Canzo Empyrean (partially found underground film; 2007): Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 00:05, 9 March 2020

Canzo Empyrean logo, taken from the film's now-defunct website.

Status: Partially Found

Canzo Empyrean is a 2007 film from underground filmmaker Justin Fornal, who's more well known for his works as his alter ego, Baron Ambrosia. It was allegedly shot over a decade.

The film, which borrows characters from the G.I. Joe universe, is set in a futuristic dystopia, where AIDS runs rampant and, as a result, sex has been outlawed. With a runtime of 2 hours and 20 minutes, the film is particularly notorious for it's concluding scene, in which a choreographed fight was shot illegally atop the Brooklyn Bridge's Manhattan tower, which put Fornal in jail on top of being issued a $160 fine.^[1]^[2]

Premiere and Reception

Canzo Empyrean premiered in June of 2007 in Monrovia, Liberia to mass praise, allegedly even going as far as inspiring a "Canzo" street gang, and was screened in the US for the time time the following year, in a once-abandoned underground ballroom/cinema that was previously restored by Fornal and subsequently dubbed the "Mastabah to Megiddo". Getting there required roughly 40 minutes of traveling through underground passageways, some of which were filled with waist-deep water.

Availability

At least one person has claimed to have contacted Fornal to try and secure a copy of the film. Upon making the request, they were informed that if they were to complete a series of tasks (namely involving spray-painting the Canzo Empyrean logo onto a total of 20 items in their city, including a police car), they would be provided with a uniquely watermarked copy of the film. However, they were also given a stern warning that there would be "serious consequences" were their copy to ever find it's way online.^[3] Despite this, copies have allegedly been up for sale via private online collectors' groups, fetching upwards of $500, though this has never actually been proven to be true and is, at this point, merely a rumor.

Despite this, a total of roughly 45 minutes of related footage - including both direct excerpts from the film along with trailers - has found its way online via both the film's bizarre official website (which is now defunct, though still accessible via The Wayback Machine) and Fornal's Baron Ambrosia YouTube channel. The full film has yet to be released.

Gallery

~45 minutes of the film

External Link

Archive of the official Canzo Empyrean website, via The Wayback Machine; 11 Sep 2011. Retrieved 09 Mar '15

References

↑ An anonymous invitation to the film's 2008 US premiere; 03 Jun 2008. Retrieved 05 Mar '15
↑ Sony Vegas article on Justin Fornal. Retrieved 05 Mar '15
↑ A blog post from Matt (of BIGGER SPLASHES at Blogger) outlining his unfulfilled effort to obtain a copy of Canzo Empyrean; 10 Jun 2011. Retrieved 09 Mar '15

[1] An anonymous invitation to the film's 2008 US premiere; 03 Jun 2008. Retrieved 05 Mar '15

[2] Sony Vegas article on Justin Fornal. Retrieved 05 Mar '15

[3] A blog post from Matt (of BIGGER SPLASHES at Blogger) outlining his unfulfilled effort to obtain a copy of Canzo Empyrean; 10 Jun 2011. Retrieved 09 Mar '15

[1]

[2]

[3]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{InfoboxLost
-|title=Canzo Empyrean
+|title=<center>Canzo Empyrean</center>
-|image=Canzo empyrean.jpg
+|image=CanzoEmpyrean-Logo.jpg
 |imagecaption=''Canzo Empyrean'' logo, taken from the film's now-defunct website.
-|status=<span style="color:orange;">'''Partially found'''</span>
+|status=<span style="color:orange;">'''Partially Found'''</span>
 }}
+'''''Canzo Empyrean''''' is a 2007 film from underground filmmaker Justin Fornal, who's more well known for his works as his alter ego, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baron_Ambrosia Baron Ambrosia]. It was allegedly shot over a decade.
-Underground filmmaker Justin Fornal is perhaps best known for his work as alter ego Baron Ambrosia, an eccentric food critic and "culinary ambassador to the world" (in his own words), who starred in a self-produced web series in 2007 titled ''Underbelly NYC'', as well as 2 TV series; the 2008-2013 public access show ''Bronx Flavor'' and the short-lived 2011-2012 Cooking Channel series ''The Culinary Adventures of Baron Ambrosia'', though he is also known by many for his notoriously elusive 2008 underground film '''''Canzo Empyrean'''''.
+The film, which borrows characters from the ''G.I. Joe'' universe, is set in a futuristic dystopia, where AIDS runs rampant and, as a result, sex has been outlawed. With a runtime of 2 hours and 20 minutes, the film is particularly notorious for it's concluding scene, in which a choreographed fight was shot illegally atop the Brooklyn Bridge's Manhattan tower, which put Fornal in jail on top of being issued a $160 fine.<ref>[https://intotheheadland.wordpress.com/2008/05/29/watching-the-pens/#comment-81 An anonymous invitation to the film's 2008 US premiere; 03 Jun 2008.] Retrieved 05 Mar '15</ref><ref>[https://web-beta.archive.org/web/20101104161332/http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/vegaspro/food Sony Vegas article on Justin Fornal.] Retrieved 05 Mar '15</ref>
+==Premiere and Reception==
+''Canzo Empyrean'' premiered in June of 2007 in Monrovia, Liberia to mass praise, allegedly even going as far as inspiring a "Canzo" street gang, and was screened in the US for the time time the following year, in a once-abandoned underground ballroom/cinema that was previously restored by Fornal and subsequently dubbed the "Mastabah to Megiddo". Getting there required roughly 40 minutes of traveling through underground passageways, some of which were filled with waist-deep water.
+==Availability==
+At least one person has claimed to have contacted Fornal to try and secure a copy of the film. Upon making the request, they were informed that if they were to complete a series of tasks (namely involving spray-painting the ''Canzo Empyrean'' logo onto a total of 20 items in their city, including a police car), they would be provided with a uniquely watermarked copy of the film. However, they were also given a stern warning that there would be "serious consequences" were their copy to ever find it's way online.<ref>[http://biggersplashes.blogspot.com.au/2011/06/justin-fornal-canzo-empyrean-and.html A blog post from Matt (of BIGGER SPLASHES at Blogger) outlining his unfulfilled effort to obtain a copy of ''Canzo Empyrean''; 10 Jun 2011.] Retrieved 09 Mar '15</ref> Despite this, copies have allegedly been up for sale via private online collectors' groups, fetching upwards of $500, though this has never actually been proven to be true and is, at this point, merely a rumor.
+Despite this, a total of roughly 45 minutes of related footage - including both direct excerpts from the film along with trailers - has found its way online via both the film's bizarre official website (which is now defunct, though still accessible via The Wayback Machine) and Fornal's Baron Ambrosia YouTube channel. The full film has yet to be released.
+==Gallery==
+{{Video|perrow  =1
+  |service1     =youtube
+  |id1          =A8L0xYJZPy8
+  |description1 =~45 minutes of the film
+}}
+==External Link==
+*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110911175123/http://www.canzoempyrean.com/ Archive of the official ''Canzo Empyrean'' website, via The Wayback Machine; 11 Sep 2011.] Retrieved 09 Mar '15
-[[File:GI JOE movie trailer (extended) 2009|thumb|right|350px|The leaked ''Canzo Empyrean'' trailer.]]
+==References==
-'''''Canzo Empyrean''''' is a 2008 underground movie starring, written and produced by Justin Fornal. It premiered in Liberia, Haiti, Somalia and Russia in 2008 (spanning 20 or so local cinemas), and has had 1 showing in America in 2009. The third (and allegedly final showing) has not yet been announced, although rumor has it that Fornal has plans to destroy his copies of the film after the third showing, leaving only 4 copies available for viewing: one in Monrovia (Liberia), one in Port Au Prince (Haiti), one in Mogadishu (Somalia) and one in Grozny (Russia).
+{{reflist}}
-The film has never been mass-released publicly, although a few bootleg copies are said to have been sold online for upwards of $500.
+[[Category:Lost films]]
+[[Category:Partially found media]]
-The film is loosely based on ''G.I. Joe'', and is set in a futuristic world where everyone has AIDS and sex has been outlawed. The movie was said to have been 10 years in the making, although these claims are unverified. The bizarre official website<ref>[http://www.canzoempyrean.com/ The official website for Canzo Empyrean.] Retrieved 08 Dec '12.</ref> for the film contains several hidden clips,<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7Q3G-za5mw A hidden clip found on the official website.] Retrieved 08 Dec '12.</ref><ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I05CBmQrBBk Another hidden clip found on the official website.] Retrieved 08 Dec '12.</ref><ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NH4JKLFS_xI Yet another clip, assumingly also found on the official website.] Retrieved 08 Dec '12.</ref> and additionally, a 3 minute trailer was leaked online in 2007.
-==References==
-<references/>