Created by Chris R. Notarile
Sing along if you know the words…
In 2021, a black & white film short, J.J. Flask, was announced, written and directed by filmmaker Chris R. Notarile.
The eponymous hero, JJ FLASK, we’re told, is “an old fashioned, hard-boiled P.I. in a modern day setting,” trying to scrape out a living working “the mean streets of Los Angeles during its twilight hours.”
The film is, we’re told, smack dab into the middle of the “hard boiled noir detective genre, but with a fun twist that will satisfy any gumshoe fan.”
And that fun twist that will satisfy any gumshoe fan?
Vampires.
Yeah.
Yet another (almost) one-man show, I guess it’s to his credit that the auteur didn’t cast himself in the lead.
A small mercy, perhaps, but the Private Dick Envy is strong in this one. Which is fine.
Except… the film has never been released. It’s never even been made.
According to the IMDB (Yes, there’s an actual entry), the enthusiastic Notarile intends to also act as editor, cinematographer, and makeup artist. There’s even a “release date” listed (May 11, 2021), as though the film actually exists.
What we do have, instead, is the comic book and audio versions of the promised film (or at least part of it), components of the multimedia “barrage” that Notarile promised on social media would surround the film’s (eventual) release.
The graphic novel was simply photographs that I (incorrectly) assumed were stills from the film, with talk balloons and narrative text blocks pasted in, while the audio dramatization was also possibly based at least portions of the film.
The comic is hardly a classic, but it’s all good enough fun for the most part, and boasts what appears to be some impressively moody, noirish photography.
Which may have been the whole point.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
A graduate from the School of Visual Arts, with a BFA in animation, Chris R. Notarile is a one-stop FX guy, having studied stop-motion animation, makeup and prosthetics, set design and prop building, giving him (he hopes) a competitive edge as a filmmaker.
COMICS
- JJ FLASK: PRIVATE EYE: A NOIR DETECTIVE STORY | Buy the graphic novel
(2021, BCU Comics)
Released: May 18, 2021
Written, shot and directed by Chris R. Notarile
More like a photo-novella, with word balloons.
AUDIO DRAMATIZATION
- JJ FLASK: | Listen to it!
(2021)
6:31 minutes
Featuring the vocal talents of Heath Harper, Lindsey Bean, Santana Maynard and Dwight Taylor.
Released as Chapter One and Two on YouTube.
FILMS
- JJ FLASK: PRIVATE EYE
(TBA, Blinky Productions)
Black & white
Premiere: May 11, 2021 (not true)
Written and directed by Chris R. Notarile
Starring Heath Harper as JJ FLASK
Also starring Lindsey Bean, Dana Jesberger, Santana Maynard, Henry Roe, Dwight Taylor
FURTHER INVESTIGATION
- Written, directed and starring…
One-Man P.I. Shows - I Ain’t Afraid of No Ghosts
Things That Go Bump in the Night, and the Eyes Who Go After Them
Respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith. Thanks to Chris R. Notarile for setting the record straight.
