Crooked Arrows (lacrosse film) - May 18h limited theatrical - June 1st national theatrical (1 Viewer)

[Brian W. Ralston]

Hey HTF friends,
I just wanted to share one of the films I scored with you all that you all should be able to see theatrically June 1st...(some in limited markets May 18th).
The film is called Crooked Arrows and it is the first mainstream hollywood movie about Lacrosse. The film stars Brandon Routh (Superman Returns), Gil Birmingham (Twilight), Chelsea Rickets and Crystal Allen. It has truly been an honor and exciting experience working on and scoring this wonderful family and inspirational film. The film is directed by veteran director Steve Rash (Buddy HollyStory, Can't Buy Me Love). The film is produced by J. Todd Harris (The Kids Are All Right) and Mitchell Peck (Priest). It will have a limited theatrical release in specific "lacrosse focused" markets of the northeast on May 18th...but then will open nationally in theaters everywhere June 1st. It is an independently produced and released film though...so don't expect it in thousands of screens like Avengers or anything. But it will be on hundreds of screens by June 1st in most all major cities. For our international friends, it will also be released theatrically around the world as well, in Canada, the UK and other European countries including an european premiere in the Netherlands.
The full official synopsis of the film is the following:
A mixed-blood Native American, Joe Logan, eager to modernize his reservation, must first prove himself to his father, the traditionalist Tribal Chairman, by rediscovering his spirit. He is tasked with coaching the reservation’s high school lacrosse team which competes against the better equipped and better trained players of the elite Prep School League.
Joe inspires the Native American boys and teaches them the true meaning of tribal pride. Ignited by their heritage and believing in their new-found potential, coach and team climb an uphill battle to the state championship finals against their privileged prep school rivals…will they win?
Crooked Arrows is an original, uplifting sports movie in the tradition of such classics as Mighty Ducks, Bad News Bears, Hoosiers, and Bend It Like Beckham–set in the fresh, contemporary worlds of Native American reservations, prep schools, and lacrosse…
If you would like to read more, the official film website is at: www.crookedarrows.com
and if you would like to help spread the word to your facebook friends, the film's facebook page is at: www.facebook.com/crookedarrows
Here is the official poster:

Here is the film's current internet teaser on YouTube:

I have been scoring the film since early February. My score was performed by the Hollywood Studio Symphony orchestra in mid March conducted by yours truly. I don't know if we will have a soundtrack release yet. For any facebook friends of mine, there is a video on my wall from the scoring session. Feel free to friend me.

We are finishing the film Dub this monday the 16th...and then the marketing campaign kicks in till the releases.
This Tuesday, lead actor Brandon Routh will appear on the TV show EXTRA interviewed by Mario Lopez at The Grove in LA talking about the film and the new theatrical trailer that will run in theaters will also premiere on the show. You can check here for local showtime of EXTRA if you want to check it out, set your DVRs and tell your friends: http://extratv.warnerbros.com/about/whenitson.php
For more about Extra At the Grove: http://extratv.warnerbros.com/at_the_grove/
Being a independent film...we will need all the help and support we can get to have a good theatrical run. I can assure you that the film is a good family film. Its test audience screenings have gone incredibly well with high scores across the board of all age groups from young kids to teenagers to parents. It is a good story...inspirational...and a great film featuring America's fastest growing sport, lacrosse, which of course has its roots in Native American culture. I hope you all are able to go see it. I would highly recommend you go opening weekend in your area because independently released films tend to get squeezed out by the big studio films after their first week or so. See you all at the movies!

 

[Aaron Silverman]

This looks really cool. Lacrosse was huge at my high school, which always competed for the state championship (one of very few public schools to do so). I was never that into the sport, but to this day I have a nasty scar over my right eye from when a buddy and I had a lax stick sword fight in gym class one day.
(It's all fun and games until someone almost loses an eye. . .)

 

[Brian W. Ralston]

The new theatrical trailer is now starting to play in theaters and is on Apple's trailer website here:
http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/crookedarrows/
Also...here is one of the "behind-the-scenes" promo pieces that talks about the efforts taken to make the film an authentic portrayal of not only lacrosse as a sport...but of Native American culture as well.
[VIDEO]http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNzvZAKOm4Q[/VIDEO]
The Crooked Arrows world premiere is in Syracuse, NY on Wednesday May 9th. Syracuse was chosen as the location for the world premiere of “Crooked Arrows” because of its connection to the history of the Onondaga Nation, the film’s major sponsor. Onondaga remains the meeting place for the Grand Council of Chiefs, the traditional ruling body for the Haudenosaunee, an alliance of native nations united for hundreds of years by traditions, beliefs, cultures and values. The Onondaga Nation is a member of the Haudenosaunee or “People of the Longhouse.”
Tickets for the World Premier event are available through Ticketmaster and the OnCenter Box Office. The box office opens at 6:30 p.m.; the film premiers at 8 p.m. Cast members, Onondaga Nation leaders and a notable group of dignitaries are expected to attend this special world premier event that will also be simulcast to locations across the United States.

 

[Brian W. Ralston]

Here is a great little promo piece on YouTube about the story of Crooked Arrows.
[VIDEO]http-~~-//youtu.be/u-8yMptBmoU[/VIDEO]
Here is a pic of me and my wife with star Brandon Routh (Superman Returns) at the World premiere last week in Syracuse, NY. Brandon plays coach Joe Logan in the film.

Here we are with Gil Birmingham (Twilight) who plays Brandon's father Ben Logan and Kakaionstha Betty Deer who plays Grandma Sky.

The film's initial release is this weekend, starting Friday May 18 at the theaters highlighted in RED here: http://crookedarrows.com/theater-locations/.
Whenever the movie opens near you, we hope folks will gather a group and go see Crooked Arrows opening weekend. We want families and especially the entire lacrosse community to be able to see the movie for sure, and the only way theater chains will authorize an expansion is if they are confident that folks will support it!
If you live in or near one of the May 18 cities and have the time, it would be great if you all could go see the film opening weekend so that everyone else across the country will be able to see it on June 1st and join in on the fun.
If you live in a June 1 city, or are hoping to get the movie to your area, please encourage friends (especially if any of them are lacrosse fanatics or teams) all over to go see it – big crowds and lots of positive buzz on May 18 opening weekend will help expand Crooked Arrows to all areas so everyone can be a part of showcasing the great sport of lacrosse together! Thank you all for your support, patience and encouragement.
See you at the movie theaters this weekend!

 

[todd s]

My son is going with all of the rec Lacrosse team players from our town tonight.

 

[Brian W. Ralston]

Excellent Todd. I hope they all have fun. The producers have been strongly promoting that teams see it together. It certainly will heighten the experience for all of them. It has been getting a great response thus far. 83% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes and a 94% audience rate as well. So your son and his teammates should certainly have a great time. But it seems that it is having an even wider appeal than that too. Even the non-LAX folks are liking it. :pc:

 

[mattCR]

Well, it's getting good reviews!

http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/movies/2012/05/crooked_arrows_the_plucky_underdog_native_american_lacrosse_movie_i_never_knew_i_wanted_.html

Needless to say, all of these efforts pay off, and the Crooked Arrows streak to a championship showdown with Coventry. (This despite the fact that team has only one substitute on the bench and an offense that clearly relies too heavily on the vagina dodge.) Will the upstart Indians carry the day? Will they restore honor to their native sport? Will a poorly CGI’d bald eagle representing the spirit of Logan’s dead mother hover meaningfully over the proceedings? The answers to all of these questions are never in doubt, but even so, you’d have to be a poor sport—or have lost an ancestor at Fort Michilimackinac—not to have some fun watching the Crooked Arrows inevitably find their mark.

Admittedly, it's a strange and at times pot shot filled review, but the reviewer openly points out it's hard to not have fun.. and isn't that the point?

 

[Brian W. Ralston]

Matt...the Boston Globe review is even better.
http://www.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2012/05/18/lacrosse_comes_to_the_big_screen_and_scores/
Also....just search "crooked arrows" on twitter. Mostly good things said by a lot of tweens and even some older "parent" types.
Too fun!

 

[Brian W. Ralston]

Crooked Arrows opens this Friday June 1st nationwide. Hundreds of theaters have been added to this wave of the release.
http://crookedarrows.com/theater-locations/
Families are loving the film. Here is a little YouTube vid of some audience reactions from the limited cities release last week which went extremely well for only 55 screens.

Hope to see you all at the movies.

 

[Brian W. Ralston]

Just letting you all know that this may be the last weekend Crooked Arrows will be in theaters in the US. Lots of studio" tent-pole" releases are coming out in the next few weeks starting this weekend with Prometheus and Madagascar 3. The theater chains are freeing up theaters for extra screenings of these bigger studio films and the indies are usually the first to go. All the theater chains care about are mass ticket sales and the studio heavies pull in big numbers. So if anyone wants to check out this great family film on the big screen, this may be your last weekend chance. Some theaters have already removed it. The following list is accurate of where it is still showing as of today. http://crookedarrows.com/theater-locations/
Thanks for your support everyone!
Europe/UK, Australia, and expanded Canadian theatrical releases are in the works for this summer.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Now I'm curious just to find out what exactly is the "vagina dodge."
(Aside from the title of my high school years memoir!)

 

[Brian W. Ralston]

LOL Aaron! There is a move in lacrosse called a V-cut when a player is trying to lose the defender closely shadowing and blocking him. What you do is run in one direction and without warning cut back the opposite direction and then back out at an angle (in the shape of a V) to quickly get rid of the defender.
In the film, coach Joe Logan thought it would be good for his team to use senoquat on the field as an advantage over other "prep school" teams so they would not know what plays or moves they were communicating with each other. He compared it to the Navajo code talkers in WWII. When the team's reservation school teacher (and coach Joe's love interest) would not help Joe translate his plays/words because she questioned his motives with the team...he took it upon himself to look up the words and translate them, even though he as a half-blood himself did not speak a word of his family's native language. He incorrectly translated a "V-Cut" move into senoquat unknowkingly using the words for vagina and dodge. The kids on the team discovered this immediately and told him....but of course kids being kids made it their own and kept using it on the field to his dismay. Thus the running joke in the film with "Vagina dodge."

 

[Brian W. Ralston]

Here is a little "Behind the Score" promo on YouTube we put together for the new soundtrack CD release of my Crooked Arrows score on Perseverance Records. I explain a little about the process of scoring a film and show some footage from the sessions, etc...

Enjoy!