Witz Pickz: The Puffy Chair

I only saw two films at the Seattle International Film Festival and they were both amazing. The first film was Wristcutters: A Love Story starring Patrick Fugit (Almost Famous), Tom Waits, and that vaguely french looking chick from The Rules of Attraction and A Knight's Tale. The story, dialogue, music, acting, and cinematography were all pitch-perfect (unlike Fever Pitch which was miserable), and the minute it ended I wanted to watch it again-- Unfortunately that didn't and will not happen in the near future, because while the film has won numerous festival awards and is getting rave reviews around the world, it hasn't been picked up for distribution because of its title and the fact that it could be interpreted as glorifying suicide. You can check out the film site HERE and if you have the opportunity to see it, definitely do so.

The other film I saw was The Puffy Chair. This story is much more inspiring, not necessarily by content so much as viewability. Filmed for $15,000 by two brothers, with their parents on the set as crafts services, The Puffy Chair has won numerous festival awards including Audience Choice Awards and has none of the technical issues which usually accompany low-budget productions. The film follows a guy and his girlfriend on a trip cross country to pickup a puffy chair he bought on ebay and deliver it to his father for his birthday. Along the way, the characters discover things about themselves and each other which are both hilarious and saddening.

While it didn't look as though this film would see the light of day either, Netflix recently bought distribution for the movie are now distributing it through Netflix under their new production company Red Envelope Entertainment. This is part of Netflix's ongoing efforts to make money while endorsing and helping spread independent cinema. They have put out over 100 dvd's of independent film and are on their way to producing original content themselves. BRILLIANT. Witz Pickz Netflix A LOT.

The distribution rights to The Puffy Chair aren't exclusive, so other companies such as Blockbuster might start distributing the film, but if you have a Netflix membership or plan on getting one, rent The Puffy Chair.

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