march madness: 80s Villain Tournament!


March Madness! It's our favorite time of the year here in the great State of Kentucky. What better way to celebrate than by holding a little tournament of our own? Prepare yourselves for the 80s Villain Tournament!

We want this to be the people's tournament, so we need all your suggestions on who should make the field. TV and Film are both fair game. Leave no stone unturned! We want the Best of the Best or the Worst of the Worst. However you want to look at it. Leave your favorites in the comments at the bottom of this post, on our facebook page, or tweet them to us. We don't care how you do it, just get it done.

We'll announce the field and seedings on Selection Sunday and you can grab your bracket for the office pool. The only guarantee I can give you is this: Johnny Lawrence is getting a 1 seed.

indie wednesday: friends and pies



This clip comes from the IFC channel, so that counts as indie, right?
No? Well, it made me laugh, so you're getting it anyway. Michael Cera improvises a song with Reggie Watts from a show I didn't know existed: Comedy Bang! Bang! on IFC. Apart from getting this song stuck in my brain for the foreseeable future, it also made me believe Michael Cera could easily step in as the lead singer for Train at any time.

Indie Wednesday is intended to be a haven for DIY, undiscovered, and micro-budget indie shorts. Creative people getting the absolute most out of minimal resources. The problem is, I'm having more and more trouble finding those things in conjunction with entertainment value. So, we turn to you fine people. If you want to point us in the direction of a short film or web series that should be featured here, email it to indiewednesday@walksoftlyfilms.com.

Have fun singing about pies for the rest of the week.
I hope we've all learned a lesson here today.

surreel film's news and notes 3.11.13



It's a tough time for News and Notes these days. Apart from Space Cops 4 (which has already been talked to death), the primary thing I'm working on is a double-hush secret. Not good for entertaining blogging.

However, there is hope for entertainment this Monday morning. Behold! The Surreel Film podcast! And I'm going to take one for the team by directing your attention to the newest episode. Don't get me wrong; Chris Ritter and gang do a great job with the show and you're going to enjoy it. But, I'm afraid their "exclusive interview" with yours truly will surely be an embarrassing, incoherent mess as usual.

To prove my point, let's make a game out of it. The interview starts at about the 12:30 mark and I am 99% certain that at some point in my ramblings, I actually said the word "glorious."

  • Challenge 1:  Find the moment I say it.
  • Challenge 2:  Try not to cringe when you hear it. (Impossible.)



Enjoy, everyone. My pain is all for you. And keep a look out for anything else we might hit you with this week, including Indie Wednesday.

indie wednesday: consignment



It seems that Vimeo is on the fritz this morning (at least for me). So this is a good time to share a trailer I've had in my back pocket. Consignment was one of the shorts featured at the Short Film Night at Natasha's and was created by the 'founder of the feast,' Justin Hannah and Manic Baby Films. Consignment is quite the mindbender and, as you can see, looks gorgeous. I hope you get to see the full length version and we'll be sure to let you know of any opportunities that arise.

inadvertent racism's news and notes 3.4.13

There are no two ways about it; you're getting gypped this morning. (By the way, gypped is the very odd spelling of what I thought would be 'jipped'. But, literally as I type this, I'm realizing that the word probably comes from gypsy, so it's actually quite a racist term. So, I apologize for offending the gypsy segment of our audience right off the bat this morning.) I'm going to add some kind of picture now.

Unfortunately, this picture is probably even more racist.

Back to the topic at hand; I'm on the go this morning, doing something you may or may not hear about at a later date. Mysterious! But, I promise to make it up to you in the days ahead this week. Meanwhile, you can check out a couple of fun things you missed out on this weekend like a Marty McFly spotting and doodle time from Saturday. Just scroll down the page on the blog proper.

I do have one bit of news this morning. Apparently my voice will be making an appearance on the Surreel Film podcast this Tuesday. Surreel Film is a Louisville based show that covers all the latest movie news, discussion and reviews. You can catch it Mondays at 8:30pm or past episodes at any time via podcast. Just follow @CT_Smash on Twitter for all the updates and podcast links and whatnot. From what I've heard, I'll be doing a 15-20 interview on all the latest Walk Softly goings on.

hello, mcfly!


Check out what somebody spotted in the Epcot parking lot last night. In the regular visitor's parking lot... Just sitting there...

I highly approve.

I can't even tell you how happy it makes me to know Marty is still out there... doing his thing. I can only assume 2013 is a better year for Epcot than 1985.

Good to see you, Marty. Keep it up.

wonder woman: what's that about?

Actress / performer Nina Bergman & director Jesse V. Johnson wanted to shoot a fan trailer for their favorite super hero. Facebook fanpage - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Wonder-Woman-Fan-Trailer/148064368690752 Director: Jesse V. Johnson: https://www.facebook.com/jesse.johnson.942 http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-package-capsule-20130215,0,7843640.story WW: Nina Bergman: http://www.n-i-n-a.com/ Representation: Deborah Del Prete - deborah@coronetent.com Peter Stormare https://www.facebook.com/pages/Peter-Stormare/11096889471 Timothy V. Murphy https://www.facebook.com/Tadhgomurchu?fref=ts Matthias Hues https://www.facebook.com/mathias.hues.3?fref=ts Crew: Cinematography - Van Urfalian http://www.urfalian.com/URFALIAN.COM/HOME_PAGE.html Producer - Hugh Daly https://www.facebook.com/Hugh.Daly?fref=ts Stunt Coordinator + fight choreographer - Luke Lafontaine https://www.facebook.com/luke.lafontaine.7?fref=ts Composer Sean Murray http://www.seanmurraymusic.com/ Effects supervisor David Kenneth http://www.ieeffects.com/ Editorial Harry Frishberg http://www.harryproductions.com/ Sound design Dan Newman http://www.newmagicentertainment.com/ DISCLAIMER: Wonder Woman is a non-profit film for private use only, and is not for sale or resale. It is strictly for the promotional use of the filmmaker. It is in NO way endorsed by Warner Brothers or DC Comics nor is it intended to undermine or compete with any existing or forthcoming material. Wonder Woman is created for fun and should not be sold, rented or used for anything of the sort. Jesse V. Johnson make no claim to any of the characters, locations, storyline, props, costume designs, logos, names or situations that are trademarked, copyrighted or otherwise protected by the federal, state, international or other intellectual property law. This film is produced solely for the personal enjoyment of the cast, crew and any other Wonder Woman fans. No copyright infringement is intended or implied.

Hey, it's Wonder Woman! Again. This time in the form of a "fan film." I'll be honest, I'm kind of amazed at how good this thing is, but obviously Jesse V. Johnson isn't your average fan. The guy has a ton of high quality experience and it shows. Also, it certainly doesn't hurt to have very recognizable faces like Peter Stormare involved.

Why Wonder Woman?

Here's the thing:  The trailer raises a perplexing question in my mind...  What's the deal with Wonder Woman? What's the fascination? Why is there an undying compulsion by so many creators to put her on the silver screen or bring her back to television?

Let's think about this for a minute... Her traditional costume is almost impossible to deal with. No matter how you try to modernize it or dumb it down, it's a nightmare and fans lose their minds either way. Her powers include the speed and strength of an amazon (and apparently that's a lot), bracelets that deflect bullets, and the coup de grace: a rope that forces people to obey and tell the truth. I'm not even going to mention two words that start with invisible and end with jet. How are you supposed to take a live-action version of this woman seriously? Some people obviously have a love for the character.

But, no matter what your obsession is with the woman *cough*bondage fetish*cough*, why would anyone disillusion themselves into thinking they can make Wonder Woman translate well off the page? Why would you think, "I'm the one that can pull this off." I mean, I'd rather take another crack at Howard the Duck before I got on board the flaming zeppelin that is Wonder Woman development.

Just look at all the failed projects in recent history. A 1967 rejected pilot script, a 1974 TV movie that starred Cathy Lee Crosby and wasn't picked up to be a series, the Lynda Carter series that ran three seasons and barely got renewed after the first... and that series is your zenith! The height of Wonder Woman on screen is three seasons of mediocre ratings and a catchy theme song. There is no doubt that the image of Lynda in her star-spangled outfit had iconic lasting power, but there weren't enough people actually watching the show. Since then, Joss Whedon and David E. Kelley have both taken a shot at the character for movies and TV respectively and neither one could get her off the ground. The new TV pilot was dead the instant pictures of Adrianne Palicki's shiny costume hit the internet. And can't we agree, if Whedon couldn't get this female hero to work, no one can?

So you're saying there's a chance...

Hokey. Campy. Call it what you will; in my opinion comedy is your only chance. I honestly don't believe it's possible to make a truly good, sincere Wonder Woman movie. There are simply too many factors working against you if you attempt to stay close to the source material whatsoever. No, if there is any hope for a small bit of success (likely on television) it would have to come through a very tongue-in-cheek comedy. Wink wink, nudge nudge, etc, etc. Make it fresh, make it smart, and maybe...  MAYBE....  eh, probably not.

Please everybody, let's allow Diana the Amazon Princess to rest peacefully in cartoons and the pages of her comics. Wonder Woman having a chuckle with Superman when Gleek the Space Monkey tries to eat his tale:  yes. A real live Wonder Woman running on top of Los Angeles traffic in her very shiny outfit:  no.

indie wednesday: pixels



Remember when I said some egg-heads at the University of Bath may have killed the pixel? Apparently the pixels aren't taking it well.

Check out this incredible short by Patrick Jean; certainly worth some smiles on a Wednesday. Things have worked out pretty well for Patrick since he produced Pixels. Adam Sandler's production company forked over a pretty penny to develop it into a feature film.

What's the lesson, boys and girls? Just keep producing and just keep putting it out there. All it takes is the right pair of eyes to find it.

oscar news and notes 2.25.13


Another Oscar night has come and gone. And, to no one's surprise, Kentucky decided to show up and dominate. Hollywood's darling and Louisville native, Jennifer Lawrence, walked away with Best Actress while George Clooney got a statuette for Best Picture, as a producer on Argo. Not bad. Not bad at all. I fully expect this to be the beginning of the Bluegrass Dynasty in Hollywood. Everybody else, you can take your things and go home.

Seriously though, if I've got Clooney, Depp, and Lawrence... who you got? Can any other State match that trio of natives right now? Let us know in the comments section.

Tweet It Up


We decided to live-tweet the proceedings with little to no advanced warning. Like most of you, we got to turn up our nose at Seth McFarlane's never-ending monologue and to be thoroughly frightened by Kristin Chenoweth's red-carpet interviews. Here's a taste if you missed it. (And you can see the rest on our Twitter feed.)




Speaking of Twitter, we want to send out a big thank you to all the Twitter peoples that have pushed us over 2,000 followers. We're really hoping the momentum pays off and we can get Space Cops 4 in front of as many eyes as possible.

Dino Rivera


This guy looks friendlier than the one we ran into.
Michael Startzman is a good friend and participant in WSF shenanigans. Saturday, he wrote up a nice blog piece that included a shoutout for Cannonball. And it featured this digital painting of none other than Bigsquatch. He hits on two key points in his post: 1) Bigfoot Country is an absolutely painful movie to watch.  2) If you've seen it, you can still cleanse your mental palate by watching Cannonball free on Vimeo! Michael is a very talented artist who is currently featured in Red Bull's Collective Art project that exhibits his work all over the world. Be sure to make MichaelStartzman.com a regular stop in your internet travels.

It's late and I'm hitting the sheets, but we do have good stuff planned for you this week. So check back in and everybody have a great Monday.