest film Black, White and Blues to the Straz Performing Arts Center in downtown Tampa. The red-carpet event was not just to promote the film - which is starting pile up awards at film festivals across the land - It was mainly put on to benefit four great institutions (Academy Prep – Tampa, The Glazer Children’s Museum, Junior Achievement and The...
- 10/5/2010
- by Joe Belcastro, Tampa Movie Examiner
- Examiner Movies Channel
Michael Clarke Duncan and Morgan Simpson are set to star in the Mario Van Peebles-directed "Bailey." The indie drama is being produced by Jeff Balis and Rhoades Rader of Heavy Duty Entertainment as well as Charlie Poe. Filming starts in August and, according to sources, the story follows a spiritual redemption against the backdrop of Memphis blues. Morgan Simpson wrote the film and will play the title character. Van Peebles just finished "Kerosene Cowboys"...
- 7/8/2009
- Upcoming-Movies.com
"Still Waiting..." DVD reviewby Peter Dimako, Editor. “Still Waiting…” turns out to be better than expected, rolling out more laughs than the first film. There are faces you’ve seen before with a few fresh ones in the mix. Now, two years have passed and the folks at Shenaniganz have their work cut out for them. They’re losing clientele (their young target market especially) to a place right next door to them called Ta-Ta’s Wing Shack. They’ve lost their best looking waitresses to the place run by the charming hot shot Calvin (Robert Patrick Benedict) who’s having an absolute blast sampling the buffet of female employees. Think of Ta-Ta’s like Hooters except I think the former serves better food. Dennis (John Michael Higgins) is managing the joint and is aching for a promotion. The only way he’s going to get a boost in status...
- 2/23/2009
- Upcoming-Movies.com
Los Angeles Film Festival
Visual humor is a rarity in films these days, so writer-director-actor Scott Prendergast brings welcome qualities to the cinematic landscape. Working in the tradition of Chaplin, Keaton, Tati or the Woody Allen of "Sleeper", Prendergast makes a striking debut with "Kabluey". The film is an ambitious mix of slapstick, black comedy and stinging social commentary.
Lisa Kudrow's excellent star turn certainly will add to the film's appeal, but the picture might turn out to have more value as a calling card for Prendergast than as a bona fide boxoffice success in its own right. Still, it seems like a possible cult favorite, either in theaters or on DVD.
The film is one of the few to address the Iraq War, even though the subject is handled indirectly. Leslie's (Kudrow) husband is on a long deployment as a member of the National Guard, and she's struggling to raise two obstreperous young sons while holding down a job. Desperate for help, she turns to her unemployed brother-in-law, Salman (Prendergast), whose only asset is his availability.
Salman does not exactly hit it off with his nephews; the eldest, a holy terror, whispers to him in deadly earnest, "I'm going to kill you." Leslie gets him a part-time job with a dot-com that's barely surviving. His job is to dress in a gigantic blue costume -- the inspiration for the film's title -- and hand out fliers trying to sell office space in the company's near-vacant building. The job is a dead end, but Salman's alter ego, Kabluey, does ultimately have a restorative effect on the family he's trying to help.
Much of the visual humor comes from the Kabluey costume. Prendergast gets a lot of mileage out of the spectacle of this giant blue blob in the forlorn Texas countryside, and there are neat sight gags like Salman unzipping his costume and sticking his hand out of his rear end to snag a cold drink. There also are a number of subtler visual jokes, like Salman pulling a thumbtack out of his cereal -- courtesy of his homicidal nephew. The film also has some biting comments to make on the domestic repercussions of the Iraq War as well as the desperate state of the economy in the heartland.
"Kabluey" is a tasty mixture of sweet and sour observations. The sweetness comes primarily from the performance of Prendergast. A comedian who got his start with the Groundlings in Los Angeles, he has a sad-sack quality that grows more endearing as the film continues. Starting as the ultimate slacker, Salman becomes quite engaged in improving the lives of his sister-in-law and her family, and the actor convinces us of the healing power of Salman's good heart.
Kudrow doesn't shy away from presenting the selfish side of her character, but she also illuminates the loneliness underlying her bad behavior. The two child actors, Landon Henninger and Cameron Wofford, give delightfully unsentimental performances, and there are sharp supporting turns from Conchata Ferrell and Jeffrey Dean Morgan as the folks who hire Salman. Teri Garr also has a choice cameo that consists of very little besides her startled, hilarious reactions to the sight of Kabluey.
The film is well shot and cleverly designed. Although this is a modest film, it achieves some uproarious belly laughs as well as moments of unexpected tenderness. That combo indicates the emergence of a promising new filmmaker.
KABLUEY
Whitewater Films
Credits:
Director-screenwriter: Scott Prendergast
Producers: Rick Rosenthal, Gary Dean Simpson, Rhoades Rader, Jeff Balis, Doug Sutherland
Executive producers: Sarah Feinberg, Nancy Stephens
Director of photography: Michael Lohmann
Production designer: Walter Barnett
Music: Roddy Bottum
Co-producer: Ryan Peterson
Costume designer: Lisa Barnes
Editor: Lawrence Maddox
Cast:
Leslie: Lisa Kudrow
Salman: Scott Prendergast
Kathleen: Conchata Ferrell
Brad: Jeffrey Dean Morgan
Suze: Teri Garr
Lincoln: Landon Henninger
Cameron: Cameron Wofford
Betty: Christine Taylor
Frank: Chris Parnell
Ramona: Angela Sarafyan
Elizabeth: Patricia Buckley
Running time -- 87 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Visual humor is a rarity in films these days, so writer-director-actor Scott Prendergast brings welcome qualities to the cinematic landscape. Working in the tradition of Chaplin, Keaton, Tati or the Woody Allen of "Sleeper", Prendergast makes a striking debut with "Kabluey". The film is an ambitious mix of slapstick, black comedy and stinging social commentary.
Lisa Kudrow's excellent star turn certainly will add to the film's appeal, but the picture might turn out to have more value as a calling card for Prendergast than as a bona fide boxoffice success in its own right. Still, it seems like a possible cult favorite, either in theaters or on DVD.
The film is one of the few to address the Iraq War, even though the subject is handled indirectly. Leslie's (Kudrow) husband is on a long deployment as a member of the National Guard, and she's struggling to raise two obstreperous young sons while holding down a job. Desperate for help, she turns to her unemployed brother-in-law, Salman (Prendergast), whose only asset is his availability.
Salman does not exactly hit it off with his nephews; the eldest, a holy terror, whispers to him in deadly earnest, "I'm going to kill you." Leslie gets him a part-time job with a dot-com that's barely surviving. His job is to dress in a gigantic blue costume -- the inspiration for the film's title -- and hand out fliers trying to sell office space in the company's near-vacant building. The job is a dead end, but Salman's alter ego, Kabluey, does ultimately have a restorative effect on the family he's trying to help.
Much of the visual humor comes from the Kabluey costume. Prendergast gets a lot of mileage out of the spectacle of this giant blue blob in the forlorn Texas countryside, and there are neat sight gags like Salman unzipping his costume and sticking his hand out of his rear end to snag a cold drink. There also are a number of subtler visual jokes, like Salman pulling a thumbtack out of his cereal -- courtesy of his homicidal nephew. The film also has some biting comments to make on the domestic repercussions of the Iraq War as well as the desperate state of the economy in the heartland.
"Kabluey" is a tasty mixture of sweet and sour observations. The sweetness comes primarily from the performance of Prendergast. A comedian who got his start with the Groundlings in Los Angeles, he has a sad-sack quality that grows more endearing as the film continues. Starting as the ultimate slacker, Salman becomes quite engaged in improving the lives of his sister-in-law and her family, and the actor convinces us of the healing power of Salman's good heart.
Kudrow doesn't shy away from presenting the selfish side of her character, but she also illuminates the loneliness underlying her bad behavior. The two child actors, Landon Henninger and Cameron Wofford, give delightfully unsentimental performances, and there are sharp supporting turns from Conchata Ferrell and Jeffrey Dean Morgan as the folks who hire Salman. Teri Garr also has a choice cameo that consists of very little besides her startled, hilarious reactions to the sight of Kabluey.
The film is well shot and cleverly designed. Although this is a modest film, it achieves some uproarious belly laughs as well as moments of unexpected tenderness. That combo indicates the emergence of a promising new filmmaker.
KABLUEY
Whitewater Films
Credits:
Director-screenwriter: Scott Prendergast
Producers: Rick Rosenthal, Gary Dean Simpson, Rhoades Rader, Jeff Balis, Doug Sutherland
Executive producers: Sarah Feinberg, Nancy Stephens
Director of photography: Michael Lohmann
Production designer: Walter Barnett
Music: Roddy Bottum
Co-producer: Ryan Peterson
Costume designer: Lisa Barnes
Editor: Lawrence Maddox
Cast:
Leslie: Lisa Kudrow
Salman: Scott Prendergast
Kathleen: Conchata Ferrell
Brad: Jeffrey Dean Morgan
Suze: Teri Garr
Lincoln: Landon Henninger
Cameron: Cameron Wofford
Betty: Christine Taylor
Frank: Chris Parnell
Ramona: Angela Sarafyan
Elizabeth: Patricia Buckley
Running time -- 87 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Christopher Marquette has signed for the lead in Infestation, a comedic horror movie from Icon Prods. being directed by Kyle Rankin.
Described as 28 Days Later meets Shaun of the Dead, Infestation follows a slacker (Marquette) who awakes to find himself weak, wrapped in webbing and cocooned to the wall of his office. After realizing that the world has been taken over by giant alien insects, he wakes a ragtag group of strangers and together they fight for survival.
Rankin, who comprised half of the directing team on the Project Greenlight 2 film The Battle of Shaker Heights, wrote the script.
Heavy Duty Entertainment partners Rhoades Rader (Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story) and Jeff Balis (Shaker Heights) are producing with T.J. Sakasegawa (Lake Placid 2) alongside Bruce Davey of Icon Prods.
Icon also is handling worldwide distribution rights and is self-distributing in the U.K. and Australia/New Zealand.
Production begins May 28 in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Marquette, who most recently appeared in Alpha Dog, will next be seen in the Walt Disney Co.'s The Invisible, set for release April 27.
Described as 28 Days Later meets Shaun of the Dead, Infestation follows a slacker (Marquette) who awakes to find himself weak, wrapped in webbing and cocooned to the wall of his office. After realizing that the world has been taken over by giant alien insects, he wakes a ragtag group of strangers and together they fight for survival.
Rankin, who comprised half of the directing team on the Project Greenlight 2 film The Battle of Shaker Heights, wrote the script.
Heavy Duty Entertainment partners Rhoades Rader (Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story) and Jeff Balis (Shaker Heights) are producing with T.J. Sakasegawa (Lake Placid 2) alongside Bruce Davey of Icon Prods.
Icon also is handling worldwide distribution rights and is self-distributing in the U.K. and Australia/New Zealand.
Production begins May 28 in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Marquette, who most recently appeared in Alpha Dog, will next be seen in the Walt Disney Co.'s The Invisible, set for release April 27.
- 4/26/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Consider the ellipsis in the title a warning. Between a couple of funny scenes and a bunch of unfunny gags, there's not much going on in "Waiting ... ". The comedy uses gross-out "humor" with little inventiveness to ply the familiar territory of twentysomething limbo and workplace hell. Despite a solid ensemble, this would-be "Kitchen Confidential" for the chain-steakhouse set, which boasts as many producers as cast members, doesn't serve up enough laughs to build a theatrical following but could find life on video as a takeout item.
There comes a moment for many thinking people when job security takes on life-threatening proportions: a clear-eyed look at unhappy co-workers and the inept boss signals something's gotta give. For 22-year-old Dean (Justin Long), that moment of truth occurs four years into his job waiting tables at ShenaniganZ. Obsessed with the apparent success of a former classmate -- helpfully brought to his attention by his mother -- Dean feels himself languishing at work and at the community college where he and best friend Monty (Ryan Reynolds) are on-again, off-again students.
Dangling benies and "power" before him, clueless manager Dan (David Koechner), who conducts dispiriting staff meetings by the Dumpster, offers the hard-working but directionless Dean a promotion to assistant manager. He is shocked when Dean asks for time to think it over. Where this is headed is as predictable as the dinner-hour rush.
The ShenaniganZ staff spend most nights partying together after long days slinging baked potatoes, and co-worker couplings are inevitable. Dean avoids commitment to earnest waitress Amy (Kaitlin Doubleday), while Dan and Monty eye the underage hostess (Vanessa Lengies). Monty, whose snarkiness is his identity (a cameo by Wendie Malick as his mother makes clear where he gets it), also spends time being humiliated by his feisty ex, waitress Serena (Anna Faris), and showing the ropes to wide-eyed new guy Mitch (John Francis Daley).
Mainly the ropes consist of learning how to play a behind-the-scenes time-waster that Serena rightly calls "an exercise in retarded homophobia." Sleazeball cook Raddimus (Luis Guzman), the mastermind of the Penis-Showing Game, provides demos for Mitch using raw chicken parts. Besides workplace dystopia, this exhibitionist stupidity is the script's central thread.
First-time writer-director Rob McKittrick demonstrates a feel for the systematic hysteria of restaurant dynamics, but his observations lack the absurdist edge of "Clerks" and the truly idiosyncratic detail that would make his characters three-dimensional. Within limited roles, the cast does what it can. Chi McBride, an actor capable of sublime understatement, plays the sage philosopher-king dishwasher, dispensing wisdom to a crew that includes two gangsta-wannabe pothead busboys (Andy Milonakis and Max Kasch), the angriest waitress in the world (Alanna Ubach) and a spineless virgin Robert Patrick Benedict). Is it any wonder that -- in the film's funniest gag -- their birthday serenade to a young boy makes him cry?
Filmed in New Orleans but with no sense of the place, "Waiting ..". unfolds mainly within appropriately generic restaurant interiors. Refreshingly, McKittrick doesn't lean on canned pop tracks as mortar, but neither does he craft enough of a story to hold together the shtick.
WAITING ...
Lions Gate Films
An Element Films and Eden Rock Media production in association with Wisenheimer Films
Credits:
Director-screenwriter: Rob McKittrick
Producers: Adam Rosenfelt, Stavros Merjos, Jay Rifkin, Jeff Balis, Rob Green
Executive producers: Chris Moore, Jon Shestack, Sam Nazarian, Malcolm Petal, Marc Schaberg, Thomas Augsberger, Paul Fiore
Director of photography: Matthew Irving
Production designer: Devorah Herbert
Music: Adam Gorgoni
Co-producers: Chris Fenton, Dean Shull, Randy Winograd
Costume designer: Jillian Kreiner
Editors: David Finfer, Andy Blumenthal
Cast:
Monty: Ryan Reynolds
Serena: Anna Faris
Dean: Justin Long
Dan: David Koechner
Mitch: John Francis Daley
Tyla: Emmanuelle Chriqui
Amy: Kaitlin Doubleday
Nick: Andy Milonakis
T-Dog: Max Kasch
Naomi: Alanna Ubach
Calvin: Robert Patrick Benedict
Natasha: Vanessa Lengies
Bishop: Chi McBride
Raddimus: Luis Guzman
Monty's Mom: Wendie Malick
MPAA rating: R
Running time -- 93 minutes...
There comes a moment for many thinking people when job security takes on life-threatening proportions: a clear-eyed look at unhappy co-workers and the inept boss signals something's gotta give. For 22-year-old Dean (Justin Long), that moment of truth occurs four years into his job waiting tables at ShenaniganZ. Obsessed with the apparent success of a former classmate -- helpfully brought to his attention by his mother -- Dean feels himself languishing at work and at the community college where he and best friend Monty (Ryan Reynolds) are on-again, off-again students.
Dangling benies and "power" before him, clueless manager Dan (David Koechner), who conducts dispiriting staff meetings by the Dumpster, offers the hard-working but directionless Dean a promotion to assistant manager. He is shocked when Dean asks for time to think it over. Where this is headed is as predictable as the dinner-hour rush.
The ShenaniganZ staff spend most nights partying together after long days slinging baked potatoes, and co-worker couplings are inevitable. Dean avoids commitment to earnest waitress Amy (Kaitlin Doubleday), while Dan and Monty eye the underage hostess (Vanessa Lengies). Monty, whose snarkiness is his identity (a cameo by Wendie Malick as his mother makes clear where he gets it), also spends time being humiliated by his feisty ex, waitress Serena (Anna Faris), and showing the ropes to wide-eyed new guy Mitch (John Francis Daley).
Mainly the ropes consist of learning how to play a behind-the-scenes time-waster that Serena rightly calls "an exercise in retarded homophobia." Sleazeball cook Raddimus (Luis Guzman), the mastermind of the Penis-Showing Game, provides demos for Mitch using raw chicken parts. Besides workplace dystopia, this exhibitionist stupidity is the script's central thread.
First-time writer-director Rob McKittrick demonstrates a feel for the systematic hysteria of restaurant dynamics, but his observations lack the absurdist edge of "Clerks" and the truly idiosyncratic detail that would make his characters three-dimensional. Within limited roles, the cast does what it can. Chi McBride, an actor capable of sublime understatement, plays the sage philosopher-king dishwasher, dispensing wisdom to a crew that includes two gangsta-wannabe pothead busboys (Andy Milonakis and Max Kasch), the angriest waitress in the world (Alanna Ubach) and a spineless virgin Robert Patrick Benedict). Is it any wonder that -- in the film's funniest gag -- their birthday serenade to a young boy makes him cry?
Filmed in New Orleans but with no sense of the place, "Waiting ..". unfolds mainly within appropriately generic restaurant interiors. Refreshingly, McKittrick doesn't lean on canned pop tracks as mortar, but neither does he craft enough of a story to hold together the shtick.
WAITING ...
Lions Gate Films
An Element Films and Eden Rock Media production in association with Wisenheimer Films
Credits:
Director-screenwriter: Rob McKittrick
Producers: Adam Rosenfelt, Stavros Merjos, Jay Rifkin, Jeff Balis, Rob Green
Executive producers: Chris Moore, Jon Shestack, Sam Nazarian, Malcolm Petal, Marc Schaberg, Thomas Augsberger, Paul Fiore
Director of photography: Matthew Irving
Production designer: Devorah Herbert
Music: Adam Gorgoni
Co-producers: Chris Fenton, Dean Shull, Randy Winograd
Costume designer: Jillian Kreiner
Editors: David Finfer, Andy Blumenthal
Cast:
Monty: Ryan Reynolds
Serena: Anna Faris
Dean: Justin Long
Dan: David Koechner
Mitch: John Francis Daley
Tyla: Emmanuelle Chriqui
Amy: Kaitlin Doubleday
Nick: Andy Milonakis
T-Dog: Max Kasch
Naomi: Alanna Ubach
Calvin: Robert Patrick Benedict
Natasha: Vanessa Lengies
Bishop: Chi McBride
Raddimus: Luis Guzman
Monty's Mom: Wendie Malick
MPAA rating: R
Running time -- 93 minutes...
- 10/13/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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