There will also be a car show, live bands, swing dancers, old trains with dining cars: a real back to fifties event!

Check out: http://www.deuceofspadesmovie.com/world_premiere.htm

Here is the scoop:

My initial script did not have any swears in it, as my erroneous idea of the fifties was that no one ever said a foul word – as seen in old TV series and old films.

My historical consultants pointed out to me that Foul language was “censored” back then so the writers were not able to use it freely. However, they pointed out to me that the hotrodders did swear in real life and quite often so, although never in the presence of the ladies.

In one of the scenes, we see a pissed off Johnny use some swears while in the presence of Bettie. He then immediately apologizes.

In other scenes, ones that only involved the boys, the swearing is inhibited.

My dialogue consultants included 5 males old timers, and one female, all of which lived the 50′s hotrod era extensively. They looked at the scenes, and situations, and suggested the language, and I specifically asked them to make it sound TRUE TO LIFE – exactly what hotrodders would have said back then in a similiar situation.

Such dialogue consultants include Tom Sparks – a most respected hotrodder from the fifties, featured in many books, Jim Miller, curator for the American hotrod Foundation, to name but a few.

Ann claimed that swears were delibarately added to bump ratings to a PG13 and she added this was to boost sales, which shows she knows nothing about movie business. Having a PG13 rating will actually hurt your sales, as less people are able to see the film. Studios strives to keep their ratings as “all Audiences” or even “Parental Guidance Suggested” at all costs, and will avoid any situation that will cost them ratings (frontal nudity, extreme violence, drug abuse scenes, etc..)

In my case, being true to the era and hotrodders of that era was far more important to me than ratings and sales and profits.

Dialogues are not only true to the era and to the situations, but consistent with the characters. Some swears and others don’t. Some swear a lot (Tommy has a foul mouth – because he is a in-your-face lower class kind of character) but Johnny actually swears rarely.

I hope this sheds some light as to the motivations behind the choice of Slang, swears and dialogues in the film.

FAITH GRANGER
Filmmaker

1- The film was test screened in Daytona Beach last October for about 700 people. It got a great round of applause at the end. We collected a large number of feedbacks forms that night and the statistics were overwhelmingly positive. 95% of viewers stated they wanted to buy the DVD while 85% stated they wanted to see the film again on the big screen. The average rating of the fim was 8.5 stars out of 10. You can see a quick clip of some viewers reactions here:

http://www.vimeo.com/7499297

2- The film was then viewed by professionals in Hollywood, including some Academy members. It has just been offered a $200,000.00 mixing job free of charge by top Hollywood pro sound mixer Patrick Cycconne, who’s clients include Tarentino. This alone speaks highly of the quality of the film.

3- James Nelson, who is the man who mixed the film American Graffiti viewed it last month and he said (I quote): “If the filmmaker does not get an Academy Award nomination for this accomplishment, there is no justice”.

As you can see, and despite the opinion of ‘one’ lady who posted a premature critique here (any real movie buff would know better but to post a critique of an unfinished work seen at a test screening) the movie is very strong with massive appeal and promises to do really well. That said, I do not expect that everyone will “get it” and comparing it to American Graffiti is comparing apple and oranges, although both fruits, they really have nothing else in common. And I mean NOTHING. So why even bother?

4- The release date has now been pushed back to June 2010 so to accomodate the sound fixing facility’s schedule and take the film to the pro level.

5- The film length has been edited down to 120 minutes, while the lose cut version test screened was 158 minutes. Despite the length, the audience feedback forms indicated that 90% of viewers felt the film was “a bit long but well worth it” – But I decided to tighten it down to 120 min as I felt the film would ultimately benefit from it.

6- To address the “dark image” as seen by Ann at the screening, the dark image was due to outside projector of inadequate power for the size of the screen used, and has nothing to do with the filming. I was not in charge of the technical aspect of that screening, I merely sent the DVD and feedback forms to Dream Cruise Promoter, who overall did a great job at organizing the event. To address the comment of being “narcistic” for playing the “hotrod” gilr in the film here are a few things to think about: 1- the Hot Rod girl character is based on me and my car as I truly am in real life. So basically I am doing a cameo and playing me. It would have been strange to hire someone else to play me, especially since that actor would have had to drive the deuce in traffic, drive into a small twister (not even kidding) and the safety and liability concerns alone made it easy to decide that the filmmaker should be cast as her ownself. Just as Bill HInes and Gene Winfield were played by the real Bill and real Gene. I hope this sheds some lights as to the motivations behind the decisions. There are many producers/ director who also are actors in their own films. Sometimes it simply works better in the end to do it that way.

Well, I’d better go back to preparing my audio files for Patrick if I want this film to be done by June. I can’t wait to share it with all of you, it is truly a very powerful drama and a very accurate period piece, one that might bring the jalopies back to silver screens… So keep your fingers crossed!

You can support this worthy endeavor by pre-ordering a copy of the film – Just visit the online store at http://www.deuceofspadesmovie.com . Advance DVDs will be autographed by me and the stars of the film and hand numbered. All funds raised go to help with the last post production expenses and pressing the DVD’s first batch.

Many thanks for your wonderful support and keep spreading the word about Deuce of Spades.

FAITH GRANGER
Filmmaker

The writing is amateur, the acting is stilted. The cut we all saw ran over two hours. Every time we thought “OK, it’s finally over!” yet another tedious flashback sequence occurred. Why didn’t we leave? It’s like watching a train wreck, it’s fascinating to watch. Key sequences were filmed at night and so dark you couldn’t make out what was going on onscreen. The lead character (how narcissistic is it of the director to name the lead character after herself?!) had an odd accent that was never explained in this set-in-America movie. I’m sure the curse words used were there to bump up the rating of the film from G or PG to PG13, theoretically attracting more movie-goers. There was the flagrant use of the word “whop” to refer to an Italian character. If they had been black, what do you think the black community would have thought of the repeated use of ‘n*gger’? Hugely offensive to me. And, no, I’m not Italian.

Sorry to disappoint, this is by no means a modern “American Graffiti.”