Welcome to ScreenTime!

 

ScreenTime is my attempt to connect fans with a variety of celebrities from every corner of the screening world.  There won’t be any questions about upcoming projects, because the aim is just to figure out who these people are… and what they screen.

 

ScreenTime is brought to you by MuzeClothing, makers of the coolest movie-related apparel in the world.  Seriously.  Check them out at www.muzeclothing.com.   As a part of ScreenTime this week, I’ll be giving away a T-shirt from MuzeClothing.  Leave a comment on this post (that isn’t eaten by my spam filter) with an email address, and you are entered.  On February 28th I will randomly select a winner.

 

 

This week, The Retributioners were kind enough to let us into their screening a life a little.  In shotgun style, we dive into their answers to whatever screening-related question I might throw at them.

 

 

1. Retributioners runs in a very specific comedic style, and is hilarious by the way (imaginary unicorn theft is a personal favorite)… Are there any shows or films that stand out to you as influencing that style, or that you would say otherwise gel with your comedic taste?

 

Eric Rasmussen (ER): Obviously there’s a bit of Curb Your Enthusiasm in what we do. We also get comparisons to My Name is Earl, as if we’ve inverted the logic of redemption. Our motivation for doing it, though, was the Christopher Guest movies. We love them. Best in Show, Waiting for Guffman.

 

Stephanie Faith Scott (SFS): Best in Show is what made me study improvisation. Saw the film, then I ran to register for improv training at the Second City Training Center in NY. I wanted The Retributioners to include improv. I wanted to see what would really happen if two people got together under uncomfortable circumstances to discuss a matter that was never resolved. We use the improv in a lot of our earlier episodes, and especially in Episode 7 – The Walk of Shame. That episode was directed by Corinne Fisher, who studies improv at UCB. Eric would usually write a draft script, and the actors and I would use the script a little bit, then drop it and create some of our own dialogue while shooting, as long as we hit all the main beats of the scene. It became a NIGHTMARE to edit, so lately, we’ve been keeping the show scripted.

 

 

All the Guest films, by the way, are also highly endorsed by Are You Screening?

 

 

 

2. Is anything on television really sucking you in right now? Can you hit the highlights as to why?

 

SFS: I have to say, not much is sucking me in right now. Eric and I both love The Soup on E!, and watch it every Friday night. We just got rid of our premium cable channels, and we’re experimenting with ordering TV shows from Netflix and a Roku box. Mad Men is next in my Netflix queue! I’ve watched every episode of Entourage the last few months. Those are my guys….from Queens!!!!

 

ER: Stephanie loves American Idol. I love Flight of the Conchords and its droll sense of humor.

 

SFS: Actually, I’m not liking American Idol now that they’ve completely changed the dynamic and added a fourth judge! Once Hollywood Week starts, I’ll get into it again. Then I read the blogs on VoteForTheWorst.com, to complement my Idol experience!

 

 

 

 

3. I have to ask this of all webshow personalities, are there any webshows you catch that you think aren’t getting enough attention right now?

 

ER: We Grow Together is one of my favorite shows. I watch it religiously. It’s a gardening show on shrooms. I wish they would do more. I also love The Midwest Teen Sex Show. And among our friends, we love The In-Betweens of Holly Malone and the other On the Leesh productions. And Morning Bitch as well. Footastic Theatre.

 

SFS: I hope people are watching Web Therapy, starring Lisa Kudrow! I LOVE her, and that show is outrageous!

 

 

 

4. You’re obviously among the initiated on Twitter… (and since I defy you Twitter without a screen it counts)… Are there some people on Twitter, that you don’t know in real life, that you think are very deserving of more followers?

 

SFS: Let me say some things about Twitter. I signed up in July 2008, and had no idea what to do with it. So my account just sat there while I followed only @DaisyWhitney. I had no followers. Then the Presidential election came, and I started following more people on Twitter to read their opinions about the election. And I started interacting with them. It’s a community. It’s NOT about promoting a web show, or trying to gain an audience. It’s about an exchange of information. Blogs, news articles, videos. It’s also about networking and making friends. The community will smell if you are just trying to promote a web show, or your marketing expertise, or your products.

 

That being said, I am discovering some new talent on Twitter. Just came across a new web show called Leaving Bliss (@PatienceOwen), which is VERY funny. This woman is doing it right. Twitter now, on the first episode! I’ve been doing The Retributioners for over a year. I started my show when it was all about getting on the home page of YouTube. It’s not about that anymore.

 

 

 

Just a note.  As of this writing, @PatienceOwen does not seem to be on Twitter.

 

 

 

5. Can you tell me a couple of movies that you saw recently which you found surprisingly good and/or a couple you might be looking forward to?

 

SFS: We loved The Wrestler. Eric thinks it’s the perfect existentialist movie. I love it because it’s Mickey Rourke redeemed. We’re also looking forward to about 50 Kate Winslet movies and Slumdog Millionaire.

 

 

 

6. So, speaking of your show, are there any shows, kinds of shows, etc. that need some Retribution? Any shows, or show types that are really getting on your nerves?

 

ER: Well, we’re playing off the reality concept a bit in our own show, so maybe we’re hypocrites. I really hate reality TV and I think it’s ruining character driven comedies and dramas.

 

SFS: I’m still miffed about the fourth American Idol judge!

 

ER: Yeah, you don’t mess with the formula for Coke!

 

 

 

 

7. What is your favorite movie ever, that no one, very few people, or as close as you can get, has heard of?

 

ER: This one is a lay-up: Mail Order Wife, http://www.mailorderwifethemovie.com. It’s the greatest movie ever. We’ve seen it 10 times. It’s a fake documentary but it breaks through so many strange levels of possible reality that pretty soon you don’t know what in the hell you’re watching and you’re just laughing your ass off. You stop caring whether it’s real and just go with it. We love it.

 

SFS: Chuck & Buck is another indie favorite of ours! Mike White is brilliant! You think the story is going one way, then it just completely turns on you! I love that!

 

 

 

 

8. What television show or movie do you really not want to admit liking as much as you do?

 

ER: Damages. I think the melodrama is really laid on thick, yet it pulls me in.

 

SFS: I got him into Damages.

 

 

 

 

9. The Retribution never really pans out, and there’s an obvious message in that, would you say that style of building a kind of commentary into a fairly dark, not PG rated comedy is inspired by something (which is hopefully related to a screen, because that would be convenient)?

 

 

SFS: Eric didn’t want me to win in my attempts to seek revenge every time, because the joke is that the Web, this supposedly great new technology, has allowed my character to be the selfish center of her universe and validate everything she has ever done at the expense of other people. This is a profoundly twisted philosophical outlook, and it’s important to us that sometimes I’m frustrated in my attempts to seek revenge. Also, we forget that usually people don’t know that they’ve hurt us. They’re off in their own worlds, and most of the real pain is self-inflicted and really has nothing to do with the other person. That’s the recurring joke. “You’re mad at me? I don’t see that.”

 

 

 

 

10. What is the best TV show ever that you were not a part of?

 

SFS & ER: Six Feet Under is the best show in the universe. Eric, as a writer of dialogue, wants to cry when he watches it because it’s just so damn good all the time. They are constantly digging into each other’s psyches on that show and never letting anybody off the hook with a stupid platitude.

 

SFS: I bought Eric the Six Feet Under complete DVD box set for his birthday two years ago. We both still watch every single episode over and over again. We study it. We want to learn from it.

 

 

 

And there we are.  Huge thank you to Steph (I don’t know, that’s what she keeps putting in her email, so that’s what I’m calling her) and Eric for playing along.

 

Please tune in to The Retributioners, and check out some of their suggestions.

 

 

Here are a couple of pictures of the MuzeClothing shirt I’m giving away.  It’s XL, and it’s awesome.

 

For more information on this shirt and MuzeClothing (and how it is made out of the best cotton in the world!!), check out their website, www.muzeclothing.com.  Remember to leave a comment to be entered to win.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Are You Screening?