Saturday, May 10, 2014

Rule #1— Soberbergh on Scorcese's AFTER HOURS

Rule #1 of talking about movies— If you've said it well, Steven Soderbergh has said it better.

Soderbergh on Scorcese's comic gem AFTER HOURS

AFTER HOURS is a low budget film from Scorcese's out-of-fashion mid-80s period, when he was in film jail for NEW YORK NEW YORK and in his humility made my 2 favorite films of his, both jet-black comedies: THE KING OF COMEDY and AFTER HOURS.

As Soderbergh points out, everything that makes AFTER HOURS work is cheap if not free for the indie filmmaker— perfectly cast talent in the lead, a great screenplay, and clever limits on scope: 1 day, all at night, with the focus on great, off-balancing supporting roles.

"Great screenplay" is a term thrown around a lot (indiewood vampire John Sloss dropped it on twitter earlier today, in fact) so pay special attention to Sodernbergh's breakdown of what that means:

"The way information is doled out in this film is fucking masterful, an absolute clinic in implication and inference—none of the key events that drive the story forward and fuck with the main character occur onscreen—and the math of plotting is absolutely airtight. "

Let's all be so aspired and inspired.

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Humans behaving badly: FAVOR + CHEAP THRILLS offer blueprints for recession-era storytelling

FAVOR is Paul Osborne's self-released thriller-cum-dark comedy, about a typical suburban yuppie who calls on a childhood pal for the ultimate favor. Complications ensue, and the thriller premise reveals a social satire core that skewers materialism, conspicuous consumption, and the growing divide between Haves and Have-Nots. It's not a perfect film, the ending in particular stands out as weak, but FAVOR is a good example of how a low-budget film be fascinating: by putting enough work into the screenplay that the themes and plot twists become the "sizzle." Rent or Buy FAVOR on iTunes

FAVOR suggests if you scratch a successful yuppie, you'll find a terrified, panicky animal— E.L. Katz's CHEAP THRILLS goes even further, suggesting fear is how we stay low in the food chain while the 1% amuse themselves with our pain. Pat Healy plays an everyman (it's easy to imagine him as FAVOR's hero ten years ago) who stops in a bar for a much-needed beer, runs into an old pal making ends meet as a small-time criminal, and ends up in an escalating series of dares and stunts for a coke-addled rich couple. Healy is great, David Koechner will likely never get a better role, and Ethan Embry (remember him?!) is unrecognizable as Healy's ne'er-do-well pal. If I see a movie I like more in 2014, this is gonna be a great year for film.  Rent or Buy CHEAP THRILLS on iTunes

THE TAKE-AWAY— Both FAVOR and CHEAP THRILLS have a cast of 5-6, take place in 3-4 locations, and have Ø special effects, car crashes, or aliens. Yet you can't turn your eyes away. Why? Because there's almost nothing more watchable than humans behaving badly. Likewise, both are clever using the universality of money (stress) to keep us relating and engaged even as the stakes escalate past all standards of sanity. New Orleans indie cinema doesn't need to fall back on "genre" elements (eg. vampires, T&A, etc) if it has a smart screenplay that understands the entertainment value of people at their worst and the universality of the pressures that make them so.

Housekeeping— on the Top Ten list, I replaced JFK with Eddie Jemison & Sean Richardson's THE KING OF HERRINGS, which is playing next week at Indywood. JFK will definitely make the "Next 20" list, which I will post soon.