“Chaos Experiment” limited in first weekend of release

Returns for “The Chaos Experiment”, were limited at just two Grand Rapids area theaters over the weekend with just 225 tickets sold for the R-rated thriller.

The movie that was shot in Grand Rapids over 16 days in September 2008 stars Val Kilmer and Armand Assante, and some noticeable Grand Rapids landmarks like the Amway Grand Plaza, the Van Andel Museum Center, the Grand Rapids Police Department, the Bull’s Head Tavern, and the Grand Rapids Press.

In an earlier press release, we were told that the movie would be out on DVD in June… but now it looks like it will be closer to an August release.   June is just around the corner and “Chaos” has not posted for release on any of the major DVD release websites.   Amazon.com has the release date as August 4th.   But, a spokesperson at Genius Products tells me “we haven’t officially announced the DVD street date, but I can tell you that if it were in June we would have already announced it”.

I’ll keep you posted!!

Read more about “The Chaos Experiment”, formerly “The Steam Experiment”

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Its great to see Grand Rapids and its local talent looking so good on the big screen.   There were numerous spatterings of applause and cheers during the premiere of “The Chaos Experiment”, a movie that shot in Grand Rapids for 16 days in September 2008, the first since Michigan’s generous tax incentives were passed.

Too bad the applause and cheers were limited to noticing local landmarks like the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel, the Grand Rapids Police Department, the carousel at the Van Andel Museum Center, the Bull’s Head Restaurant, the Grand Rapids Press and local actors (like Doug Alchin and Michael Travis) getting their few minutes of screentime and delivering their handful of lines… because the movie itself hovers around average.   Anyone who wasn’t involved or isn’t somehow connected to Grand Rapids, or a fan of Val Kilmer should wait on seeing this movie.

Warning to parents: this movie is rated R for its violence, nudity, and language.

Its sad to say, but this movie had the potential to be so much better, in the end its appeal will be limited to Grand Rapidians, the people involved with or interested in this project, and die hard Kilmer and Armand Assante fans.

Director Philippe Martinez told us on set that this was going to be a Hitchcock-like thiller, but somewhere along the way, it lost its connection to the famed director that set up many of our modern suspense thrillers.

The pacing is off… the violence is more graphic than implied… the movie drifts in and out of being serious… the plot doesn’t have a building climax that gets more and more intense… and I was never on the edge of my seat.  I cringed a couple times at the violence, but not from suspense.

This is the second time in less than a year I’ve said this, but this movie felt like a director’s cut… you know, when you’ve seen a movie and loved it, and get to see the slightly longer versions of scenes or different scenes than you saw before.    But this is the opposite… here a vasy majority of scenes needed to be tightened up, moving to the next scene and move the story along.

I can appreciate the dark, twisted nature of the movie, and the cinematography was good, with a eerie and ominous mix of music weaved through the film.  I like the fact that the first two minutes or so of the movie has no dialogue and that the scenes in the steam bath used a lot of close-ups to convey emotions, while the outside scenes used a lot of wider shots.

The six subjects inside the ’steam bath’, a set constructed at a soundstage in Grand Rapids are: Eric Roberts, Megan Brown, Patrick Muldoon, Cordelia Reynolds, Eve Mauro, and Quinn Duffy.

The movie’s flashes between Kilmer and Assante’s tense interrogation and the subjects in the steam bath tied to establish pacing, but this is one case when more would have been better.   If Kilmer would have explained each stage of the ’steam experiment’, then cut to the ’subjects’ going through his theory, it wouldn’t have been so scattered.   That change would stengthen his theory that in this enclosed, warming environment, people will begin to de-evolve into basic instincts of survival while others go crazy.  Its implied and later referenced, but too late in the film.

Kilmer carries this movie with his portrayal of a crazy, delusional scientist with theories that are radically beyond the believable.  His moments without dialogue or limited lines are strong as he conveys lines of screenplay without opening his mouth.  When he does, he’s often quick witted and intelligent compared to Assante’s character of the bruting police detective.   Assante’s acting is polished and solid, with the audience easily sold that he is a transplanted policeman from New York.   He’s got a sense of humor, he’s tough, and a ladies man all in one movie.

Unfortunately the strength of Kilmer and Assante’s scenes are not enough to lift this movie’s rating up.

Michigan actors Doug Alchin and Michael Travis should be happy with their performances in their first big movie.   Alchin, from Okemos, Michigan plays Assante’s Lt. Clark at the Grand Rapids Police Department, delivering several convincing lines of dialougue as Assante’s antagonist in a couple scenes.   Travis, from Grand Rapids, Michigan plays Sam, a security guard, at a hotel, sharing screen time with both Kilmer and Assante and despite just a few lines, he holds his own with the two pros in the one scene he’s in.

THE BOTTOM LINE:

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Tonight is the world premiere, will update with more later.

Originally posted:  May 4th, 2009

Time is up!!!

Update: Congratulations to the 2 winners… they have been contacted by email, but if they are unable to pick up their tickets, I have picked 2 alternates.  Thanks to everyone who entered!!!

Update: I picked up the tickets yesterday for the premiere Tuesday evening, May 5th, but I only have 2 pairs of tickets to give away, so get your comments in and make ‘em count!  I’ll pick the 2 winners and notify them by email on Monday!!

Contest to see “The Chaos Experiment” before it opens in Grand Rapids

I will have a limited amount of tickets to giveaway for the May 5th premiere of “The Chaos Experiment” at Celebration! Cinema North… so here’s the contest, its easy: just leave a quality comment on any of my blogs (old or new)… and when you do, include your name and email address in the comment section, so I can contact you.  The person with the most quality comments wins!

Some additional details about the May 5th invitation-only premiere:
My source tells me that the premiere for “The Chaos Experiment” will not include any celebrities, like the main cast, but there will be a representative from the company.

My source also says that Celebration! Cinema worked to get the movie to have a theatrical run in Grand Rapids, since it was filmed here.  Apparently the costs were too high to release the movie in other cities, and the market is better for DVD.

After the premiere, “The Chaos Experiment” will be available for one week for the public starting May 8th at Celebration! Cinema North and Celebration! Cinema RiverTown.  The weeklong run from May 8th to 14th will include limited screenings at least twice a day.

Originally posted April 21, 2009: (more…)

10/10/08 11:09am: MORE UPDATES TODAY INVOLVING “THE STEAM EXPERIMENT”

Even more updates since I went to sleep… my email inbox is loaded with updates… like comments from the producer about working in Grand Rapids and a reference to the deadly plot, plus an update from the West Michigan Film Office on a possible release date….

FROM THE WEST MICHIGAN FILM OFFICE:

“Unsure when Steam will be released, could be a soon as January, but the prediction is for next spring or fall.  Good news, they liked filming here and they have referenced other feature films to be done here.” - Rick Hert, Executive Director of the West Michigan Film Office

FROM THE PRODUCER:

Some highlights from Producer Luc Campeau’s wrap report after the final day of shooting:

“The STEAM ROOM IS COMPLETE!!!  We are out of the STEAM!!!!  You will have to see the movie to know if they all die.”

“For the ones that were skeptical that it can be done in 16 Days… and within a City Block….Here it is..Done!!!”

“We were the First shoot in Grand Rapids, Michigan,  under the new State incentive.  It was hard to crew but we successfully paved the way for others.  Grand Rapids is a great City, with great people, a good number of good crew and great potential to host other movies like this one”

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10/10/08 2:44am: UPDATES FROM BEHIND THE SCENES OF “THE STEAM EXPERIMENT”

Two weeks ago, filming wrapped on “The Steam Experiment” but details from the project continue to trickle in…. like word of how much money was spent in Michigan, an agreement to having a local premiere for the movie and insight on how the stunts went during the production….

FROM THE STUNTMAN:

Over email, Steve Hart, the stunt coordinator for the movie says he’s back in Los Angeles and waiting for his next project: the new season of Reno 911.

He tells me that the stunt work went well on “The Steam Experiment”, he enjoyed working with Val Kilmer and Armand Assante, and that the movie’s director and producer both hinted at future projects in Grand Rapids.

Here’s some of my email exchange with Steve Hart:  “The Steam experiment went very well from my perspective, but mine is a narrow perspective.  I thought that the crew and cast were on par with any that I have worked with.

Val and Armand were excellent to work with, but again, my work with them and conversations were limited.  Philippe and Luc seemed to like Grand Rapids a lot and even spoke of doing something there in the future.”

FROM THE WEST MICHIGAN FILM OFFICE:

and he’s working to try to get a little more West Michigan exposure through “The Steam Experiment” …. two of the things the producers have agreed to is a LOCAL PREMIERE and to give the West Michigan

Thanks Rick! 

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FROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS:

In a story that hit the wires Thursday, “Steam Experiment” Executive Producer Karinne Behr said that $3 million of the movie’s $7 million budget was spent in Michigan.   And in referring to those now nationally known tax incentives of up to 42%, Behr said that the decision to film in Michigan instead of Florida “was purely financial”.  “Michigan’s incentives are definitely the strongest. Hopefully that will be a great success story for the state. It’s better to spend the money here than overseas”, Behr added.

Also: Details from “The Steam Experiment”

UPDATE 9/25/08: “The Steam Experiment” is set to wrap this Saturday… one day later than first reported, but my sources say everything is on track and Grand Rapids has been great!!

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UPDATE 9/18/08:

The crew of “The Steam Experiment” will continue their closed-set shooting Friday, they are still on track to wrap September 26th or 27th.

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UPDATE 9/11/08:

from the set of “The Steam Experiment” (more…)

UPDATE 9/18/08:

The crew of “The Steam Experiment” will continue their closed-set shooting Friday, they are still on track to wrap September 26th or 27th.

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UPDATE 9/11/08:

from the set of “The Steam Experiment” (more…)

On the set of “The Steam Experiment”

“Quiet on the set” !!!

We’ve all probably heard those words before on tv, movies, or in documentaries…. but it sounds totally different when you are standing on the set that they are asking people to be quiet for!!!

That’s just part our experience of being on the set of “The Steam Experiment” last night… as the production worked on its 6th night of shooting in Grand Rapids, at the Bull’s Head Tavern.

Photojournalist Evan Linnert, my wife, and I were caught up in the middle of everything as the movie was being shot around us.. literally.

The biggest challenge wasn’t shuttling tape out to Brian Sterling for the 10pm & 11pm newscasts… it was staying out of the way as the production crews scrambled around between shots setting up lights, cameras, gear, and moving cables around.

Unfortunately, Val Kilmer had finished shooting all of his scenes for the movie and was reportedly out of town before we even arrived on set last night.

VIDEOS:

Also, check out Brian Sterling reports outside for 10pm

and Brian Sterling outside report for 11pm.