Before diving into Natalie Morales’ often charming Language Lessons, I approached the film with a certain skepticism. After a year of endless Zoom meetings, FaceTimes with friends keeping their social distance, and way too much social media, my mind is craving escapist entertainment rather than yet another “Zoom movie.” On the other hand, Zoom represents both a new and old frontier for mumblecore filmmakers. While early works of mumblecore like Joe Swanberg’s Lol and Susan Buice and Arin Crumley’s Four Eyed Monsters were largely focused on web collaborations (the later started as and continued as video podcast dispatches), Language Lessons explores both new and old territory. Taking a certain form due to the circumstances of a year where long-distance relationships––especially with those outside of one’s household––were preferred, it gives a valid reason why Adam (Mark Duplass) and Carino (Morales) would form such a bond.
Adam,...
Adam,...
- 3/28/2021
- by John Fink
- The Film Stage
A decade ago, Arin Crumley was a trailblazing filmmaker at the epicenter of the American Diy movement. “Four Eyed Monsters,” the semi-fictionalized look at his digital relationship with co-director Susan Buice, gained an online following through its web series; it eventually generated an international fan base and became a groundbreaking example of crowdsourcing for the creative community.
After Crumley and Buice parted ways, Crumley faced the usual filmmaker pressures to produce something new. In keeping with his “Four Eyed Monsters” trajectory, he rejected offers from agents and leading producers, choosing another ambitious and unorthodox project: “Matter Out of Place,” which he envisioned as a group effort to create a semi-fictionalized drama at the center of Burning Man, the annual communal art gathering in Black Rock Desert.
This time, it didn’t go so well. Crumley found himself swept up in myriad complications that turned his experimental production into a microbudget “Apocalypse Now.
After Crumley and Buice parted ways, Crumley faced the usual filmmaker pressures to produce something new. In keeping with his “Four Eyed Monsters” trajectory, he rejected offers from agents and leading producers, choosing another ambitious and unorthodox project: “Matter Out of Place,” which he envisioned as a group effort to create a semi-fictionalized drama at the center of Burning Man, the annual communal art gathering in Black Rock Desert.
This time, it didn’t go so well. Crumley found himself swept up in myriad complications that turned his experimental production into a microbudget “Apocalypse Now.
- 8/26/2018
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
At about the hour mark, I was very glad to see the filmmakers and subjects of Flames, Zefrey Throwell and Josephine Decker, had entered some kind of counseling even if may also be, in part, a performance. Then again, what isn’t? Simultaneously, it appears they’re also in the editing room with an unnamed assistant cutting this brief film. Later they, of course, fight about what’s transpired and who has ownership of the film. It takes a certain amount of narcissism to make a film about one’s relationship and expect folks you don’t know to care. Flames is an attempt to capture such intimacy, yet it’s missing much of an emotional core. To put it into simpler terms: one evening I was at a concert with a fighting couple; it wasn’t a fun experience for any of us.
Framed by screenprints created by an unseen hand,...
Framed by screenprints created by an unseen hand,...
- 5/3/2017
- by John Fink
- The Film Stage
It was supposed to be their crowning jewel. The moment that would solidify the years of anguish they'd put into a project that thrust them into debt and split them up romantically. A project born outside the establishment. It had become the poster child of the burgeoning Diy filmmaking movement. Finally, they could cash in. On April 29, 2008 Arin Crumley and Susan Buice's "Four Eyed Monsters" was to be released on a two-disc DVD by IFC and sold exclusively through Borders Bookshop, the film's first legitimate release after years of being shown for free. But when the doors to Borders opened around the country that day the "Four Eyed" legion flocked to stores and found…nothing. No displays. Nothing on the shelves. Where did it all go wrong? Ten years ago this week, "Four Eyed Monsters" premiered at the Slamdance Film Festival and in essence laid the seeds of the modern-day,...
- 1/21/2015
- by Jason Guerrasio
- Indiewire
Chicago – The personal life of an entertainer shouldn’t be of any entertainment value, regardless of how celebrity gossip columns and the paparazzi would like to convince the general public otherwise. Who cares if two famous people have chemistry if it doesn’t show up onscreen? Yet when a real-life couple stars in a film together, it’s nearly impossible to watch them without wondering how much truth is reflected in their cinematic relationship.
That’s exactly what many moviegoers will be contemplating when they watch Nanette Burstein’s new Apatow-influenced rom-com, “Going the Distance,” which pairs two stars whose on-again, off-again relationship has been heavily publicized. Whether Drew Barrymore and Justin Long have tangible, engaging chemistry remains to be seen and judged by audiences willing to by a ticket. Until then, here is my list of the top ten real life on-screen couples: the good, the bad and the ugly.
That’s exactly what many moviegoers will be contemplating when they watch Nanette Burstein’s new Apatow-influenced rom-com, “Going the Distance,” which pairs two stars whose on-again, off-again relationship has been heavily publicized. Whether Drew Barrymore and Justin Long have tangible, engaging chemistry remains to be seen and judged by audiences willing to by a ticket. Until then, here is my list of the top ten real life on-screen couples: the good, the bad and the ugly.
- 9/2/2010
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
"These two are f**king brilliant, and we here at Cinematical wish them all the luck in the world moving forward." Erik Davis, our editor in chief, wrote those words last year in reference to Arin Crumley and Susan Buice, the two creative, enterprising filmmakers behind Four Eyed Monsters; he also detailed what they'd done to connect their wild, resolutely original flick with audiences in the most unexpected places. Now Arin Crumley has indeed moved forward, and he's ready to tell the world about it.
He's especially interested in reaching filmmakers who've completed their latest masterpiece but don't know how to reach their intended audience. Crumley has joined with Kieran Masterton to develop a new web resource called OpenIndie. As explained in detail by Eric Kohn at indieWIRE, Crumley and Masterton are hoping to raise $10,000 from filmmakers by October 29 to fund the project. The idea is to build awareness for a movie through social networking.
He's especially interested in reaching filmmakers who've completed their latest masterpiece but don't know how to reach their intended audience. Crumley has joined with Kieran Masterton to develop a new web resource called OpenIndie. As explained in detail by Eric Kohn at indieWIRE, Crumley and Masterton are hoping to raise $10,000 from filmmakers by October 29 to fund the project. The idea is to build awareness for a movie through social networking.
- 10/4/2009
- by Peter Martin
- Cinematical
NEW YORK -- Digital coverage of the Sundance Film Festival has reached new heights this year, with a new YouTube Sundance Channel Video Blog Festival, shorts for sale on iTunes, official blogs from the network and fest sponsors, an avatar community on Second Life, offerings from MySpace and countless independent Web sites covering the fest.
Through its first collaboration with the Sundance Channel, YouTube will post daily videos from Four Eyed Monsters directors Arin Crumley and Susan Buice, who developed their autobiographical feature after meeting online. The pair will interview filmmakers and travel to screenings, panels and parties around Park City.
"They provide a unique perspective of Sundance as filmmakers and chronicle from the festivalgoer perspective as well," said Christopher Barry, vp digital media and business strategy at the Sundance Channel.
Another unique new venture taken by Sundance Channel is creating an "island" on Second Life, a virtual environment where computer users engage with each other as Sims-style avatars. After downloading the free Second Life software and registering, visitors can attend screenings and virtual parties.
In a first-of-its-kind collaboration, Lynn Hershman-Leeson will host an invitation-only screening of her ecological docu feature Strange Culture, co-hosted by an online avatar of Tilda Swinton, on her own Neware island. A limited number of Second Life members can attend a Q&A about the film, hosted by notable community avatars, Jan. 22. The film premieres in actual reality Friday at Sundance.
Hershman-Leeson said the idea came shortly after Sundance programr Shari Frilot let her know Culture was accepted at the fest. "She's involved in New Frontiers, which specializes in new technology and experimental cinema," Hershman-Leeson said. "Sundance is one of the only festivals that really acknowledges the shifts in nontraditional filmmaking."
John Cooper, who has led Sundance in new directions as director of programming, looked to filmmakers to see what was next for the festival. "They wanted to sell their films and brand them as Sundance," he said. "There's so much content out there that it creates such a need for a filter."
This led to a deal with the fest and channel to sell 32 short films at Apple's iTunes Store for $1.99 each. The films also will stream for free on Sundance's Web site along with 14 others from this year's selection.
Along with bringing Sundance films to people's homes, the Web offers a multitude of ways for anyone to get an insider's view.
Through its first collaboration with the Sundance Channel, YouTube will post daily videos from Four Eyed Monsters directors Arin Crumley and Susan Buice, who developed their autobiographical feature after meeting online. The pair will interview filmmakers and travel to screenings, panels and parties around Park City.
"They provide a unique perspective of Sundance as filmmakers and chronicle from the festivalgoer perspective as well," said Christopher Barry, vp digital media and business strategy at the Sundance Channel.
Another unique new venture taken by Sundance Channel is creating an "island" on Second Life, a virtual environment where computer users engage with each other as Sims-style avatars. After downloading the free Second Life software and registering, visitors can attend screenings and virtual parties.
In a first-of-its-kind collaboration, Lynn Hershman-Leeson will host an invitation-only screening of her ecological docu feature Strange Culture, co-hosted by an online avatar of Tilda Swinton, on her own Neware island. A limited number of Second Life members can attend a Q&A about the film, hosted by notable community avatars, Jan. 22. The film premieres in actual reality Friday at Sundance.
Hershman-Leeson said the idea came shortly after Sundance programr Shari Frilot let her know Culture was accepted at the fest. "She's involved in New Frontiers, which specializes in new technology and experimental cinema," Hershman-Leeson said. "Sundance is one of the only festivals that really acknowledges the shifts in nontraditional filmmaking."
John Cooper, who has led Sundance in new directions as director of programming, looked to filmmakers to see what was next for the festival. "They wanted to sell their films and brand them as Sundance," he said. "There's so much content out there that it creates such a need for a filter."
This led to a deal with the fest and channel to sell 32 short films at Apple's iTunes Store for $1.99 each. The films also will stream for free on Sundance's Web site along with 14 others from this year's selection.
Along with bringing Sundance films to people's homes, the Web offers a multitude of ways for anyone to get an insider's view.
- 1/17/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The experimental romantic comedy Four Eyed Monsters won the 2006 Sundance Channel Audience Award at this year's "indieWIRE: Undiscovered Gems" film series. The autobiographical film, in which director/stars Susan Buice and Arin Crumley blend fact and fiction to document their developing relationship, won a theatrical release through Emerging Pictures and a television premiere on Sundance Channel. Monsters recently nabbed two 2007 Independent Spirit Award noms for best cinematography and the John Cassavetes award for the best feature made for less than $500,000.
- 12/17/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
NEW YORK -- This semiautobiographical, navel-gazing postmodern love story for our high-tech, media-obsessed age is the work of Susan Buice and Arin Crumley, who decided to turn their romance into art. Chronicling the couple's relationship, conducted experimentally without the benefit of face-to-face verbal communication, "Four Eyed Monsters" will probably emerge a less felicitous experience for viewers than its creators. The film, which has garnered acclaim at various festivals and recently received Independent Spirit nominations for its cinematography and for the John Cassavetes Award, is playing at New York's Cinema Village.
Buice and Crumley, who also channeled their experiences into a series of Web sites and podcasts, are an artist/waitress and videographer, respectively. Obsessed both with themselves and with each other, they are forced to deal with various issues in the course of their courtship, including the specter of a sexually transmitted disease.
All of this is conveyed in a highly abstract style incorporating such devices as animation, video diaries, podcasts, MySpace profiles, etc. The results, even with the film's brief 70-minute running time, are more numbing than enlightening, though those enamored of current communications technology will no doubt get some kicks. Although technically audacious and displaying no small amount of imagination, "Four Eyed Monsters" quickly proves wearisome in the banality of its content, if not its form.
Buice and Crumley, who also channeled their experiences into a series of Web sites and podcasts, are an artist/waitress and videographer, respectively. Obsessed both with themselves and with each other, they are forced to deal with various issues in the course of their courtship, including the specter of a sexually transmitted disease.
All of this is conveyed in a highly abstract style incorporating such devices as animation, video diaries, podcasts, MySpace profiles, etc. The results, even with the film's brief 70-minute running time, are more numbing than enlightening, though those enamored of current communications technology will no doubt get some kicks. Although technically audacious and displaying no small amount of imagination, "Four Eyed Monsters" quickly proves wearisome in the banality of its content, if not its form.
- 12/14/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
- I love this yearly piece from the folks @ IndieWIRE – it highlights the films that unfortunately find themselves by the waste side, that don’t get picked up, but that deservingly need to be seen. I’ve had the chance to catch a couple of these features - Three Times will most likely finds its way on my top 20 of the year (results published in February in 2006). Undiscovered Gems is a list from indieWIRE staffers and writers: Eugene Hernandez (editor-in-chief), Brian Brooks (associate editor), James Israel (administration and marketing), and contributors Erica Abeel, Howard Feinstein, Anthony Kaufman, Michael Koresky, Jonny Leahan, Lily Oei and Steven Rosen. Here is their Top 10 Films of 2005 Without U.S. Distribution: Chain - Jem Cohen C.R.A.Z.Y. -Jean-Marc Vallee Four Eyed Monsters - Susan Buice & Arin Crumley I Am a Sex Addict - Caveh Zahedi John and Jane - Ashim Ahluwalla
- 1/3/2006
- IONCINEMA.com
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