Get in the DOGHOUSE on Sept. 6
We’re sure you’re familiar with the rite of passage faced by nearly every young rock musician whose band(s) will open on the early ends of innumerable gigs before earning the right to play the headliner spot, should they last that long. It could be said filmmakers face similar routes through the fest circuit if only because most up-and-comers are prone to making short films which are pretty much predestined to be placed in front of marquee feature film attractions. Such will be the case tomorrow, Sunday, September 6, starting at 4:45 p.m., although the situation is a little bit different than the norm.
Unless, you count having your production open for efforts by Guy Ritchie and Steven Soderbergh an everyday occurrence.
Young no-fi filmmakers Sasan Shabrou of Tuscola and Colin Price of Champaign will world premiere their hard-boiled two-fer DOGHOUSE (yes, in reference to a certain other double-feature genre mash created by Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez) tomorrow night at The Canopy Club, 708 S. Goodwin Ave., Urbana, IL. It plays ahead of the venue’s weekly triple-header movie marathon which this week includes Ritchie’s SNATCH and LOCK, STOCK, AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS along with Soderbergh’s OCEAN’S ELEVEN remake. To get an idea of what you’ll be in for, hit the trailer below:
The first story “Barrel of My Gun,” directed and written by Southern Illinois University-Carbondale student Shabrou (whose earlier high school/college era efforts are detailed at his Gladius Arts Web site and his Lulu.com shop), is a black-and-white contemporary noir about a man who will stop at nothing to confront the thugs who kidnapped his lady friend. In the second, “Spectraphobe,” directed and written by Price, a wasteoid named Bobby ignores his multiple bad habits long enough for the drug-taking dimension to go too far. Both shorts star Price and Shabrou, joined by Nicole Bowman in “Barrel.”
Part of our mantra in covering low-budget cinema is that every filmmaker must start somewhere, so even if the DOGHOUSE trailer looks a bit raw compared to what you normally view, why not take a chance on this matinee? As with the big-budget troika, there is no cover for DOGHOUSE, so you can patronize the Canopy with purchases of beer and pizza (a concession over concessions which C-U Blogfidential has no qualms about whatsoever) while tipping Shabrou and Price with an hour of your attention, a pat on the back, and some words of encouragement and constructive advice.
Shabrou informs CUBlog that DOGHOUSE itself will be prefaced by trailers for other independent movies and that his current project is his thesis film for SIU-C about terrorism. We also found his concert videos of local band Shark Bandit on the shelves of Exile on Main Street during a recent visit. So, go on, America! Do your duty to support underground art this Labor Day weekend. We will be all the richer for your efforts.
~ Jason Pankoke
