September Club director Chris James Thompson and Head Editor Michael T. Vollmann‘s newest short documentary, “The 414s: The Original Teenage Hackers”, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival this week. The film, directed by Vollmann and produced by Thompson, examines the first widely recognized computer hackers, a group of Milwaukee teenagers who broke into dozens of prominent computer… more »
Victor Marquez has a dream. No, it’s not to retire one day and lounge around on some far-off beach with a tiny umbrella residing in a tall, bright drink; nor is it to hike the outback of Australia with only a backpack slung over the shoulder; neither is it to just slump forevermore in front… more »
Manny Marquez’s first documentary feature had it’s world premiere this week at the Milwaukee International Film Festival. “Somewhat reminiscent, in a good way, of the excellent documentary The American Scream, Psychopath is a real gem. Directed by Manny Marquez and executive produced by Jack Turner (We Are What We Are, Cold in July), it chronicles Manny’s uncle Victor’s attempt… more »
(Documentary Short, 2014) MONDO LUCHA! is a colorful rogue’s gallery of High Flyin’ Lucha Libre wrestlers, national touring burlesque acts, an array of sideshow performers and Milwaukee musical guests that have included Maritime, The Uptown Savages, Kid Millions, Clownvis Presley and The Scarring Party. The brainchild of Andy Gorzalski and his partner in crime, Jay Gilkay…. more »
We are excited to see that ESPN’s 30 For 30 Shorts won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Short-Format Non-Fiction Program. We contributed to the series with Chris James Thompson and Michael Vollmann‘s “MECCA: The Floor” 30 for 30 Shorts was nominated alongside other popular programs “Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee,” “COSMOS: A National Geographic Deeper Dive,” “I… more »
I watched “Cops” for about twenty years before I stopped watching TV altogether. Sure the box gets fired up for the Packers, you can bet on that, but other than that hallowed ritual, it remains as a black monolith in my living room ala “2001: A Space Odyssey” (not counting VHS and DVD viewings). Ask… more »
From the Onion’s AV Club, news that our good friend Mark Borchardt recently brought his gore skills to a new video by Milwaukee band Tapebenders (who were known until recently as Elusive Parallelograms, and whose new album, Chasing Ghosts, is out August 26). In this awfully simple setup, the band members go crazy and murder each other. Also, check out… more »
Happy birthday to the amazing Manny Marquez. From all of us at September Club. Courtesy of Michael Vollmann.
In the newest ESPN 30 for 30 short “MECCA: The Floor That Made Milwaukee Famous” filmmaker Chris James Thompson has captured a unique, however unlikely, piece of Milwaukee sports and art history lore. The Mecca Arena, as it was once called, (now the U.S. Cellular Arena) was home to the Milwaukee Bucks (1970 – 88) and the Marquette Warriors (now… more »
September Club-produced short documentary MECCA: The Floor That Made Milwaukee Famous, directed by Chris James Thompson, premiered today on ESPN. The film was edited by Michael Vollmann and co-produced by Jack Turner and our friends at Matador Content. The documentary chronicles the controversial beginnings and hallowed history of the floor that artist Robert Indiana designed… more »
We spent the weekend in Appleton, WI with four of our friends — Phil Davis, Butch Vig, Frank Anderson and Peter Anderson — who were playing together for the first time as “The Emperors of Wyoming.” The occasion was The Mile of Music festival. The four of them live in four different cities, two in California and two… more »
From Manny Marquez: “This film documents the days leading up to the birth of my second son, Levon. My wife was almost two weeks overdue with the baby. Although anxious in awaiting the birth, I was inspired to watch my wife and oldest son, Gus, just loving each other and enjoying life that week. I… more »
We are sad to hear that our friend Michael Ruppert had died. He was 63. Michael was the subject of the documentary, COLLAPSE, which we edited in 2009. This is Michael’s last broadcast of the Lifeboat Hour on PRN 13 April 2014.
David Dastmalchian won a well deserved Special Jury Prize for his performance in “Animals” . David wrote and stars in the film Animals. According to Variety: The jury awarded him for his physically demanding portrayal of a homeless addict. “I hope that anyone who sees this movie remembers, you never give up on people,” Dastmalchian said.
We are very flattered and excited to see that the “The Dissolve” is profiling “American Movie” as their featured movie of the week. If you aren’t familiar with “The Dissolve”, it’s the best film writing out there right now — made up primarily of former film critics from the Onion’s AVClub and owned by Pitchfork.
From Soresport Movies… “When a trespasser on the land needs to be dealt with so we see how the Aswang can create a mucus sack around the victim and save the person for consumption later. This of course is never really explained in the legend. Do these creature eat live people as well as infants?… more »
(Short Documentary, 2013) A spirit of Malickian wonder permeates this poignant and lyrical tribute to the stories that parents pass onto their children. This is a very personal, poetic documentary. Directed and edited by Michael Vollmann. Before You from Michael T. Vollmann on Vimeo.
Michael T. Vollman’s Before You won the Cream City Cinema Filmmaker-in-Residence prize. Before You is a beautifully shot, lyrically composed lullaby of sorts which illustrates how the arrival of the filmmaker’s infant daughter was a total game changer. Michael says: “When I begin any edit, I have two main goals – to make you cry or to make… more »
Another blog (Row 3) stumbles upon ASWANG: Shot like it’s an old 1970s relic, it has a similar feel to many of those slow paced, yet engaging horrors from that time period – until it picks up its pace substantially. A great find.
Sad to hear that Kumar passed away. We’ll never forget the fun time we had with him last year when he was in town working on Frankie Latina‘s new movie, SNAP SHOT. From The New York Times: Kumar Pallana, an Indian plate spinner turned Texas yoga instructor turned — in his late 70s and long beyond —… more »
Manny Marquez is down in Oklahoma shooting what we hope will be the final round of pickups and interviews for his documentary epic, PSYCHOPATH. The rest of the film is based upon footage shot back in 2005 and 2010. Lots has happened during these nearly ten years, and the edit is coming together nicely. Time to wrap this… more »