Looking inside Bluebox and seeing top local filmmakers

By Sean Leary / MOLINE DISPATCH / August 2003

The next Steven Spielberg or George Lucas could be shopping -- or even bagging your groceries -- at Hy-Vee right now.

After all, the creators behind the local film company Bluebox Limited are just area high school and college students at this point. However, they're destined for great things in the world of cinema. Based on their talent level at such young ages, I have the utmost confidence that these guys are going places -- and sooner rather than later.

I've been somewhat familiar with a lot of the actors and filmmakers involved with the group for a while. Many of them have been in high school and local theater productions and, ergo, many of them have been mentioned in these pages. However, I hadn't actually seen any of the Bluebox works until earlier this year.

Max Collins asked me to be a judge for the Iowa Film Awards and as such, I spent a long Saturday this spring in Muscatine, watching a bunch of regional features and shorts. Some of them were pretty brutal. But in the midst of the pile were a couple of pictures called "Prism'' and "Remembering November.'' They stood out so far and away from most of the rest of the pack that it was a no-brainer for me to vote for them to grab the top honors. The other judges concurred and "November'' took home the Award of Achievement and "Prism'' the Award of Excellence -- two of the top three trophies in their category.

"Prism'' and "November'' were absolutely amazing, especially when you considered these films were being made by kids in or just out of high school. They both looked terrific -- the technical aspects of them were incredibly slick for "amateur'' filmmakers. The acting and direction also were surprisingly mature.

However, there were two things that really stood out even beyond those obvious surface advantages: the intelligence and imagination of the scripts and the earnest effort and ambition of the filmmakers.

Part of my job is to review films and as such, every year I see dozens of new movies -- from low-budget indies to mammoth Hollywood blockbusters. Many of them are depressingly formulaic and devoid of entertainment value. For all the millions that are thrown up on screen to make everything look sharp, it's sad that so little effort is put into the most important aspect of any film -- the story.

I can safely say "Prism'' and "November'' are well represented in that respect. Sure, they've got their formulaic aspects. Almost all films do. But there's a genuine effort on the part of screenwriters Bryan Woods ("Prism'') and Scott Beck ("November'') to present interesting ideas within a compelling and well-written plotline, and they succeed in doing so.

"Prism'' is in the vein of the classic film "Memento.'' A lonely man (Justin Marxen) tries to solve the mystery surrounding his wife's murder. As he begins piecing together clues, he stumbles across a deeper and more disturbing truth than he imagined.

"Remembering November'' is reminiscent of "Vanilla Sky'' in how it mixes drama and science-fiction and throws its concept of reality into strange spins. In it, a college student (Tristan Layne Tapscott) finds himself interning for a creepy corporation called Winston Technologies. After having his curiousity stoked by various oddities of the job and office, he investigates the sinister secrets of the company and winds up in an "X-Files'' style conspiracy.

Both movies wear their influences on their sleeves, which is a typical trait of works by young artists. But the good thing is the filmmakers have excellent taste (i.e. they're cribbing from the right people) and the talent to bring their vision to fruition. By emulating the positives of their influences and adding their own touches they're building for what I believe will be a promising future.

But don't just take my word for it. See for yourself. Both "Prism'' and "November'' will be presented at various times Thursday through Saturday at the Q-C Brew and View, 1611 2nd Ave., Rock Island. Call 788-8439 or log on to www.qcbrewandview.com for show times. You also can buy the videos online at www.blueboxlimited.com. I think you'll be impressed. I certainly was.

And someday when they're accepting their Oscars, you can say you knew them when ...