FORGET THE WHALES, MAN! SAVE YOURSELF! IT'S EARTH DAY!

UPDATED! April 4, 2009



Here's the final full-length trailer for Earth Day, ready to rid the world of progressive influences everywhere April 22! (Thanks, Bruce!)

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Eugene, Oregon, a place very near and dear to my heart, is known for many things, including ducks, Ducks, rain, Nike shoes, Steve Prefontaine, National Lampoon’s Animal House, strong support for local theater and the arts, and the peaceful co-existence of a rather Green, hippie-friendly vibe within the greater population of career-minded college students and a liberal-leaning citizenry which also manages to make room for those of a conservative stripe. And now, with any luck, Eugene may be on the brink of making a name for itself as a place where locally and independently produced feature filmmaking can thrive, that is, if Mr. Ooh La La has anything to say about the matter. Self-billed as Eugene’s answer to John Waters (the Pink Flamingos director is a friend as well as a conscious inspiration), the writer-director has produced the first feature from his Faux Show Productions and is readying to spring it on a hopefully eager audience.

The picture, a horror-comedy called Earth Day, is set to premiere—take a guess—on April 22, Earth Day, but worries about this film’s potential audience being cannibalized by the likes of the upcoming Disney/Nature documentary Earth are undoubtedly misplaced. As Mr. Ooh La La would have it, Earth Day, parodies the holiday-centric emphases of ‘80s slasher pics like Halloween, April Fool’s Day and My Bloody Valentine (as well as, one assumes, Eli Roth’s Thanksgiving) in telling the absurdly-tinged story of a group of eco-crusaders who find themselves being systematically slaughtered as the one-year anniversary of the tragic death of their leader approaches. It will be very interesting to see how the eclectic Eugene sensibility, one very sympathetic to the hugging of trees, gets treated in Mr. Ooh La La’s satirically frightening scenario. (“Forget the Whales. Don’t Worry About the Trees. Save Yourself!” begs the breathless tagline.) One also hopes that the movie’s intentionally broad tone (as evidenced in the trailer) will end up being as much fun for viewers outside the Emerald City as it looks to be for those who live (or once lived) there. Mr. Ooh La La hopes the Eugene screenings will garner the kind of attention that will lead to further bookings in Northwest theaters and eventually pave the way for the festival circuit.


Pike (Christopher Anglin) informs Torrance (Bruce Lundy) about a lead as Dr. Peever (Gaylord Walker) and Priscilla (Daphne Danger) look on, in Earth Day.

But whatever the final verdict on the film, the movie’s happy, arduous and apparently hilarious journey from the mind of its director to the silver screen will end in Eugene on April 22, and if you happen to be in the area on that day you might want to consider taking in one of the three screenings (5:00, 7:00 and 9:00) at the Downtown Initiative for the Visual Arts, 110 West Broadway, that have been scheduled. I will be hitting the road to make the scene without a doubt—my best friend, Bruce Lundy, who has seen his acting career really start to take off since his move from the San Francisco Bay Area to Eugene three years ago, is featured in Earth Day, and in a juicy role too-- as the virulently racist cop tracking the bloody footprints of the killer. I’ll be there at the 7:00 show, my most impartial film critic hat perched squarely on my round and balding crown, but also in support my best friend and his associates in what one hopes, however Earth Day itself turns out, is the beginning of a long and happy ride with the movie, and with many others to come.

(Advance tickets for the April 22 premiere of Earth Day are available by calling 541-337-8283 or by visiting Mr. Ooh La La’s MySpace page.)



Play the Earth Day teaser trailer... if you dare!!!