EDGE on the Net

In 2007, Director Eli Rarey’s 16-minute short film The Famous Joe Project, screened at both Outfest and Slamdance. The short film focused on a young man named Joe (Duncan Ferguson) who records his life on a camcorder then broadcasts it on his website.

Rarey has taken his short film and inflated it to a feature film "The Famous Joe Project" which is scheduled to premier at Outfest 2012 this July. The new film focuses on a twink named Joe (this time played by Joey Capone) who records his life on a camcorder then broadcasts it on his website. In other words, Rarey’s first feature film is a bloated remake of his short film.

Joe 2012 is a rambling, choppy, poorly edited mess. It feels like Rarey was so determined to make this a feature length film that he stuffed it with ridiculously long unnecessary scenes that add up to little more than 81 additional minutes. It’s not unlike a "Saturday Night Live" sketch that gets a horrible feature film adaptation (think "The Coneheads" or "Superstar.")

Much of "The Famous Joe Project" is shown as clips from Joe’s self-recorded scenes of his life. These scenes range from Joe attempting to a film a movie, receiving a blowjob, to becoming a prostitute. However, most of these ’scenes’ show Joe alone, talking to and sometimes responding to his viewers.

Capone as Joe is an appealing actor. However, it is dynamic and gorgeous Ary Katz who makes the larger impression as Joe’s filmmaking bud Jesus.

"The Famous Joe Project" premieres July 21, 2012 at Outfest 2012 in Los Angeles.