Entries tagged with “Rock n Roll” from Rooftop Films Blog
On Saturday, June 6, Rooftop Films will be screening Cory McAbee's new film Stingray Sam on the roof Brooklyn Tech High School. Get tickets now before it sells out.
Before the show, Rooftop's Danielle Kourtesis and Julia Friedman discussed the film with Cory. Here's the scoop:
ROOFTOP FILMS: Give a brief description of your film for those who haven't seen it yet.
CORY MCABEE: Stingray Sam is a musical sci-fi western. It's written and designed for screens of all sizes.
RF: The film references the classic good guy/bad guy dichotomy. What about this dynamic interests you?
CM: I was using classic Americana themes while drawing on today's modern American environment as a landscape. It's obvious who the heroes are and who the villain is, but at the same time my good guys are violent thieves and ex-convicts while my bad guy is sheltered and immature.
RF: The film has an underlying feminist commentary. With the future of genetic engineering and cloning, is it possible that we'll encounter "powerful, upper-class" men who will simply want to reproduce themselves? Just how sexist is our society?
CM: The upper-class has always wanted to reproduce itself. That's why it's a strict tradition in some countries to marry within ones own class. In the US we are much more sly when it comes to drawing such lines, but we do draw them. As to how sexist our society is that would depend on what you would use as a gauge. If you compare us to some countries we're doing pretty good. If you try to figure it out by looking at the publicized issues of modern American feminists, then you're looking at the upper class again. The focus is usually on female executives competing for money with male executives. You never hear about the single mothers working in diners without any benefits or struggling on welfare so they can raise their own kids. Looking at how we treat poor women is the best way to gauge how sexist our society is.
RF: In the late 1940's, 50's, and 60's, the genres of musical and western existed simultaneously, then both faded out. Why revive both, and why, using both a historical and cinematic perspective, combine the genres into one movie?
CM: I like musicals, with the exception of most of them. I think it's a genre that can still be explored. Westerns tend to reflect the styles and ideas of when they are made. The trend of the singing cowboy was huge in its day. There were a lot of them, but it's not part of today's collective conscious. It was the product of what we now view as a naïve America. The whole idea of a singing cowboy fits perfectly into what I was trying to do.
RF: Like other science-fiction comedies, Stingray Sam uses humor to examine current social and scientific topics and comments on what society might look like if the technology ran amok. Do you feel that technology such as cloning and genetic engineering represent a threat to future society?
CM: I'm pretty sure that some of their uses will.
RF: Are you a full-time filmmaker? If not, what else are you up to?
CM: Right now I'm scheduling Stingray Sam at festivals and accompanying it whenever I can. We're also setting up an online store for all of our past film and music releases. We have a lot of new music that we plan to release as well.
RF: What is your next project?
CM: I'm hoping my next film will be one that I've written and storyboarded called Werewolf Hunters of the Midwest. I also have a couple other screenplays. I'll have to wait and see what happens.
CORY MCABEE: Stingray Sam is a musical sci-fi western. It's written and designed for screens of all sizes.
RF: The film references the classic good guy/bad guy dichotomy. What about this dynamic interests you?
CM: I was using classic Americana themes while drawing on today's modern American environment as a landscape. It's obvious who the heroes are and who the villain is, but at the same time my good guys are violent thieves and ex-convicts while my bad guy is sheltered and immature.
RF: The film has an underlying feminist commentary. With the future of genetic engineering and cloning, is it possible that we'll encounter "powerful, upper-class" men who will simply want to reproduce themselves? Just how sexist is our society?
CM: The upper-class has always wanted to reproduce itself. That's why it's a strict tradition in some countries to marry within ones own class. In the US we are much more sly when it comes to drawing such lines, but we do draw them. As to how sexist our society is that would depend on what you would use as a gauge. If you compare us to some countries we're doing pretty good. If you try to figure it out by looking at the publicized issues of modern American feminists, then you're looking at the upper class again. The focus is usually on female executives competing for money with male executives. You never hear about the single mothers working in diners without any benefits or struggling on welfare so they can raise their own kids. Looking at how we treat poor women is the best way to gauge how sexist our society is.
RF: In the late 1940's, 50's, and 60's, the genres of musical and western existed simultaneously, then both faded out. Why revive both, and why, using both a historical and cinematic perspective, combine the genres into one movie?
CM: I like musicals, with the exception of most of them. I think it's a genre that can still be explored. Westerns tend to reflect the styles and ideas of when they are made. The trend of the singing cowboy was huge in its day. There were a lot of them, but it's not part of today's collective conscious. It was the product of what we now view as a naïve America. The whole idea of a singing cowboy fits perfectly into what I was trying to do.
RF: Like other science-fiction comedies, Stingray Sam uses humor to examine current social and scientific topics and comments on what society might look like if the technology ran amok. Do you feel that technology such as cloning and genetic engineering represent a threat to future society?
CM: I'm pretty sure that some of their uses will.
RF: Are you a full-time filmmaker? If not, what else are you up to?
CM: Right now I'm scheduling Stingray Sam at festivals and accompanying it whenever I can. We're also setting up an online store for all of our past film and music releases. We have a lot of new music that we plan to release as well.
RF: What is your next project?
CM: I'm hoping my next film will be one that I've written and storyboarded called Werewolf Hunters of the Midwest. I also have a couple other screenplays. I'll have to wait and see what happens.
See the entire Stingray Sam series at Rooftop Films on June 6. Tickets are going fast, so buy them online here.
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One of the most beautiful shows Rooftop Films ever hosted was our 2007 edition of Dark 'Toons. The astonishing animator Brent Green showed his films and played live music with Brooklyn locals The Quavers. They are a band whose sound and focus is very much in line with Rooftop--quiet and surprisingly intricate songs about drifting through specific landscapes. I'm a huge fan, and hope to have them back on the roof again.
Vincent Moon on Blogotheque's "Take Away Shows" created a wonderful video with the Quavers playing two songs while floating down the Gowanus Canal (just one block away from Rooftop headquarters). I think it's a fantastic and perfectly executed idea (having Brooklyn indie film legend Jem Cohen piloting the boat adds to the mystique). Watch the video (below) and read the exciting story here.
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THE QUAVERS - Sea Won't Take Long
by lablogotheque
Props to Rooftop's Managing Director Genevieve DeLaurier for digging up this video.
Vincent Moon on Blogotheque's "Take Away Shows" created a wonderful video with the Quavers playing two songs while floating down the Gowanus Canal (just one block away from Rooftop headquarters). I think it's a fantastic and perfectly executed idea (having Brooklyn indie film legend Jem Cohen piloting the boat adds to the mystique). Watch the video (below) and read the exciting story here.
>
THE QUAVERS - Sea Won't Take Long
by lablogotheque
Props to Rooftop's Managing Director Genevieve DeLaurier for digging up this video.
ROCK N ROLL Red Leader Records showcase at CMJ
Friday, November 3, 8pm
@ NorthSix (66 North 6th St., Williamsburg)
This blog will mostly be film events, but we wanted to give a shout out to our good friends at Red Leader Records, who have provided great musical acts for our shows. Pop-punk, political hardcore, great music. Bands that night include: Achilles, End Of A Year, The New Dress, Scream! Hello, Dear Tonight, and Nakatomi Plaza. Check out details at www.myspace.com/redleaderrecords and www.redleaderrecords.com.
We used this Scream! Hello song in a preview for a Rooftop Films show last summer.
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