I am a movie guy. Last Friday night while I was in Portland, I had the pleasure of seeing the 90 minute Irish Film, Once. This movie is the 2007 equivilent of a musical. I was glued to the screen. Run don’t walk to see this movie if it is stil playing by you.
What is most amazing is that it was done by non actors on a tiny budget of $150,000. As I say in my speeches, "sometimes, too much money can make you stupid".
From Wikipedia, "Produced with a shoestring budget of only $150,000, funded by the Irish Film Board, the film was shot with a skeleton crew. Money was saved by shooting the party scene in Hansard’s flat, with his personal friends playing the partygoers/musicians.The Dublin street scenes were done without permits and with a long lens so that many passersby didn’t even realize that a film was being made. The long lens also helped the non-professional actors relax and forget about the camera, and some of the dialogue ended up being improvised."
