Kung Fu Elliot

[GeneChing]

I could've sworn there was a thread about this already....if anyone finds it, let me know and I'll merge.


The Orchard acquires Kung Fu Elliot (http://www.screendaily.com/news/distribution/the-orchard-acquires-kung-fu-elliot/5083416.article)
18 February, 2015 | By Jeremy Kay

The distributor plans to release the Slamdance 2014 documentary later this month.

The Orchard has acquired US theatrical and digital rights to Jaret Belliveau and Matthew Bauckman’s Slamdance 2014 grand jury prize-winner.

David Eberts produced the film, which spins an intricate web as it follows the eponymous Canadian martial artist and his dream to become the Canadian Chuck Norris. However nothing is as it seems.

The Orchard will open the film exclusively in New York at Cinema Village on February 20, followed by nationwide VOD and theatrical rollout on February 24.

Danielle DiGiacomo of The Orchard brokered the deal with David Piperni of Cargo Film & Releasing, which handles international sales.

“We are all very excited to be working with The Orchard on the film’s US release,” said Eberts. “They have an excellent grasp of the film’s sensibility, and a strong plan to reach and engage its audience for a successful roll-out.”

“The conceit of Kung Fu Elliot, that Canada deserves its own martial arts action hero, is a reasonable goal that had me wondering why it wasn’t so,” said The Orchard svp of film and TV Paul Davidson. “Then I watched the film, met Elliot “White Lightning” Scott, and got sucked into a vortex of drama that made it crystal clear to me.”

[GeneChing]

Sounds like a doc on one of you members here. :p


Review: ‘Kung Fu Elliot’ Documentary Follows a Martial Arts Enthusiast (http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/20/movies/review-kung-fu-elliot-documentary-follows-a-martial-arts-enthusiast.html?_r=0)
By DANIEL M. GOLDFEB. 19, 2015

http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/02/20/arts/20KUNGFU/20KUNGFU-superJumbo.jpg
Elliot Scott in "Kung Fu Elliot." Credit The Orchard

Matthew Bauckman and Jaret Belliveau’s gritty documentary, “Kung Fu Elliot,” feels at first as if it’s gently parodying a “making of” movie. Its subject, Elliot Scott, is a quirky, sweet-faced martial arts enthusiast and filmmaker from Nova Scotia who hopes to become, he says, “Canada’s first action hero.” Hey, everyone needs a hobby.

With the help of his girlfriend, Linda Lum, and unpaid acquaintances, Elliot has already made two no-budget movies he calls “respectable cheese.” (The clips shown suggest otherwise.) “Kung Fu Elliot” chronicles his amateurish efforts to make a third feature, “Blood Fight,” which he expects will be his breakthrough. Watching Elliot and his fellows stumble determinedly through shoots, pleasantly delusional about the movie’s prospects, is mildly amusing, a testament to indie film’s appeal for a certain hardy strain of dreamer.

But the joke sours, and the documentary, filmed over two years, turns darker. Linda tires of footing the bill, and their relationship frays. Enrolled in an acupuncture school, Elliot travels with his class to China, partly to film martial arts masters at a Shaolin temple. In an interview with the head of the monastery, though, it’s apparent how empty Elliot’s claims of being a champion kickboxer are.

Upon his return home, reality and fantasy increasingly collide, and Elliot’s distorted perspective slips into outright lies to friends and documentarians alike. By the abrupt and bizarre end of this odd little film, the question is whether Elliot’s just a low-grade scam artist or afflicted with a personality disorder. Or both.

KUNG FU ELLIOT Opens on Friday Directed by Matthew Bauckman and Jaret Belliveau 1 hour 29 minutes; not rated

A version of this review appears in print on February 20, 2015, on page C11 of the New York edition with the headline: Review: ‘Kung Fu Elliot’ Documentary Follows a Martial Arts Enthusiast.

[GeneChing]

Review Fudged or not, 'Kung Fu Elliot' is amusing take on a big dream (http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-kung-fu-elliot-review-20150227-story.html)

http://www.trbimg.com/img-54efa4c9/turbine/la-et-mn-kung-fu-elliot-review-20150227-001/750/750x422
A still from the film "Kung Fu Elliot."
By MICHAEL RECHTSHAFFEN Movies Reviews Entertainment Action (Movie Genre) SCTV (tv program)

'Kung Fu Elliot' follows Elliot Scott's quest to become Canada's first action hero

The already murky parameters of contemporary reality filmmaking are further fudged in "Kung Fu Elliot," an entertaining documentary following two years in the life of an idealistic amateur filmmaker intent on becoming Canada's first action hero.

With a pair of Ed Wood-type productions under his belt, self-proclaimed karate champion Elliot Scott is convinced his latest micro-budgeted epic, "Blood Fight," will make him the Chuck Norris of Halifax, Nova Scotia.

His considerably older, world-weary girlfriend, Linda Lum, doesn't exactly buy into the dream, but she's there to lend the financial and organizational support necessary to help keep it alive, to a point.

Well before that point arrives, when the affably goofy portrait takes a decidedly darker turn, one begins to suspect that directors Matthew Bauckman and Jaret Belliveau, just like their subject, might have been playing fast and loose with the truth.

As presented, even the sweetly delusional Scott, with his heavy Canadian accent and doughy face, would have made for such a terrific "SCTV" character that it's hard to completely accept that he's the real deal.

But whether the con is truly on or the filmmakers have simply taken an awful lot of poetic license where the post-Michael Moore documentary format is concerned, moviegoers certainly have less amusing ways to be bamboozled.

"Kung Fu Elliot."
No MPAA rating.
Running time: 1 hour, 28 minutes.
Playing: Arena Cinema, Hollywood.
Also on VOD.

I'm really hoping a forum member here will see this and let us know if it is worth our attention.

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoNLanfCMGo

well alright. now i do want to see this.