Remember JP Allen? CalArts buddy of mine. Acted with me in his play "The Casino" in the 1989 Fringe. Directed "Voice Of The Prairie" way back in 1994, played the title role in "Macbeth" in spring 1996, with PT artists Dirk Van Stralen, Tim Dixon and Erla Forsyth - and during his time here for "Macbeth," he staged his one man show "Gambling." More recently, JP directed Shalyn McFaul and me in "The Disappearing" a few summers ago (as part of a double feature at PT, along with Philip Miguel's production of "The Casino" with John Voth, Robert Salvador and Mary Eden). Closing night of that project we screened JP's film "Centaur."
Well, JP has another movie completed, "Love And Demons" - this one starring Lucia Frangione and Arnica Skulstad Laurice. Come join us for the Canadian premiere screening!
LOVE AND DEMONS
August 2, 8pm @ Pacific Theatre
Two demons — slinging sex, drugs and chaos — attack the lives of a struggling couple in this sultry comedic romance starring Chris Pflueger, Lucia Frangione, JP Allen and Arnica Skulstad Brown.
Music by Rossana Fiero and John Dole, with additional music by Jim Hodgkinson and SHOULDERS. Written and Directed by JP Allen. Photographed by Daniel Teixeira-Gomes. Produced by Cathy Montosa. 84 minutes. Unrated.
FIRST VANCOUVER SCREENING, with writer/director JP Allen, actor Lucia Frangione and producer Cathy Montosa, IN PERSON for Q and A.
“A sophisticated relationship comedy. Lyrical, adventurous filmmaking.” Mick LaSalle, SF Chronicle (more below)
“SEXY, mischievous, and provocative. A singular moviegoing experience.” Bernard Boo, Way Too Indie
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Okay, I'm going to give you a bit more. Mick LaSalle, at the San Francisco Chronicle, is a substantial film critic. Here's some of what he wrote about the film;
"Love and Demons" is by writer-director by J.P. Allen, who is staking out his own particular area of cinema with this, his second feature. It's a cinema that is up front about its storytelling, that doesn't try to make you forget that you're watching a movie. As in the theater, Allen will use direct address, with characters talking into the camera about what they're thinking and feeling. At the same time, there's a lyrical quality, both in the writing and the camera work, with sequences that are dreamy and elliptical.
"This is adventurous filmmaking. Uninhibited by a tight budget, Allen is pursuing a specific and distinct vision; and for the most part, he's succeeding. This is a director worth watching.
"Set in San Francisco, "Love and Demons" is a relationship comedy, as witnessed from the viewpoint of two demons who stand on the sidelines, sometimes trying to help, sometimes trying to destroy the people they're following. Allen himself plays the male demon, who oozes self-satisfaction and menace in the opening monologue.... He is his own best asset - funny, shrewd and a little unknowable.
"Allen's moral inquisitiveness maintains interest. Basically, what we have in Love and Demons is a collision of sophisticated thought and minimal means - an adult vision with a guerrilla theater budget. I'd prefer that any day to big-budget stupidity, but someday I'd really like to see what Allen could do with a blank check."
