NOW AVAILABLE!

The wait is over! Living In Missouri is now available on DVD. You can buy it right here.

Plus, you can read an interview with director Shaun Peterson at the Film Threat website.

Of course, it still appears to be on "backorder" at all the major e-tailers like Amazon and BN.com. I'm guessing that will change over the course of the next week, as the discs start showing up in their warehouses. In any case, it's better to just order it from the Film Threat store.

On day of release, Amazon featured a list of "Similar Items" on DVD. It's a fascinating bunch of films, and based on the available descriptions, none of them are in ANY way similar to Living In Missouri....


Die Todesgöttin des Liebescamps-- known in the US as Love Camp or Divine Emanuelle, this is described by one user on IMDB as "Hair in a cult prison camp-- one of those hippie/"free love"-type films that were big in the early 1970's (complete with some truly insipid musical numbers) except that it was made in 1980 and was also obviously influenced by the very unpleasant series of Nazi prison camp movies that were big in the mid-to-late 70's."


The Stone Raft - "The Spanish peninsula tears away from the rest of continental Europe and is propelled like a huge stone raft toward a catastrophic collision."


Mardi Gras Massacre - "Police try to capture someone who is committing ritual murders of women during Mardi Gras in New Orleans."


The Stairway To The Distant Past - "The unlucky private detective, Mike Hama, again treads the gray streets of Yokohama in this sequel to The Most Terrible Time in My Life. The adventure begins in Maiku Hama's office, located above a run-down cinema that is so desperate for cash, they charge admission to Hama's potential clients. For this case, the clumsy and nattily dressed detective begins investigating the true identity of the enigmatic crimelord of the waterfront, the White Man. He must also deal with the sudden reappearance of his estranged mother who abandoned him and his sister many years before. She works as a stripper and bills herself as Dynamite Sexy Lily. "


Mimino - "In this outrageous cult comedy, Valiko Mizandari – nicknamed "Mimino" (the falcon) – services small villages in the mountains of Georgia with his helicopter. The pilot is loved by everyone and dreams of piloting a large international airlines aircraft, so he leaves for Moscow, only to find his dream more complicated than he could have imagined. Filled with charming local color, warm and humorous characters, and brilliant acting, this offbeat gem is bound to tickle your funny bone!"


No Witness - "A recently indicted senator hires a professional hit man to rid him of an underage girl who's obsessed with becoming his wife." Featuring Corey Feldman.


I Exist - "Gay people exist in Armenia, Syria, Iran, Egypt and Sudan too. They are Christians, Muslims and Jews, belonging to and rejected by their own cultures. In this series of interview we learn a bit about their lives and hear a few critiques of western media and its oversimplified, often negative depictions of these peoples and cultures. "


Different - "The German industrial music scene has produced some highly influential music over the years. Bands such as Nine Inch Nails and Skinny Puppy undoubtably owe a sizeable debt to trailblazers such as Einsturzende Neubauten and DAF. Different aims to shine a light on some of the bands who have come to the forefront of Germany's industrial scene at the beginning of the 21st century. Seventeen live tracks are featured, all coming from bands signed to labels affiliated with the COP organization."



Refuge of Fear - (UK video title: Survivors of the Last Race) "Time... The not too distant future. Place... The USA. Problem... Nuclear war. Effect... A society with no rules."

Of course, the very next day, Amazon's list of "similar items" vanished. They now say they can find "no similar items" in any category. Honestly, I have no idea what their system is for determining this stuff, maybe once more people start buying it, some kind of pattern will emerge. Hopefully, over time, a more accurate list of related items will be featured. Other stores like Netflix and Tower Records list films like Donnie Darko and Election, which aren't exactly "similar" but at least they also feature the wonderful Holmes Osborne ("Eddie Darko"), who plays "Uncle Roy" in our film....

NEW RELEASE DATE: JULY 26

Don't go lining up at your local retailer for some sort of midnight release party Monday evening, because it ain't gonna happen. That's right folks: there has been a DELAY.

We just received word from Film Threat that there was a problem at the DVD replication facility, and the short version is that the discs just won't be ready by Tuesday. They'll probably be ready in time for the following Tuesday, but they've pushed the release back two weeks just to be safe.

So July 26th it is. Oh well. At least it's still a July release. I had planned to post a little something about how we were set to come out on the same day as last year's Oscar-winner for Best Picture, and how perhaps that was good luck for our film. I haven't even looked yet to see what else comes out on the 26th....

The Columbia Daily Tribune has an article about the DVD. And Joe Williams, critic for the Post-Dispatch, ran a nice capsule review in his round-up of new releases:

Living in Missouri *** (NR: 1:30): Directed by Shaun Peterson, a 1993 Wentzville High grad, this bittersweet comedy stars writer and co-producer Connor Ratliff as an unhappy dad in mid-Missouri who neglects his wife (Christina Puzzo) to go to movies with sad-sack pal (Ian McConnel). Like a Jefferson City "Jules and Jim" (another love triangle new on DVD), it turns a friendship between perpetual adolescents into a bittersweet parable about growing up. (www.livinginmissouri.com) (Joe Williams)

People who enjoyed Living In Missouri....

Netflix now has a list of movies "Enjoyed By Members Who Enjoyed ..." Living In Missouri. I imagine this listing will change as more people put the movie in their queue, but here's what we have for the time being:


Dogma - There isn't really any similarity between this film and ours, although a couple of reviewers pointed out a kinship with films like Clerks and Chasing Amy. Personally, while I understand people making the connection (low-budget movie with characters with fixated on Star Wars and comic books), I think that our movie has a very different tone and feel. Kevin Smith's biggest strength is that he makes very witty observations about things, particularly certain kinds of pop culture. The characters in Living In Missouri might share similar obsessions, but they aren't particularly witty or clever people, and they take things extremely seriously.

There is one tiny Dogma connection. We were supposed to film a scene in the parking lot of a massive AMC multiplex in Kansas, but the theater chain had recently had problems dealing with protesters picketing the controversial Dogma. "Is your film Anti-Catholic?" the paranoid theater manager barked just before she withdrew permission to film there. No matter how much we begged, we could not convince her that our film was completely devoid of religious content, and we ended up using a (much smaller) movie theater in Jefferson City instead.

Igby Goes Down - I like this film. I particularly enjoyed the pleasure Jeff Goldblum seemed to derive from saying the name "Igby", as he seemed to repeat it every chance he got.

Welcome to the Dollhouse - I think this is a good match for our film. It is sad and painful and awkward and comical all at the same time, which is a large part of what we were aiming for.

But I'm a Cheerleader - I have not seen this one and know very little about it. But I'm slightly curious now, if only to discover what kind of a connection this film could possibly have to ours.

The Dish - I have not seen this one, either. It's an Australian film, and has something to do with the moon landing, a satellite and sheep.

Roger Dodger - A very strong film, dialogue-driven and held in place by Campbell Scott's hypnotic peformance.

Scotland, PA - A modern re-telling of Macbeth, set in the world of fast food restaurants. It has some clever bits here and there, and features a strong cast of actors I like, but it didn't really work for me overall.

SLC Punk - Haven't seen it.

Previously, Netflix had included Mike Judge's very funny Office Space among the recommendations, but it's not currently listed. I wish it was still there, as I feel there is a greater connection to that film than to some of these other movies.

As for genres, Netflix has us listed in three completely appropriate categories: Comedy, Dark Humor & Black Comedies, and Indie Comedies.

FACETS and NETFLIX

I am very happy to report our two newest links: FACETS Video and NETFLIX.

What's nice about them is not just that they are very significant links for us, but that they seem to have written their own descriptions of the film. You see, there is the "official" synopsis, which is what you will find on the website and on the back of the DVD box. We wrote that, and it is something that a retailer can use as part of the "Product Description" when they are selling the DVD. But FACETS and NETFLIX are both using synopses which are completely different from the provided text, which would indicate that someone, an actual person, took the time to either watch the movie, or to artfully paraphrase what was given to them.



FACETS Video has been around for a while. When I was a kid, I remember ordering their enormous phone book-sized catalog of obscure and hard-to-find home videos, and circling all the titles I wanted to order from them. (I never actually ordered anything, but I did enjoy perusing that catalog and dreaming of all the movies I could own if I had the money.)

They are based in Chicago, but they sell and rent movies by mail, on both DVD and VHS. And now they will be carrying our film. It looks like they still publish those huge catalogs (for purchase) which I guess means by this time next year, I'll be able to order one with our film listed in it.

Here are the very kind words they wrote about the movie in their description:

Missouri rhymes with misery in this shrewd piece of independent filmmaking about the lives of career losers in suburban St. Louis. Connor Ratliff and Ian McConnel star as 30-something friends with dead-end jobs, estranged families, and and a lingering love for Star Wars memorabilia. As their circumstances go from bad to worse, director Shaun Peterson hones in on the emotional complexity of his characters' torpor, offering up a darkly comic, acutely observed piece of "Low-to-no budget filmmaking at its best" (Kansas City Star).



Of course, back in the day, FACETS was pretty much the only place to go unless you were lucky enough to live in a big city with a world class video store. Now, of course, people have a lot more options, the most popular of which is NETFLIX. I was a subscriber for about a year, and I found it was an easy way to burn through a lot of movies that I probably wouldn't pick out on a trip to an actual video store. (For instance, I have passed over classics like Rio Bravo or The Seven Samurai many times in favor of some new release or obscurity that half the time turns out to be a disappointment.) Having unlimited rentals mailed to you means you can take a lot more chances, and it is a great way to discover all kinds of great films.

The only reason I'm not a current subscriber is that after 12 months of non-stop DVD rentals, week in and week out, I started to get burned out on DVDs. But I'll no doubt resubscribe at some point, because it really is a terrific way to rent movies. And for those of you who want to see Living In Missouri without buying it first, it really makes things easy, particularly if you are already a Netflix subscriber. (Of course, deep down, we hope that some of the people who rent it will enjoy it enough to want to buy a copy to keep. But some people are more into renting than owning....)

Comedy / Drama / Family Entertainment....

Living In Missouri continues to show up in more and more online stores. It is amusing to see the slight variations from one shop to the next. Some places seem to have the correct information and a few details about who directed the film and who's in it, as well as what category the film should be placed in. One store has us listed as "Comedies & Family Entertainment" which I must stress is only partly accurate. I certainly wouldn't classify it as fun for the whole family. It's a dark comedy, and there is some occasional profanity along with a few adult situations. More significantly, content aside, kids probably just wouldn't enjoy it-- the tone and humor of the situations isn't geared towards younger viewers.

Amazon, Buy Innovations, and Things From Another Wolrd all have us listed as a Drama. Video Universe wisely puts the film in two categories, Dramas and Comedies. Best Prices abstains, choosing not to categorize the film at this time. Barnes & Noble also has no category, but does go so far as to specify that the movie is in English. Tower Records, which previously had listed the DVD, now has forgotten all about it, saying "We do not know when this title will be available to order." They also refer to it as a Drama. Hopefully their memory will soon be restored with regards to our movie. Mr. Skin, Video American, and West Coast Video (which all have similar-looking store designs and would appear to be somehow affiliated with one another) all have us correctly listed as a Comedy, and get extra points for adding an additional (accurate) category, "Independent." Movie Gold Mine also gets a gold star, for listing us in what appears to be a single category called "Drama Comedy." I think this might be my favorite of the bunch, and I also like that they have listed more cast members than any other site. Of course, these distinctions are subject to change, and may already be different by the time I've posted all this. Such is the nature of commerce in the high speed world of the Internet.

I don't really have a problem with people categorizing it as a drama. It isn't an Airplane-style spoof or anything-- the film is rooted in human behavior and real emotion. When I was writing the script, I didn't give much thought to what "kind" of story it was, I just let it unfold the way I imagined it should. But I thought it was mostly funny, and when I would tell people what I was working on, I would always describe it as "a comedy about two best friends who have grown tired of one another."

When we were filming, we weren't generally concerned with playing scenes as "funny" or "serious", but tried to just approach the characters honestly and hope that the humor would come out naturally. I can think of a few instances where we really focused on emphasizing the comedy, and all of those scenes ended up on the cutting room floor, as they were simply played too broadly. By the time Shaun and Ford had edited it all into a rough cut, we weren't really sure if any of it was funny at all. To be honest, the first time we screened it in front of an audience, I had no idea if anyone would laugh at anything. I was convinced that we had filmed the most depressing movie of all time, and that people would sit there in stony silence watching this heavy, miserable drama unfold.

But the audience laughed. In a good way. And that was pretty much the case at every screening from then on-- the film played very well to a crowd, and there was always a generous amount of laughter in almost all the right places, which was very satisfying. After that, I finally felt comfortable calling it a Comedy again. A little while later, I was writing up a press release for the film and it suddenly occurred to me to describe the film as "a comedy of manners." Yeah, I thought, that sounds good. I then realized that perhaps I was misusing the phrase-- perhaps a "comedy of manners" had all sorts of specific rules which had to be followed in order for something to qualify as one. Maybe it had to take place in a Victorian sitting room with doilies and cups of tea. I decided to look up a proper definition:

Comedy Of Manners
witty, cerebral form of dramatic comedy that depicts and often satirizes the manners and affectations of a contemporary society. A comedy of manners is concerned with social usage and the question of whether or not characters meet certain social standards. Often the governing social standard is morally trivial but exacting. The plot of such a comedy, usually concerned with an illicit love affair or similarly scandalous matter, is subordinate to the play's brittle atmosphere, witty dialogue, and pungent commentary on human foibles.

I almost fell out of my chair-- it was a perfect description of Living In Missouri. I don't know if I can describe the film as "witty" and "cerebral" without sounding arrogant, but that's certainly what I was aiming for, and I believe that's what Shaun and the cast & crew managed to capture. It is certainly a "dramatic" comedy and its main focus is primarily on the customs and social mores of Ryan & Todd, the two central characters who find themselves in terribly unhappy lives as they reach their mid- to late-20s in Middle America. Everything that happens in the film is connected to the way these people aren't living up to the expectations of those around them, and to their own sense of where they should be in life. Furthermore, there is an "illicit love affair"! And it IS "subordinate" to the film's "brittle atmosphere" and all those other things. Especially the human foibles.

Anyway, I doubt there are any retailers out there with a separate category for "Comedy Of Manners", so this doesn't really help the present situation. I suppose it doesn't really matter. In a way, referring to it as a drama takes some pressure off, in that anything that might strike a viewer as amusing is considered a bonus. When people watch a comedy, they might be expecting a lot more hijinx and laff-a-minute shenanigans than we have on offer. In any case, it's just a little over a week now until the DVD is officially available, so you can decide for yourselves whether you think it's a comedy or a drama, or just make up your own categories and be done with it....