Dustin Guy Defa's BAD FEVER opens; Kentucker Audley hits a loopy home run

BAD FEVER, first seen at last year's SxSW fest and opening today in the New York City area, is another in the ever-increasing mumble-core catalog and the brainchild of one Dustin Guy Defa, who here acts as writer/director/
producer/editor and even actor, though not in the film's leading role. That task falls to another interesting up-and-comer, Kentucker Audley, who has, as well, fooled around with film-making in all of the above areas, and for whom -- on the basis of what we see in Bad Fever -- acting may turn out to be his ace-in-the-hole. (This review, by the way, is an edited repeat of what TrustMovies posted at the time of the film's SxSW debut.)

It appears that I am more familiar with the work of Mr. Audley (shown at right) than I had previously thought. Not only did I view him in a subsidiary role in the film he directed, Open Five, I also saw him (without realizing that it was he) in one of the lead roles in a film -- Passenger Pigeons -- shown two years ago at BAMciné-matek during the yearly BAMcinemaFEST. In both films Audley was perfectly acceptable, though in no way memorable -- yet the latter is exactly what he is in Bad Fever. In fact, he is riveting. Why this should be so got me to ruminating yet again on the glories and doldrums of mumblecore. When I covered Open Five (that review is here), I suggested, regarding the m'core genre, that my readers try to imagine some of our late, great actresses -- Bette Davis, Susan Hayward, Joan Crawford (or even today, Meryl Streep and maybe Jessica Chastain) -- doing a mumblecore movie. What might be the result?  Not m'core, for sure. Why not? Because those actresses command the screen. It's true, film fans: charisma and mumblecore don't seem to mix.

Which bring us to back to Audley's performance. In Passenger Pigeons and Open Five, he's "truthful" enough, but he often recedes into the background scenery. The actor is "being," but he's not "doing." Being is the hallmark of most m'core performers (except, sometimes, Greta Gerwig -- hence, I believe, her move into mainstream) because being, of course, is truthful and real and honest and all that. But it's pretty passive. Eventually we need, we demand, action from our actors. And I am not talking about chasing villains by car, foot or spaceship. I mean the kind of "action" that comes from the realization -- ours and the character's -- that he or she wants something. Fortunately, eventually, filmmaker Defa -- shown above -- allows us this. And actor Audley starts pulling out the stops. But here's the weird part: He does this so haltingly, strangely, that initially, we get this from his voice more than from anything else. Also, Defa delights in the old Gus Van Sant ploy: let's photograph our hero from the back of his head because, isn't the back of the head just so full of expression?! Well, no, it's not.

For the first maybe 20 minutes, that's mostly what we see, until we keep asking what does this strange guy, with his weird vocal mannerisms, look like. Then Defa shows us some profile, and finally full-on frontal, and we see Audley in all of his character's goofy glory. And by hook or crook he has created a character (Eddie, shown above). This poor young man, who apparently has been given little in life by either of his parents (we only see his no-great-shakes mom: Annette Wright, below), is determined to prove himself via stand-up comedy -- an occupation for which he appears to have almost no credentials or gift.

Eddie meets an equally odd, though a lot nastier, young woman named Irene (played by Eléonore Hendricks, below), whom he wants to maybe "date" (as much a Eddie might understand this concept) but who has other plans for her "men."  The scene, further below, in which she tries to undress our "hero" is a kind of creepy classic.

Mr. Audley seems to key everything about Eddie's desire into the young man's stammering vocal pattern (don't worry, this is nothing like The King's Speech). He makes us listen intently, while, at the same time, we're trying not to (it's so painful). The result is some-thing I have seldom encountered in a performance. But it works.

Mr. Defa takes quite a chance here, making his lead character so bizarre that were it not for Audley's ability to somehow hold us, we'd probably be elsewhere -- and fast. I asked myself rather often throughout whether someone like this could actually exist in today's world without already being in an institution. Perhaps.  Eddie does seems to possess certain skills, which might help him get by. It's when he opens his mouth that it all falls apart. Nor am I sure that the film's final scene, featuring a faux-Asian masseuse named Yoko (a rather delightful Allison Baar, below) is wish-fulfillment fantasy or the embodiment of that old saying that Granny told us to allay our fears of forever being alone: There's a cover for every pot. Either way, the scene makes a predictably odd ending to this short 'n sour (77-minute) movie that is, in its strange way, quite memorable.

Bad Fever screens today -- February 3, and continues through the 9, with one more screening on February 15 -- at Brooklyn's reRun Gastropub Theater. Several personal appearances tied to the film will take place during the week: Click here for details.

At SXSW: In BAD FEVER mumblecore meets a striking, if creepy, central performance

TrustMovies doesn't get to travel much anymore and has never been, in any case, to the SxSW fest. So he was surprised to have the chance to view a new film that will have its world premiere there this week -- on the opening day of the fest. BAD FEVER, another in the ever-increasing mumble-core catalog, is the brainchild of one Dustin Guy Defa, who here acts as writer/director/
producer/editor and even actor, though not in the film's leading role. That task falls to another up-and-coming personage, Kentucker Audley, who has, as well, fooled around with film-making in all of the above areas, and for whom -- on the basis of what we see in Bad Fever -- acting may turn out to be his ace-in-the-hole.

It appears that I am more familiar with the work of Mr. Audley (shown at right) than I had previously thought. Not only did I view him in a subsidiary role in the film he directed, Open Five, I also saw him (without realizing that it was he) in one of the lead roles in a film -- Passenger Pigeons -- shown at  BAMciné-matek during the yearly BAMcinemaFEST. In both films Audley was perfectly acceptable, though in no way memorable -- yet the latter is exactly what he is in Bad Fever. In fact, he is riveting. Why this should be so got me to ruminating yet again on the glories/
doldrums of mumblecore. When I covered Open Five (that review is here), I suggested, regarding the m'core genre, that my readers try to imagine some of our late, great actresses -- Bette Davis, Susan Hayward, Joan Crawford (or even today, Meryl Streep) -- doing a mumblecore movie.  What might be the result?  Not m'core, for sure. Why not? Because those actresses command the screen. It's true, film fans: charisma and mumblecore don't seem to mix.

Which bring us to back to Audley's performance. In Passenger Pigeons and Open Five, he's "truthful" enough, but he often recedes into the background scenery. The actor is "being," but he's not "doing." Being is the hallmark of most m'core performers (except, sometimes, Greta Gerwig -- hence, I believe, her move into mainstream) because being, of course, is truthful and real and honest and all that. But it's pretty passive. Eventually we need, we demand, action from our actors. And I am not talking about chasing villains by car, foot or spaceship. I mean the kind of "action" that comes from the realization -- ours and the character's -- that he or she wants something. Fortunately, eventually, filmmaker Defa -- shown above -- allows us this. And actor Audley starts pulling out the stops. But here's the weird part: He does this so haltingly, strangely, that initially, we get this from his voice more than from anything else. Also, Defa delights in the old Gus Van Sant ploy: let's photograph our hero from the back of his head because, isn't the back of the head just so full of expression?! Well, no, it's not.

For the first maybe 20 minutes, that's mostly what we see, until we keep asking what does this strange guy, with his weird vocal mannerisms, look like. Then Defa shows us some profile, and finally full-on frontal, and we see Audley in all of his character's goofy glory. And by hook or crook he has created a character (Eddie, shown above). This poor young man, who apparently has been given little in life by either of his parents (we only see his no-great-shakes mom: Annette Wright, below), is determined to prove himself via stand-up comedy -- an occupation for which he appears to have almost no credentials or gift.

Eddie meets an equally odd, though a lot nastier, young woman named Irene (played by Eléonore Hendricks, below), whom he wants to maybe "date" (as much a Eddie might understand this concept) but who has other plans for her "men."  The scene, further below, in which she tries to undress our "hero" is a kind of creepy classic.

Mr. Audley seems to key everything about Eddie's desire into the young man's stammering vocal pattern (don't worry, this is nothing like The King's Speech). He makes us listen intently, while, at the same time, we're trying not to (it's so painful). The result is some-thing I have seldom encountered in a performance. But it works.

Mr. Defa takes quite a chance here, making his lead character so bizarre that were it not for Audley's ability to somehow hold us, we'd probably be elsewhere -- and fast. I asked myself rather often throughout whether someone like this could actually exist in today's world without already being in an institution. Perhaps.  Eddie does seems to possess certain skills, which might help him get by. It's when he opens his mouth that it all falls apart. Nor am I sure that the film's final scene, featuring a faux-Asian masseuse named Yoko (a rather delightful Allison Baar, below) is wish-fulfillment fantasy or the embodiment of that old saying that Granny told us to allay our fears of forever being alone: There's a cover for every pot. Either way, the scene makes a predictably odd ending to this short 'n sour (77-minute) movie that is, in its strange way, quite memorable.

Bad Fever will screen at SxSW on Friday, March 11, at 8:45 at the Alamo Lamar B; on Monday, March 14, at 4pm at the Alamo Ritz 2; and on Thursday, March 17, at 3pm at the Rollins Theatre. Click here for the complete SxSW film lineup.

OPEN FIVE, new love-&-music mumblecore movie, opens at Bklyn' reRun/Gastropub; Q&A with filmmaker Kentucker Audley

TrustMovies is extremely pleased to be able to advise readers in the NYC and especially Brooklyn areas that a film he's recently enjoyed is getting its theatrical debut at one of our more interesting new venues, the reRun/Gastropub theater in the DUMBO area of Brooklyn, starting this Friday and continuing for one week. That movie would be OPEN FIVE, the most recent film (though it's the first TM has seen) from Memphis-based filmmaker Kentucker Audley -- a name with great provenance: like Maxine Audley, were her family from Kentucky instead of London.

The post that you're reading has been taken, and edited slightly, from my original post on the film, which was published exactly one month ago on October 23.

Open Five is about love and music and is, I say this with as much trepidation as excite-ment, pretty much mumble-core. In my definition, anyway. Not only did m'core master Joe Swanberg shoot the film (more on this in the short interview with the filmmaker, further below) but the movie has, to my mind, one of the hallmarks of this johnny-come-lately genre: its characters appear to be drifting rather aimlessly toward... whatever. No one exhibits much energy toward any objective.

Emotional laissez-faire is the law of this land, particularly where relationships are concerned: Everyone seems hesitant to put any pressure on anyone else. After watching this movie and musing a bit on past mumblecore examples, the characters and particularly the actors who essay them, I had a thought: Can you imagine for a moment actresses like Bette Davis, Susan Hayward or Joan Crawford making a mumblecore movie? (Now there's a skit that might bring back Mad-TV.)  In fact, in Swanberg's most recent film, Alexander the Last, his use of the vital, high-energy performer Jess Weixler helped lift his movie from the some-times-morass that mumblecore can become. That's sounds like a slur, I know, but part of the problem with the m'core genre is that, without some variation in the pacing, events, dialog, action and energy-level, it can too easily put an audience to sleep. (There are wonderful exceptions: Aaron Katz's Quiet City is one such.)

This doesn't happen in Open Five, though at times the film comes a tad too close. Audley and his co-writer Jake Rabinbach (shown two photos above) tell the story of two guys, musicians named Jake and Kentucker (yes, this is "sort of/sort of not" autobiography) and the two young women from New York City who visit the guys in Memphis. The movie begins with a nice NYC-based necking-on-the-fire-escape scene (just above) between Jake and Lucy (the lovely Shannon Esper), after which Lucy and her friend Rose (the equally enchanting Genevieve Angelson, below) pay a visit down south. The women here are more open and immediate than the guys -- whether this is due to the filmmakers telling their own story and so keeping closer to the vest regarding the males, or to the women being the more gracious and appealing characters, I'm not sure. We also see and hear a lot more from Jake than we do Kentucker, perhaps because the director wanted to be more generous to his co-star/co-writer, who really is the main focus of the film.

In any case, the usual male-female dance of first getting closer then farther apart ensues, and along the way the ladies (and us viewers) get to see (and hear) some of Memphis -- its music, scenery, churches (below), fireworks and fairs --  in an easy-going, never-pushed manner (well, this is m'core, after all). Little is resolved by the end, unless I missed something. In Jake's speech to his band, he seems to contradict himself rather thoroughly regarding these musicians and their music -- in the same way the guys send out mixed signals to their girls (and to a lesser extent, as do the girls to their guys).  

Visually, the movie seems to me to be better filmed than some other in this genre that I've seen. It looked quite good in the streaming format I viewed, and a couple of  scenes -- the four-some's walk along the riverbank on some gorgeous green grass, as anothe couple plays with a dog, is lovely, and so is a long take of Ms.Esper sprawled across a couch (below -- but you really have to see this in the film itself to appreciate its voluptuous beauty).

As usual, after finishing a film, I had a bunch of questions at the ready. This time, having the filmmaker's email address, I was able to ask them.  Below is our conversation, with TrustMovies' questions appearing in boldface and Kentucker Audley's answers in standard type.

OK: Here we go…Your film was shot by Joe Swanberg! How’d he get involved in this?

Joe and I have been friends for a couple years. We hooked up after my first film Team Picture and he shot that film's epilogue, Ginger Sand. The collaboration went great, so I enlisted him again.

What’s the meaning of the film’s title? (A music industry term, maybe?)

Open five is something incomplete, the time when there's four slashes on a chalkboard before you diagonal slash over them to close it up. If you're in open five, you're in a state of lingering, something needs to give. When it does, you can slash (close the five) and then you can start worrying about the next set of five. You might say: "I'm kinda caught up in this open five," meaning this girl I thought was gonna come to Memphis and be with me seems to have changed her tune. We made up an elaborate open five system.

Would you call your film mumblecore? If so, why; if not, why not?

Why not? I've always been on the mumblecore fringe. There's no deciding committee for it, so history will have to work that out. But I certainly am proud to be associated with the bulk of what's considered mumblecore. For me, it's an exciting set of films, of course not exciting in the way you normally use exciting.

Very funny (and true).  M’core or not, it’s definitely DIY. What did it cost to reach the level it has.

Very little. Our entire budget was raised through an online fundraiser, around $15,000.

In terms of marketing, what does it (did it) cost you to get it onto vimeo. (Audley used this means to reach us critics and film bloggers early. Following this, the film was shown free via Audley's  website, previous to the current reRun/Gastropub venue) On my laptop, it looked very good, even when blown up to full screen.

Our marketing budget was $100. $60 for the Plus Vimeo account and $40 for posters and flyers for the Memphis screening. (That put us in the hole $100 bucks because we had no money left from production.) And, yeah, I think it looks absolutely fine on Vimeo. The point for me has never been the picture quality or production value. And I think there's almost an expectation that watching content online will be low-quality. In that way, by focusing on the online release we even the playing field a little because we could never compete with the industry standard of the way a film looks and sounds in a theatre. And if we have a decent image quality online, most everyone will think that's great compared to the quality of most YouTube videos. (Editor's note: It should be interesting, then, to see how the film looks in its current theatrical venue.)

Your characters all seem to be drifting rather aimlessly (I find this a hallmark of mumblecore, actually, which is why I would peg OPEN FIVE as an example of m’core). Is this how you see these characters?

I guess we are focusing primarly on our driftiness. But I don't think its the complete picture. For instance we also show how serious Jake is about his music. Of course the aimlessness doesn't necessary apply to our real life. Jake and I are both very determined and motivated and we're playing ourselves.

Was your script written -- or just outlined and then mostly improvised?

We wrote a full script, well, recited it into our MacBooks. Then I listened back to it, and transcibed it and showed it the actors and crew once then forgot about it. Nothing from the final film was scripted.

I pegged the movie as running 64 minutes. Is this the right length? If so, it sort of hits somewhere between a long short and a very short full-length. Was this intentional, or did you simply say everything you felt the movie needed to say by the end of those 64 minutes?

It's 66 total counting credits. All my films are around 60 minutes. Joe Swanberg's wife dubbed films of this length "future length" because we believe films will become shorter and shorter. Our catch phrase for this is: Movies: too long. The film contains only small scale content so I think it should be shorter than films with big movie things happening.

So far as themes are concerned, the movie seems to me to be about commitment -- or the lack of it. The girls want t it, the guys don’t. This is rather typical of the characters’ ages and genders, I think – and also maybe because those involved in the music industry. But there also seems to be a lack of commitment to music, too – at least on the past of Jake. Care to comment on this?

These are deep issues. I don't think I could answer for Jake or the women as far as if they desire commitment. I don't think commitment even comes up for my character because I just met this women and she's only in town for the weekend. That's a ready-made situation where commitment doesn't need to enter the frame. But I know Jake is completely committed to his music. Maybe you'd have to see more to fully trust that, but there's a larger technique at work in these films -- which is to not show enough.

What you say is interesting, Kentucker, since you (and Jake) did write/speak the original script, but probably you were not going into the girls’ characters deeply at that point, and so you just sort of let the actresses take it from there. And, too, I might be reading more into this than is even there. Yet the women’s initial reluctance to give over to each of you, and the little back and-forth “dance” as I call it, might be, of course, about the women not wanting to seem “too loose” but also, I suspect, from their sense of “Who is this other person and what is the possibility of something more coming out of this?” I believe that women, more often than men, tend to proceed from this standpoint, if only because I believe that many women are programmed genetically to be “family planners” from the get-go. Hmmm… You’re right: These are deep issues. But the fact that we’re talking about them means the movie struck some chords… And when you say “the larger technique at work in these films is to not show enough,” I trust you mean to not show too much.

And finally, was that his/your own music that was used in the film, and was that’s Jake’s voice? If so, he has a good one!

Yeah, Jake is a musician. The band in the film is his real band, Jump Back Jake, and he plays guitar for Francis and the Lights. His life has always been music; films are a new thing for him.

******

That's it. Except to say: See the film, if this post intrigues you. No less than The New Yorker's Richard Brody is on record (on his blog) as touting this little film. You can check out the Open Five screening times for the reRun Gastropub Theater by clicking here.

OPEN FIVE, new love-&-music mumblecore movie, streams free for awhile: Catch it. Q&A with filmmaker Kentucker Audley

One of the pleasures/
pains of blog reviewing is that, once word gets out about your site, you begin receiving out-of-the-blue invitations to "watch my movie, please!" And if you really love movies, it's difficult to automatically say no. Who knows if you'll be passing up the next big thing or simply an enjoyable film whose maker deserves to be encouraged to keep filming.  Sure, you can get a lemon or two not worth five minutes of your time. But, hey, you can get the same after plunking down 13 bucks to see the latest mainstream movie, too. So it was that TrustMovies came upon OPEN FIVE, the most recent (though it's the first he's seen) from Memphis-based filmmaker Kentucker Audley (a great name: like Maxine Audley, were her family from Kentucky instead of London).

The other problem about these unsolicited films, is that -- as good or bad they may be -- they often have, as yet, no distribution channel. I'm happy to say that, concerning the movie Mr Audley (shown at right) has made, it is both worth one's time and offers an immediate way to be seen. Even better, you can watch it free of charge by streaming it via the filmmaker's web site. Lasting just over an hour, Open Five is about love and music and is, I say this with as much trepidation as excitement, pretty much mumble-core. In my definition, anyway. Not only did m'core master Joe Swanberg shoot the film (more on this in the short interview with the filmmaker, further below) but the movie has, to my mind, one of the hallmarks of this johnny-come-lately genre: its characters appear to be drifting rather aimlessly toward... whatever. No one exhibits much energy toward any objective.

Emotional laissez-faire is the law of this land, particularly where relationships are concerned: Everyone seems hesitant to put any pressure on anyone else. After watching this movie and musing a bit on past mumblecore examples, the characters and particularly the actors who essay them, I had a thought: Can you imagine for a moment actresses like Bette Davis, Susan Hayward or Joan Crawford making a mumblecore movie? (Now there's a skit that might bring back Mad-TV.)  In fact, in Swanberg's most recent film, Alexander the Last, his use of the vital, high-energy performer Jess Weixler helped lift his movie from the some-times-morass that mumblecore can become. That's sounds like a slur, I know, but part of the problem with the m'core genre is that, without some variation in the pacing, events, dialog, action and energy-level, it can too easily put an audience to sleep. (There are wonderful exceptions: Aaron Katz's Quiet City is one such.)

This doesn't happen in Open Five, though at times the film comes a tad too close. Audley and his co-writer Jake Rabinbach (shown two photos above) tell the story of two guys, musicians named Jake and Kentucker (yes, this is "sort of/sort of not" autobiography) and the two young women from New York City who visit the guys in Memphis. The movie begins with a nice NYC-based necking-on-the-fire-escape scene (just above) between Jake and Lucy (the lovely Shannon Esper), after which Lucy and her friend Rose (the equally enchanting Genevieve Angelson, below) pay a visit down south. The women here are more open and immediate than the guys -- whether this is due to the filmmakers telling their own story and so keeping closer to the vest regarding the males, or to the women being the more gracious and appealing characters, I'm not sure. We also see and hear a lot more from Jake than we do Kentucker, perhaps because the director wanted to be more generous to his co-star/co-writer, who really is the main focus of the film.

In any case, the usual male-female dance of first getting closer then farther apart ensues, and along the way the ladies (and us viewers) get to see (and hear) some of Memphis -- its music, scenery, churches (below), fireworks and fairs --  in an easy-going, never-pushed manner (well, this is m'core, after all). Little is resolved by the end, unless I missed something. In Jake's speech to his band, he seems to contradict himself rather thoroughly regarding these musicians and their music -- in the same way the guys send out mixed signals to their girls (and to a lesser extent, as do the girls to their guys).  

Visually, the movie seems to me to be better filmed than some other in this genre that I've seen. It looked quite good in the streaming format I viewed, and a couple of  scenes -- the four-some's walk along the riverbank on some gorgeous green grass, as anothe couple plays with a dog, is lovely, and so is a long take of Ms.Esper sprawled across a couch (below -- but you really have to see this in the film itself to appreciate its voluptuous beauty).

As usual, after finishing a film, I had a bunch of questions at the ready. This time, having the filmmaker's email address, I was able to ask them.  Below is our conversation, with TrustMovies' questions appearing in boldface and Kentucker Audley's answers in standard type.

OK: Here we go…Your film was shot by Joe Swanberg! How’d he get involved in this?

Joe and I have been friends for a couple years. We hooked up after my first film Team Picture and he shot that film's epilogue, Ginger Sand. The collaboration went great, so I enlisted him again.

What’s the meaning of the film’s title? (A music industry term, maybe?)

Open five is something incomplete, the time when there's four slashes on a chalkboard before you diagonal slash over them to close it up. If you're in open five, you're in a state of lingering, something needs to give. When it does, you can slash (close the five) and then you can start worrying about the next set of five. You might say: "I'm kinda caught up in this open five," meaning this girl I thought was gonna come to Memphis and be with me seems to have changed her tune. We made up an elaborate open five system.

Would you call your film mumblecore? If so, why; if not, why not?

Why not? I've always been on the mumblecore fringe. There's no deciding committee for it, so history will have to work that out. But I certainly am proud to be associated with the bulk of what's considered mumblecore. For me, it's an exciting set of films, of course not exciting in the way you normally use exciting.

Very funny (and true).  M’core or not, it’s definitely DIY. What did it cost to reach the level it has.

Very little. Our entire budget was raised through an online fundraiser, around $15,000.

In terms of marketing, what does it (did it) cost you to get it onto vimeo. (Audley used this means to reach us critics and film bloggers early. Now, the film can be seen by anyone via his website) On my laptop, it looked very good, even when blown up to full screen.

Our marketing budget was $100. $60 for the Plus Vimeo account and $40 for posters and flyers for the Memphis screening. (That put us in the hole $100 bucks because we had no money left from production.) And, yeah, I think it looks absolutely fine on Vimeo. The point for me has never been the picture quality or production value. And I think there's almost an expectation that watching content online will be low-quality. In that way, by focusing on the online release we even the playing field a little because we could never compete with the industry standard of the way a film looks and sounds in a theatre. And if we have a decent image quality online, most everyone will think that's great compared to the quality of most YouTube videos.

Your characters all seem to be drifting rather aimlessly (I find this a hallmark of mumblecore, actually, which is why I would peg OPEN FIVE as an example of m’core). Is this how you see these characters?

I guess we are focusing primarly on our driftiness. But I don't think its the complete picture. For instance we also show how serious Jake is about his music. Of course the aimlessness doesn't necessary apply to our real life. Jake and I are both very determined and motivated and we're playing ourselves.

Was your script written -- or just outlined and then mostly improvised?

We wrote a full script, well, recited it into our MacBooks. Then I listened back to it, and transcibed it and showed it the actors and crew once then forgot about it. Nothing from the final film was scripted.

I pegged the movie as running 64 minutes. Is this the right length? If so, it’s sort of hits somewhere between a long short and a very short full-length. Was this intentional, or did you simply say everything you felt the movie needed to say by the end of those 64 minutes?

It's 66 total counting credits. All my films are around 60 minutes. Joe Swanberg's wife dubbed films of this length "future length" because we believe films will become shorter and shorter. Our catch phrase for this is: Movies: too long. The film contains only small scale content so I think it should be shorter than films with big movie things happening.

So far as themes are concerned, the movie seems to me to be about commitment -- or the lack of it. The girls want t it, the guys don’t. This is rather typical of the characters’ ages (and genders), I think – and also maybe because those involved in the music industry. But there also seems to be a lack of commitment to music, too – at least on the past of Jake. Care to comment on this?

These are deep issues. I don't think I could answer for Jake or the women as far as if they desire commitment. I don't think commitment even comes up for my character because I just met this women and she's only in town for the weekend. That's a ready-made situation where commitment doesn't need to enter the frame. But I know Jake is completely committed to his music. Maybe you'd have to see more to fully trust that, but there's a larger technique at work in these films -- which is to not show enough.

What you say is interesting, Kentucker, since you (and Jake) did write/speak the original script, but probably you were not going into the girls’ characters deeply at that point, and so you just sort of let the actresses take it from there. And, too, I might be reading more into this than is even there. Yet the women’s initial reluctance to give over to each of you, and the little back and-forth “dance” as I call it, might be, of course, about the women not wanting to seem “too loose” but also, I suspect, from thier sense of “Who is this other person and what is the possibility of something more coming out of this?” I believe that women, more often than men, tend to proceed from this standpoint, if only because I believe that many women are programmed genetically to be “family planners” from the get-go. Hmmm… You’re right: These are deep issues. But the fact that we’re talking about them means the movie struck some chords… And when you say “the larger technique at work in these films is to not show enough,” I trust you mean to not show too much.

And finally, was that his/your own music that was used in the film, and was that’s Jake’s voice? If so, he has a good one!

Yeah, Jake is a musician. The band in the film is his real band, Jump Back Jake, and he plays guitar for Francis and the Lights. His life has always been music; films are a new thing for him.

******

That's it. Except to say, watch this film, if you have the time.  It's free (for awhile, at least), and I've seen a number of mumblecore movies that I paid for that were not as accomplished as Open Five. No less than The New Yorker's Richard Brody is on record (on his blog) as touting this little film, so take a look.