It's really happening.

As far as I'm concerned, a movie's not really done until it is available for pre-order on DVD at Amazon.com.

Well, my friends, Interplanetary is done.


That Amazon link is pretty bare at this point. There is significantly more info about Interplanetary at our distributor's website.

A few notes...

• Looks like our flick is being released by Shock-O-Rama Cinema, not Camp Motion Pictures as I've written previously.
• The commentary track also features producers Stacey Shirley and John White.
• Aspect ratio is actually 1.85:1 (which is so close to 1.78:1, I don't know if anyone will notice the difference).
• Region 0! Playable worldwide, baby!

Be the first kid on your block to own an official Interplanetary DVD... pre-order yours today!

Also...

If you'd rather not deal with Amazon.com or the distributor, Interplanetary is available for pre-order at Buy.com, CD Universe, and DVD Empire.

Fangoria has done a little online coverage of Interplanetary here and here.

And, lastly but not least-ly, here's a positive review from DVD Verdict!

Weekly coverage.

My old pal Kenn McCracken interviewed me for the Birmingham Weekly newspaper.

You can read the online version of the interview here.

Examined some more.

Angela followed up her recent Examiner Interplanetary interview with a review of our little opus.

Dig it.

A very kind review at that. Thanks to Angela for all the press this week!

Examined.

Angela over at Examiner.com just published a nice pre-Sidewalk interview with me.


Check it out.

I'll also be doing an interview on Fox 6 tomorrow sometime around noon...

Director's cut.

Chuck stopped by one night last week to record some commentary tracks for four of our short movies. Those shorts and commentaries will be on the upcoming Hide and Creep DVD. After taking care of business, we were watching some of the original 1977 version of Star Wars and talking about how the "special edition" version didn't even seem like the same movie.

I mention this because, while revisiting Hide and Creep, I was tempted to "fix" a few things. But I resisted. If there's one person out there who really likes the original version of Hide (and I like to think there is), I'd hate to take out or alter some particular bit that said person is fond of.

Well, okay, I did change one title card. But that was to correct an error, and I assume no one gets too attached to the content of title cards.

Speaking of Hide and Creep, I finished up the DVD authoring around 3 a.m. this morning. After I get some discs back from the replicator and confirm that everything works, I'll post a complete list of specs. Thanks again to Kevin Powell and Los Angeles Design Studios and Advertising for taking care of menu design and cover art, respectively. And thanks to Ces and John White for their contributions to the new disc.

In other news...

Steve "Alien Redrum" Pattee posted his review of Interplanetary at HorrorTalk.com.


Steve gives the movie a 4.5 on the 5 scale and says the movie was "well worth the wait." Given the wait, I'd say that's high praise, indeed.

I tell ya, if we can find a distributor who likes Interplanetary as much as the critics, we're going to be in good shape.

And my good pal Andrew Bellware's latest flick, Alien Uprising, has been picked up by Blockbuster Video. Congrats, Andrew! I rented a copy tonight at the Blockbuster over on Green Springs.

...it's full of stars.

And the day just keeps getting better.

Check it out: our first 5-star review.


David Cornelius, writing for EFilmCritic.com, says Interplanetary is "...what all B-movies should want to be: audacious, intelligent, and start-to-finish entertaining, a slice of genius standing in bold defiance of the budget."

I heart critics.

The first couple of reviews of the current (and mostly finished) cut of Interplanetary have popped up on the internets.

Our old pal T.L. Bugg at The Lightning Bug's Lair says Interplanetary is one of the best films he's seen in a while.

Over at Screenhead.com, Steve Anderson calls the flick "groundbreaking" and "chance-taking."



Check out the links for the details. Many thanks to Mr. Bugg and Mr. Anderson for watching and writing!

This and that.

Chuck, Sanford, Tim, Michael, and I met down at Trap's on Sunday, and I think we finally finished up Interplanetary pick-up shots. I'll know for sure when we get the footage back from the lab, hopefully sometime next week. Here's Chuck about to get his lid on...



Melissa stopped by on Tuesday to do some ADR. She knocked it out of the park, as usual. It was great catching up with Melissa (and seeing photos of her new baby!).

Stopped by Eric McGinty's last night and heard the first bits of the music he is working on for Interplanetary. It's sounding awesome. And strange and cool and creepy... well, words can't do it justice. But hearing the direction McGinty is taking with the score has me even more excited about the movie.

And Erik Jambor informed me today that we already got a little Memphis press for the October Interplanetary screening...

"On Its Way: The Indie Memphis Film Festival"

Thanks to Jambor for the heads-up and The Bloodshot Eye for the mention.

Otherwise, it's just been day job and mixing/editing. As I expect it to be until mid-October (with some breaks for Rock Band 2 and the Sidewalk film fest).

Interview.

Whitney (one of my Rock Band sisters-in-arms) ("Run To the Hills!") just posted a nice interview with me about Interplanetary and stuff at The Terminal.

Please do check it out.

Interview with Jonathan.

Word on the street is the upcoming issue of Fangoria features a one-on-one interview with Jonathan Thornton, special effects maestro of several movies, including Interplanetary. Check it out when it hits newsstands on July 8.

Glossy press.

From Fangoria magazine #271 (March 2008), page 23 ("The Terror Teletype")...


Sorry about the low-res scan. It says, "The red planet gets redder in Chance (Hide and Creep) Shirley's Mars-set gorefest Interplanetary."

Red planet gets redder! Mars-set gorefest! That's some pre-release press I can get behind.

Fango shout-out.

Effects maestro Jonathan Thornton told me Interplanetary got a tiny mention in the March issue of Fangoria magazine. And the movie ain't even done yet!

As soon as I find the issue in question, I'll post details.

Hide and Creep internet radio review.

Casey and Colleen Criswell, hosts of the internet radio show "Irreconcilable Differences," discussed Hide and Creep on the air last night, and they had some very nice things to say about our little zombie flick.

If you'd like to hear the show, check it out at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/cinemafromage.

The long play.

For anybody who can't get enough of Lisa Mason and me talking about movies and stuff, here's the uncut version of our recent interview (in three parts):

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Lisa's liner notes...

Included in the interview: The extended Tarkin discussion! Chance slams his day job! Lisa derails the entire interview with a plea for fudge from Desoto Caverns! Plus a lot of really fabulous stories of filmmaking that for corporate radio reasons, didn't make it to the final cut!

If you listen, please pardon my first few seconds on mic. It took me a little while to get going that morning.

And thanks again to Lisa, not only for the interview, but also for taking the time to put together two versions of it!

Alternate interview file.

Here's a direct download version of the recently-posted interview with Lisa Mason...

http://209.12.142.75/interview_w_lisa.mp3

Hopefully, it will work for anybody who had problems with the streaming version.

EDIT: Link changed to reflect new server address (2008-Oct-01).

EDIT: Link changed due to MP3 file being moved to a different server (2007-Dec-31).

Talking Interplanetary.

The lovely and talented Lisa Mason, who plays "Lori" in Interplanetary, is also a morning DJ for 106.9 FM ("The Eagle") here in Birmingham. She recently invited me over to the radio station for an interview about Interplanetary, Hide and Creep, and all other things Crewless.

You can hear the interview at the Eagle web site, via the link at the bottom of Lisa's page.

You can also try this direct link.

As I'm known to ramble, especially when talking about movies, the interview went on for 30 or 40 minutes. But don't worry -- Lisa was kind enough to edit the interview down to a much more reasonable running time.

Thanks to Lisa for all the work she did setting up, conducting, and editing the interview. Hopefully, we'll do another one when Interplanetary is actually finished and ready to premiere.

I was mistaken.

Looks like the good folks over at Arrow In the Head beat the DreadCentral.com guys to the Interplanetary scoop by a few days...

http://www.joblo.com/arrow/index.php?id=8566

And The Spinning Image gave us a li'l English-language press back in February.

It is an embarrassment of riches, I tell ya.

Press coverage! In English!

The awesome Johnny Butane over at DreadCentral.com has posted the first (to my knowledge, at least) English-language Interplanetary story:

"Crewless Go Interplanetary"

Johnny liked Hide and Creep and has faith we can pull off the larger-in-scale Interplanetary. I hope we don't let him down.

Enough of my yammering -- head over to Johnny's site and check out the story.

Birmingham Magazine article now online.

A few weeks ago, I mentioned the filmmaking article in the recent issue of Birmingham Magazine. It's now available online for your reading pleasure.

Norton and me.

Someone pointed out in the comments that the photos of Norton Dill and me from Birmingham Magazine (see previous post for details) are viewable online at Beau's Web site.

(Thanks to Marty for the heads-up.)