Yesterday Was a Lie
Encyclopedia
Yesterday Was a Lie is a 2009 neo-noir
film written and directed by James Kerwin
and starring Kipleigh Brown
, Chase Masterson
, John Newton, and Mik Scriba. In publicity materials, the film has been described as a combination of science fantasy
and film noir
.
) sets out to locate a reclusive genius (John Newton) who may be able to distort reality. Instead she finds her life becoming more and more fragmented and surreal. Trusting only her partner (Mik Scriba) and a sexy lounge singer (Chase Masterson
), she is shadowed by a dangerous man (Peter Mayhew
).
The early cut of the film began a series of film festival
screenings on January 17, 2008 at the Park City Film Music Festival, where it received a Director's Choice Award. The film went on to receive Best Feature awards at numerous festivals, including the ShockerFest International Film Festival
, as well as a bronze Telly Award and the Best of Show Accolade Award. It was awarded the Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Cinematography trophies at Visionfest
, the Best Actress prize (for Brown) at ShockerFest, and the Best Producer prize (for Masterson) at the LA Femme Film Festival.
In early July 2008, San Diego Comic-Con
announced that the test cut of Yesterday Was a Lie would be presented as the closing film of its 2008 convention.
In October 2008, the film's official blog announced that a newer cut of the film would be shown at the St. Louis International Film Festival
. In December 2008, the Beverly Hills Hi-Def Film Festival announced the new cut of the film would have its theatrical première at the closing night film of its 2009 festival.
Theatrical release
In August 2009, Yesterday Was a Lie was acquired by E1 Entertainment U.S.. According to the film's official blog, a new cut of the movie, featuring an updated soundtrack and other changes, was created for the formal release. Yesterday Was a Lie was released theatrically in the U.S. on December 11, 2009.
Home video
The film was released on DVD on April 6, 2010.
In a review published after the film's U.S. theatrical opening, Variety
praised the film's "stunning black-and-white HD cinematography" and "impressively atmospheric tone" and its recreation of the "classical Hollywood [visual] aesthetic". The film's "sultry jazz score" was also singled out for mention. However, the review also criticized the casting of the film—calling the acting "stiff" and "hopelessly amateurish"—as well as the plot, which it described as a "clunky David Lynch
ian cosmic mystery" leading to "grand (yet underwhelming) revelations about the nature of reality."
Other mainstream reviewers were critical of the film as well. Kevin Thomas in the Los Angeles Times
wrote that "The film seems like an atmospheric shampoo commercial in which glamorous models pose in gritty back alleys with fog machines going full force. ... There's lots of talk about the 'interconnected of consciousness' and 'the totality of consciousness' and how those who can plug into it can control reality ... [The] film is hard to connect with and is way too vague to inspire the urge to try to do so." while John Wheeler in LA Weekly
wrote that the film's "pitch" was "'a metaphysical noir about a beautiful alcoholic detective searching for the key to understanding nonlinear time'" but commented that the "film can’t hope to live up to that premise, and it doesn’t." It comments that "the film jumps around aimlessly, repeating dialogue and images of Hoyle’s search while using non sequitur discussions of Dali
and Eliot to justify its often impenetrably surreal structure." It praises the film as being in "gorgeous black-and-white and lit by some extremely competent artisans" but concludes that "the film is finally too disjointed and incomprehensible to be enjoyed as much else besides an exercise in style."
Film Threat
magazine gave Yesterday four-and-a-half stars and named it one of the 10 best films of the year from the festival circuit. The Epoch Times
newspaper, Collider.com, Ain't It Cool, and KGO
resident film critic Dennis Willis
also all reviewed the film positively, with Willis calling Yesterday "nothing less than the arrival of a major filmmaker." Author Robert J. Sawyer
blogged that the movie was "the most thoughtful and compelling science fiction film of 2009" (a quote subsequently used in press materials). The film received a positive review from The Numbers following its DVD release.
Yesterday Was a Lie has a rating of 83% on the Rotten Tomatoes
website.
announced the February 15 release of the Kristopher Carter
score on CD, including songs performed by Masterson from the film.
The film has been adapted into a limited edition graphic novel by artist James Hill, first released as a San Diego Comic-Con Exclusive at 2010's Comic-Con International
.
Web series
A seven-episode Yesterday Was a Lie viral web series, based on Nathan Mobley's "Lab Assistant" character from the feature film, debuted on Blip.tv
in January 2011, and is also viewable as an Easter egg
on the film's official site.
Neo-noir
Neo-noir is a style often seen in modern motion pictures and other forms that prominently utilize elements of film noir, but with updated themes, content, style, visual elements or media that were absent in films noir of the 1940s and 1950s.-History:The term Film Noir was coined by...
film written and directed by James Kerwin
James Kerwin
James Kerwin is an American film and theatre director.Kerwin, who attended Parkway Central High School in Chesterfield, Missouri, has been noted for his Shakespearean adaptations of A Midsummer Night's Dream, Cardenio and Venus and Adonis...
and starring Kipleigh Brown
Kipleigh Brown
Kipleigh Brown is an American actress.In addition to her film credits, which include the lead role in James Kerwin's sci-fi noir film Yesterday Was a Lie, she is also known for playing "Jane Taylor" on the television series Star Trek: Enterprise and for sketch comedy at the I.O. West in Los Angeles...
, Chase Masterson
Chase Masterson
Chase Masterson, born Christianne Carafano on February 26, 1963 in Colorado Springs, Colorado, is an American actress and singer.-Career:...
, John Newton, and Mik Scriba. In publicity materials, the film has been described as a combination of science fantasy
Science fantasy
Science fantasy is a mixed genre within speculative fiction drawing elements from both science fiction and fantasy. Although in some terms of its portrayal in recent media products it can be defined as instead of being a mixed genre of science fiction and fantasy it is instead a mixing of the...
and film noir
Film noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
.
Plot
A hard-drinking female investigator named Hoyle (Kipleigh BrownKipleigh Brown
Kipleigh Brown is an American actress.In addition to her film credits, which include the lead role in James Kerwin's sci-fi noir film Yesterday Was a Lie, she is also known for playing "Jane Taylor" on the television series Star Trek: Enterprise and for sketch comedy at the I.O. West in Los Angeles...
) sets out to locate a reclusive genius (John Newton) who may be able to distort reality. Instead she finds her life becoming more and more fragmented and surreal. Trusting only her partner (Mik Scriba) and a sexy lounge singer (Chase Masterson
Chase Masterson
Chase Masterson, born Christianne Carafano on February 26, 1963 in Colorado Springs, Colorado, is an American actress and singer.-Career:...
), she is shadowed by a dangerous man (Peter Mayhew
Peter Mayhew
Peter Mayhew is an English actor known for playing the Wookiee Chewbacca in the Star Wars movies. His peak height was tall.-Career:...
).
Cast
- Kipleigh BrownKipleigh BrownKipleigh Brown is an American actress.In addition to her film credits, which include the lead role in James Kerwin's sci-fi noir film Yesterday Was a Lie, she is also known for playing "Jane Taylor" on the television series Star Trek: Enterprise and for sketch comedy at the I.O. West in Los Angeles...
as Hoyle - Chase MastersonChase MastersonChase Masterson, born Christianne Carafano on February 26, 1963 in Colorado Springs, Colorado, is an American actress and singer.-Career:...
as Singer - John Newton as Dudas
- Mik Scriba as Trench Coat Man
- Nathan Mobley as Lab Assistant
- Warren DavisWarren Davis (actor)Warren Davis is an American actor and video game programmer. He is best known for inventing the arcade classic Q*bert. His other video arcade credits include Joust 2, Lotto Fun, Exterminator, Terminator 2, and Revolution X, which featured Aerosmith; as well as Us. Vs...
as Psychiatrist - Megan HenningMegan HenningMegan Henning is an American actress. She is known for playing Meredith Davies on 7th Heaven and Monica Shaw on David E. Kelley's The Brotherhood of Poland, New Hampshire...
as Student - Jennifer Slimko as Nurse
- Robert SiegelRobert SiegelRobert Siegel is an American radio journalist best known as host of the National Public Radio evening news broadcast All Things Considered.-Career:...
as Radio Interviewer - Peter MayhewPeter MayhewPeter Mayhew is an English actor known for playing the Wookiee Chewbacca in the Star Wars movies. His peak height was tall.-Career:...
as Dead Man
Production
Yesterday Was a Lie was in production from 13 August to 15 September 2006. In March 2007, a trailer of the film premièred at San Francisco Wondercon. In August 2007, the film's official blog announced the completion of a test cut of the motion picture.Release
Festival runThe early cut of the film began a series of film festival
Film festival
A film festival is an organised, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality. More and more often film festivals show part of their films to the public by adding outdoor movie screenings...
screenings on January 17, 2008 at the Park City Film Music Festival, where it received a Director's Choice Award. The film went on to receive Best Feature awards at numerous festivals, including the ShockerFest International Film Festival
ShockerFest International Film Festival
The ShockerFest International Film Festival is a Californian film and video festival for horror, fantasy and science fiction films since 2002.- ShockerFest 2009 :...
, as well as a bronze Telly Award and the Best of Show Accolade Award. It was awarded the Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Cinematography trophies at Visionfest
Visionfest
Visionfest showcases creations of U.S. filmmakers and by production entities that are based solely in the U.S. Visionfest provides an exhibition forum for the American amateur that is specialized and focused; one that does not dilute the presence of U.S. films within a sea of international product...
, the Best Actress prize (for Brown) at ShockerFest, and the Best Producer prize (for Masterson) at the LA Femme Film Festival.
In early July 2008, San Diego Comic-Con
Comic-Con International
San Diego Comic-Con International, also known as Comic-Con International: San Diego , and commonly known as Comic-Con or the San Diego Comic-Con, was founded as the Golden State Comic Book Convention and later the San Diego Comic Book Convention in 1970 by Shel Dorf and a group of San Diegans...
announced that the test cut of Yesterday Was a Lie would be presented as the closing film of its 2008 convention.
In October 2008, the film's official blog announced that a newer cut of the film would be shown at the St. Louis International Film Festival
St. Louis International Film Festival
The St. Louis International Film Festival is an annual film festival in St. Louis, Missouri, which has been running since 1992. The coordinating organization changed its name to "Cinema St. Louis" in 2003...
. In December 2008, the Beverly Hills Hi-Def Film Festival announced the new cut of the film would have its theatrical première at the closing night film of its 2009 festival.
Theatrical release
In August 2009, Yesterday Was a Lie was acquired by E1 Entertainment U.S.. According to the film's official blog, a new cut of the movie, featuring an updated soundtrack and other changes, was created for the formal release. Yesterday Was a Lie was released theatrically in the U.S. on December 11, 2009.
Home video
The film was released on DVD on April 6, 2010.
Reception
During the film's festival run it received generally positive reviews.In a review published after the film's U.S. theatrical opening, Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
praised the film's "stunning black-and-white HD cinematography" and "impressively atmospheric tone" and its recreation of the "classical Hollywood [visual] aesthetic". The film's "sultry jazz score" was also singled out for mention. However, the review also criticized the casting of the film—calling the acting "stiff" and "hopelessly amateurish"—as well as the plot, which it described as a "clunky David Lynch
David Lynch
David Keith Lynch is an American filmmaker, television director, visual artist, musician and occasional actor. Known for his surrealist films, he has developed his own unique cinematic style, which has been dubbed "Lynchian", and which is characterized by its dream imagery and meticulous sound...
ian cosmic mystery" leading to "grand (yet underwhelming) revelations about the nature of reality."
Other mainstream reviewers were critical of the film as well. Kevin Thomas in the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
wrote that "The film seems like an atmospheric shampoo commercial in which glamorous models pose in gritty back alleys with fog machines going full force. ... There's lots of talk about the 'interconnected of consciousness' and 'the totality of consciousness' and how those who can plug into it can control reality ... [The] film is hard to connect with and is way too vague to inspire the urge to try to do so." while John Wheeler in LA Weekly
LA Weekly
LA Weekly is a free weekly tabloid-sized "alternative weekly" in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1978 by Editor/Publisher Jay Levin and a board of directors that included actor-producer Michael Douglas...
wrote that the film's "pitch" was "'a metaphysical noir about a beautiful alcoholic detective searching for the key to understanding nonlinear time'" but commented that the "film can’t hope to live up to that premise, and it doesn’t." It comments that "the film jumps around aimlessly, repeating dialogue and images of Hoyle’s search while using non sequitur discussions of Dali
Salvador Dalí
Salvador Domènec Felip Jacint Dalí i Domènech, Marquis de Púbol , commonly known as Salvador Dalí , was a prominent Spanish Catalan surrealist painter born in Figueres,Spain....
and Eliot to justify its often impenetrably surreal structure." It praises the film as being in "gorgeous black-and-white and lit by some extremely competent artisans" but concludes that "the film is finally too disjointed and incomprehensible to be enjoyed as much else besides an exercise in style."
Film Threat
Film Threat
Film Threat is a former print magazine and, now, webzine which focuses primarily on independent film, although it also reviews DVDs of mainstream films and Hollywood movies in theaters. It first appeared as a photocopied zine in 1985, created by Wayne State University students Chris Gore and André...
magazine gave Yesterday four-and-a-half stars and named it one of the 10 best films of the year from the festival circuit. The Epoch Times
The Epoch Times
The Epoch Times is a multi-language, international media organisation. As a newspaper, the Times has been publishing in Chinese since May 2000. It was founded in 1999 by supporters of the Falun Gong spiritual discipline....
newspaper, Collider.com, Ain't It Cool, and KGO
KGO (AM)
KGO is a news/talk-format radio station radio with offices and studios in San Francisco, California. Unlike most other American news/talk stations, KGO originates nearly all of its own programming locally. Since 1978, KGO radio has received Arbitron's number-one ranking in the Bay Area...
resident film critic Dennis Willis
Dennis Willis
Dennis Willis is an American film critic, radio and television personality, and writer, director and producer of short independent films. He currently reviews films and provides entertainment industry commentary at KGO AM in San Francisco, and his reviews appear on Examiner.com...
also all reviewed the film positively, with Willis calling Yesterday "nothing less than the arrival of a major filmmaker." Author Robert J. Sawyer
Robert J. Sawyer
Robert James Sawyer is a Canadian science fiction writer. He has had 20 novels published, and his short fiction has appeared in Analog Science Fiction and Fact, Amazing Stories, On Spec, Nature, and many anthologies. Sawyer has won over forty awards for his fiction, including the Nebula Award ,...
blogged that the movie was "the most thoughtful and compelling science fiction film of 2009" (a quote subsequently used in press materials). The film received a positive review from The Numbers following its DVD release.
Yesterday Was a Lie has a rating of 83% on the Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
website.
Soundtrack
In February 2011, La-La Land RecordsLa-La Land Records
La-La Land Records is an American record company based in Burbank, California . The company specializes in film and television soundtracks. The label is run by Michael V...
announced the February 15 release of the Kristopher Carter
Kristopher Carter
Kristopher Lee Carter is an American composer. He grew up in San Angelo, Texas and currently lives in Los Angeles, California....
score on CD, including songs performed by Masterson from the film.
Spin-offs
Graphic novelThe film has been adapted into a limited edition graphic novel by artist James Hill, first released as a San Diego Comic-Con Exclusive at 2010's Comic-Con International
Comic-Con International
San Diego Comic-Con International, also known as Comic-Con International: San Diego , and commonly known as Comic-Con or the San Diego Comic-Con, was founded as the Golden State Comic Book Convention and later the San Diego Comic Book Convention in 1970 by Shel Dorf and a group of San Diegans...
.
Web series
A seven-episode Yesterday Was a Lie viral web series, based on Nathan Mobley's "Lab Assistant" character from the feature film, debuted on Blip.tv
Blip.tv
The website Blip.tv is a platform for web series. The company offers a for the "best in original web series" and also offers a dashboard for producers of original web series to distribute and monetize their productions....
in January 2011, and is also viewable as an Easter egg
Easter egg (media)
Image:Carl Oswald Rostosky - Zwei Kaninchen und ein Igel 1861.jpg|250px|thumb|right|Example of Easter egg hidden within imagerect 467 383 539 434 desc none...
on the film's official site.
External links
- Official site
- Trailers
- Outtakes at Home article on the WonderConWonderConWonderCon is an annual comic book, science fiction, and motion picture convention, held in the San Francisco Bay Area since 1987.The convention was conceived by retailer John Barrett and originally held in the Oakland Convention Center, where it remained until 2003, when it moved to San...
panel