Post by TheOogieBoogieMan on Feb 23, 2008 21:23:31 GMT -5
This is a dark age in the history of cinema. That much was clear to me even before Be Kind Rewind started. All the bloated laziness and consumerist gluttony that has defined mainstream Western filmmaking lo these many years culminated before my eyes as I watched the previews that ran before Be Kind Rewind, which I swear I will get to, really, but first I have to shout, shout, let it all out.
The preview that I am talking about was for Superhero Movie. Yeah, that's right. They're doing another one of those crap-fests.
This really has to stop. As I saw yet another blatantly corporate moneymaking vacuum of anti-talent and anti-effort being peddled to a theater full of young kids like a shifty dealer selling drugs out of his musty old trenchcoat, the immortal words of Howard Beale ran through my mind:
"Things have got to change, but first, you've got to get mad. You've got to say, 'I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!'"
To my surprise, Be Kind Rewind took a similar stance. Keep in mind that I said "to my surprise," not "to my delight."
Whoever was in charge of marketing this movie made a smart move by playing up the angle of two average joes making their own versions of classic movies. Those scenes were definitely the high points of the movie, and that premise was very clever in its own right. Unfortunately, the people that wrote Be Kind Rewind knew that there had to be more to their script than just a couple guys making no-budget remakes of other films, so after a lot of grumbling and mumbling, they churned out a story that ends up consuming their golden gimmick instead of serving it.
That story is as follows: in the face of bankruptcy and out of desperation, the employee of a mom and pop video rental store (which really only has a Pop, played by Danny Glover) named Mike (Mos Def) and some other guy named Jerry (Jack Black) start filming twenty minute remakes of other movies, which end up becoming popular in the neighbourhood.
Like I said, this was a really good idea, and it could have been the basis of a funny salute of film-geekhood, kind of like what's going on here at MRFH. Instead, the hilarious scenes of Jack Black and Mos Def filming versions of Ghostbusters, Driving Miss Daisy, Robocop, Men in Black, and countless others are given sped up montages with only the slightest nod of acknowledgment so that we can sit through almost two hours of Danny Glover trying to keep his store from being demolished, a boring subplot about some fictional jazz musician, and issues including race, father-son relationships, and above all, the importance of independent filmmaking.
By making this the story of "the little guy" under the thumb of big business, it's clear that Be Kind Rewind wants to take a stand against Hollywood's formulaic money machine and corporate greed in general, but the movie never bares its teeth or tries to get to the heart of the issue. The message here seems to be "hey, things were better in the past, and we can't do anything about it now, but, boy, was the past great!", because Be Kind Rewind is practically dripping with saccharine nostalgia. The medium of choice is VHS and outdated technology appears throughout the movie, while modern technology such as DVDs and televisions that are bigger than a breadbox seem to represent evil corporations. The small town in which the movie takes place is quaint to the point where it looks poverty-stricken, but everybody is really happy anyway. You know the opening credits for Cheers? With the old-fashioned drawings of gay old nineteenth century bar-mates and the sappy piano-based theme song about getting away from it all? Imagine that sequence playing on a continuous loop for almost two hours, and you'll get an idea of the feeling Be Kind Rewind ends up evoking.
Sucks, don't it?
I could talk about things like acting and pacing and direction, but that's all moot. What Be Kind Rewind boils down to is a few funny scenes smothered by a weak attempt at being sweet-natured and complex, without actually being critical or challenging. If this is the alternative to the likes of Superhero Movie, than these truly are dark times...cinematically speaking.
PS: If this reviews is incoherent and unreadable (more so than my other reviews, at least), then chalk it up to me tripping on Tylenol. I got a headache as I left the movie theater.
The preview that I am talking about was for Superhero Movie. Yeah, that's right. They're doing another one of those crap-fests.
This really has to stop. As I saw yet another blatantly corporate moneymaking vacuum of anti-talent and anti-effort being peddled to a theater full of young kids like a shifty dealer selling drugs out of his musty old trenchcoat, the immortal words of Howard Beale ran through my mind:
"Things have got to change, but first, you've got to get mad. You've got to say, 'I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!'"
To my surprise, Be Kind Rewind took a similar stance. Keep in mind that I said "to my surprise," not "to my delight."
Whoever was in charge of marketing this movie made a smart move by playing up the angle of two average joes making their own versions of classic movies. Those scenes were definitely the high points of the movie, and that premise was very clever in its own right. Unfortunately, the people that wrote Be Kind Rewind knew that there had to be more to their script than just a couple guys making no-budget remakes of other films, so after a lot of grumbling and mumbling, they churned out a story that ends up consuming their golden gimmick instead of serving it.
That story is as follows: in the face of bankruptcy and out of desperation, the employee of a mom and pop video rental store (which really only has a Pop, played by Danny Glover) named Mike (Mos Def) and some other guy named Jerry (Jack Black) start filming twenty minute remakes of other movies, which end up becoming popular in the neighbourhood.
Like I said, this was a really good idea, and it could have been the basis of a funny salute of film-geekhood, kind of like what's going on here at MRFH. Instead, the hilarious scenes of Jack Black and Mos Def filming versions of Ghostbusters, Driving Miss Daisy, Robocop, Men in Black, and countless others are given sped up montages with only the slightest nod of acknowledgment so that we can sit through almost two hours of Danny Glover trying to keep his store from being demolished, a boring subplot about some fictional jazz musician, and issues including race, father-son relationships, and above all, the importance of independent filmmaking.
By making this the story of "the little guy" under the thumb of big business, it's clear that Be Kind Rewind wants to take a stand against Hollywood's formulaic money machine and corporate greed in general, but the movie never bares its teeth or tries to get to the heart of the issue. The message here seems to be "hey, things were better in the past, and we can't do anything about it now, but, boy, was the past great!", because Be Kind Rewind is practically dripping with saccharine nostalgia. The medium of choice is VHS and outdated technology appears throughout the movie, while modern technology such as DVDs and televisions that are bigger than a breadbox seem to represent evil corporations. The small town in which the movie takes place is quaint to the point where it looks poverty-stricken, but everybody is really happy anyway. You know the opening credits for Cheers? With the old-fashioned drawings of gay old nineteenth century bar-mates and the sappy piano-based theme song about getting away from it all? Imagine that sequence playing on a continuous loop for almost two hours, and you'll get an idea of the feeling Be Kind Rewind ends up evoking.
Sucks, don't it?
I could talk about things like acting and pacing and direction, but that's all moot. What Be Kind Rewind boils down to is a few funny scenes smothered by a weak attempt at being sweet-natured and complex, without actually being critical or challenging. If this is the alternative to the likes of Superhero Movie, than these truly are dark times...cinematically speaking.
PS: If this review
