Read a review of our film!

Click here to read a review of our film from TCNJ's newspaper, the Signal. Thanks to Pete Spall for writing!

See two clips from the film NOW!

We had a great time at our screening at TCNJ last night. Here was the interview on, "The Early Late Show" to plug the film. Thanks to Matt Owen, Kyle Schimpf, Scott Pioli and the rest of the crew at LTV.

A look at our North Jersey writer . . .

Here is a plug for our North Jersey writer, Jen Singer, who we interviewed for our film. We filmed her in Kinnelon, which was beautiful. Check it out her recent clip on a needed, "Halloween Candy Bailout" at UBATV. Funny.

Rate the county: Bergen County

Bergen County: perhaps no county is so synonymous with North Jersey than the rest, but also some place that seems it is its own world at the same time. My first experience with Bergen was watching the movie the Coneheads in high school, where much of it was filmed in Paramus. Of course Paramus is know for its malls, which supposedly makes the town the number one zip code in retail sales in the entire USA . But Bergen is more than Paramus.

I have been to a lot of the towns in the county and there are many beautiful downtowns (see Ridgewood), I awed at the size of the houses (see Alpine) and wondered about the map drawing (see South Hackensack). Check out the hills of Mahwah and Ramsey where you can see the NYC skyline VERY far away on Route 17 south because of their elevation.

It is the only county in NJ (maybe with the exception of Hudson) where some people call the sandwich a hero.

But what is your opinion on Bergen County? Well, here is what Bruce Willis and Jon Stewart had to say about it (and also Salem County):

Rate the county: Mercer

So I have devised a new gimmick to keep the subscribers to this blog happy as well as readers:

I will give you a county; please comment on any adjectives, phrases or descriptions that you would use to describe the county.

For instance, at the New Jersey Devils' game last night - I saw a rare creature. A guy who was a Devils' fan and a Phillies' fan . . . just like me. I immediately guessed where he was from. I said, "You must be from Mercer County." That guy was from East Windsor . . . and he couldn't believe that I nailed it.
But that's Mercer: the only county in New Jersey where EVERY town's sports loyalties must be questioned and are debatable. You just can't find another county in the state that compares. Ocean comes close. But there are few Phillies' fans in Toms River.

So how would you describe Mercer County - the home of Trenton and Princeton?

The railroad divide

There are roughly nine branches of NJ Transit train lines in the North and "Central" areas of New Jersey. This is not including the PATH system, the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail or the Newark Light Rail.

In South Jersey there is one, the Atlantic City Line. But there is also the River Line and the PATCO. . . which are kind of the southern equivalents of the PATH and Hudson-Bergen Light Rail.

The biggest reason why this passenger rail divide exists is purely population . . the center of the state's population (as of 2000) is in East Brunswick in Middlesex County. . . and that is why most of the rail lines are north of the pop. center (notice how the above map divides the state too).

But New Jersey used to have some older railroads. Check out this great website and see the progression of South Jersey's railroads. Then check out this North Jersey historic rail site (which could use some updating).

There are also some in Northwestern NJ that are still around for tourists today. Some that I have not mentioned are freight railroads - a pretty good list can be found here of all rail lines in New Jersey.

So the question is - if you could build a passenger rail line in New Jersey, possibly to make your work commute easier, (of course NOT keeping in mind our state's deficit) . . . where from and where to would you build it?

The song I'd like to be in the credits . . .

If you don't know . . . when a film buys the rights to a song for the opening or closing credits to a film, it usually costs more money. We will be posting some of the amazing bands whose music will be featured in the film on this blog.

But for now, my wish list for the ending credits goes to this song.

I tried to find a Bon Jovi song that was a real gem, something that hasn't been played out and something where people will wonder, "Wow, how did I miss that one?" Click on the play device on the right hand side of the web page to play the track.

If the band gets and unusual increase in downloads to this song on itunes, zune, napster or any of the other licensed music sites, we can make a strong case to the publishing and record company, but more realistically - the band - to give us a reduced price. Oh yeah, if anyone knows any members of the band, we would be happy to give them our rough cut. I think the film will speak for itself.

New Jersey: the Movie wins its first award

New Jersey: the Movie took home the honors of, "Home State Award" as selected by the jury and audience at the Wildwood by the Sea Film Festival for top film. We thank them very much!!


Also I saw a great quote on Jen A. Miller's Shore blog today:

"Central Jersey" is a mythical, mysterious, undefined beast. Like Bigfoot."

My favorite time of year for sports

October is approaching. I get to enjoy Phillies' playoff baseball and Devils' hockey. These are two videos I enjoyed, chances are you will like one of them. And if you hate both? Well, that means your a Ranger fan . . and the River is due east, buddy.

Two reviews - from opposite corners

Well, we have two reviews of the film from writers at the exact polar opposites of the state: Bergen County and Cape May County.

Here is the Bergen article
Here is the Cape May one
I thank Jim Vanore from the Cape May County Herald and John Stoles from the Leader of the Meadowlands for talking to me and writing the reviews. I also like reading their different point of view. You have to keep in mind the audience they are writing to . . . and you'll see their North - South differences!

Cuts of the film showing THIS WEEK!

A short version of New Jersey: the Movie will be showing this week at the following film festivals:

Friday Sept. 26th - Wildwood by the Sea Film Festival - Wildwood Convention Center - Wildwood, NJ - 1pm

Saturday Sept. 27th -

Reel Jersey Film Festival sponsored by Weird NJ - Williams Center for the Arts - Rutherford, NJ - 3:30pm

ENCORE: Sat. Sept. 27th - Wildwood by the Sea Film Festival - Wildwood Convention Center - Wildwood, NJ - 1pm