Yes, Rubber was released theatrically on April 1st. No, it's not some kind of a joke -- I've seen it, I know. It's actually a film about a tire that gains consciousness in the middle of the desert, finds it has the power to destroy objects and animals (including the human kind) with its mind, and then goes on to wreak fear and destruction amongst the inhabitants of a small motel. That director Quentin Dupieux (a.k.a. electro musician Mr. Oizo) goes ahead and has characters regularly address the audience -- both in the actual auditorium and on the screen (the latter are placed on a hilltop and conveniently provided binoculars to watch the carnage) -- then gives Wings Hauser possibly his best role to date as one particularly cantankerous spectator, and did it all with a bare-bones crew (Dupieux wrote, directed, composed (with Gaspard Augé) and photographed using the Canon 5D, (the same digital still camera used for Tiny Furniture) on a short schedule (less than one year from conception to final cut), only adds to the rarefied nature of the entire project. But have no doubt: It exists, and it's pretty damn cool.
Click on the player to hear my interview with Dupieux.
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