Magical Mystery Tour on the Lot
Magical Mystery Tour on the Lot by Roxanne McDonald
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Such a wonderful collection of films this week—it is difficult to vote for just one. |
And once we get accustomed to the switching-up of the format and the changing times “On the Lot” appears on TV (is it me or is the show jumping from Tuesdays to Mondays and back again?), we have to get a handle on how to vote….
While I am thrilled Mateen stayed, as he has some mad filmmaking skills, I am also bummed that one genre (horror) threw Shira-Lee out of the running. I know, I know, somebody has to go. Well, go and be successful, Shira Lee: as we instant followers fully trust you will. Wouldn’t be surprised if we see you doing the next Nora Ephron film…or your own, ala Ephron.
Anyway.
On to the night’s showings, which are to follow the “When Two Worlds Collide” conceit:
Zach brought on his magical sensibilities, combined with his clever special effects—this time in a short piece called “Time Upon a Once,” a film featuring a partial storyline and partial cast doing life in reverse. Actor Kimberly Scott says on set that she has never done a scene acting in reverse; and a co-contestant tells us that if Zach can pull this off, it’ll be great.
It is great. Just as we might be losing interest, or getting confused by the neighbors who are moving in…in reverse (some things are Undone, some are just done backwards: there’s the confusion, I think), Zach has a next-door neighbor get mowed down by a hit-and-run driver; and the new neighbors (that would be the srobhgien wen) do an E.T. and UNkill the guy. Stunning and surprising enough to elicit tears, I tell ya.
Carrie calls it visually incredible, and says it is a great idea. But while he knows how much she likes his work, she adds, she expects more out of him.
Guest judge, director Luke Greenfield (The Girl Next Door, et.al.) finds the short so clever and so original that it reminded him of a Spike Jones…. The ending was fulfilling, too. Luke continues, “Everybody calls you the special effects guy, but you’re [also] a natural storyteller.”
Gary, who is a walking talking biographical encyclopedia, quotes Norman Rockwell to start, saying that the artist
claimed to always include a dog in every [family/neighborhood] pic (sorry, missed the kind of painting). He loved the theme, found it very esoterical (no, it’s not a word, but when you are Gary Marshall, well, now it is…), and just had one question: what is the name of the dog? Zach explains that Peaches backwards would have been too confusing (yes, especially since Peaches is not the backwards neighbors’ dog…), so Gary just decides Peaches it is, everybody.
Hillary creates “The Legend of Donkey-tailed Willie,” and in production tells us it has to be realistic enough with its [surreal] elements, and co-contestant Sam says a hyper-real piece like hers needs to connect with the audience.
The film does connect in a lovely way: Hillary uses a closed-off lens (sorry, don’t know the actual type) to simulate the old flicks that appear to come from a voyeur’s point of view (or framing the visuals as if we are looking through the old-time View-finder); she has an old-time Mark Twain-like narrator (with a voice like that older actor in the old westerns…again, I am at a loss for a name); and she makes a simple but touching solitary man meets perfect match short (although the concept is not new, as one of the other contestants used it in the first or second week, and it is also a classic Night Gallery conceit).
Carrie tells her she has improved so much, that while she always had the eye, she now has the ear. Carrie notes that the short does remind her of Adam’s “Dance Man” (aha), but Hillary has put it all together well.
Luke calls it whack, says the girl turning Chinese is hysterical, and says the only thing he would want different would be for Hillary to put more comedy in places. Still, he concludes, the overall production level great.
Gary opens with “the words of Marcel Marceau [expression], and says he was engaged, involved, and that Hillary had wide shots and showed she is a filmmaker.
Will has also made a Western-flavored flick: a spaghetti western called “Spaghetti”. With clever contrasting of a yuppie who looks like a cross between Darren Stevens and Charlie Sheen who jumps out of his SUV in a seeming ghost town and a Clint Eastwood archetype who says to Bermuda shorts, in this gravelly, self-important (cowboy vested) voice, “Your day of reckoning has come.” HILL-AR-EE-OUS! As he had told us during the filming, the trick is to get the close-ups—on their eyes, their guns…. And the close-ups and the contrasts, along with the great thesis/antithesis dialogue and action (when Bermuda shorts clocks Eastwood guy with his IPod…wahhahahhahah) make this yet another great offering.
Carrie squeals, “You did dialogue! You did dialogue!” and gets hime to nod that that wasn’t so hard…. Welcome to the talkies, she adds.
Luke loved it, he says, and found the lead guys to be great. He suggests that we have all seen parodies of the High Noon stand-off, and recommends Will have a little more spin-off…that if he is going to give Luke the pizza, give him the anchovies, as well.
Gary tells Will he doesn’t look Italian but with one set, three actors, etc., producers are going to love him. He also tells Will he did a great job.
Shalini makes another brilliantly complex piece, “First Sight,” involving a creepy eyeless guy who gives up these special sunglasses that help the shallow lead character “see” people for what/who they really are. I get the whole lesson thing, but also like the effects and the mystery of what she sees when she looks at the man soliciting for donations to feed the hungry. Kind of like wanting more of the variety already in place.
Carrie pulls the Gary thing, saying there is a saying in Hollywood that if you want a message, leave it at the beat. Carrie says she doesn’t like morality films, as they feel patronizing, and she feels hit over the head with it [the message].
Luke agrees, saying he feels like Shalini took a branding iron of morality and burned him…. He typically likes her documentary phenomena, but this one, he says, “eeww.”
Gary disagrees, saying he liked this one, that he likes a positive story. He noted how it is a filmmaker’s job to be misunderstood, and as Carrie says, in the background, something about yeah, but it has to be subtle, Gary says that “subtle is played in Connecticut, where nobody goes.” He tells Carrie she can go to Connecticut; he’s going to Shalini’s movies.
Adam has done a short that he finds has the biggest effects when done on set and on camera. The short, “Worldly Possession,” features greedy up-and-coming couple (played by Janet Varney and David Burtka) who receive a package intended for Air Force research dept—the contents of which involve our virtual earth/globe…affected when manipulated by the greedy peeps. Very cool, original concept I could see expanded in full-length film.
Carrie announces this as her favorite of the night, for the fantastic visual effects and for while it had a message, the message was done in a funny, SUBTLE way, she emphasizes for Gary’s benefit.
Luke says the effects were magnificent, fantastic, and it was a really all around great film.
Gary, okay now just being ornery, says he wasn’t sure…didn’t understand the motivation, had questions such as why the guy sent the box in the first place (watch again, Gar, and you see it was a coffee mishap and cover). Why the greedy couple not the town query has Adam explaining (uh –oh, first flag: when artists has to explain his art) that the whole town was greedy. Gary gives up and says that he just likes it when Adam’a people sing.
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