O me of little faith. Richard Dutcher, the guy who made the first Mormon niche film, God’s Army, goes around making sure he’s referred to as “The Mormon Spielberg.” Meanwhile, the guys at HaleStorm seem to have set their sights on becoming “The Mormon Farrelly brothers,” I guess. But with their new film, Church Ball, as they try to break out of the Mormon ghetto they helped define–and saturate with mediocre comedies–I think they’re well on their way to earning the title, “The Mormon Rawson Marshall Thurber,” and they’re welcome to it.
From the NYT puff piece hailing The New Mormon Wave of fogettable cinema:
So far, the price of cultural crossover seemed to be merely good-natured exasperation. As the cameras rolled, an actor unspooled streams of profanity, and Hale had to assure his extras, all Mormon, that the four-letter words would be dubbed over with a ref’s whistle.
The Cinema of Latter-Day Saints [nyt mag]
Also in the NYT Mag: Jim Jarmusch shows how it’s actually done.
Related? A guy who went to high school with Napoleon Dynamite producer Jeremy Coon is trying to out-filmmake him before their 2007 reunion. Good luck with that.