SEE "Buttleman" by Francis Stokes via the Had to be Made Film Festival!

OK peckerheads, listen up! This is a long post but it is all worth it! I'm even forgoing using my spell checker just so I can get it all out sooner!

Time for me to do some serious plugging for a good friend of mine, Francis (Frank) Stokes.

Frank is a very gifted and funny film maker living in LA-LA Land. A short while ago he scraped up enough cash to put together a very funny dark comedy, "Buttleman" starring John Hawkes, and featuring appearances by Karen Black and Dan Castellaneta. For you TRUE indie fans you can also see the talents of fine actors like Anita Barone, Stephen Falk, Stephanie Markham, & Carlos Jacott.

I've seen this film a few times and it is a genuine treat. I'm not going to give you a bullshit review where you assume I like it because Frank's a friend of mine. I'd tell you if I didn't like the film. In fact, I'll tell you now that if I had my druthers the film would be a tad shorter and have a different ending (one that I wrote!), but after those critiques I can say with all honesty that this is a great little flick. Very funny and dark. The cast is excellent and the music accents the well-written story nicely. It is a very good film to watch. PERIOD! But I think you should decide for yourself.

Now how can YOU see this piece of indie-film history? I'm so fucking glad you asked! "Buttleman" is part of the very prestigious Had to be Made Film Festival. Rather than JUST let you check out the HTBMFF website, which sadly, is in DIRE NEED of some updates, I'll let Mr. Stokes himself tell you a little bit about the thing.

From the Buttleman Blog:

"Wednesday, November 24, 2004

The Had To Be Made Film Festival is just around the corner, so here is the latest information...

The Had To Be Made Film Festival has a partnership with small, non-chain video stores across the country who rent out the movies in monthly volumes. Volume 9 has "Buttleman" and two short films, and will be on the shelves in late December. I have included a list of the participating stores below, so you can see if there is one in your state.

If NOT, you have just about a week to get your local store to participate. After that, they won't include the store until the next festival, and they won't get "Buttleman"! So, here's what to do: Tell the store's owner or manager about the festival, and if they're interested get their name, address and phone number. Then contact Sonia Giddens at Had to Be Made and let her know about them. The best way is to call her: 323-653-3937, but you can also email her at sgiddens@hadtobemade.com. Let her know all the info and tell the video store to expect her call - then check back with them in a couple days. Be sure to tell her you want them to have the CURRENT series, with "Buttleman". Remember, time is of the essence!"

Now do check out the festival site and figure out how to vote for favorite films and all that. I'll also repost the latest list of store locations where you can rent the flick. Don't try to find it on their site. Did I mention that they are in dire need of some site updates???

Had to Be Made Film Festival Locations

Latest Additions
Specialty Video Chicago, IL
Quick-Flix Cambridge, MA
Video Village Rockwall, TX
Video Station Alameda, CA

ARIZONA
Casa Video
2905 E. Speedway
Tucson, AZ 85716
520.326.6314

Movies on Central
4700 North Central Avenue #121
Phoenix, AZ 85012
602.274.0994

CALIFORNIA
49'er Video
6633 Ventana Dr Rancho Murieta, CA 95683
530-759-8260

Penny Lane
620 S Raymond Avenue #4 Pasadena, CA 91105

Video Journeys
2730 Griffith Park Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90027
323.663.5857

Vidiots
302 Pico Boulevard Santa Monica, CA 90405
310.392.8508

Movie Merchants
201 W. Napa Street Sonoma, CA 95476
707.996.7355

Box Office Video
6960 McKinley Street Sebastopol, CA 95472
707-823-9798

American Video Center
14442 Union Avenue San Jose, CA 95124
408.558.9545

Video Depot
41865 Boardwalk #109 Palm Desert, CA 92211
760-346-2946

Carmel Valley Video
308 Mid Valley Ctr Carmel, CA 93923
831-624-2270

Video Station
1929 Broadway Alameda, CA 94501

CONNECTICUT
Media Wave
1596 Post Road Fairfield, CT 06824
203.255.8643

Video Cinema Ridgefield, CTWASHINGTON DC

Potomac Video
5536A Connecticut Ave NW Washington, DC 20015
202-362-5018

FLORIDA
New Concept Video
1671 Meridian Avenue Miami Beach, FL 33139
305.674.1111

GEORGIA
Cinema Shack
707-A E. Lake Drive Decatur, GA 30030
404.377.5575

HAWAII
Pauwela Video
375 W. Kuiaha Road Suite 35 Haiku, HI 96708
808.281.2452

IDAHO
Video West
560 Washington Ave. N. Ketchum, ID 83340
208-726-3217

MASSECHUSETS
Video Revolution
97 Thoreau Street Concord, MA 01742
508.624.7234

PM Productions
485 High Street Dedham, MA 02026
781.326.6399

Quick-Flix
8 Bow St. Cambridge, MA 02138
(617)864-FLIXMARYLAND

Potomac Video
7300 Baltimore Ave #A College Park, MD 20740
301-699-3377

MICHIGAN
Video To Go
300 N Clippert St #18 Lansing, MI 48912
(517) 351-2255

Movie Store, Ltd.
15300 Kercheval Grosse Pointe Park, MI 48230
(313) 822-1355

NORTH CAROLINA
Visart Video
300 E. Main Street Carrboro, NC 27510
919.932.1945

Visart Video
3405 Hillsborough Road Durham, NC 27705

Visart Video 1945 E. 7th Street Charlotte, NC 28204

NEW JERSEY
Sussex Video Total Entertainment
205 Rt. 23 Sussex, NJ 07461
973.875.1944

NEW YORK
Kim's Video
6 St. Mark Place (between 2nd & 3rd) New York, NY 10003
212.505.0311

Big Picture DVD Superstore
9220 Liverpool Road Liverpool, NY 13088

TLA Video
52 W. 8th Street New York, NY 10011
212.228.8282

OHIO
Granville Video
478 S. Main Street Granville, OH 43023
740.587.4635

Campus Video
16 S. Main Street Oberlin, OH 48912
(440) 775-7422

B-Ware Video
13367 Madison Avenue Lakewood, OH 44107
(216)521-2210

OREGON
Trilogy Video
2484 NW Thurman Street Portland, OR 97210
503.229.1884

DJ's Video
1670 Ashland Street Ashland, OR 97520
541.488.1901

LaBeck's Video Chest
2310 N. Lombard Street Portland, OR 97217
503.289.8408

Movie Madness
4320 S.E. Belmont Street Portland, OR 97215
503.234.4363

PENNSYLVANIA
Rick's Video
1300 Broad Street Greensburg, PA 15601
724.838.9040

TLA Video
736 Lancaster Avenue Bryn Mawr, PA 19106
610.520.1222

West Coast Video
4614 Liberty Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15224
412.682.3900

TLA Video
517 S. 4th Street Philadelphia, PA 19147
215.922.3838

TLA Video 1520
Locust Street Philadelphia, PA 19102
215.735.7887

TLA Video
7630 Germantown Avenue Philadelphia, PA 19118
215.248.4448

TLA Video
1808 Spring Garden Street Philadelphia, PA 19130
215.751.1171

TEXAS
Cactus Music and Video
2930 South Sheperd Drive Houston, TX 77098
713.526.9272

I Luv Video
4803 Airport Boulevard Austin, TX 78751
512.450.1966

Take-1 Video
2811 Thornton Lane Temple, TX 76502
254.742.1340

Take-1 Video
2144 North Main Street Belton, TX 76513

Video Depot
403 S. Bosque Street 9 Whitney, TX 76692
254.694.4234

Waterloo Records and Video Video Annex
1016 W. 6th Street Austin, TX 78703
512.474.2500

Video Village
1107 Ridge Rd. Rockwall, TX 75087
(972)771-2222

VERMONT
Beyond Video
1141 Willoughby Square Charlottesville, VA 22902
434.296.4211

Potomac Video
7505 Leesburg Pike Falls Church, VA 22043
703-893-0745

WASHINGTON
Island Movies
382 Madison Avenue N Bainbridge Island, WA 98110
206.780.5663

Scarecrow Video
5030 Roosevelt Way Seattle, WA 98015
206.524.8554

Video Tonite
218 W 1st St Aberdeen, WA 98520
360-533-5368

Silverscreen Videos
1050A Hildebrand Lane Bainbridge Island, WA 98110
206.842.0261

WISCONSIN
Four Star Video Heaven
315 N. Henry Street Madison, WI 53703
608.255.1994

Get out and support independent film. Help start a brilliant career. Make Frank famous so I'll have a big-time connection one day soon! Also check back because I'll be posting reminders, updates, and even an interview with the "real" Harold Buttleman! Bye for now!