Filmjitsu!

While I always enjoy the films of director Kevin Smith it can definitely be said that he is a better writer than director. His fun and outrageous stories are always charming enough that one can look over the lack of creativity with the camera and a tendency to not pull the best from his actors. With Red State however, Kevin Smith takes a step away from his sophomoric usual and in doing so graduates to the next level of directing.

Red State takes a page from today’s headlines and tells the story of a fringe religious group led by a charismatic preacher hell-bent on ridding the world of wickedness. This group, who protests the funerals of homosexuals, secretly has a much more nefarious scheme underway. When three teenage boys are lured into this sinister web by internet promises of sex, the story is catapulted to a climax of gunfire and death.

The biggest standout for this film from the usual Kevin Smith fare, aside from the darker story, are the performances. Unsurprisingly Melissa Leo is gripping as the matriarch of this religious group, unerringly devoted to their leader and unfailing in her faith that they are doing God’s work. By far the standout performance however is given by Michael Parks as preacher Abin Cooper. He takes this polarizing characters and brings him to life with a charisma and magnetism that keeps you off kilter in your emotional reactions to him throughout the entire film. It would be easy to say that Smith lucked into these performances but the acting by the cast as a whole suggests otherwise.

The distinguishing characteristic of this film that has always been missing from Smith’s other work is nuance. While that may seem ludicrous given the emotional weight of the subject matter and sheer volume of automatic gunfire in this film it is there. Each character has enough layers to come off the screen and elicit the appropriate emotional pull. The pacing is dynamic, slowing down at the right points to keep the freight train from running your over. Here we see a director attempting to illustrate a story which conveys a message rather than bludgeon you to death with an opinion. We’ve seen glimpses of this in his earlier work but this is the first time it is done end-to-end. That being said, Smith fans will still find snappy one-liners and touches of absurdity which keep us all coming back for more of his films.

All in all I say this is a great film which touches on some dark subject-matter without needing to feel like Oscar bait. It is a well told story which shows the faults of all sides of the story and allows the viewer to sort out where they stand and it is for that restraint which Kevin Smith should be applauded most of all.

Red State is out in theaters September 22nd but is available for pre-theatrical viewing through and .

John

Filmjitsu Rating:

Listener Feedback – Magnum

Welcome to a Magnum edition of Filmjitsu! dedicated Listener Feedback. You all were kind enough to call and write in with many entries for Bottom Five Movie Titles, a discussion of ice cream bars, a few Bottom Five Directors and a new entry for the Sophie’s Choice list among other things. Keep the feedback coming, we love hearing from you all.

Sometimes a movie hits a little too close to home.  That was certainly the case for me with director James Westby’s 2005 indie flick Film Geek .  It’s the story of Scotty, a socially awkward video store clerk who can talk about Wong Kar-wai, Marty Scorsese, and Leni Riefenstahl until the last bit of popcorn’s been swept off the theater floor.  Unfortunately for him he can’t talk about much else.

Scotty Pelk, played by Melik Malkasian, spends his days working at the local video store where he annoys customers and co-workers alike.  He puts together his own ‘Scotty’s Picks’ shelf because he can’t possibly limit himself to the 2 selections he’s allowed by his manager.  He argues with customers about why they need to rent their films in letterbox to maintain the integrity of the director’s vision.  He behaves this way all day.

By night Scotty goes home just long enough to eat a bowl of cereal, take in a movie or two, and spend a little “intimate” time with himself while fantasizing about his bikini clad neighbor Cindi.  He also takes time to update his film review website (still no hits).  Then he gets on the bus and goes back to the video store to hang out and annoy customers and co-workers alike – gratis.  No friends, no parties, no girls.  Just this same routine day after day.  It’s like Kevin Smith’s Clerks if they REALLY loved what they did.

The twist comes when the manager has finally had enough of Scotty’s overbearing antics and fires him from the video store.  Suddenly the one place where Scotty feels at home is no longer his.  He refuses to turn in his uniform and name tag and set about wandering the city like a Jean-Luc Goddard character in search of another video store job.  Luckily his time in the city puts him on the same bus with Niko, a pretty artist type with dark eye makeup and her hair in her eyes.  Scotty gets up the nerve to start a conversation (about film) and then invites himself along to a coffee shop to talk with her some more (about film).  Niko is passively interested in this little weirdo and lets him tag along.  She is alternately amused and aggravated by this nonstop stream of celluloid knowledge.  Suddenly Scotty finds himself smoking pot, going to parties, and paying attention to something other than film…sort of.

Not only have I met people an awful lot like Scotty Pelk, but there was a time in my life when I was dangerously close to being him.  I too worked in a small video store where I took far more than my fair share of the Staff Picks shelf.  I would talk the customers’ ears off about anything related to the movies they were renting.  I even had my manager tell me that “the customers don’t want your opinion, just rent them the movie.”

As I’m sure most of our Filmjitu listeners have figured out, I like to talk movies.  A lot.  I know almost nothing about anything else…okay except for football.  A weird combination I’ll grant you.  The truth is I couldn’t tell you the names of 3 new albums that came out this year.  I also don’t know the difference between Monet and Rembrant.  I suspect that the only reason I know those guys at all is because Pierce Brosnan stole a Monet in the remake of The Thomas Crown Affair and Sean Connery stole a Rembrant in Entrapment.  See what I mean?

Scotty Pelk is a guy I can sympathize with.  In fact, since you’re currently reading the blog section of a website run by your favorite film podcast, I bet you can sympathize too.  The failure or success of this film is solely the responsibility of Melik Malkasian who  is onscreen the whole time.  He has the dubious job of playing a character that you’re supposed to root for, and yet everything about him is off-putting.  However, apart from Malkasian’s film-school-meets-autism performance this is a movie that doesn’t have a lot going for it.

I feel like I was fooled into being charmed by Film Geek.  Nothing about the script gives me a single good reason to care what happens to Scotty.  I don’t know what his hopes are.  I don’t know what he wants in life or how he’s trying to get it.  He has no personality.  He’s just a 165 lbs version of Moviefone.  Yet because I could identify with him as a caricature of my own former video clerk self I kept watching.

Film Geek is like a weak version of High Fidelity.  Both are about a guy who’s so obsessed with his art form of choice that he can’t really get his shit together otherwise.  Sadly for this film Scotty Pelk is no Rob Gordon.  Neither is writer/director James Westby a halfway decent stand-in for Stephen Frears.  But he is a guy who had $10,000, a camera, and an idea.  He made a (reportedly) semi-autobiographical film that is largely impossible to connect with and a character that is difficult to like, even if we see a little of ourselves in him.  But he did make precisely 100% more movies that I’ve ever managed to.

So I’m torn.  As I said, I came away with soft spot for this movie.  However as I sat down to write I couldn’t help feeling a bit duped.  This really wasn’t very good.  It was sociopathically devoid of emotion, had an ending that was intellectually at odds with the rest of the film (Scotty Pelk goes viral?) and featured a character that makes Napoleon Dynamite look like Cary Grant.  That said, if you think of yourself as a film geek (I know I do) then at only 78 minutes what have you got to lose?

I wonder what Scotty Pelk would think of this movie?

Mike

Filmjitsu Rating:

Episode 26 – Catwoman

Mike gives John a dose of the Razzies by making him watch Catwoman starring Worst Actress winner Halle Berry. This is followed up with Bottom Five Super Heroes, a new Game and some Staff Picks. Be sure to check out the Bonus Features section for this week’s Word from Our Sponsor as well as other goodies associated with this episode.

Episode 17 – Sex and the City 2

As punishment for some unforgivable crime, of which Mike and John maintain their innocence, you the awesome listeners chose Sex and the City 2 as the movie they had to pay good money to see. The guys take up this challenge and accidentally record the most sexist episode yet discussing Bottom Five Actress Faces. They of course then work in listener feedback and Staff Picks. With this episode going live Mike and John wish to make the following statement: “Ladies are awesome!” Also be sure to check out the Bonus Features section for extra goodies.

With a Bottom Five like Worst Actress Faces how could this episode not include a song like Weaponface by Kung Flude?