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of
Melissa, and Bart's compliance with and embrace of his humiliation motivates Melissa to a surprising, violent, and bittersweet action. The first adult decision of this 12-year-old ensues; a wrenching decision full of the mixed emotions of both characters, and fantasy of what could have been, and what ultimately could never be.
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On a dry lakebed we witness the bonding, friendship, and tragedy of Bart and
Melissa's haunting relationship before it builds to a final climax at Aunt Betty's house as Quinton shows up and the terror, beauty, and banality of their journey come to a head. Quinton humiliates and degrades Bart in front
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Stopping in a lounge Bart dances with
Melissa again, and as she begins to feel her youth and freedom we watch her through Bart's not so parental eyes. In a seedy small-town motel it becomes apparent Dwight's head wound is too severe to ignore, and Derrick and Dwight leave the group to take Dwight to
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The company went on the road for a two-week trip, sharing motel rooms and shooting in pre-arranged and improvised locations, then basing themselves in
Victorville, where cast and crew members came and left as shooting demanded, or went on to previous commitments. All the small town locations were
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Bart and
Melissa team up to do a trade to a small town used car salesman (David Alexander) as Melissa comes to Bart's aid for the first time. A small town bartender matches bravado with Derrick with disastrous results for Dwight when he hits him in the head with a beer mug, wounding him severely.
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At a river bed Bart dances a 70's line dance with
Melissa in front of the car that contains the bodies of her parents, just before he dumps it into a river. In an accident of fate, the group discovers Melissa's prowess with a gun, and Bart teaches her about life, wearing the white hat, doing the
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impossible, meaning the production was shooting blind. The four dedicated leads spent the full two weeks shooting in the area with the director, and quietly put up with the relative discomfort of being away from home and shooting in an open car, in August, in the desert. With clinging clothes
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which deserves a much larger audience. The meandering discussions they have about life, death, dreams and mortality have all the sizzle and wit you could ever hope to find in a movie. One of my favorite films of the year.”
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Arriving back in the Valley for Aunt Betty's location was bittersweet in its loss of small-town friendliness and driving, but welcome in its more temperate climate. Aunt Betty's
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feel needed for the culminating scenes. Shooting as sequentially as possible was a conscious decision designed to give the actors the kind of emotional fuel needed to drive a
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disappearing between takes, passers-by may have thought it was some strange desert beach movie. The motel pool was put to a thorough use in the evenings just to keep cool.
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However, the film was given a very poor distribution by a minor distributor and failed to get to “a much larger audience.”
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tense opening tone was created in a small warehouse location in
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and continued to skirt the city in the desert area around
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feature film written and directed by
American director
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585:– production company official website
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640:Nancy Van Iderstine
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288:is a 1998 American
135:1998 Release Poster
591:– official website
520:“A stunning film.”
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96:February 2016
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29:This article
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448:Frazier Park
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257:Running time
234:Release date
183:Brian Brophy
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55:"The Seller"
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38:Please help
33:verification
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444:Victorville
432:Victorville
420:Los Angeles
296:. It stars
290:Independent
261:117 minutes
223:Lester Fatt
161:Produced by
141:Directed by
659:1998 films
653:Categories
589:Mink Stole
576:The Seller
565:The Seller
504:The Seller
481:opened in
479:The Seller
468:dénouement
411:Production
398:Mink Stole
388:as Derrick
382:as Melissa
330:Mink Stole
302:Mink Stole
285:The Seller
199:Mink Stole
151:Written by
124:The Seller
66:newspapers
622:Adam Paul
474:Reception
436:Lancaster
428:El Mirage
394:as Dwight
392:Adam Paul
334:Adam Paul
219:Edited by
195:Adam Paul
533:Jon Jost
442:shot in
406:as Carla
274:Language
179:Starring
483:Chicago
452:dailies
277:English
266:Country
243: (
80:scholar
460:Reseda
320:Bart (
308:, and
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464:Texas
87:JSTOR
73:books
644:IMDb
635:IMDb
626:IMDb
617:IMDb
608:IMDb
599:IMDb
570:IMDb
523:KPFK
434:and
368:Cast
316:Plot
245:1998
241:1998
59:news
642:at
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