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ATTENTION Pirates of the Great Salt Lake The following was submitted by The Mackay - hatcrafter extraordinaire. His own creations are featured prominently in the indie film Pirates of the Great Salt Lake, and he was fortunate enough to catch an early showing.
I arrived at the theater an hour early in order to meet up with ER Nelson, the director of the film, Kirby Heybourne (the star of the film, playing the role of Kirk), and several of the producers. I was told by the SF Indie film fest organizers that the much-awaited Friday night World Premiere of PotGSL received a standing ovation from a sold out crowd. I was getting so excited to see it, and hoping I wouldn’t be let down. I’ve been sitting and waiting since August, not an easy thing to do. Independent films are a tricky business, often it is the director’s first film (as in this case), often the actors are less experienced “unknowns", and in almost all cases the production budget puts extreme limitations on everything. Despite these factors or because of them, Pirates of the Great Salt Lake is like finding that elusive buried treasure. This film is a real gem! It is original and refreshing, and dare I say.... Ok, so I hate the comment “It’s a Feel Good movie”. Just not the kind of comment Pirates should make. Well........This is a Very Very Feel Good Movie, and its a feel good Buddy Movie!! I smiled all the way through the screening, Dammit! I hope I wasn’t being watched or there goes my Pirate rep… A very well thought out script (co-written by Eric Nelson, who also skillfully directs) and solid comedic performances by the principle actors had me laughing out loud within the first few seconds. It has everything that a good Pirate film should, Pirates (duh), ships (er, boats), the plank, weapons, maps and cursed treasure, ghosts, skirmishes, thievery, back stabbing, murder, wenches (and not all in that order) It’s campy, it’s tongue in cheek, it pokes fun at the current pirate culture, and stereotypes. It even pays backhanded homage to Johnny Depp. And I loved this film for it. I’m told that Blueshift Flms will send JD a copy. I’m sure he’ll laugh his ass off too. The original musical score will seam familiar, as it did to several of us at the premiere. While original in its arrangement it does sound very similar to a morphing of the title pieces from Braveheart and Pirates of the Caribbean. That being said, I cannot only accept it, but love it! I thought it was great (and clever, bloody Pirates) to have such an inspiring and grand orchestration that also invokes the joy from watching those two major motion pictures. The music perfectly underscores the fact that our two heroes are living their Grand Pirate Dream. And while they may be two average young guys, they are truly PIRATES! There are also some unique cover versions of contemporary rock songs strategically placed that will have you chuckling. Like when Kirk and Flint meet for the first time. I was happy of course because my hats are seen in almost every scene of the film, and The MacKay hat that Kirk wears is such a part of his persona, as to seam inseparable. His religious mom fears for his sanity and his soul and tells him to give it up and to take it off ( “What will St Peter Say? They don’t let Pirates into heaven!”) Also noticeable and noteworthy are Quicksilver’s Pirate Pots (www.piratepots.com) clearly visible in the Treasure Cave in several scenes, and an iron hook courtesy of our friends at www.theironhook.com Mug shots of the MacKay (myself, not the hat) and Captain Quicksilver are on screen for about a minute in a scene where our heroes research treasure maps. When you get a chance to see the film, look center screen on the back cover of a magazine that Flint is reading. Sneaky, shameless advertising… lol! (thanks Eric, and Josh) After the movie there was a Q and A session and I was introduced to the audience. I passed out some cards and did a little business. :D Spread the word and keep a weather eye open for this Treasure, and keep our cutlasses crossed that this film gets picked up and distributed. It deserves it and we all NEED it! Synopsis: Kirk Redgrave and Flint Weaver are two young, 20- something loners in Utah who live near the Great Salt “Sea”. Each with their own issues, they meet through chance and set out together to become the best Pirates the world has ever seen (sound familiar? lol) As in real life, Piracy is a tough go for our heroes, filled with much failure and disappointment, it is a hard life (well, three weeks anyway) and then they come across a long lost treasure map. They must battle a ruthless rival and contend with a curse in order to collect the treasure and fulfill their dream. Will they or will they not.... If you'd like to learn more about this film, you can check out additional reviews at: |
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On Sunday Feb 5th I flew down to San Francisco to attend the San Francisco Independent Film Festival and the second showing of “Pirates of The Great Salt Lake”.