Friday, February 6, 2015

More about 'Straight Outta Tompkins,' in theaters March 6



As you may recall, crews for "Straight Outta Tompkins" filmed scenes for the feature in and around parts of the neighborhood back in March 2013.

The drama, written, produced and directed by Zephyr Benson, who also plays the lead character, opens on March 6 at the Cinema Village on East 12th Street.

Per the the film's Facebook page, "Straight Outta Tompkins" is "a shocking, brutally honest view of today's Lower East Side, New York City drug trade."

Indie Wire has a feature on the film and Benson this week:

There are definite signs in “Tompkins” that Benson has watched “Goodfellas” more than once, as his character, Gene, starts off selling pot-laced cupcakes to his classmates and ends up being recruited into selling hard drugs by a dangerous dealer.

“Goodfellas was my bible,” he said. “The amount of fake coke that I snorted was unbelievable. I was coughing out vitamin D powder.”

He also was influenced by an unlikely childhood favorite, “The Sopranos.” “I was 7 or 8 when it was on the air. It probably was not a good idea to watch the show then. It did something to me when I was younger.”

And here is the "Straight Outta Tompkins" trailer…



Benson, who attended attended NYU's Tisch School of the Arts in Filmmaking, is the son of Robby Benson, the boyish-looking actor your older sister totally had a crush on in the 1970s, and singer-actress Karla DeVito.

Previously on EV Grieve:
'Straight Outta Tompkins' is real, and it is now filming around the neighborhood

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

I"'m sure this will be crap.

Anonymous said...

It would be a lot more interesting to see a movie about the rural "meth valleys" and the poverty level Americans response to the country's concentration of wealth. I believe Goodfellas has already been made.

IzF said...

My sister was completely in love with Robby Benson. She turned into a complete retard every time she talked about him. You nailed it.

Anonymous said...

I don't think "Breaking Bad" can be bested.

Anonymous said...

To anonymous at 8:10 - you need to see "Winter's Bone" Proof that Jennifer Lawrence can act.

So depressing and well-made.

Makeout said...

"Winter's bone"- I saw "Morning Wood" and the sequel to "Brokeback Mountain"- "Reach-around River".

Ken from Ken's Kitchen said...

Have been trying to find "Winter's Bone" for awhile, 10:57 AM. How'd you access it?

Ken from Ken's Kitchen said...

Also, JL acted her ass off in Silver Lining's Playbook.

Gojira said...

@Ken - Netflix has it on DVD if you have that service.

Anonymous said...

Anon 10:57

I have seen Winter's Bone and thought it was fantastic, but it is only one of the few movies to tell a story about the "meth" makers/dealers which inhabit our poorest rural areas. Another mafia/gangster movie we could all do without, sorry Marty.

Anonymous said...

Sorry but who lets their kid watch Sopranos at age 7?

Anonymous said...

GARBAGE.

Eden Bee said...

Watch Meth Montana a documentary about what you are talking about.
http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/montana-meth/