Hola all. Massawyrm here.

We knew the day was coming. It was inevitable. With technology finally reaching the ability to stream high quality content instantaneously and an entire generation of consumers ready and willing to gobble up their content at home and on their computers, we knew that someone would finally begin offering feature films online on the day of release. While many undistributed films have already turned to the web for cheap and easy distribution, no one has quite found a way to convince general audiences that the content available cheaply (or for free) online is worth their time. And it has been especially difficult to convince us critics to cover these films with the same voracity. But Gigantic Releasing has a new take on an old idea. Simultaneous release.

I live in Austin. And while there is nothing I would love more than to live in a city with as rich a film scene as NY and LA, the cost of living, good friends and the relaxed vibe of Central Texas keep me rooted here. But every time I see the weekly release schedules of films playing in NY/LA exclusive runs, I get jealous of my buddies who see a dozen of these films on the big screen a week. And there is no way, at all, for me to see them. They are often films so small no one even bothers to bootleg them. Simultaneous release aims to end a large portion of that. The idea is to put good, independent films on the big screen for their NY/LA arthouse run, while simultaneously releasing the film as streamable (not downloadable) HD content for those who live outside those markets (as arthouse movie watchers tend not to choose home over the theater experience as a general rule, anyhow.)

Gigantic’s first simultaneous is release is the haunting, heartbreaking MUST READ AFTER MY DEATH – the tale of suburban malcontent in the 1950’s and 60’s. This is a 75 minute documentary made in the same vein as CAPTURING THE FRIEDMANS in so much as it is entirely constructed from tape and Dictaphone recordings of the family from the time, edited together over footage from 108 home movies. There isn’t a single interview or bit of after the fact analysis in the whole of it. The film’s chief protagonist, Allis, saved every recording and Dictaphone record from the time and compiled them into a file – her own little time capsule with a letter that read simply “Must read after my death.” Discovered by her grandson, he began to piece together a period of his grandmother’s life of which she never spoke and turned it into this stark portrayal of what were most likely the very worst years of her life.

The film chronicles the hardships of marriage in the 50’s and 60’s, with Allis struggling against a male centric society, a seriously broken and skewed mental health system and an unhappy husband trying to maintain his polyamorous, swinging lifestyle. It is at times brutal and hard to watch, but completely unswerving in its attempt to show the disintegration of the marriage from both sides. It conjured a lot of thoughts and feelings reminding me if REVOLUTIONARY ROAD – but had a much stronger impact on me as this was not fiction. It wasn’t the 50’s and 60’s in retrospect – it is the experience of being there at that time. The marvel of this new Dictaphone technology. The problems with the mental health system. The lack of understanding of problems we consider common knowledge – and easily treatable - these days.

Elegantly told and painfully honest, MUST READ AFTER MY DEATH is exactly the kind of film that belongs in an arthouse run, but is intriguing enough to capture a small screen audience. The public will be able to access the film for digital viewing at www.giganticdigital.com

beginning this Friday morning, February 20th at 10am Eastern. (This is the same day that it opens theatrically in New York.) The ticket price will be $2.99 for a 3-day, unlimited viewing ticket. They'll be streaming the film in up to HD quality (depending on the viewer's available bandwidth and hardware setup) and commercial-free. Beginning on the 20th they'll be launching v.2 of their player which will allow the viewer to dial up or dial down the quality of the stream so that they receive the best possible quality for their particular setup.

The film opens next week in LA. If you’re a documentary fan, this should be right up your alley. It doesn’t get any more real than this. A fascinating find and something I couldn’t take my eyes off of. Strongly recommended.

Until next time friends, smoke ‘em if ya got ‘em.

Massawyrm

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