Director David Maquiling’s acclaimed film explores the darkest, strangest corners of American suburbia filled with a cast of oddball characters and bizarre coincidences
Glendale, CA – Whole Grain Pictures, a division of MediaOCD and a boutique media publisher specializing in lost and under-appreciated independent and foreign films, has announced the home media and streaming release of David Maquiling’s long lost 2001 film, Too Much Sleep.
Too Much Sleep is available now as a Special Edition Blu-ray and available to stream on TVOD on Google Play, YouTube and Amazon.
Watch the trailer at: https://youtu.be/eEko1izM4pE?si=tV0tiC4h9BsO4QOg.
A modern adaptation of a classic Filipino folk story, Too Much Sleep premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival, screened at more than 25 international festivals, and earned rave reviews when it originally received theatrical distribution by The Shooting Gallery. The film received an Independent Spirit Award nomination, was featured in Variety’s annual “Someone to Watch” article and earned the IFP Project Involve Fellowship. Virtually unseen for 23 years, the film is now presented in HD for the first time, featuring a new 4K scan from its original camera negative.
In Too Much Sleep, Jack Crawford (Marc Palmieri) is stuck in neutral. The 24-year-old lives with his mom in suburban New Jersey, works as a security guard, and can barely get out of bed in the morning. All that changes when he sees a cute girl named Kate (Nicol Zanzarella) on the bus while on the way to work – and then realizes seconds later that his gun is missing. Desperate to find it, he enlists the help of a fast-talking middle-aged maybe-gangster named Eddie, who sends Jack on a quest to explore the darkest, strangest corners of American suburbia where he encounters a slew of oddball characters and some bizarre coincidences. Along the way, Jack navigates through the emotional emptiness and spiritual longing lurking beneath contemporary suburbia. Will Jack ever find his gun? Or more importantly, will he find that cute girl from the bus?
Too Much Sleep Special Edition Blu-ray
1080p / English 2.0 DTS-HD MA / English SDH / Running Time: 1h 22m / Region Free
Contains the following bonus features:
- Documentary: The Story of Too Much Sleep
- Newly produced trailer
- Isolated musical score
- Commentary with director David Maquiling and star Marc Palmieri
About Marc Palmieri (star):
Marc is a university professor, bestselling author, playwright, actor and NCAA baseball coach. In 2023 he was awarded a Citation of Honor by the Office of the Borough President of Queens, New York City. He is the recipient of Mercy University’s 2023 Outstanding Research Award, as well as the 2022 Faculty Innovation Award. He is also the recipient of the Jerome Lowell DeJur Award from The City College of New York’s MFA in Creative Writing. Marc’s best-selling memoir, She Danced with Lightning (Post Hill Press) was released in August of 2022. Too Much Sleep was his first and only motion picture starring role.
About Nicol Zanzarella (supporting):
Nicol Zanzarella is an Audie, Earphones, and Voice Arts award-winning narrator of over 300 audiobooks (some credited to her alter-ego, who has fun with the “steamier” titles). She is a proud member of SAG/AFTRA, and PANA, Professional Audiobook Narrators Association, and has recorded books across genres for many of the top publishers. Originally from Yonkers, New York, she grew up hanging out on weekends with the disc jockeys of the local radio station that her father ran. She is also an avid boxer, yoga practitioner, and actor of stage and screen.
About David Maquiling (writer/director):
A Magna Cum Laude graduate of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, David Maquiling was recently appointed the Academic and Artistic Director of the SCA Summer Program at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, where he oversees more than 30 classes exploring all aspects of the art, craft, and business of film and television creation. He is also a faculty member at SCA, where he is the Lead Faculty for USC’s SCA NAI Filmmaking Workshop for underrepresented high school students, is the Co-Founder and Lead Faculty of the USC Warner Bros. Filmmaking Workshop and is the Co-Creator of the USC Afghanistan Narrative Workshop in Dubai. He has also taught graduate and undergraduate directing courses at UCLA’s School of Theater, Film, and Television and at the City University of New York’s Hunter College. As a filmmaker, David made his feature film debut as the Writer/Director of Too Much Sleep, for which he won an Independent Spirit Award nomination, was featured in Variety’s annual “Someone to Watch” article and earned the IFP Project Involve Fellowship.
Press Acclaim for Too Much Sleep:
“Cherish it as a treasure! Populated by strange and wonderful people as eccentric as anyone in a DeNiro crime movie or an Australian comedy.”
-Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
“An eye-opening comedy. It marks Maquiling as an original voice.”
-Andrew Johnston, US Weekly
“Maquiling has built and sustained a mood of lovely comic aplomb. Like one of its hero’s daydreams, the film leaves a serene glow.”
-Ty Burr, Entertainment Weekly
“An unusual and intriguing tone somewhere between sharp, deadpan comedy and a soft, dreamy surrealism. It marks Maquiling as a young filmmaker to watch.”
-Dave Kehr, The New York Times
“A remarkably assured debut feature… ‘Too Much Sleep’ is a gem!”
-Amy Taubin, Village Voice
“A shaggy-dog story full of hilarious and outrageous twists. You may be surprised by how many times you find yourself laughing out loud.”
-Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times
“A likably offbeat, intelligent American indie about finding yourself in a deranged modern suburb. Mixing the plot structure of ‘The Bicycle Thief’ with some of the nightmarish comic mood of ‘After Hours’ and the daffy buoyancy of ‘Bottle Rocket.'”
-Michael Wilmington, The Chicago Tribune
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About Whole Grain Pictures
Whole Grain Pictures, a division of MediaOCD, is a boutique media publisher specializing in lost and under-appreciated independent and foreign films. By leveraging MediaOCD’s best-in-class film restoration and Blu-ray production, Whole Grain Pictures is breathing new life into some of the best films that had previously been left behind in the digital age. More information is available at: www.wholegrainpictures.com.
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