Name: Jeremy Pinkham
E-mail: forms@serapion.com

Dear Josh:

Do you think if you and your childhood circle of filmmaking friends had grown up today with the presence of the Internet, Netflix, and video games, that there's a chance you might not have made the films you made -- that you might have been sucked into brain-numbing cyber-geek fandom rather than producing your own stuff? It seems to me that a lot of the motivation for creativity comes from seeking a means of escape from the boredom of a stultifying environment. Today there are so many ways for kids to shoot electronic fantasy narcotics into their brains 24-hours a day, I wonder what effect it might be having on creativity in general. Now that kids can download more films, music, and videogames off the internet for free than they could possibly watch, play, and listen to in their entire lives, I wonder if this is contributing to a coccooning effect, wherein a kid who formerly might have sought to numb his pain by drawing or writing or making a home movie these days might more likely just sit down and play Grand Theft Auto for 12 hours and be left with nothing at the end of it but a headache. Am I full of it, or what?

I think that's undoubtedly part of the problem. Another reason may just be our poisoned food supply, with high fructose corn syrup in everything. Something's fucked up, though, because given the growth in the world population, which has doubled in my lifetime, shouldn't there now be two William Wylers, Alfred Hitchcocks, Howard Hawks, John Hustons, etc.? Instead we have none. And given that there are now at least 50 movies showing at the same time all the time on cable, as well as way more old movies being available than were when I was a kid, shouldn't there be a whole bunch of movie geeks running around who have seen as many or more movies than me? Yet there aren't. On average, I think people are less intelligent, less motivated, less creative, and far less ambitious than they used to be. I recently met a 14-year-old kid who is a movie buff, and his parents and my friend all kept saying, "He's so intelligent. He's a genius. And he's seen SO MANY movies it's incredible." So I spoke with him for about an hour, and he really is a movie buff, except he's seen almost nothing. He hadn't even heard of Humphrey Bogart. I said, "I'm sorry, but you can't be a movie geek and not know who Humphrey Bogart was." The bottom-line is, when I was 14 I was a million miles ahead of that kid as a movie fan. He's not that intelligent, he's nowhere close to being a genius, and I don't think he's all that advanced for 14. The standards have all changed. Meanwhile, I've been working on an essay entitled, "Anticipating the Post-'Star Wars' Era." George Lucas promised in an interview the other night that this sixth "Star Wars" film will "absolutely" be the very last one. He won't make anymore, nor will he allow anyone else to make anymore. So, taking the man at his word, soon there will be a post-"Star Wars" era, meaning perhaps the awful dark ages of the past 30-odd years since the first"Star Wars" film came out is about to end. I'm trying to be hopeful.

Josh

Name: Robert Clark
E-mail:

Dear Josh:

It would be futile to continue this dialouge any further...although, I'm sure you'd be up for it. I'll end it here:

You made a bad flick, you're clearly aware of it (otherwise you wouldn't be defending its absurdities) and as a real fan, I really hope that you're next one is up to usual Becker standards.

How do you feel about that?

That's fine. And even if it is my worst film, it's ironically done better than any of my other films.

Josh

Name: dan
E-mail: dantheman_54@hotmail.com

Dear Josh:

who was the woman who played Bzzi in AA?

Her name is Rosi Chernogorova.

Josh

Name: Darryl Mesaros
E-mail: simonferrer@sbcglobal.net

Dear Josh,

lol...for the record, I wasn't calling you an asshole; it was just an example. As for your film being Ed Woodian, that is simply ridiculous. Hell, your short films from high school were better than his crap. I think that the only reason anyone remembers Ed Wood is because of the irony of his life; he was an absolutely terrible screenwriter and director, but he was just as absolutely convinced of the opposite. On another note, I did agree with the notion that human customs disappearing after only forty years was a little hard to swallow. The neutron bombs didn't destroy the entire human race, so the survivors would have passed on knowledge and customs to their offspring, even in slavery. However, this point didn't much detract from my overall enjoyment of the film.

Darryl

I flatly disagree. It probably didn't take 40 years to cause the African slaves to lose their languages, heritage and customs. We're not talking about immigrants, we're talking about slaves. If you take all of someone's rights away and force them into labor all day, then keep them in a hole at night, and most people only live to be 25, in 40 years nearly everything will be lost. That's how I see it.

Josh

Name: Colin Hives
E-mail: colinhives@msn.com

Hey Josh

Do you think your new movie will be shown in the UK?

And on a technical level...

Do you find writing scripts to direct yourself tougher to do. The limitations of low budgets are a hastle I know. Do you feel you have to be more creative?

Best

Col

Tougher than what? Directing other people's scripts? Since I've never directed anything that wasn't low-budget I have no comparison. I do think that less money inspires more creativity, and it does seem that there is a direct ratio to how expensive a film is to how uninspired it also is. I'd rather make a piece of crap that's all my own then to make someone else's thing, or a script that's been through committee rewrites.

Josh

Name: Robert Clark
E-mail: rrthngt@aol.com

Dear Josh:

In calling 'AA' Ed Woodian I wasn't referencing the fake beards and bad dubbing. I was referencing things like, it taking three people to lift a skimpy plank of wood, supposedly bonded humans who need only use their FREE, un chained hands to take off their face masks, Aliens that supposedly overtook the planet but are somehow defeatable by bow and arrow, an entire race of people, who after only forty years of enslavement have forgotten what it means to shake hands and what a doctor is, AND shots where people are walking on flat ground and would undoubtedly see a giant city of ruins but don't until the camera does (it'd be one thing if they were climbing over a dune or a hill)...or how about that actor, the boy side kick with the hot wife, who mouths everybody else's lines throughout the entire movie!

Those were not in-jokes or purposely wink wink, they were examples of careless filmmaking and inept decision making! Patently, the film is bad! But patently, it shouldn't be...since it's coming from the guy who brought us much better films in the guise of Lunatics and Running Time! I just wonder how it's possible for one to actually digress as a filmmaker, especially when he's given a bigger budget! Additionally, people tuned because of only one element that you brought to the film, the 103rd element in the periodic table-- and its name is Bruce.

I'll give you the skimpy planks of wood, but if the rule is you have to wear a muzzle, then it doesn't matter if you can reach up and remove it. If the aliens dropped neutron bombs before they got there, the war was over before they landed and no one has ever had a chance to actually fight them and find out what kills them. That's one of the points in the story: Alex: "They die?" Ivan: "Everything dies." Then the President says you can't kill them and Ivan points out that you can. And if all humans have been ensalved for the past forty years, living in a dirt cellar, and most of them don't live past 25-30 -- Jeff's one of the old ones at 35 -- then all civilized traditions and customs would have been lost in that one generation to the next. Look what happened to the people in Auschwitz or Dachau after just 2 or 3 years. But to say the film is "Ed Woodian" when the script has a theme, some subtext, a character arc, a sense of humor, and actually has some irony, even if none of these things are well-handled, is just plain stupid. I'm not trying to say it's a great film, nor even a good film, for that matter, but to say it's the very worst is asinine.

Josh

Name: kdn
E-mail: jericho

Dear Josh:

<<I don't remember the credits for "My Man Godfrey,">>

forget rocky horror but my Man Godrey was pretty good for opening credits. I'm not interested in Sin City, but my grandmother's neighbor J.B. built the sets for it (and other Rodriguez films and the Alamo remake) so I'll probably check it out. FROM DUSK TILL DAWN wasn't as good as I remembered it. Thats a problem with me, I can't go to the theater anymore cause I see a quality difference. The last film I looked forward to was PHANTOM OF THE OPERA remake and I walked out once the phantom came on screen and got my money back (oh god, I'm starting to bolt like josh becker). Then I saw the silent Lon Chaney film, that is really sad, when a silent film is better that a film made today. I was surprised at how good the sets were.

I brought my Lord of the Rings project from 12 hours to 5 hours, but the second act still drags on, and I was only able to salvage 2 1/2 scenes from the first movie. I think I can get it to 3 1/2 hours with a little more work. maybe I can switch lines around and turn it into a WHAT'S UP TIGER LILY? It's really just something I do when I'm really really bored.

I thought HORSES was excellent, hard to get into at first, but worth it.

I agree that "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" is absolutely worth it. And all movies don't have to give you sno-cone and a party hat. What I love about the film is that it's all a big allegory for the time period (the Depression), based on an activity (dance marathons) that only existed at that time. Everybody in it is very good, too, particularly Gig Young as the MC, who won an Oscar. I think Sidney Pollack did a pretty darn solid job directing as well. And Red Buttons is terrific. Pollack, meanwhile, used to be a really interesting director, pre-"Out of Africa." "The Slender Thread," "This Property is Condemned," "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" "Jeremiah Johnson," "The Way We Were," "The Yakuza," "Three Days of the Condor," "Absence of Malice," and "Tootsie." But then he won Best Picture and Best Director for "Out of Africa," which isn't a very good film, and basically every film he's made since then has sucked. Sort of like Woody
Allen.

Josh

Name: David
E-mail: david02@hotmail.com

Josh,

How much can a writer make writing for a tv series on cable? Something like Deadwood. And, from your experience working in TV, how difficult is it to get a spec script to people who can actually make a decision if you are an unknown writer with no agent? I've written several spec scripts for various TV shows on the air right now. Any good advice or information you can provide would be much appreciated. BTW, I love your work...congrats on AA!

Wishing you all the best,
David

Get an agent. I hate agents, but you need one. You have no hope of getting a spec script through to anyone in the TV business without an agent. Basically, if you can't impress some schnook agent with your work, why would anyone in the business want to read it? As to how much a writer makes, I'd bet that most writers are working for the WGA minimum, whatever that is depending on what the format is: cable one-hour series, network one-hour, sit-com, etc.

Josh

Name: Darryl Mesaros
E-mail: simonferrer@sbcglobal.net

Dear Josh,

I agree absolutely on the point about free speech. My point is that if you're going to have a negative opinion about something in public discourse, then it ought to be (a.) civil in it's wording, and (b.) as well thought out as any public opinion, negative or positive, ought to be. I recall reading an article about the need for civility in political discourse, the author's point being that deliberately insulting language detracts from the debate. This holds true for public discourse in general. Someone watching your new film might say to himself, "This guy Becker's an asshole, and his film sucks," and will probably say the same to his friends, but if he is going to put his opinion into a publically accessible medium, then he should state his opinion less crudely and offer something to justify it. Doing so aids in rational debate; failing to do so makes what he says more appropriate to a barroom than a forum. In short, I don't object to what is said, merely how it is said.

Darryl

You're so refined. You sort of sound like Rodney King, "Can't we all just be civil to one another. Old people and young people, black and white?" Part of the beauty of the internet is that it's an open forum to the whole world. Screwball Greek truck drivers in Germany can comment on things just as easily as anyone else. However, what I absolutely agree with is that if someone is going to go to the extreme trouble of calling me an asshole in a public forum, and say that my film is "Ed Woodian" or that my script has"holes you could drive a truck through," some justification would be nice.

Josh

Name: John Hunt
E-mail: Chowkidar@aol.com

Josh,

Well, ain't that one hell of a letter! That's a great piece to show to would-be financiers. Get "The Horribleness" and "The Cascade Effect" in the can and you may even get to be a presenter at an awards show. We'll all start having to address you as "Mr. Becker".

I remember having watched "They Shoot Horses, Don't They" and I think I was depressed for a week. I remember it being very stylized and gloomy as hell. It stuck with me but, like you, I can't say I enjoyed it.

I had forgotten about the Camp Tamakwa connection with you and Mike Binder, though I did see "Indian Summer" when it came out. Having digested "Upside of Anger" for a while I am still impressed with it. I take it from your attitude that Binder is not the slimey character he seems to write himself as. I'll be curious to hear what you think of "Anger" if you chance to see it.

On a separate note, "Cascade Effect" was written in a serious vein and I wonder if, should you get the green light, you will keep it that way or try to lighten it up. I would guess your impulse would be to keep it straight, but I wonder if you'll be pressured to follow the spirit of "AA" more. It certainly wouldn't be unprecedented. It seems to me that an advantage of "Cascade" is that much of the action takes place in close quarters with essentially three locations (as I recall) which would help with budgeting and scheduling.

Well, congratulations again on the letter and everything with "AA".

John

Thanks. I 've already written the script for "The Cascade Effect" and it's completely serious. I think that's one of the reasons Bruce likes it. The story is in more than three places, and wouldn't be an easy film to make in three weeks, but that's the fun part. It will have twice as many FX as "AA." I really hope we get to shoot it, which is ostensibly for September.

Yeah, Mike Binder and I go way back. We were in the same cabin at camp three or four different times. I have no doubt that the Bill Paxton character in "Indian Summer" is based on me. And the Diane Lane character was based on Mike's cousin, Sue Binder (who just moved back to Michigan from LA, and who now works for Camp Tamakwa). In the movie, Bill Paxton and Diane Lane end up together. So, the next time I spoke with Sue I said, "So? Is life now supposed to follow art?" But alas, it wasn't.

Josh

Name: Frank Demne
E-mail:

Josh,

"Sideways" is quite a nice little film. Excellent dialogue; good acting all around; terrific cinematography (I've never seen a movie set in the wine country of California; the beauty of it really blew me away). It came out on DVD tuesday. You really should check it out.
Congrats on AA!

Thanks. I'll certainly see "Sideways" soon.

Josh

Name: Movie Buff
E-mail: moviebuff_2005@mail.com

Josh:

Do you get many guys solliciting their works (projects and such) to you, through your website? If so, have you ever been tempted by an unkown? If so, why? If not, why?

Also, you're not neccessarily an "H-Wood Jerk"...but you can come off sort of arrogant. From your stand point, is there a sense of hidden bitterness with most of the individuals in the Movie Biz? It's probably difficult to go through years of rejection, then turn around, years later, and be so "understanding" with aspiring talent.

Warmest Regards,
Movie Buff

Yes, many people over the years have wanted me to read their scripts. And as hard as I try I just got stuck reading one anyway -- a crew member from"AA" -- and it was just as awful as every other script I've ever read. Have I ever been tempted by any of this unmitigated crap? NO!!! Not in the slightest. I've never met anyone who could write at all, and that probably includes me, too. And I can't be a Hollywood Jerk because I live in Detroit, so I would have to be a Detroit Jerk. I think I'm pretty understanding if people are on the ball at all. I've been answering people's questions here for seven years. But if they're complete idiots, no, I suppose I'm not all that patient anymore.

Josh

Name: Daniel
E-mail: danieljamesfox@yahoo.ca

Dear Josh:

I've seen Hostage, and if it inetersts you at all, I'd say wait for the dvd release. The movie doesn't have a single moment that you won't see coming. And, on a snide note, am I nuts or did the kid who is nominally in charge of the kidnapping have a very wet mouth? He needs some crackers or something to sop all that up.

The other note is on Sin City's use of digital backgrounds. I'm pretty sure I read somwhere (and of course I can't find the article now) that the reason they shot it against a greenscreen wasn't budget or location problems, but so they could entirely eliminate any grays from the images; they wanted it all to be literally black and white (with of course the exceptions of those splashes of colour). So there ya go.

Okay then.

Josh

Name: Trey Smith
E-mail: cobra_commander_of_cobra@yahoo.com

Dear Josh:

I have also been checking a few message boards for responses to AA. On imdb one guy actually stated that people who like this film must know nothing about movies and are also complete idiots.

I found this rather insulting.

Welles' original vision of "Touch of Evil" is on video? Hmm, interesting, if I recall correctly TCM made it seem as if no one has ever seen this version of the film before. Oh, well...whatever to get more people to tune in I guess.

Also, were you inspired by the Fatty Arbuckle short "Waiters Ball" at all when creating "The Blind Waiter"?

I haven't seen it. I really must see more of Fatty Arbuckle's films, particularly the ones with Buster Keaton. Keaton said that he learned everything he knew about filmmaking from Fatty. I've seen a few of his shorts, and they all seemed very imaginative. What happens in "Waiter's Ball"? Meanwhile, the restored version of "Touch of Evil" is a few years old at this point, and it really is an improvement on what was already a great film. There were several of Henry Mancini's music cues that were meant to be source cues, meaning they're coming out of a radio or a record player we can see on-screen, like the first music cue, that were mixed as though they were dramatic cues, loud and on top of everything.

I was just discussing "Sin City" with my buddy Paul, which he saw and found disappointing (Paul is a major comic book fan, too). My contention is that as opposed to shooting everything in front of a blue screen, then making all the backgrounds look like comic book drawings, which just looks like a visual drag to me, I think what Frank Miller deep in his heart REALLY wanted was Orson Welles to direct it along the lines of "Touch of Evil." That's what I believe Miller was trying to achieve with his drawings. This idea that it's somehow cheaper to shoot everything in front of a process screen, then put the digitally created backgrounds in later, as opposed to actually shooting in an alley or a city street is incredibly stupid, and completely wrong. If you're putting in gigantic sets you can't afford to build, that's different, but a noir story in a city is entirely inappropriate for this process, in my humble opinion.

Josh

Name: Michele
E-mail: rollingriver@sbcglobal.net

Dear Josh:

I teach film history and am drawing up a glossary of film terms. I've defined "crawl" as "Lines of written text that appear to move (crawl) in the same direction as the visual image; frequently used at the beginning of a film to explain the events leading up to the present action of the story. STAR WARS: "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away." Is my definition accurate? Thanks for your help.

Generally, a crawl appears over black, so it's not going the same direction as anything. Crawls almost always go bottom to top, and are almost always how the end credits of movies are presented. Occasionally a crawl appears at the beginning of a film, like "Star Wars," but not often.

Josh

Name: Movie Buff
E-mail: moviebuff_2005@mail.com

Josh,

Saw the flick...pretty damn good. Let me ask ya...do you ever plan to go for the silver screen? Sam Raimi and the guys are doin' pretty well, what about yourself? Are you content with being rather anonymous?

There's a remake of 'The Evil Dead underway, both Sam and Bruce are on board...any aspirations there? I understand your committment to "Do it yourself, your way", but are there any collaborative thoughts fluttering within your cranium?

Give some good advice to those looking to journey the adventure of movie making, for themselves.

Thanks,
Movie Buff

Of course I'd rather be making films for theatrical release, but I'm only willing to bend so far to do that. The Hollywood process of "rewrite, be rewritten, rewrite, be rewritten . . ." doesn't suit me and I won't participate anymore. Regarding the remake of "Evil Dead," what "aspirations" do you think I'd have? To write or direct it? Sorry, not even slightly interested, not that it would ever be offered to me. The Hollywood system is designed to create tasteless mush that can be eaten without teeth, then has no nutritional value. I'd much rather labor in anonymity than do that.

Josh

Name: Darryl Mesaros
E-mail: simonferrer@sbcglobal.net

Dear Josh,

With all respect to Bruce, I don't know if he's on a level with Anthony Hopkins, either. Nevertheless, a B movie background doesn't mean that an actor cannot be top shelf dramatically. For example, classically trained stage actors like Christopher Lee, Michael York, Peter Cushing, Vincent Price and others all rotated back and forth between B pictures and intensive dramatic projects (with exceptions: once Price went to horror, he didn't much come back, and Michael York limited his stage performances when he started doing A list Hollywood pictures). It does indeed remain to be seen.
On another note, I've seen some of the harsh criticism that you've taken from some viewers on "Alien Apocalypse," and there's something about that which troubles me. As a viewer, I can give you my earnest (a most importantly, POLITE) opinion on your film and my reasons for that opinion, but to harshly criticize someone's work when I've done nothing at all seems to me to be the height of hypocrisy. Say what one will about your films, at least you got off your ass and DID something, while several pundits sat around, creating nothing, and sneered at your efforts. A negative opinion is perfectly acceptable, provided it's a reasoned one, like Saul Trabal's critique. But to bluntly state "this sucks," along with several expletives, doesn't seem fair or right.

Darryl

The point of free speech isn't to necessarily hear what you want to hear, it's letting everybody say what they want. I'd much prefer to be insulted than to not have the freedom to say what I want. And the most insulting opinion is just as important as the most complimentary.

Josh

Name: August Krickel
E-mail: joxerfan@hotmail.com

Dear Josh,

That quote from the head of the Sci-Fi network just blows me away. Look how our little boy done growed up and made good!

Seriously though, I think a lot of your fans would love to hear any other network/ratings details that the Sci-Fi people have passed along to you. In fact, I bet a lot of people would love to read a "Making Of..." essay, that might include post-airing stuff like that too.

They may or may not have told you, but they bragged on your film in particular in their official, end-of-the-first-quarter press release. They touted their increasing ratings in general, the success of "Battlestar Galactica" in particular, and yours was the only movie that got mentioned:

"SCI FI's crowd-pleasing Saturday original movies have continued to deliver big audiences, averaging a 1.7 HH rating and 2 million viewers P2+ for the quarter. The March 26 premiere of 'Alien Apocalypse,' starring Bruce Campbell, was the highest-rated of any of SCI FI's Saturday originals to date - delivering an incredible 2.3 HH rating and 2.7 million viewers P2+."

When I read that, I wondered what they meant when they told you that you had the *third* highest rating ever, but now I get it - the other two could have been the first installments of a mini-series ("Dune" or something) or a broadcast premiere of a big-screen film (like maybe "The Matrix.")

Anyway, it's all good.

This may be too complex a question to answer here (and would be another good topic for an essay - hint hint) but I'm curious as to what happened right after you finished shooting. Somewhere along the way, you had other scripts being circulated around (like "Devil Dogs" went to Showtime, I think you said?) and then you had the big investor interested in "The Horribleness?" Was this your agent at work, or was this your doing, or was it insider-word of mouth, or just what exactly was it that set all these new wheels in motion?

Thanks,

August

I don't have an agent. I don't even have a lawyer at this point, since he went and retired. And so did my dentist, too. So the answer is, I do all of my own hustling. I basically did the same thing with "The Horribleness" that I did with "AA," I snuck in on one of Bruce's deals. Anchor Bay really wants to make a film with Bruce, so I wrote "The Horribleness" (with my buddy, Paul), and got it to Bruce and Anchor Bay and they all agreed that it would be a fine project for what they're all looking for. "Devil Dogs" wasn't out to Showtime, "Head Shot" was (I got it there through the DP from"AA"), but they passed. "Devil Dogs" was supposedly out to Stallone, but that all went away (Sly apparently wanted too much money). Meanwhile, when I got back from Bulgaria I immediately set to work writing "The Cascade Effect," which I then got out to "AA" producer Jeff Franklin, who seemed like he could really care less. But now, given the success of "AA," Jeff's trying to set it up at SciFi with Bruce and Renee. The point of this story is Thomas Edison's quote, "Good things come to those who hustle while they wait." The point isn't to wait for the phone to ring, it's to write yet another and another script, and eventually, hopefully, they'll have some value.

Josh

Name: kdn
E-mail: jericho_legends@yahoo.com

Dear Josh,

Congratulations on Alien Apocalypses good ratings, I'll see it when it hits dvd. I was watching BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES last night, and I noticed Frederich March kind of reminded me of Bruce Campbell in some scenes. Did Frederich March have an interesting life, do you think Bruce could actually play him in a bio if they made one (eh, who knows)?

On THE BLIND WAITER, did you pay for the use of the restaurant or did you just know somebody on the inside, have you ever trespassed to steal a shot? I got a pretty good shot of a suspension bridge, I don't think anyone ever put it on film and it looks kinda like a nice portrait. Still it doesn't count unless I have a story to put it too.

Also, what did you think of the opening credits to MY MAN GODREY? I heard in the commentary for RUNNING TIME that you were a big fan of opening credits. I like the closing credits of ATLANTIC CITY where everytime the wrecking ball hits the building they change the music like a radio.

Also, what did you think of the scene transitions in ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW? They had some weird ones there.

Also, just watched ANGELS AND INSECTS... that was a sick, sick, disgusting movie.... I loved it. however, is it supposed to be a flashback because during the opening titles you see our leading man dancing dark haired women that looks like the servant women in the story and at the end of the film they both talked about going back to that place in the jungle.

And on the ANGELS AND INSECTS family tree the blond girls before he was married, were they his wife's daughters? did she have kids with her brother earlier before she met him, or were her parents inbred too? or first cousins?

Kevin

P.S. My two all time favorites out of all the movies I watched so far are THEY SHOOT HORSES DON'T THEY? and JUDGMENT AT NUREMBURG (although I can't seem to think of any questions for either of them)

Why on Earth would anyone want to make a biopic of Frederic March's life? The man was an actor, and a good one, but not a particularly important person. Who needs to see biopics of people who just did their jobs?

Regarding "The Blind Waiter," Scott Spiegel knew the guy who owned the restaurant, which was next door to where Scott worked, so we got it for free. We shot all night for two nights. Yes, I've stolen shots. I never got permission to shoot at the veteran's hospital for TSNKE, but I shot there anyway. I even started the shot close-up on their logo. I also snuck onto an army base to get the shot of the marines leaving the base.

I don't remember the credits for "My Man Godfrey," or the transitions in "Rocky Horror."

I liked "Angels and Insects." Sadly, the lead actor was a tad too dull for his own good, but it was definitely an intertesting film.

I admire "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" but I can't say I really like it. It's a tough movie to watch. "Judgement at Nuremburg" is one of my favorites.

Josh

Name: Jonathan Moody
E-mail: jondoe_555@yahoo.com

Dear Josh:

Well I think since "Sin City" was directed by Rodriguez (who was a fan of the series) and Frank Miller (who drew the comics) it was their idea to do something different with the genre. Instead of just making an adaptation like everybody is, they are making a live action/animated comic movie. And the style and look of the film worked. It was no doubt going to be a blockbuster because, well, look at the movies it was up against. I think anybody who read the books loved it because it was true to the graphic novels. That's the only reason it got made. Plus if you saw Frank Millers movies Hollywood really fucked them up (I.E. Robocop 2 which I think his version and Hollywoods version were completly different). He just needed to do something he was proud of and I think Rodriguez helpped him with that.

Now on a completely different note have you seen "School of Rock" The Richard Linklater/Mike White movie? And have you heard about Linklater adapting Phillip K Dick's novel "A Scanner Darkly" doing it the way he did "Waking Life" by animating over live action but now having lots of action in it?

Your fan,
Jonathan

I'm pleased if Frank Miller has finally made a film he's proud of, he's a very friendly nice guy. To me, in my backward, old-school, stick-in-the-mud POV, "Sin City" looks like 2005's version of "Tron," and I have a feeling I'll enjoy it just as much. I bailed out on "School of Rock," which seemed incredibly forced to me. I thought Jack Black was much better in "High Fidelity." I also bailed out on "Waking Life," which just seemed unwatchable. I did like "Tape" quite a bit (I watched it twice), but Linklater's direction is the weakest aspect by far.

Josh

Name: Greene
E-mail: greenebrett@spymac.com

Hi Josh

Another quick recommendation. I caught 'Hostage' last night. It's actually quite good and much better than I had anticipated - although maybe that's me eager for an intelligent action film. The film is shot and edited quite beautifully, has a fine bombastic score and Bruce Willis is quite apt. It's just a shame it threw believability out the window.

Wondering if anyone else has seen it?

It doesn't sound like my cup of tea.

Josh

Name: Robert Clark
E-mail: rrthngt@aol.com

Dear Josh:

I've been obsessively reading IMDB user comments and Ain't It Cool Talkback comments for Alien Apocalypse. A majority of the comments rightfully criticize the film for its ineptitude on various levels (script, composition, continuity, casting) but, you see, my obsession with user comments springs from those people who justify the film as being "wink, wink" or "self-knowingly bad." There are people who claim the film was meant to be a bad, B movie. It's a common misconception to associate B movies with being bad. 'Psycho' is probably the most famous of all B movies, Edgar Ulmer's 'Detour,' is yet another. Those movies are not bad but were produced on a B production level. Alien Apocalypse may very well have been produced under B movie guidelines, but it certainly took itself seriously enough to try and push a liberal, political agenda and a message about human resilience. There's no doubt that a few lines like, "Hey Scumbag," and "Those bounty hunters are fags," were thrown in for humor, but even on that level...they didn't succeed.

Alas, this is all my opinion. So in writing you, Mr. Becker, the filmmaker...I'd like for you clarify what your intentions really were...

Was Alien Apocalypse a serious attempt to make a serious film or was it a serious attempt to make a seriously bad movie? I hope you don't read this and decide not to post and answer, because I think it's important for a filmmaker to respond to fans. I love Bruce and I love Thou Shalt Not Kill...Except. I was just deeply, deeply disturbed by Alien Apocalypse. To Ed Woodian proportions.

It's a silly movie and was meant to be a silly movie. However, unlike most of the SciFi films which are severely humorless, this film doesn't take itself quite so seriously. I truly think we're in a world of hyperbole, and movies are either "a masterpiece" or "the worst film ever," whereas almost everything falls into the gray area in between. I don't accept you or anyone else calling the film Ed Woodian because it's just patently not true. If fake beards are the criteria for being Ed Woodian, then "Gettysburg" would win that award. And if it's using foreign actors and dubbing them, then all of Sergio Leone's films are Ed Woodian. I cruised those message boards, too, and there are some really stupid comments, which people are certainly allowed to make, and the internet now allows for that. But considering that, and I quote a letter from the head of SciFi Network,"'Alien Apocalypse' is Sci Fi's number ONE stand-alone movie ever," I guess I had the right elements to at least get people to tune in, then stay tuned in.

Josh

Name: tom
E-mail:

Dear Josh:

when you finish writing a script, when should you copywrite it? if you copywrite it then do a "re-write" do you have to copywrite it again?

also, do you know if the independent feature film market [iffm] still exsists? i think it does but i cant find its website - and i would assume it has one

thank you

It's ifp.org, the Independent Feature Project, and their site is there because I just went there. I always copyright the first draft, and that's it. The copyright office doesn't want you sending in multiple drafts.

Josh

Name: Robert Lethbridge
E-mail: mywindingway@juno.com

Dear Josh:

Found a link to your site while reading on screenwriting. Especially liked your piece on Wyler. Just got done with your prophetic Our Own Worst Enemy - that was absolutely superb.

Thank you. If anything else piques your interest, let us know and we'll all discuss it.

Josh

Name: ashley richter
E-mail: glassgrlhot17@aol.com

Dear Josh:

i have a question, i am doing a paper on your movie, and i have to compare and contrast, your movie, evil dead, "book of the dead", and dead alive, i have found many useful references, but i haven't found out how much fake blood you used in the filming of this awesome movie. I thought it was very creative to use your own mounts and i think dollies for your special effects, very awesome, and money saving im sure, but could you just let me know how much blood was used in EVIL DEAD

thanks -Ash ha ha, no relation to bruce Cambells character. :)

You keep saying "your movie, your mounts, your special effects." I just worked on the film. It was Sam's movie, Sam's camera mounts, and Sam's special effects, I just helped. I don't think anyone can give you an accurate record of how much fake blood we used, but we did buy up every bottle of Karo syrup (the main ingredient in fake blood) in Morristown, Tennessee. I'll bet we used at least 25-30 bottles during principal photography, then quite a bit more during all of the pick-up shooting for the next year. Good luck on your paper.

Josh

Name: Jonathan Moody
E-mail: jondoe_555@yahoo.com

Dear Josh:

I think what Troy meant by Digital Backlot filmmaking is what Robert Rodriguez did with Sin City. He shot it entirely on HD with a blue screen and just had the actors act in front of the blue screen and painted everything else. I mean if you ever really look at a Rodriguez film (and I know you don't like them at all) you'll see that he does all aspects of filmmaking even the sound design. His DVDs are really cool because they show his own digital film schools. And they are helpful. However the look and feel of "Sin City" was that of a comic book. It WAS the comic book. I liked "Sin City" Because I like the comics. The fact that you don't like comics would make this the perfect movie to miss. However the cinematography on the movie was beautiful. So I guess his question that I'll reitterate is "What do you think of digital backlot filmmaking" now that you know what it is?

Your fan,
Jonathan

If it's appropriate for what your doing then it's great. You wouldn't want to do a drama in front of a blue screen. Why you would want your movie to look like the drawings in a comic book is beyond me. It seems like a step backward for movies.

Josh

Name: Greene
E-mail: greenebrett@spymac.com

Dear Josh:

"digital backlot filmmaking."

Troy can clarify, but I think he meant to refer to how films like 'Sky Captain...' are made - digitally, with all the props and set being recreated using CG technology. What is your impression of that? I've always found working with real things, makes for, well...a realistic reaction and action sequence.

bg

If you have an effects-laden movie and your live action elements are only one bit of a digital stew, why not shoot digital and on a backlot? But special effects are just an element in a filmmakers toolbox. If your movie is all about special effects, it will suck.

Josh

Name: Greene
E-mail: greenebrett@spymac.com

Hi Josh,

It's been awhile, but I've caught up with some recent posts. First, in light of doing an alien enslavement movie, I was reminded of a good mini-series from 2002 called Taken (produced by Steven Spielberg). It was about survivors of alien abductions and the ties they shared. It also served to look at how the American political and social climate changed from 1947 to 2002 and in doing so, ended up being heavily character driven. Have you seen this series? It's recommended.

I'm reading 'Love All the People' by Bill Hicks and 'QI: The Quest for Intelligence' by Kevin Warwick. Both good reads and both non-fiction. I recommend those as well.

Thanks for the recommendations. I'm nearing the end of "The Metaphysical Club" by Louis Menand, which was sort of difficult, but very interesting. It shows how thinking completely changed between 1859 and 1900.

Josh

Name: Trey Smith
E-mail: cobra_commander_of_cobra@yahoo.com

Dear Josh:

I was watching TCM today and saw an advertisement for a showing of a cut of "Touch of Evil"restored to Orson Welles' original vision. Do you plan on watching it?

Also, Alien Apocalypse was great. Definately the only Sci-Fi movie I've ever enjoyed.

Which is saying a lot I guess. =)

Later.

I have the restored "Touch of Evil" on tape and on DVD. I've seen the film many, many times, and it's a good one. I'm glad you enjoyed "AA."

Josh

Name: Darryl Mesaros
E-mail: simonferrer@sbcglobal.net

Dear Josh,

Sorry I took so long to reply (I had drill this weekend). Anyway, you're certainly right about Bruce Campbell getting more popular; do you think he'll make the breakthrough to lead roles in A-list pictures one of these days? I was just thinking that he would do quite well in a Merchant/Ivory production, seeing as how they always write a token American character into their scripts (Congressman Lewis in REMAINS OF THE DAY, for example). He fits the European stereotype of an American man quite well; tall, chiseled good looks, Midwestern accent. I also think that he has the dramatic chops to carry such a role. What do you think? As for a business partnership, would you consider more deals like the one for ALIEN APOCALYPSE? I think that with a longer running time allowance and a less effects-laden screenplay, another television movie has strong possibilities and potentially good production value. I understand that you shot what sold to SCIFI, but are other stations interested in similiar types of deals? With your directing experience, coupled with Bruce's acting and name recognition (which helps with sell the project), alot is possible.

Darryl

Bruce and I have a couple of projects in the works, and Bruce has a number of other things cooking, too. There will be a lot of Bruce Campbell stuff around in the next year. He's already started to tour with his film "The Man With the Screaming Brain," and his new book will be out in June. So, we'll see what pops. As for Bruce being in a Merchant/Ivory film, I have no doubt he could do the parts played by Christopher Reeve in "Remains of the Day" or Matthew Modine in "Le Divorce." However, could he play Anthony Hopkins' part in "Howard's End"? Well, that remains to be seen.

Josh

Name: Tara Murphy
E-mail: evilcritters@hotmail.com

Josh,

"Lunatics: A Love Story." Will I ever be able to get it on DVD? I can only find one video store in Toronto that even carries it (I haven't been to them all, but I've been to an awful lot of them).
I just emailed Anchor Bay to encourage them.
And I loved "Running Time." Thanks so much for all the fun.
And I too enjoyed "Sin City" tremendously. Is that not allowed on this site? (Not that it matters to me...)

Tara

No, say anything you want. If you like "Sin City," then proudly proclaim it. Sing it from the rooftops. I'm just not a fan of comic books turned into movies, and this one looks like it got stuck halfway. Meanwhile, I think Anchor Bay would be happy to release "Lunatics" on DVD, but it's Columbia who owns it.

Josh

Name: John Hunt
E-mail: Chowkidar@aol.com

Josh,

Just a quick follow-up on "The Upside of Anger". It's a nice movie, not an all-time great. I didn't mean to overstate its case. Movies are routinely so poor these days that I thought "Anger" stood out in comparison. And I do think Joan Allen is quite good in it.

John

All right then. My sister really liked it.

Josh

Name: Kevin Sheehan
E-mail: Seifer108525@aol.com

Dear Josh:

You are a fucking idiot and should be shot for even witing this because Steven Spielberg has made some great movies. Saving Private Ryan was absolutly one of the best movies portraying WWII and that War was not what most people think of it. Steven Spielberg is an incredible director and producer and deserves a lot of what he has

I liked "Jaws."

Josh

Name: Tom
E-mail: Bellyoptopus@yahoo.com

Dear Josh:

I was shocked and heartbroken to hear comedian Mitch Hedberg died. One of the most funny & original standup comics I've ever heard. Was he someone you knew of and enjoyed Josh?

Never heard of him.

Josh

Name: Rita K
E-mail: haddasah4@yahoo.com

Great movie Josh, keep the films coming! For anyone whose reading this - Alien Apocalypse Rocked!

-Rita K

Thanks. To answer an earlier question about the dubbing (or looping), it's a very difficult process that never works quite right, in my opinion. In my independent features I always try as hard as I can to use as much live production sound as humanly possible. There is very little looping in "RT" or "Hammer." There is a reality that comes from the live track that can't be matched. So when you end up looping most of the characters in a film, a big portion of the foundation of reality is removed. Yes, many of the replaced lines are similar in tone and ambiance, that's because it's actors locked in a booth watching a screen while wearing headphones and listening to beeps, trying to match the lip movements of foreign actors who are pronouncing English words strangely. That this process works at all is a miracle. Strangely, after a point of being stuck in that booth, all the American actors began to develop Bulgarian accents as they tried desperately to make the words fit the mouth movements. We would have to stop and let them de-Bulgarianize.

Josh

Name: John Rambo
E-mail: thisisjohnrambo@yahoo.com

Dear Josh,

I wanted to greatly congratulate you on the very creative and well-made Alien Apocalypse! Very sci-fi but with some humor too. I was glad there was finally a hero for humanity. The score was great, I was wondering if any of it in the last battle scenes was influenced by Rambo music? That was awesome, like in the second Rambo film he uses exploding arrows I was reminded of that in those scenes.

Also I was curious if you know if any extra or extended scenes will be in the DVD release? Totally great acting by Bruce and Renee, and that other Bizzy chick was also very hot! I was very pleased indeed with the sexy love scene you mentioned but wished it had lasted longer.

Well, I tried to send this message last week but I think there were technical problems.

Thanks,

John

Glad you liked it. I don't know what will be on the DVD, but it's not like much get edited out, so there's nothing to restore. There is a pretty big difference between the Director's Cut and the final version, but it would take kind of a lot of money to reedit, rescore, etc., and I don't think anyone will pay for it. I know Joe LoDuca, the composer, is a big fan of the late great Jerry Goldsmith, as am I, so I wouldn't doubt there is an influence, but I don't think anything specific. And yes, as always, I think Joe came through for me with a really top-notch score.

Josh

Name: Charles
E-mail: cscorder@hotmail.com

Dear Josh:

When a writer sells an original script, does he or she give up all rights?

For example, if the Sci-Fi Channel's parent company decided to produce a sequel to "Alien Apocalypse" or to make a series based on its characters, would they have to pay you? Or do they now own all of the rights?

Sincerely,

Charles

They own all the rights. And yes, when you sell a script you sell all the rights.

Josh

Name: Troy
E-mail: Chrstine16@sbcglobal.net

Dear Josh,

I liked your essay about bailing out of L.A. Im a filmmaker who never believed in L.A. from the beginning. I'm curious to know how difficult it to make a living producing films outside of the L.A. system?

I don't live in LA anymore, but I'm not really outside the system. "AA" was made for a company in LA. Oddly, the company I'm now dealing with, Anchor Bay, is located a few miles from me here in Michigan. But Bruce is the man who bailed on LA first, and admittedly he's got more going for him than your or I, but he kept assuring me that I could leave LA anytime I wanted and it wouldn't change anything because all business is done on the phone anyway, and he was right. Nobody cares where anyone else is. The bottom-line is do you have something they want? And if you do, you can live in a cabin in Ulaanbaatar. Here's the most horrible piece of information about the whole film business, put to me ever so succinctly by Rob Tapert: "If someone wants to say yes to you, they'll find you."

Josh

Name: Jonathan Moody
E-mail: jondoe_555@yahoo.com

Dear Josh:

But not to sound ass-kissy or anything but I realllly enjoyed "Alien Apocalypse". It was a fun sci fi action/comedy. It seemed like an homage to some of your favorite films. Like it seemed like "Spartacus", "Bridge on the river Kwai" and "Planet of the apes" all mixed in one with comedy spread out. Good stuff. My friend and I loved the flick. And soon when I get my pay pal account started I'm gonna be picking up "If I had a hammer".

Now since this is a Q and A I'll ask a couple questions. These are regarding your old days. When you did a short film did you treat it like a feature? (I.E. Pre-production, production, post-production) And as for "Blind Waiter". How did you and Scott work on it together? Did one of you work on the acting while the other set up the shots? Seeing both of your films seperately I can tell you guys both have a different way of directing. Scott does alot of cool shots (that can sometimes get a bit distracting) and you concentrate more on the storytelling and interesting characters. But you are both wonderful in your own original ways. Keep it up!

Your fan,
Jonathan

I'm glad you liked it. I prefer it when people like my films, but it's obviously not necessary. There are obviously more film references in "AA" than the ones that have been mentioned. As for working with Scott on "The Blind Waiter," 25 years ago in 1980, it was a beautiful little collaboration. We conceived all of the gags together as we walked through the closed restaurant, then shot the whole film in two long nights. I was the cameraman and I had storyboarded the whole film, so I physically directed the film, but Scott kept the comedy alive all night for those two nights, and he kept everybody in the right mood, a silly mood, which I think is conveyed in the film. That was a fun movie to make.

Josh

Name: Troy Hamilton
E-mail: Chrstine16@sbcglobal.net

Hello. I was wondering what is your take on digital backlot filmmaking and it's role in the future of movies. Thanks.

I don't know what you mean by "digital backlot filmmaking." Please clarify.

Josh

Name: John Hunt
E-mail: Chowkidar@aol.com

Josh,

First, congratulations on "Alien Apocalypse". Given it's context I'd have to say it was an unmitigated success. I'm almost ashamed to say that I haven't gotten to see the whole movie yet. Between my three kids' crises I've only seen about two-thirds of the movie through three showings.

I know the issue of dubbing has been brought up already but I have a few specific questions for you. One of the big problems with the dubbing was the lack of depth; everyone was the same volume whether seen in close-up or from across the camp. I realize that some balancing is necessary but couldn't the sound editor(s) have mixed the dubbing to relect the position of the characters more? I also felt the dialogue was over-annunciated and over-inflected and wondered what you thought.

One thing I've come to appreciate about your movies is the allusions you make to other films. Some directors who do that sort of thing step out of the movie for a minute to wink into the camera while your references always seem to come within the flow of the action. I'll have to get a copy of "A.A." and watch it through a few times to get a good list but I did catch several (beyond the obvious "Planet of the Apes", "Spartacus").

My wife, an MD, got a kick out of Ivan's inferiority complex. She works with quite a few DO's and thinks they're all just great. I saw a movie, a drama, about Osteopathy which was made back in the thirties when Osteopathy was largely what Chiropractory is today. You wouldn't happen to remember that one, would you? It was a propaganda film, but a fascinating look at the burgeoning field.

I also wanted to mention that I watched "The Upside of Anger" last night and think it's the best film I've seen in the theater in a year. It's a Mike Binder film and I've never been impressed by his stuff before but I really enjoyed "Anger". Joan Allen gives a really good performance and it's the best work Costner's done in a long time, in my humble opinion. The movie really stays inside itself which is rare these days. It has a nice ending as well, which I won't give away. If you get a chance you might give it a look and tell what you think.

Congratulations again on "A.A." Keep us posted on the DVD release and long live residuals!

John

There are no residuals, this was a non-union gig. Yes, I hear "Upside of Anger" is good, and were I not such a stick-in-the-mud I 'd go see it. I admire Mike Binder, whom I've known since we were little kids when we were in the same cabin at Camp Tamakwa, because he's never given up on making his movies his way. Whether you like his vision or not, he's figured out how to retain his integrity and keep working. Meanwhile, I'd like to hear your assessment when you've finally seen the whole film, if your kids let you.

Josh

Name: Beelze
E-mail: beelzebubba@charter.net

Josh:

What was the approximate budget on Alien? (if you've already answered this, I apologise). Did you enjoy working with the scifi channel? And hasn't Gary Jones also directed some things himself?
Thank you.
B

It was $1.5 million in total, but we had about $500,000 with which to shoot the film. That's excluding all of the fees. SciFi Channel was fine, but I didn't really work for them. I made the film for the producer Jeff Franklin, who had a deal with SciFi. Yes, Gary Jones has directed a number of films: "Mosquito," "Spiders," "Crocodile 2: Death Roll," "Jolly Roger," and he's shooting "Raptor Island 2" with Ted Raimi, Steven Bauer and Peter Jason right now.

Josh

Name: Tom
E-mail: bellyoptopus@yahoo.com

Hi Josh,

I enjoyed "Alien Apocaplyse" on a certain level because I'm fan of Bruce, Renee' & Yourself, but it was pretty bad! But I got some chuckles out of it being pretty terrible. A small bunch of us watched it together but only 2 made it all the way through. I won't go into any details of the responses because I'm sure you heard them all by now.

As for the people who post attacks like, the only reason you have a career is because of Sam & Bruce...so what! Hardly anybody get's anywhere in the entertainment biz or any creative type biz without knowing somebody who established themselves...it's called networking! And they obviously haven't watched "If I Had A Hammer" either, because it's truly an excellent little independent film. That one really shows some polish & discipline on your part. It's a real shame that one didn't get any distribution.

I'm glad you all had fun making "Alien Apocalypse" and seeing Bruce doing impressions of Kirk Douglas must have been a real treat! Are there any plans for commentary from Yourself & The Cast on the DVD release?

I suppose there will be a commentary track. Hopefully, it will be at least Bruce and I.

Josh

Name: justine
E-mail: justine_srn@yahoo.com

Dear Josh:

what is the difference between a typewriter and a computer?

That reminds of the joke Robert DeNiro tells in "Mad Dog and Glory" -- Why is my girlfriend like an Apple computer? Neither one will go down.

Josh

Name: Moviemaven
E-mail: jenkinsj@uga.edu

Dear Mr. Becker,

Just wanted to drop you a line to let you know how much I enjoyed Alien Apocalypse. You did a wonderful job and Bruce delivered as usual. I also wanted to let you know that I appreciate the review link to your website. So many times we write them and know that they will never be read by those that did the work. I am happy you found it and now know how much I (and many others) enjoy your work. Keep it up and we will keep watching. :)

Maven

Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Josh

Name: Diana Hawkes
E-mail: upon request

Hi ya Josh -

Which message boards are you checking? I'd like to read the responses you're reading.

Greetings. The most extensive was on SciFi.com.

Josh

Name: Jason McNeal
E-mail: jason.mcneal@comcast.net

Hey Hey Joshy-Boy!

Alien Apocalypse was not too shabby!

As another poster mentioned, the chief bug pushing the other bugs outta the way sight gag was a neat little piece of business.

I thought it was great that the chick with the legcast got offed in the first few minutes. Brutal!

And I too really liked so much of it being shot outdoors. It was different.

The bugs being after all the earth's wood was an unexpected motive. Much better than a simple, boring, "We're taking over the planet and that's it."

Bruce's campfire scene was so funny! I gotta get me some potato liquor!

All you complainers, try sitting thru Sci-Fi's "Lost Voyage" with Judd Nelson. Now THAT is a terrible movie.

Over and Out,
Jason

I had a terrific time making the film, and I think I can safely say that Bruce and Renee did, too, and it got a good rating as well, so it was all a success to me.

Josh

Name: Richard
E-mail: filmfan_1@hotmail.com

Josh,

I know I'll get hammered for it on this site, but I had to write in and let everyone know how enthusiastic I was after seeing SIN CITY this morning.

What a fantastic film. Truly scorching. It was visually unlike anything I've ever seen, and had great characters and storylines to boot. A true knockout, in every sense of the word.

Josh - I know you'll hate it because of the "anthology" nature of the stories (not unlike Pulp Fiction's narrative), but I'd be remiss if I didn't tell you just how much I loved this film.

Richard

Hey, I'm glad you loved it. It's great to see a new movie and love it.

Josh

Name: August
E-mail: joxerfan@hotmail.com

Dear Josh,

Way to go on the 2.28 rating! As near as I can tell, you just barely missed out being in the Cable Top 15 for the week - # 15 last week was a kids' show on Nickelodeon called "Fairly Odd Parents," and it only got a 2.4. According to the Nielsen site, each rating point represents approx. 1,096,000 households, so about 2.5 million households tuned in, which might be 3 or 3.5 million people.

For comparison, Sci-Fi ecstatically announced last fall that it had reached an all-time high of a 1.0 average rating for the network. New episodes of "Stargate" usually get about a 2.0, and those Saturday night premieres usually get from 1.0 - 1.5.

Also for comparison, you managed to beat last week's episodes of "Charmed," "Gilmore Girls," "Star Trek Enterprise," and "Smallville" on the networks (although, granted, many were reruns.)

BTW, I think everyone's favorite Bulgarian super-model is named Rosi Chernogorova. The only other movie I can find that she was in was your colleague David Worth's "Shark Attack 3," and she's only in a few seconds of the tv version before she gets chomped by the shark, after a naked romp on the beach, which of course was edited out for tv. I suspect the uncensored dvd version might well provide people what they're lookin' for.

Speaking of whom, the burning question in the fan world today is: what did Bizzy mean when she mentioned several times that she thought she knew Ivan from somewhere before?

Thanks,

August

Thank you very much for explaining the ratings because I really didn't know. I heard several male members of the crew, who had worked on "Shark Attack 3," proudly proudly telling others that they had worked on the beach scene where Rosi runs out of the water completely naked. As to what Bizzy means when she first meets Ivan, I don't know.

Josh

Name: Scott Tukuloff
E-mail: scotttu1@lycos.com

Hi Josh,

I work over at Movies Online.ca, you recently did an interview with us and I am also a fan of the film "Alien Apocalypse". My question comes from one of our members (which I couldnt answer and I thought who better to ask than you).

The question was: "In the film Alien Apocalypse was the actress in the sheena outfit called Issy. her name dosint show up in any credits?"

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks and have a good one.

Scott

It's Bizzy, short for Elizabeth.

Josh

Name: kelly walker
E-mail: walkerke@yahoo.com

Dear Josh:

the question that i had is; who is the young lady that played the gal that on the way back from meeting the president was raped by that bountyhunter scumbag. i would give you the character name, but sadly i'm bad with names.she had dishwater blonde hair, tan leather two peice, knee high mocisons, and a compound bow, nap sack with some potatoe mash alchol. her name was something like frish or farshyi think it started with an "f". like i said i'm bad with names. the reason that i'm asking is because i was wondering what other movies if any she has been in. thank you for taking the time to answer this email.

Her name is Rosi and it's just terrible of me not to know her last name. She actually has a nice voice and her Bulgarian accent is very sexy. The way she really said "Potato liquor" was wonderful. Given that she's really a fashion model, I thought she did very well.

Josh

Name: Scott
E-mail:

Hey Josh,

Congrats on the success of Alien Apocalypse, I really enjoyed it for the most part. Bruce was great as always, and carried the picture quite well. Believe it or not I thought the best scene in the film was the scene where Ivan first encounters the president. I thought it was very well executed, and quite effective. I also thought that Peter Jason did a terrific job in such a small role. How many days did you haave him for? The one aspect that annoyed me about the film was an issue that was out of your hands of course, which was the dubbing. Obviously this was the only way to solve the problem and it was no one's fault, but I found it to be quite obvious in various places. Nonetheless, I still liked the film, and hope that you're able to get The Horribleness off the ground in the near future.

I don't like it any more than you. If I shoot in eastern Europe again I'll make sure they bring in more English speaking actors. But that's how this was set up, so I just went with it. Once Bruce and I decided to sign on board with this producer, we both agreed that we'd just buckle our seatbelts and go for the ride. Meanwhile, I thought that first scene with the president was pretty good. Bruce is particularly good. Peter is kind of acting up a storm, but it's suitable for the character and the scene and I think it works reasonably well. I had Peter Jason for one day, the very last day of the shoot, which was also the most difficult day of the whole shoot.

Josh

Name: Matt David T.
E-mail: msturnbull@comcast.net

Dear Josh,

Good on you for Alien Apocalypse doing so well.

Nice one. Funny stuff, very enjoyable. Well done, congratulate your crew (if you ever see them again.)

I'm confused about the dubbing myself. Ah well.

Oh, and I hope Sci-Fi sells the video game rights for it, and the people I work for pick it up. If so I've already got dibs.

Thanks.

Josh

Name: michael
E-mail: munderwo@verizon.net

Dear Josh:

in alien apocalypse who is the actress who plays "izzie"

The character's name was Bizzy, and the actress's name is Rosi something-or-other. She's one of the top models in Bulgaria, and she's really gorgeous.

Josh

Name: Bluntcritic
E-mail: blunt@thissucked.com

Dear Josh:

I wanted to like this, Mr. Becker's ego sure built it up.

The rating for this was high for one reason, fans of the two leads were sending their support for such a crappie, but not surprising swill SCIFI's been putting out lately.

Poor voice overs, crappie costumes, thin no plot line, poor script. Sorta like see spot run, run spot run. The special effects were just bad.

This was just hard to watch.

The story line was predictable, man, woman, ooo bugs, world survival, chessey sex scene added for the all out lacking touch, woman in trouble, ooo man saves world. Rolls eyes.

Mr. Becker snicker's and snide's on other films and directors, making his delusion of grandeur seem so superior, but he pumps out a below b-level crap.

Mr. Campbell is used to acting in poor flicks and I hope this doesn't end what little career Ms. O'Connor has. I can see why Lee Majors and Lucy Lawless passed on the masterpiece.

Mr. Becker, thank god for you that you know Mr. Sam Raimi, you need his name to continue your career.

2/10 rating or YUCK! And I'm being kind here.

Well, thank you for your kind review.

Josh

Name: Saul Trabal
E-mail: ghost_kingdom@yahoo.com

Josh,

I downloaded and watched "The Blind Waiter." Really cool-I liked it a lot. Frankly, I liked it a LOT more than Alien Apocolypse. :)

When was "The Blind Waiter" shot? And what part did you play-the chef?

The Chef was played by Scott Spiegel. I played the part of the cameraman.

Josh

Name: Darryl Mesaros
E-mail: simonferrer@sbcglobal.net

Dear Josh,

lol..No problem! By the way, have you and Bruce ever seriously considered forming a joint production company on a permanent basis? You would be definitely filling a void in the movie industry. The studio era had the B-list divisions, the sixties had Roger Corman and the partnership of Arkhoff and Nicholson, but what major independent entity is there today for the production of low-budget pictures?

Darryl

Good point. Who is there? Roger Corman is still around, but his stuff is so low-budget that it's now off the map. As for Bruce and I, I'd say we're both a little shy about getting into permanent business anythings. Besides, Bruce has a world of stuff going on that has nothing to do with me as the Bruce Campbell empire continues to grow. As I said to him yesterday (and I quote myself), "Bruce, you get one degree hotter every year." It's certainly better to be getting hotter than colder, and perhaps I'm picking up a bit of the radiant heat. As someone referred to me on a message board the other day, "Josh Whatsisname, the fringe guy."

Josh

Name: Meg Nathan
E-mail: megnathan@hotmail.com

Dear Josh:

This is TRASH! Worse than trash! It's totally incorrect historically for one thing. The Marquis and Medora never spent a winter in North Dakota and she would never have run to Roosevelt for help even if the Marquis had beat her - she didn't know him well enough or even like him very much and she had too much pride. By all accounts, the Marquis never abused Medora physically until he had lost virtually everything and they had been forced to move back to France (This I gleaned from Medora's own diary). Roosevelt didn't EVER fight the Marquis. In fact, he was called upon as a character witness during the Marquis' murdur trial. Furthermore, the men who worked for and with the Marquis said - to a man - that he was fair and honest and worked as hard, if not harder than the men under him. He may have been a snooty aristocrat, but he never would have kept another rancher from getting feed for his animals. It's not honorable....something Antoine de Vallombrosa always strove to be.

I am writing my own script about the Marquis and Medora and have encountered considerable opposition in the people I have attempted to interview because of TRASHY BOOKS AND MOVIES done before that have twisted the facts and taken them out of context, painting sleazy corrupt characters instead of a more realistic rendering of good people with human failings.

I understand completely when certain scenes or dialogue has to be "fictionalized"....but to completely pervert history this way is shameful.

They didn't fight? Really? The reason I wrote the script is because they should have fought. And you don't know that the Marquis didn't stop people from crossing his land. The shooting of those three men is true story and was undoubtedly done by the Marquis's men. The Marquis always strove to be honorable? This is one of the most despicable anti-semites of his time -- a time loaded with despicable anti-semites -- so to stand out is impressive.

Josh

Name: Charles
E-mail: cscorder@hotmail.com

Dear Josh:

Congratulations on the ratings success of "Alien Apocalypse." I enjoyed it very much. For some reason, the scenes of aliens biting humans' heads off always cracked me up. (Does this mean I need to seek professional help?) Seeing the head go down the alien's throat was a nice CGI touch, too. The homages to "Spartacus," "Planet of the Apes" and "The Road Warrior" were much appreciated on this end.

Bruce, as always, was magnificent. Do you have any idea how many times Bruce re-watched "Spartacus" to prepare for the role of slacker savior Ivan? (Naming the main character Ivan cracked me up, too.)

I know you hate sequels, but if there was ever a character who needed one, it's Bob The Mountain Man. Throw in Rossi, and that would be perfect.

Again, congratulations on "AA" and I'm looking forward to your next project.

Sincerely,
Charles

Thanks. I don't think Bruce re-watched "Spartacus" at all for this part, but he imitated Kirk Douglas playing the part frequently on the set, always to my great joy and hilarity. Bruce does a top-notch Kirk Douglas imitation. The character is named Ivan after Ivan Raimi, Sam's and Ted's older brother, who is in fact a D.O.

Josh

Name: August
E-mail: joxerfan@hotmail.com

Dear Josh,

That is super news about the ratings for "Apocalypse." Do you have any idea what the actual numbers were? (As in 3.2, 5.7, etc.) And any idea what the two previous highest-rated films were?

You'll be happy to know that my local paper has a big ol' photo of Bruce and Renee from the final battle scene at the top of the TV listings page today, and the movie is listed as one of the "Thursday Highlights." Not too shabby for a 3rd airing. It's the biggest paper in the state, and a Knight-Ridder affiliate, so that may bode well, but I don't know if some local copy editor stuck that in there, or if they got it off the wire.

In re-watching it, something cracked me up again: the way the alien commander storms out of the HQ building, abruptly pushing away the two insectoid guards on either side of him. That's such a cliched thing for a human actor to do, when playing a gruff commander; to see a special effect alien do it is just a wonderful little touch.

Regards,

August

It's a little nod to the Three Stooges. He should be saying in Moe's voice,"Get oughta the way!" The number was a 2.28, whatever that means, and no, I don't know what the other two higher rated films were.

Josh

Name: Eric
E-mail: bo130@excite.com

Dear Josh:

You mentioned previously that there was extensive overdubs on the actors voices in this movie.

Was H.G. Hertzler one of the people who did overdubs? I swear that one of the actors sounded exactly like "Martok" From Star Trek Deep Space 9.

I have no idea, but I doubt it.

Josh

Name: tom
E-mail:

Dear Josh:

i saw Alien Apocalypse and thought it was good for being a made for tv movie. although i really hated the voice over it was just way too road warrior

was it me or was there alot of dubbing?

No, it was you. Everybody except Bruce, Renee and Peter Jason (the President) was dubbed.

Josh

Name: Evan
E-mail: ema3924@uncw.edu

Dear Josh,

Just wanted to thank you for making Alien Apocalypse, it's by far the best movie sci-fi has put out that I can remember, and was the primary saturday night entertainment for my friends and I. Its got some great one-liners, my two favorites being Bruce telling that one guy, "your stupidity is terminal," as well as him saying "come on with this" when trying to use the bug weapon, which for some reason was hillarious to me. Just a solid, fun sci-fi movie with good characters and some great shots of the bulgarian countryside. I was also very happy to see that it was shown in the proper aspect ratio, something I don't remember seeing in other sci-fi movies. Is the DVD that's coming out going to be your directors cut? What are the major differences between it and the version shown on tv? Anyway, thanks for an enjoyable evening and keep up the good work.
-Evan

No one has suggested that they would pay for a "Director's Cut," since the film would then have to be reedited and rescored, so I don't think there will be such a thing. Yes, I shot the film at 1.85:1 and it was shown that way, which is nice.

Josh

Name: Bob
E-mail:

Dear Josh:

The President Lives!

Congratulations on the airing of Alien Apocalypse and for the good ratings news. I found the movie entertaining with just enough zany humor. The camera work made for a very nice movie to watch. I liked the way Bruce Campbell played his part with the one liners and Renee O'Connor did a very good job too. I think this is the first time I've seen either one in anything new since Xena. I hope the success of the movie leads to more good things to everyone involved.

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it.

Josh

Name: Saul Trabal
E-mail: ghost_kingdom

Heya Josh,

Well, I finally saw Alien Apocolypse, and I have to be brutally honest...

The film sucked. Yeah, I know this isn't supposed to be Citizen Kane, but even as brain candy, it came across as lame and humorless. It was as dull as white bread. I also hated the rape scene. I'm not squeamish, nor necessarily against scenes like this. However, given the type of movie this was, I don't think there was any place for it. I didn't like the trivial manner the rape was treated, either. I wanted to know how the woman was coping with the rape. Bruce's character killing the rapist didn't really redeem the scene for me.

Eh! It's a paycheck, I guess. As Bruce said to one critic at a screening of Evil Dead in Brooklyn, back in 2002:

"Hey-I have to pay my mortage, asshole!"

That comment got a huge laugh, BTW.

It **was** good to see Renee and Bruce on the small screen, and at least they'll get exposure.

Take care.

Saul

You can't please all the people all the time, nor would I want. Having cruised the message boards, people are really split on this film, they like it or that hate it, nobody seems wishy-washy. The best quote so far came from Mrs. Raimi (Sam's and Ted's mom), who said, "I see worse movies everyday." Maybe they'll put that on the DVD box.

Josh

Name: Josh P.
E-mail: ferricdog@yahoo.com

Dear Josh:

I rather liked "Alien Apocalypse." I thought it was a well-written and entertaining story. The character development was certainly far more than one usually sees in 'SciFi Originals.' That said, i have a few questions. First, what would you have done differently had you produced the film independently? Aside from the title change, what impact did it being produced by SciFi have on the finished film? Finally, when you wrote the script for "Humans in Chains," did you have Bruce Campbell in mind for Ivan? He seemed to fit the role quite well.

Thanks for your work.

Josh

Actually, no, the script was not originally written with Bruce in mind. I did have him in mind while rewriting it, though. Had I done it myself, depending on the budget, I probably wouldn't have shot it in Bulgaria with Bulgarian actors, then dubbed it later with Americans. That to me was kind of nutty.

Josh

Name: Darryl Mesaros
E-mail: simonferrer@sbcglobal.net

Dear Josh,

Congratulations on ALIEN APOCALYPSE! While it showed it's TV budget a little in the production values, the film on the whole was entertaining and well done. Bravo!

Darryl

P.S. Kudos to Shirley and Brian for getting the site problem fixed so quickly. My hat's off to 'em.

D.

"It showed it's TV budget a little"? Thank you for your kind understatement.

Josh

Name: Marcey Martin
E-mail: gabrielle365@hotmail.com

Dear Josh:

i live in canada and don't get the si-fi channel. I was really looking forward to watching alien apocalypse. Could you tell me when the movie might play in canada, or tell me were i could buy a copy.
thanks
Marcey:)

It will be coming out on DVD pretty soon through Anchor Bay, but I don't know when.

Josh

Name: August
E-mail: joxerfan@hotmail.com

Dear Josh,

Congratulations on the premiere of "Alien Apocalypse!"

I've got to say first and foremost that it has got to be the most *beautiful* film ever shot for Sci-Fi in Bulgaria! Granted, your story was set largely outdoors anyway, but still, way to go for taking advantage of the region's natural beauty (and no, I'm not talking about Rosi. Well, not entirely.) Kudos to everyone (I guess primarily David Worth and Gary Jones) for capturing that brilliant green foliage - I especially liked the opening montage. Although speaking of montages, I liked that sawmill-machinery montage too.

Another thing I found refreshing was simply how well you guys used light. This was about the first of the made-in-Bulgaria features on Sci-Fi I've seen that wasn't shrouded in darkness and shadows and murk and gloom. No reason not to have action happen outdoors, and in the sunlight... and even interior scenes - like the cramped slaves' quarters in that pit, and the late-night scenes of Bruce and his followers - were all very clear, with amber or bluish light illuminating the action. Although I gotta say - I knew I'd been watching too many of these films when I saw the stream where the guy Bob is fishing, and I found myself thinking "Hey! That's the radioactive stream from 'Raptor Island!' "

2nd thing I liked was the alien SFX. Sure, it wasn't "Jurassic Park," but by comparison to recent films I've seen, they were quite well done. I really couldn't tell when I was seeing a practical alien marionette, and when it was cgi. Also really liked the surreal design for the aliens' HQ building - who knew 2x4's could be twisted around like that?

Of course the music was superb as we all knew it would be, and of course Renee and Bruce did a fine job. The script made me laugh as much as it did when you first posted it (it was always my fave of the ones I've read) and I liked the new bits that were added - like Bruce's expression when he realizes that his weapon is a tiny drill bit. I know you didn't intend for there to be too much deeper meaning read into a nice little action romp like this.... but I really do appreciate some underlying themes that are floating around somewhere in there - how tenuous our hold on this planet is, how easily we might be subjugated, and the irony of a sort of sarcastic slacker becoming a hero by default. But otherwise, just generally refreshing to see an actual plot beyond Humans vs. Monsters.

About the only things I didn't like were out of your control, I suspect. I bet you could have had another 30 minutes at least, especially at the beginning. Just more character development, more scenes of the slaves, etc. but I know that the format made it all get crammed together and so it seemed rushed.

Note: as you predicted, the little glimpses of aliens spying on the humans as they are captured made no sense, but it didn't detract from my enjoyment of it in any way whatsoever. Those wigs and beards on the other hand..... damn. Reminded me of Bustoff the wrestler, who Curly disguised himself as. But again, not your fault. And while the actor who played the old guy Jeff (and whoever dubbed him) did pretty good - a nice authentic "rural" sound to his voice - I'm not sure too many of the Bulgarian actors should quit their day jobs, and unfortunately, much of the dubbing sounded like the same two guys over and over again. Remy Franklin and Jonas Talkington did nice jobs with their parts, however, and Rosi (and whoever dubbed her) seemed quite earnest and sincere in her few little scenes.

Was it "Ben Hur?" No. But it kept me entertained and made me smile for two hours. So congrats.

Regards,

August

Thank you. I really am glad you enjoyed it. As a note, "Alien Apocalypse" was the highest-rated Saturday night movie on SciFi in over a year, and the third highest ever.

Josh

Name: Shirley
E-mail: shirley@beckerfilms

Dear Josh:

Hey, I hope you aren't paying your sorry excuse for a webmaster. (test)

No, but I ought to be.

Josh

Name: Darryl Mesaros
E-mail: simonferrer@sbcglobal.net

Dear Josh,

I just wanted to chime in on something you said about SUNSET BLVD that's been tickling me a little. In the bridge game scene all the card players are indeed real former silent film stars, but the blond woman at the table is not Hedda Hopper; rather, it's Anna Q. Nilsson. Hedda Hopper also plays herself, but her scene is in Norma's bedroom after the police have arrived, where she's dictating on the telephone ("Damn it, man, don't bother with the rewrite, take it direct! ...It's morning now in the murder house where Norma Desmond, famous star of yesteryear, is in a state of complete mental shock....."). Anna Q. Nilsson's only line is when she names her suit in the bridge game.
Just to say one thing more about SUNSET BLVD before laying it to rest, I remember Gloria Swanson's line where she says of silent film actors, "We didn't need dialogue. We had faces!" I think this played out in the bridge game scene when William Holden comes up to Gloria Swanson and asks for money. The glance that H.B. Warner and Buster Keaton shared with each other had incredible depth to it; it conveyed irony, pity and sadness without a single word spoken. I think that is a talent that was lost with the silent era.

Darryl

Thanks for the correction. And yes, it is a great little glance between Keaton and Warner. The great actors can still convey a world of meaning with their expressions. One of my favs is Marlon Brando in "The Godfather," in the first scene with the undertaker. He asks, "God-a-father, be my friend?" Brando raises a single eyebrow and shrugs, which seems to say, Maybe I will, maybe I won't, what's in it for me? Gloria Swanson was one of the great silent film actors, and her control of her facial expressions was amazing. Meanwhile, her autobiography, "Swanson on Swanson," was great; she was a truly fascinating woman, and not a bit like Norma Desmond. She was very happy to retire from films in the early 1930s, having worked non-stop since she was fifteen. She was very intelligent and had many other interests beside movies. It still blows my mind that he first husband was Wallace Beery, and the marriage lasted about 3 days. Beery was this huge, 250 lb. galoot, and Swanson was 4'11" and about 90 lbs. I think they had sex once, then that was the end of the deal.

Josh

Name: Boris Grushenko
E-mail: rosskishiphatu@hotmail.com

Dear Josh:

Well, I'll tell you right up front that isn't my name. It is a character's name in a movie. See if you can remember the movie title on the top of your head. It is one of the funniest movies of all time (I say in a subjective statement). My i"real" question though s are you happy with the films you have made and feel they are of good quality? Don't worry this is from a fan.