Resistance, The Sasquatch Dumpling Gang, and Split Allegiances

As I learned from Steven Pressfield's book "The War of Art," resistance (which Pressfield personifies as a near-physical force) is a real beast. It tries to stop progress and creativity at every turn, and today it's winning the battle against me.

I have two, if not three, things to be working on today - outlining the script for Michael, working on ScriptBuddy for Peter, and outlining the documentary project with Joe and Greg. Yet all I worked on today was deleting, archiving and responding to old Gmail messages.

Resistance's excuse for me is that now that I'm living a more systematic life, thanks mostly to Rachel reorganizing my room, I have to get everything set into a nice pattern first, and then I can work.

"How can you do anything for ScriptBuddy when there are emails from 2004 that you haven't responded to yet?" Exactly, Resistance. I know you usually are trying to trip me up and hold me back, but that, I have to admit, is a brilliant point.

I did come across an old email, though, which is inspiring the following entry.

Jeremy Coon's new movie, The Sasquatch Dumpling Gang, is finished. It played at the Slamdance Film Festival, and got a fairly glowing review from Variety, which called it funnier than Napoleon Dynamite! This, then, would seem to be the perfect time for me to find one thing wrong with it and then heedlessly, ferociously rip into it.

Except that I've met the writer/director. And he's really nice.

I met Tim Skousen at a Liberty, Art and Culture seminar near Philly back in 2002. We both showed our short films, and Tim later told all his friends how much he loved Sean Connery Golf Project, the documentary I made with Sara Rimensnyder. A good, solid man that Tim Skousen. "He's going to spread Liberty and Art across the globe," I've always thought.

When I first got wind of The Sasquatch Dumpling Gang, I was only paying attention to the producer, Jeremy Coon. Who, as we all know, I want to fail. That, coupled with the movie's kind of silly name, inspired me to ridicule it mercilessly and, of course, ignorantly (since I knew nothing about it).

Not long afterward, Tim emailed me after googling "Sasquatch Dumpling Gang" and finding my blog (I know if I were making a movie, I'd google that movie every second too!).

The email said something to the effect of, "It kind of sucks that we met, watched each other's projects, and hung out, and now you're bashing my movie and you don't know anything about it."

I felt terrible. Who knew there would be innocent casualties in the war against the behemouth Coon?! I quickly wrote a quasi-retraction, explaining my anti-Sasquatch vitirol as pure jealousy, and suggesting that The Sasquatch Dumpling Gang would be much better than Nacho Libre, Jared Hess's new film, which seemed to forsake Hess's Mormon roots by presenting a positive Catholic character.

The Catholic Church, as all good Mormons should know, is the "mother of all whores." So why was the hero of Hess's new film a Catholic priest, I wondered here, as I mused that it was Jeremy Coon, not Hess, who was keeping it "real."

I wanted to interview Tim Skousen for the blog, but he had good reason not to comply. I mean, his boss is Jeremy Coon, and that's who this blog is against. Plus, he was really fracken busy with his movie, which will (if Variety's industry prediction powers prove correct yet again) be yet another huge success for the Coonster.

So I'm not going to rip into The Sasquatch Dumpling Gang again without having seen it. I certainly won't rip into it if I see it and like it. And I probably won't even rip into it if I see it and don't like it.

Does this mean I've sold out? Am I forsaking my anti-Jeremy Coon roots the way Hess forsook his religion for Hollywood success?

Perhaps, but I have to say that loyalty to friends - or even nice aquaintences - has to come first, even in the most gruesome battles against your most dangerous enemies. I wish Tim Skousen the best of luck, and a whole lot of success, even if that means that Jeremy Coon has to get it too.

Of course, if somehow Tim Skousen got a lot of money and critical praise for The Sasquatch Dumpling Gang, and it won Best Writing and Direction, and Jeremy Coon went bankrupt, was booed by critics, and didn't even get nominated for Best Picture... well, that would be ideal.

Comments

[C]

Tim Skousen's father, Mark Skousen (of the eponymous website), used to be an economics professor at my university. He's totally libertarian and awesome. He's written lots of books and lived all over the world.

Go, Tim, go!

And yes, he is a Mormon. Tim has four siblings.

[amp]

My name is Asher and my brother is Hubbel Palmer he starred in this movie. He is the man. This is his best performance yet. Watch out for Hubbel Palmer he is going to revolutionize the film industry.

[Jo Ann]

Great blog--I like your tone. I like your willingness to eat humble pie, too. BTW, I've seen "The Sasquatch Dumpling Gang," and it's hilarious. Great script. "Better than Napoleon," as I've told Tim a hundred times.
Tim's Mom

[kyle collins]

Hey I worked on SDG as the boom op. I have not seen it yet, but it was a blast to work. I do hope that all involved on the film reach new success. Tim, Coon, Hubbel and myself. Can't wait to see it. I hope you can get over your angst against The Coon. He's Coontastic!