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Premiere
Go ahead and just try and touch my script. |
A funny thing happened to me on the way to a
screening.
This whole story started over a year ago, when Chris our regular counter
jockey, who has moved onto bigger things recently, let out just enough
information for us to grab hold of and take off running with. Chris
is a totally likeable guy who tends to keep his personal life personal,
but he let it slip that he was a budding script writer and that he
was going to have the chance to work on a "Hollywood" film that was
being shot locally. I'm guessing, since I don't have exact numbers,
that the budget of this movie was less than the catering bill for
almost any of Hollywood's major releases, and by major, I mean that
blockbuster stuff they jam down our throats every summer. It didn't
matter; Chris was going to get the opportunity to pursue his dream.
Now before we get ahead of ourselves, he wasn't going to be writing
the script for this one, he was going to be the script supervisor,
which we initially thought meant that he was going to be the baby-sitter
of the binder that contained the script. Kind of like those experiments
in high school where they make students carry around sacks of flour
or eggs to simulate raising a child, the script in essence was Chris'
child. Granted from what he told me, most everyone on this production
wore more than one hat, but his main function was the keeper of the
sacred tablets containing the dialog. From time to time, when I would
run into him at the store, I would ask Chris about how things were
going and he would update me on what was happening with the movie
and its production. Then he dropped a name, Robbie Rist. For those
of you unfamiliar, Robbie Rist was the voice of the Teenage Mutant
Ninja Turtle, Michelangelo, and a bona fide child star appearing in
such shows as the Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bionic Woman, CHiPs,
Knight Rider, and one show that I think you would all be familiar
with and the reason I knew the name. He was a jinx; he played Cousin
Oliver on the Brady Bunch and the source of years of torment in college
for me due to my looking like him in that role. That was all I needed
to cement my interest in Chris' adventure, well that and the overall
wish for him to actually be able to chase this dream.
After giving us updates throughout the shooting, Chris told us they
were finally done with what they were doing here and it was time for
cutting and editing and he would keep us updated on the process. From
time to time he would fill us in on how things were progressing and
if I hadn't heard anything for a while, I was sure to ask. This past
spring he told us the movie was nearing completion and may be ready
for a summer release, and that's when we all got on him about getting
signed DVDs of the movie, which he was willing to try doing for us,
but didn't quite get that we wanted his signature on them. I think
we finally convinced him but it took quite a while. About a month
or so ago asking for the name and number for Scott, the manager at
McHenry Theaters because the producer of the movie, Robbie and the
director Bill Holmes, wanted to have a screening of their movie "Stump
the Band" in the area as sort of a payback/thank you for the local
people who worked on the film. So I gave Chris the information and
offered to help in any way I could and asked if it were possible,
that I might be able to go to it, if only to come face to face with
my college nemesis. Chris, being the decent guy he is, arranged for
a group of us to attend the screening and meet with Mr. Rist and Mr.
Holmes, and do a small interview for the website (which will be delayed
since things were running late with the showing the interview may
need to be conducted via e-mail- we'll keep you posted), and share
in the experience. Thanks Chris!
Finally up on the notsobig screen
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Hi Chris' cousin, this is Michaelangelo
of the...shoot I'm not doing this! |
On to the presentation; I got to the College of Lake County, where
the screening was taking place around 4:45, we were told to get there
by 5:00 so we could start promptly at 6:00, so as I tend to do I got
there even earlier. I was sitting in the parking lot and Dan and Lisa
showed up, then Chris and his family and finally Rick. Chris introduced
us to Bill and Robbie and we made our way in. We sat up in the balcony
since it was going to give us the best view of the movie. The title
image was up on the screen and we sat chatting amongst ourselves as
people came in. Around 5:45, Robbie and Bill took the stage and began
telling us about the creation of the movie. It started about 10 years
ago when Robbie had a vision for the movie that would become Stump
the Band, granted his vision was a lot more sinister than the finished
product ended up, thankfully. They talked to us for about 20 minutes
before finding out that some of the crew that worked on the movie
were running late. They were shooting another movie in the area and
they were on their way, so they were going to kill time because they
didn't want to start without them, since they were the reason the
screening was being held. So for the next half hour Bill and Robbie
entertained us with stories about the production and all the outside
help they got from people. People who put them up, people who filled
in as extras, just general people that helped the whole movie come
together. You could tell that they sensed the crowd was getting impatient,
but the fact that they wanted to wait so that the people who toiled
on this thing could enjoy the movie, made it easier. Finally a phone
call let us know they were pulling into the lot. Bill warned us that
the movie wasn't completely finished yet. The special effects needed
to be cleaned up, the colors corrected, and a few other details that
needed to be tweaked, but essentially we were seeing what is to be
the movie. The lights dimmed and the DVD was started (surely you didn't
expect a film print), and we were going to spend the next 90 or so
minutes watching what Chris helped put together.
Chris is laughing because he knows
what is coming |
Now that I've got the microphone...One
is the lonliest number that you'll ever see.... |
Now I want to start off by saying that it was not what I would call
a good movie. The production values are kind of what I expected from
a lower budget movie, and by lower budget, I mean that if I had to
guess it may have come in under $75,000 to produce this whole thing,
but I really have no idea But for the money they had to spend, they
sure did try to get the most value out of their dollars. Sometimes
it showed other times it wasn't too bad. I want to start out with
what I think was the part of the movie that took away from the whole
experience, the soundtrack. While the background music wasn't all
that bad, there were songs that played in the background that I think
would seriously effect trying to cut this movie for an eventual TV
run. Songs that I can only think to describe as raunchy, but songs
that I do think played to the audience that this movie was aimed at,
but over all they didn't work for me. Some seemed to fit the band
but others did not seem like they belonged, this was supposed to be
a hard rocking/punk band and the first song played seemed more like
the kind of tune you would hear from Liz Phair today. It would have
been perfectly fine for the montage, if the band played that kind
of music, but it just seemed so out of place for what they established
in the scene introducing them. There were many moments like this throughout
Stump the Band, and to me it really detracted from the over all film.
The instrumental music though, I hardly noticed it during the film,
and that to in my eyes, is complimentary, it didn't take anything
away from the film, nor did it stand out. To me not overshadowing
what is on the screen is one of the most important things that a pictures
score can do. I just wish the same could have been said for the music
that was chosen beyond the score.
I wish I could remember all the characters names because it would
make this whole thing a lot smoother, but since I don't I ask that
you bear with me. The characters in this movie consist of the band
members who are all women (the lead singer, the drummer, the bass
player, and a guitarist, the guitar players over controlling boyfriend,
the band's manager and their lesbian equipment manager. Lets see if
we go all of the stereotypes covered, the band leader is outspoken
and doesn't take any garbage from anyone, the drummer is the tough
girl who is a fighter, the bassist is the group sex monger, the guitarist
is a shadow of what she could be due to her controlling boyfriend,
the boyfriend is overbearing and a bit of a twit, the manager is comedy
relief, and well the alternative life choices are covered by the equipment
manager. Yup, all we would need is the precocious runaway kid and
everything would be covered on this end. Now the bad guys are made
up of a group of three men, one a former shoe salesman with a foot
fetish developed to the point of going out and actually collecting
the feet with the help of his two lackeys. One is a general dirt bag,
and the other adequately named.Dogboy. These two guys are responsible
for rounding up the people and bringing them back so shoe guy can
harvest their feet for his collection. So now we have the players
in place, it is time to figure out how to get these guys together
so they can have playtime. The movie opens and the band is playing
and a fight breaks out at the bar where they are rocking and rolling,
a big part of the altercation is due to the boyfriend not liking the
comments directed at his lady friend. Jealousy rears it ugly head,
words are exchanged and machismo gets in the way of all rationality
and an outbreak of breaking chairs takes place. Granted these chairs
aren't spontaneously breaking, they are having help making their way
to the land of kindling. Bar fight, bar fight, bar fight tonight,
while this is going on, we get the idea that the manager is a little
bit of a sleaze making deals to his own means, promising a night with
the overly eager bass player in exchange for some favorable treatment
from a promoter, but it's all in a day's work I guess. We head outside
while the police clean up the scene and the band is packing their
gear to head out to the next town, well most of the band, the bass
player is off and up to something lurid, while the equipment manager
and boyfriend are busy posturing trying to show who is the bigger
man. Finally everyone is in the van and off they go. They have to
stop to refuel at a little out of the place gas station/restaurant
where they encounter a creepy pump attendant and in the kitchen there
is a misfit working the grill. The ladies use the bathroom and on
their way out of the restaurant, the lead singer gets an ominous warning
from a sinister figure sitting at the counter to watch her back. Creepy.
The manager gets directions to Antigo from the gas attendant and they
are off. We then get a hint that there is indeed something untoward
going on with the gas and grill guys.
Well the boyfriend is driving and busy being the lesser man, after
losing the equipment loading challenge, when something causes him
to swerve and go off the road stranding the band in the middle of
nowhere. They have no idea where they are and will have to wait out
the night before trying to find a way back to the road. The morning
comes and there is the typical splitting up of the group so that it's
easier for the protagonist to dispatch them. The girls go off in one
direction while the guys (including the lesbian) stay behind. The
girls find themselves a swimming hole and decide it would be nice
to freshen up, but it may not be the best of ideas since someone is
lurking in the bushes. Events unfold and there are some untimely exits
for some of the cast members, eventually leading up to the final confrontation
between the foot collector and the band members who have survived
the ordeal. There was a little twist of sorts towards the last third
of the movie, but it wasn't anything all that unexpected. The movie
in as a whole was not what I would characterize as outstanding entertainment.
The script was somewhat amateurish and the score mixing really detracted
from the whole thing, but having said that, I must say that I was
impressed by this film. It's not that it is outstanding achievement
in cinematography or anything, but it is a good example of what people,
who really care about what they are doing are able to craft together
with limited resources and a whole lot of effort. Had I not know some
of the back story behind the making of this film, I probably wouldn't
have enjoyed it as much, but I still think I would have found it entertaining.
Stump the band is the kind of movie that I think would play well on
a late night horror movie show like Svengoolie, or some other. In
fact it is perfect for that, the only problem being a little language
clean up, some nudity, and the songs picked for the soundtrack, well
their lyrics wouldn't quite make it on a broadcast TV show.
This, ladies and gentlemen is the
guy who roped me into this.
(Robbie Rist to the left and director Bill Holmes to the right) |
Stump the Band sing a long |
The movie was over and it was time to introduce some of the cast that
had made it, and allow them to take a final bow. After that more thank
you messages went out to all of the people who gave their time and
effort in the making of the movie, which I thought was a classy thing
to do. In fact the whole presentation was a very nice gesture by the
director and producers. Although the film wasn't completely finished,
they still wanted to bring it back from California and give everyone
who worked n it locally their own special viewing of the film, which
I thought was a grand gesture. It showed me what kind of heart went
into the making of this move. I'm glad I was able to go to the viewing
and want to thank Bill Holmes and Robbie Rist for allowing us to come
and see the film, I also want to thank Chris for doing us the favor
and asking if it would be OK if we attended. This is another one of
those brushes with near greatness that I get to experience almost
annually due to my connections to this website and Al 'n Ann's collectibles.
Who knows what will come up next year.
Takiing pictures to blackmail
the audience with |
Yes Sir, this movie gets two "thumbs"
up. |
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Al n'
Ann's Collectibles
Store Hours:
Mon-Thurs
11:00am - 7:00pm
Friday
11:00am - 7:00pm
Saturday
10:00am - 5:00pm
Sunday
Closed
Location
3819 W. Main St.
McHenry,IL 60050
Phone
(815)344-9696
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