Exclusive Interview with Brian Stewart

Meet the force behind "Jake and the Giants (2015)", one of the best indie animated movies of the year.

To find an indie animated movie for small kids is a rarity these days. "Jake and the Giants" may not be your typical Disney fare but it has its heart at the right place and an inherent innocence in its characters. And good folks like Brian Stewart make it possible. Brian not only helped producing it but also wrote the script and helmed the beautifully composed music and songs. 

Brian Stewart is a writer, composer  and producer, known for A Federal Case (2008), Sugar Baby (2011) and Inside Out (2011) besides the super group Northern Light Orchestra.  A native of Bay Village, Ohio; he  is a graduate of University of Arizona  where he studied screenplay writing and drama. Brain is also the author of the popular children’s television show - Adventures of Donkey Ollie which is shown on many  popular cable and satellite stations throughout the  world.  The Forty Tales of Donkey Ollie is a popular books series having been translated for Ethiopia and Mozambique by Aberle Film Group  and  this is currently being taught to young children as part of an ongoing sports camp outreach.

Along with Ken Mary, former drummer for the Alice Cooper Band,  Brian also plays keyboards and writes song  for the  Christmas themed superband – Northern Light Orchestra which features musicians from popular Heavy Metal and Classical rock groups such as Kansas, Korn, Megadeth, Beach Boys, Def Leppard  and many others. Their hit song “Celebrate Christmas” has been featured on many well known radio shows including Dee Snider’s and Alice Cooper’s  weekly radio show.

Brian Stewart works as the  program director for Boat Angel Outreach Center which also produces the episodic television show "Hollywood Makeover” a series geared to helping high school and college students learn about independent film making.

Here's a small chit-chat with Brian on his role in the making of Jake and the Giants.

1. You seem to have an eclectic career transcending music, writing, TV and movies. How do you get to blend this all and why? 

My favorite writing combines my love of songwriting and story writing. It is nice to combine the both it works especially well in children’s animation as the songs can drive the story forward and give the director an area for his or her personal vision. 

2. How did you begin writing? Did you intend to become an author, or do you have a specific reason or reasons for getting into writing? 

First time I remember was 7th grade my teacher put a bunch of words on the blackboard and said make a poem. I did and I loved it. And that's how it all started,

3. How did you end up writing Jake and the Giants and what were the challenges you faced while writing it? 

It was a gift to a film Company in India - Laughing Lions. When they were not able to produce it, we pitched in and decided to do it ourselves as we loved the idea. We trimmed it down a bit as we did not have as big of a budget as they did but we are glad, it still came out to our satisfaction.

4. Tell us a little more about Jake and the Giants and genesis behind it? 

It is based on the everlasting story of David and Goliath.. The small can overcome the big when their heart and cause is right. Evil does sometimes win but it will never triumph over good. Our kids need to realize this basic concept of good vs evil. 

5. What do you think makes Jake and the Giants a special kind of a kids movie? 

I think the characters are unique a little like the Dutch Paint Boy and the Jolly Green Giant with a bit of an Irish feel to the clothes and a Maxwell Parish color scheme. For an indie budget, we created a distinctive look, plus how can you miss out the flying Monkeys. 

6. How was it to compose music for Jake and the Giants ? How would you rate your work? 

With my musical background, it was rather easy getting the song keys but it was a challenge getting the right singers and musicians. This work is close to my heart so I would rate it one of my best. 

7. When did you start composing film music - and what or who were your early passions and influences? 

I loved the theme for Chariots of Fire by Vangelis and have always loved the theme song Beauty and the Beast. My first favorite was the song from Sound of Music.. the Hills are Alive I learned a lot of that soundtrack in college while studying jazz. 

8. What do you personally consider to be incisive moments in your musical career?

There are incisive moments all the time. I mean, it is always developing as you go from project to project and when you go back to listen to some of them you sometimes say.. “Wow, I don’t remember writing that but is seems to work well with the show.” “I feel fortunate to work with a great producer Ken Mary who makes everything sound great. 

9. What, to you, are the main functions and goals of good scripts and film music and how would you rate their importance for the movie as a whole?

Wow, that is a hard question. The story has to be unique.. You have to care about the characters, the villains can be bad but they have to be more than one dimensional and they definitely cannot be stereotypes.. There must be something likable in everyone. No one is all good or all bad. The music gives the characters a chance to stretch out to show who they are. Sort of like the office party when you learn the secretary has a great set of pipes and can belt out a mean Christmas Carol or your boss can do a great impression of an actor. 

10. What do you think is the harshest reality for indie film makers and producers? 

The reality is you are the small guy. You are up against a machine that has billions and billions and want not just the majority but wants everything. They want every screen, every TV station, every spot on every shelf and they are looking to keep their market share and have no problem crushing everyone who gets in their way. It is like our story the corporations against the indies. The thing is you do it anyway because that is who you are and that is what you do. If you get lucky you get lucky, if not you know you gave it your best shot. If you don’t try what do you get ….Nothing.. So you try you get better at what you do and with help from the good Lord above sometimes you might get your lucky break.

Know more about Brian Stewart on his IMDB profile here or visit the Jake and the Giants website. And here's a trailer for your viewing pleasure! 

Jake and the Giants (2015)

You're indeed never too small !

My friends at Boat Angel family films have made a genuinely pleasant and kid friendly fantasy adventure for children of all ages or lets say anyone young at heart. 

Jake and the Giants directed by Kent Butterworth may not have the big budget of your typical Hollywood animated blockbuster but it has all it takes to appeal to young kids. Watch the trailer below or hop on IMDB and learn more! Support independent cinema! 

Watch out for Jake and the Giants at the American Film Market between November 4 - 11 at Santa Monica and help spread the word! 

Beavis and Butt-Head Do America (1996)

Great stupid fun.. B & B super style!

This movie didn’t suck. It ruled! When I went to see Beavis and Butt-head Do America, it didn’t immediately occur to me how long it had been since I’d seen a film I could call truly remarkable. The dream sequence which opens the movie has the world’s most famous dilholes as modern-day King Kongs, stomping through a city and wreaking king-size havoc. They swat planes, crush cars, and reach at girls through broken skyscrapers, and it was hard not to read this gleeful gigantism as a metaphor for their own success. 

Who would have thought, five years ago, that one of the surprise Christmas-season movie hits would be an almost incompetently animated feature about two chronic masturbators who are unwittingly guarding a secret weapon? Beavis and Butt-head creator Mike Judge stays true to the tone of his MTV series by piling on one ridiculous episode after another and adding a leitmotif of enthusiastic anal-cavity searches, and the movie is a ride worth taking. 

Beavis and Butt-head fall asleep on the sofa and awake to find that their television has been stolen. Searching for the cathode rays they need to sustain them, they stumble into a room in a cheap motel, where they meet a very drunk and dangerous redneck who offers them money to go to Las Vegas and "do" his wife. Beavis and Butt-head can’t believe their luck: They’re gonna score! And they’re even going to get paid for it! Thus ensues a round-trip cross-country odyssey that includes peyote, guns, nuns, the duo's long-lost fathers (fathers and sons remain oblivious to their relationship), and a cameo appearance by a cartoon Bill Clinton. Even Easy Rider didn’t offer such a smorgasbord of delights. It is very easy to like this movie.

The thing that's always fascinated me about the legions of Beavis and Butt-head fans is how they seem to feel like they have to justify it. "Hey, I went to school with people like that," they will say, defensively with an undercurrent of apology, as if acknowledging a visible birthmark. I've often tried to figure out what's implied by that statement and its remarkably few variations. 

We don't necessarily watch programs which recall for us the caste system of our youth, or else, for instance, My So-Called Life would never have lacked for viewers. We don't necessarily watch what assures us of our superiority to the life forms onscreen. You went to school with people like what? People without ambition, shame, or the communication skills necessary for successful negotiation outside a small homogeneous circle. (Huh huh huh – I said "homo.") People who make a career out of sitting in the back row of the classroom, willfully not learning anything. People left to their own insufficient devices, so much the objects of derision that this defines their social existence. 

If you didn't know I was talking about Beavis and Butt-head, would you still be settling back in anticipation of a punchline here? And, at the risk of being accused of various hypersensitivities and/or sympathies, would the moronic duo be as funny if they weren't middle-America white boys? My own theory is that B & B creator Mike Judge has tapped into the zeitgeist (and don't tell me that the trend is played out; I was in the line that snaked around the corner of the theater, and I've seen the grosses) by discovering a strain of humor just short of real horror. Because at face value, Beavis and Butt-head are castaways, doomed to a life at the helm of the deep fryer. I don't want to lose sight of the discontinuity between sociology and entertainment.

And I'll be the first to admit it, Beavis and Butt-head are really, really funny. This, I think, was Judge's intention, back in the days of animation-festival shorts featuring the boys – the I-can't-believe-my-reaction reaction. "Frog Baseball" hits the same chord as does the scene in Goodfellas where Joe Pesci shoots the kid in the foot during a card game for not bringing his drinks fast enough. It can be exhilarating to watch something so gross, or so violent, because it confirms our collective address not in the same neighborhood as such acts as these. I bet you didn't go to school with guys like Beavis and Butt-head. The ones you're thinking of as cartoonish hammerheads nevertheless had some level of self-awareness, and they either knew exactly what their place was in the pecking order (and I bet they started working out) or bamboozled themselves into thinking that the idea of a pecking order was society’s malicious joke (and I bet they got knives, or had restraining orders slapped on them). Or, more recently, they made the decision to embrace Beavisness and become louts on purpose, because Fools have a slight handicap in the social game and can at least rise above the bottom. Have some self-awareness yourself, and think about it for just a moment: Beavis and Butt-head have crossed the line, and they are cartoons of cartoons.

It was MTV that brought Judge's rude conception to its apotheosis. On one early episode of B & B, one of the boys says, "Man, the last eleven videos have sucked. Maybe the next one will be better." After the initial novelty of MTV wore off – and what with the game shows and gimmicks and all, this probably took a lot longer than it should have – that attitude is what we were left with. When Beavis and Butt-head assumed their places on their sofa in front of their crappy TV set, it was like the royal wedding of ennui and anomie. I can attest that the appeal is hard to resist. 

I used to live in a house full of marginally employed men in their early twenties, and B & B with Olde E was the highlight of the day. Someone would go from bedroom to bedroom knocking on the doors and saying, "Time for church!" Bad day on the job? Bad day not having a job? Feeling like a loser? Don't worry, Beavis and Butt-head will never make you feel worse. Because Mike Judge knows that his program is a spectacle but the spectacles themselves are blissfully unaware, you can laugh at and laugh with at the same time – in this sense the program is one smart product. 

James Wolcott wrote in The New Yorker that after watching many hours of Beavis and Butt-head in order to write an article on the series, it was weird to see videos without the yellow B & B logo in the corner, as if it were the series that identified the network instead of the other way around. The increasing tendencies toward the hormonal and the ironic (Remember J.J. Jackson? Martha Quinn?) in MTV's staff and programming would suggest that the network has embraced the laugh-at/laugh-with aesthetic. In this sense the patients are running the asylum. Beavis and Butt-head engender a sense of anarchy and liberation which is missing from most of what we can see on television – what's not to like?

I know: the movie, the movie. We are here today not to explicate Beavis and Butt-head but to praise them. You have to accustom your eyes and your brain to the low production values onscreen without the respite of videos, but Judge keeps the action moving briskly, and there are pseudo-video segments such as Beavis and Butt-head's dance-floor antics in Las Vegas, Mr. Van Driesen's hilariously, unconscionably P.C. "Ode to a Lesbian Seagull" (sung by Tom Jones), and, best of all, the Starsky-and-Hutch-style opening credits. Everything is over the top except for our two stars, who manage to stay reassuringly in the gutter. It's great stupid fun, and we are all invited to be in on its central joke. Which is, of course, that the two biggest screw-ups on the planet save all the rest of us and are acclaimed as quick-thinking, selfless heroes. Beavis and Butt-head snicker, we chuckle, and Mike Judge laughs all the way to the bank. What a country! A.G

The Best Films of 2013

JohnnyTwoToes compiles the Best Movies of 2013 

2013 did end a month and a half back but there is still time for the lists. In this case, the Best Movies of 2013! Since I have not seen ALL of the big films I will give my own lists of the 5 best and the 5 worst films that I HAVE seen in 2013. So get your cards and there will be a quiz on this tomorrow. Actually, no but read'em and weep. First the 5 best films of 2013.  

5. CAPTAIN PHILIPS - At number 5 is Paul Greengrass's Captain Phillips with Tom Hanks. I have to pen a review for it, but suffice is to say that Tom Hanks shows why he is one of Hollywood's finest actors and director Greengrass has yet to disappoint me with one of his films. Captain Phillips is a riveting and effective thriller based on the true story of a cargo ship taken over by a band of Somali pirates (Maersk Alabama hijacking). The script, direction and Hanks propel this film which pulsates humanity and intelligence in Billy Rays' script based on Captain Richard Phillips' own book of the 2009 incident with Stephan Talty "A Captain's Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALs, and Dangerous Days at Sea"

4. DESPICABLE ME - At number 4 is the Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud directed Despicable Me 2, a 3D computer animated sequel but every bit as endearing and charming as its blockbuster predecessor. This time Gru, the girls and his minions battle a new super villain that is planning to turn Gru's minions into blue eating machines that devour anything in their path as they are unleashed on the world. Kristen Wiig voices Gru's girlfriend, and she is a total delight. Steve Carell, Russell Brand, and Miranda Cosgrove reprise their voice roles too. Rarely do sequels work as well as the original, but Despicable Me 2 is an exception; clever, sweet and wholesome fun for the whole family. 

3. STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS - At number 3 is the twelfth installment in the Star Trek film franchise - Star Trek Into Darkness, a bold and boisterously fun film that pits Chris Pine's Captain Kirk against Benedict Cumberbatch's Kahn as Kahn enacts his revenge against Starfleet. Star Trek Into Darkness proves (as does Despicable Me 2) that you can do good sequels if the script is well written and it is here, indeed. Robert Orci, Alex Kurtzman and Damon Lindelof have written a crisp and engaging film, with a perfect cast and director J.J. Abrams takes us on a wild ride that is fun and exciting with some nice twists. Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, Bruce Greenwood and  Leonard Nimoy add to the fun!

2. PRISONERS - At number 2 is Prisoners, Denis Villineuve's masterfully heartbreaking film about the abduction of two little girls in Pennsylvania and the tragic and intense investigation that follows. Hugh Jackman as a father of one of the girls, is terrific as he goes on his own mission to find them. Feeling helpless and with hope waning Jackman dances from enraged to devastated in an Oscar worthy performance. Jake Gyllenhaal as the investigating officer will keep viewers on their toes as a cop who is battling his own demons, as well. A stellar supporting cast including Maria Bello, Terrence Howard and Melissa Leo provide solid support! If you have kids and watch this film, you will  probably never let them out of your sight ever after. It is truly a tough film to watch in its subject matter but worth viewing. It is not for kids, though as there is a lot of bad language. 

1. GRAVITY - And number 1 is Alfonso Cuaron's marvelous thriller Gravity which stars Sandra Bullock as a stranded astronaut just trying to stay alive after their space shuttle is destroyed by flying debris from a Russian satellite. Told in real time at 90 minutes this film is as realistic as any film I have ever seen about space (it tookl apparently 3 years to finish the special effects alone). It is a superbly crafted thriller that had me wincing, mouth open in awe of what a true battle for survival can be. Bullock (Oscar worthy, no doubt)and George Clooney are terrific together and the father and son script by Alfonso Cuaron and Jonas Cuaron is smartly written. Alfonso Cuaron's direction is top notch and Oscar worthy as well. Film score composer, Steven Price should also be considered for Oscar contention for his tremendous score for Gravity as well. Incidentally, for those curious, Gravity has been nominated for 10 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director for Cuarón and Best Actress for Bullock. 

So there you have it, folks. I just want to thank each and everyone one of you for reading and responding; good, bad or otherwise in 2013 at  the Websnacker Blog. Here's to a prosperous and safe 2014 with plenty of great films ready to come and plenty of stinkers to keep it real. Keep coming back for more film and film score reviews at the Websnacker Blog.

Beavis and Butt-head Do America (1996)

Socially Awkward 100% Raw Hilariousness 

Okay, with some measure of embarrassment, I confess that MTV's Beavis and Butt-head has always been one of my guilty pleasures. And while I'm fessing up to lowbrow indulgences, I might as well say that I also like the Three Stooges (the recent 2012 remake by the Farrelly Brothers was also very good), in small doses. But only the ones with Curly, mind you. 

I do have standards. The first full-length B&B feature directed by Mike Judge that released way back in 1996 to super successdom kicks off with a truly off-the-wall opening-credit sequence done in the style of seventies blaxploitation movies, complete with Isaac Hayes music. Though it rarely rises again to that level of inspired lunacy, the whole movie turns out to be an utter delight for hardcore fans like myself. 

It takes the normally couch-confined nitwits, sets them off on a cross-country adventure, and lets them go through their whole repertoire of jokes in all-new situations. The caveat here is that you have to know and love the gags from the TV episodes in order to appreciate the variations in the movie. For that reason, it's not likely to win many converts, but it's a must for both new and longtime fans. 

If you are a Beavis and Butt-head fan, who has still not seen it or someone new to the dim-witted, socially awkward duo's hilariousness, now is the time to relive the fun. 

Free Movie Download/Streaming link - VeeHD

Waking Life (2001)

Richard Linklater's Brilliant Animated MindTripper!!

Waking Life (2001) is a dazzling mess. There are probably more ideas generated in those 100 minutes than in all other movies currently playing around town combined, even if its over 10 years old. Richard Linklater's film is presented as one long hallucination by its nameless central character, an observer of conversations about existentialism, rebirth, free will, bereavement, warfare, technology, faith and, most of all, the nature of dreams themselves.

Like virtually any work that dares to ask big, unanswerable questions, Waking Life can be pretentious and even exhausting but you also get euphoria from its unquenchable curiosity about the world, like a skyfall.

As in Slacker (1991), Linklater's first film, there is virtually no conformist story, making it easy to lose yourself along the way. The imprecise rotoscoped animation only enhances the feeling of displacement but that's specifically the point. In other words, getting lost with Linklater is a lot more enlightening than being spoon-fed, hand-led and patronized by a lot of garden-variety filmmakers more concerned with filling the theater than filling your brain.

Brimming with references to Jean-Paul Sartre, D.H. Lawrence and countless others, Waking Life is at times encumbered by its assault of ideas; still, it stands in direct hostility to an entertainment culture where being "about nothing" is a insignia of respect.

Sure, it'd be nice if people in this movie occasionally just talked about baseball or the weather to balance things out. There's also no denying that some of the images in Waking Life are breathtaking but at length, many might feel that this is an agonizing exercise in hedonistic, snotty filmmaking, that will ignite arguments over its apparent intrinsic worth and, no doubt, be touted by some as a masterpiece.

Nonetheless, Waking Life sticks with you in a insightful way, its ideas buzzing through your mind like fireflies. And I was beginning to think the sheer possibility was but a dream.

Free Streaming/Movie Download - Video Link: VeeHD