DUCK
General Info
Role:
FilmmakerRoles(_FilmMakerRoleID = 1, _FilmMakerRole = Director) / FilmmakerRoles(_FilmMakerRoleID = 4, _FilmMakerRole = Screenwriter) / FilmmakerRoles(_FilmMakerRoleID = 2, _FilmMakerRole = Producer)Website
duckthemovie.comInfluences
Indie Films, late 60's and early 70's American Films, Foreign Films, and DocsDirectors
Hal Ashby (’Harold and Maude’, ’Being There’, ’Coming Home’) John Schlesinger (’Midnight Cowboy’, ’Marathon Man’) Milos Forman (’One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’) Sam Peckinpah (’Straw Dogs’) Martin Scorcese (’Raging Bull’, ’Mean Streets’, ’Taxi Driver’) Francis Ford Coppola (’The Godfather’, ’The Godfather : Part II’) Sydney Lumet (’Network’, ’Dog Day Afternoon’, ’The Pawnbroker’) Mike Nichols (’The Graduate’) Michael Cimino (’The Deer Hunter’) Terrence Malick (’Days of Heaven’, ’Badlands’) Clint Eastwood (’The Eiger Sanction’, ’Million Dollar Baby’, ’Play Misty For Me’) Errol Morris (’The Thin Blue Line’, ’Vernon, Florida’) Albert Maysles (’Grey Gardens’) Frederick Wiseman (’Titicut Follies’, ’Hospital’, ’Welfare’, ’Public Housing’) David Lynch (’Eraserhead’, ’The Elephant Man’, ’Blue Velvet’) David Cronenberg (’The Fly’, ’Dead Ringers’) Cohen Bros’ (’Blood Simple’, ’Barton Fink’, ’Fargo’) Roman Polanski (’Chinatown’, ’The Tenant’, ’Rosemary’s Baby’) Jean-Jacques Beineix (’Diva’, ’Betty Blue’) Spike Jonze/Charlie Kaufman (’Being John Malkovich’, ’Adaptation’)
More Random Films (of recent and late): ’Slingblade’ ’Boogie Nights’ ’Little Children’ ’Babel’ ’Talk to Her’, "40 Year Old Virgin’, ’A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints’ ’Pixote’, ’My Best Friend’, ’No End in Sight’, ’Lars and the Real Girl’, ’Crazy Love’, ’Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead’, ’The Sea Inside’, ’The Savages", ’In the Valley of Elah’, ’SuperBad’, ’Sexy Beast’, ’Local Hero’, ’Wise Blood’, 'The Visitor'Awards
Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature (Cinequest World Premiere), Best Foreign Dramatic Feature (European Independent Film Festival), WIFF Film Finishing Grant, John Cassavetes Award for Achievement and Excellence in American Cinema - Philip Baker Hall (Starz Denver International Film Festival)Festivals
Cinequest, Denver, Hollywood, American Cinematheque, Avignon/New York, WIF's DGA Showcase, Sao Paulo, Avignon, European IndependentProfessional Affiliations
FIND, WIF, U.S.C. Graduate Film School Alumni, Stanford Undergraduate Alumni
Photos
Latest Blog Entries
- Sep 8, 2007 8:27 PM Watch a Funny DUCK/Philip Baker Hall TV Spot
- Mar 10, 2007 6:52 PM DUCK Interview
Music
Blurbs
About me:
AVAILABLE NOW ON DVD AND NOVELLA @
www.duckthemovie.com/store.html
DUCK is the sublime tale of a duck who saves the life of a man...
..
'DUCK' stars me in the title role, alongside the inimitable (though I do a mean impression) Philip Baker Hall playing a retired widower in a dystopian Los Angeles where social services and graces are gone, and another Bush occupies the White House. Forced from his home with only a duck named JOE to accompany him, Hall's character ARTHUR embarks on a quest for purpose and community across the urban desert of Los Angeles. Interacting with a host of strangers some helpful, some harmful, some heroic, Arthur learns that saving the life of this duck may have led to the salvation of his own. In a duck who believes him to be its mother, an old man discovers the will to live on...
Featuring songs by Leonard Cohen, Eels, David Byrne, DUCK takes you on a funny/sad journey of hope and survival into L.A.'s as-of-yet avertable future.
Debuting on DVD and Novella 7.22.08, and succeeding its theatrical release in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Washington DC, Boston and Philadelphia via Landmark and AMC Select Cinemas, DUCK follows a man and a duck in search of the means to live, and some meaning in life, in Los Angeles 2009.
If we are but six degrees of separation from one another, are we as few to being alone?
***
Some critical praise for DUCK…
"A shy, quiet tour de force looking at love, loneliness, what it means to be human, and 'duckicity.'"
Dr. Joy Browne, WOR Radio Network
"Funny, charming and delightful. A crowd-pleasing gem."
Avi Offer, The NYC Movie Guru
"Bettauer, like other renowned storytellers Preston Sturges and John Steinbeck, asks viewers to look into their own hearts and attitudes about others of our own species. Duck manages to elucidate and entertain at the same time… The gritty reality, the simple story and brilliant acting will appeal to all ages."
Dianne Bates, BATES RATES NEWS
(read the full review @ http://www.dianne-bates.com)
"The always-compelling Philip Baker Hall is front and center… Hall has the right mix of whimsy and gravitas… an appropriate update of Vittorio De Sica’s postwar Italian classic ‘Umberto D’. "
Lisa Nesselson, VARIETY
"An unexpectedly poignant, moving film that took me on an emotional rollercoaster ride of laughter, tears and hope. Powerful in it's simplicity, DUCK brings about the subjects avoided by most in a way that doesn't assault the viewer but makes you wonder what you could do to be part of the solution. Really powerful. It's still in my head."
Christine Connallon of GC MAGAZINE (Dallas)
“… and we in turn are blessed with a thoughtful look at who we might be and what we can be, with just a little tenderness that remains embedded in the heart for a long time after.”
Rory L. Aronsky, FILM THREAT
"I found this film to be humorous and appealing. But at the same time a sad tale of how the downtrodden people can fall victim to an ongoing political system that is impersonal. Philip Baker Hall may be known as a character actor, but he portrayed a brilliant lead. Joe the Duck was great."
Gerald Wright, ROTTEN TOMATOES
"Philip Baker Hall throws himself into the role ever so convincingly opposite his anthropomorphized companion in a manner reminiscent of Jimmy Stewart with his imaginary 6-foot tall rabbit in Harvey (1950), and Tom Hanks talking to a volleyball he called Wilson in Cast Away (2000). A geezer and his pet pal performing random acts of kindness till they find salvation at the ocean shore..."
Kam Williams, NEWS BLAZE
"The filmmaker is good with actors, and in Hall she has a lead with such innate authority that you can't take your eyes off him." Chuck Wilson, LA WEEKLY
"One of the more peculiar quest movies of recent memory... Joe may not be welcomed on city buses, but he is one surefire conversation piece... Hall meshes expertly with the movie's hopeful sadness." Evan Henerson, LA DAILY NEWS
"Writer/director Nic Bettauer concocts a truly original cinematic experience... a whimsical, quirky, strangely endearing road movie. It’s certainly unique." Susan Granger, www.susangranger.com
(along with DUCK’s personal favorite…not!)
“hey... ummm... this is one of the strangest movies i've ever seen. but i think i liked it. still taking it in...”
Ed Gonzalez, SLANT MAGAZINE
Some critical praise for DUCK…
"A shy, quiet tour de force looking at love, loneliness, what it means to be human, and 'duckicity.'"
Dr. Joy Browne, WOR Radio Network
"Funny, charming and delightful. A crowd-pleasing gem."
Avi Offer, The NYC Movie Guru
"Bettauer, like other renowned storytellers Preston Sturges and John Steinbeck, asks viewers to look into their own hearts and attitudes about others of our own species. Duck manages to elucidate and entertain at the same time… The gritty reality, the simple story and brilliant acting will appeal to all ages."
Dianne Bates, BATES RATES NEWS
(read the full review @ http://www.dianne-bates.com)
"The always-compelling Philip Baker Hall is front and center… Hall has the right mix of whimsy and gravitas… an appropriate update of Vittorio De Sica’s postwar Italian classic ‘Umberto D’. "
Lisa Nesselson, VARIETY
"An unexpectedly poignant, moving film that took me on an emotional rollercoaster ride of laughter, tears and hope. Powerful in it's simplicity, DUCK brings about the subjects avoided by most in a way that doesn't assault the viewer but makes you wonder what you could do to be part of the solution. Really powerful. It's still in my head."
Christine Connallon of GC MAGAZINE (Dallas)
“… and we in turn are blessed with a thoughtful look at who we might be and what we can be, with just a little tenderness that remains embedded in the heart for a long time after.”
Rory L. Aronsky, FILM THREAT
"I found this film to be humorous and appealing. But at the same time a sad tale of how the downtrodden people can fall victim to an ongoing political system that is impersonal. Philip Baker Hall may be known as a character actor, but he portrayed a brilliant lead. Joe the Duck was great."
Gerald Wright, ROTTEN TOMATOES
"Philip Baker Hall throws himself into the role ever so convincingly opposite his anthropomorphized companion in a manner reminiscent of Jimmy Stewart with his imaginary 6-foot tall rabbit in Harvey (1950), and Tom Hanks talking to a volleyball he called Wilson in Cast Away (2000). A geezer and his pet pal performing random acts of kindness till they find salvation at the ocean shore..."
Kam Williams, NEWS BLAZE
"The filmmaker is good with actors, and in Hall she has a lead with such innate authority that you can't take your eyes off him." Chuck Wilson, LA WEEKLY
"One of the more peculiar quest movies of recent memory... Joe may not be welcomed on city buses, but he is one surefire conversation piece... Hall meshes expertly with the movie's hopeful sadness." Evan Henerson, LA DAILY NEWS
"Writer/director Nic Bettauer concocts a truly original cinematic experience... a whimsical, quirky, strangely endearing road movie. It’s certainly unique." Susan Granger, www.susangranger.com
(along with DUCK’s personal favorite…not!)
“hey... ummm... this is one of the strangest movies i've ever seen. but i think i liked it. still taking it in...”
Ed Gonzalez, SLANT MAGAZINE
***
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Who I'd like to meet:
You
Details
- Status: In a Relationship
- Zodiac Sign: Capricorn
Interests
General
Travel, Psychology, Photography, Talking to Strangers, DocumentariesMusic
Movies
Television
Books
Non-Fiction, 'I Know This Much Is True', 'The Little Prince', Bukowski, Camus, 'The Story of Ferdinand'Heroes
unlikely heroes, anti-heroes, and volunteers
