With just a cursory glance it would appear that Jared Hess’ career is in decline. After hitting it big with Napoleon Dynamite, his next film, Nacho Libre, struggled to gain a following as it garnered mixed reviews. Their certainly seem to be a certain group of devoted fans, but it had no where near the mainstream appeal of Napoleon Dynamite. Now along comes Gentlemen Broncos, and its stunningly poor 15% Rotten Tomatoes rating.
So when I went to a screening of Gentlemen Broncos I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Napoleon Dynamite had certainly grown on me, but I loved Nacho Libre. Was I just one of those people who simply clicked with Jared Hess? As I sat through the film, quite early on the answer became quite clear, yes I am.
Gentlemen Broncos seals the fact that no one truly gets what being an awkward nerd is like Jared Hess does. His protagonists are strange, uncomfortable and surprisingly sweet. These are naive and gentle characters that know what they like, and understand that that makes them very different from everyone else. And while they might not always be comfortable with that, they accept it.
This is what I thinks makes watching his Hess’ films so difficult for most people. His “nerds” truly are nerds. Not simply some pretty face made ugly with one weird personality trait, but people who just can’t ever make that step to being acceptable to the mainstream. Hess portrays these personalities both accurately and lovingly, and the cool kids hate his films for it. These films don’t just have a facile appreciation for the un-hip, they saturate ever fiber of their being with oddities.
Is Gentlemen Broncos a great film? No, but its filled with sold performances, as well as Sam Rockwell’s second monster performance of the year, and it is wildly entertaining with its spastic and unconventional humor. It’s an incredibly sweet film, filled with awkward moments and subtle humor, and it does a remarkable job of capturing just how awkward teenage passion can be. Sure I’m in the minority, but I have been much of my life, and I am quite comfortable enjoying Gentlemen Broncos while the cool kids go watch something more comfortable.
Well James and I got together over the weekend to record the latest episode of High and Low (Brow). We once again had a change in format (as is quickly becoming our format), but nonetheless we had a good time with our theme of HP Lovecraft. Haven’t done much with the audio file yet, but expect the episode to be up sometime this week.
Also, make sure to swing by RowThree.com next week to check out the newest episode of the Cinecast. We’ll be recording it on Monday night and the film we will be reviewing will of course be Where the Wild Things Are. But, unlike most episodes where it is just me, Kurt and Andrew, we will be joined by a special guest, Rian Johnson, director of Brick and The Brothers Bloom. Should be an interesting and fun discussion.
And once both those episodes are posted, make sure to keep an eye out for my reviews of several of the films that will be playing at next weekend’s Flyway Film Festival. I should be attendance for most of, if not the entire, festival and I hope to have reviews and some commentary from the event. And if things go really well, hopefully some audio interviews with several of the various directors, actors, producers and other luminaries in attendance.
Just look for this banner for any reviews of films that will be playing at this year’s Flyway Film Festival.
Our first milestone has been reached here at Where the Long Tail Ends, we have completed 5 episodes. When I initially decided I wanted to do a podcast earlier this yer, my goal was to complete four episodes by the end of the year and now James and I have shot by the lofty goal with over four months left in the year. I doubt we will keep this pace up, nor do I want too, but if we can finish three more by the end of the year I’ll be very satisfied. Hopefully you will as well.
In this episode our theme is Dynamic Duos, and we focus on two very different films. The first is the martial arts action film Showdown in Little Tokyo, with the starring duo of Brandon Lee and Dolph Lundgren squaring off in the celluloid circle. The second is the lesser known Spanish produced horror film Horror Express, which stars the famous Hammer horror film duo Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing as dueling anthropologists on a Trans-Siberian train that harbors a nasty secret. Will we like either? Will we agree to disagree? Will James invite his own brother to share his bed with him? Find out on our latest episode of High and Low (Brow).
As always, if you have any feedback, suggestions for themes or films for us to watch feel free to email us. If you like the show please feel free to subscribe to us on iTunes or simply follow our RSS feed here for updates. Also you can follow me on Twitter by simply clicking the logo up in the righthand corner. One of these days I’ll finally convince James to join Twitter, and then the real fun will begin. Until then I hope you enjoy the show and thanks for listening.
Show Notes 0:00 – The Donger
2:30 – John Hughes Memorial
8:25 – Showdown in Little Tokyo
29:25 – Horror Express
33:40 – SPOILER ALERT!
54:25 – James reviews Cantankerous
1:03:25 – James and the Giant Bed
1:09:45 – The Selection Show
1:30:20 – Final Thoughts
While the debate rages on between film geeks over whether Metacritic or Rotten Tomatoes is the superior criticism aggregator, their is now a third aggregator that has entered the mix, called Movie Review Intelligence. Movie Review Intelligence plans to separate itself from the Big Two by using an even smaller group of critics (somewhere in the neighborhood of 65) and weighting their reviews based on how much “pull” they have.
So far the site seems to have some impressive metrics working behind it, making it a bit of a thrill to read for those of us who enjoy crunching numbers. And while I’m happy to see Star Tribune critic (and friend of the site) Colin Covert being included within this select group, I’m a bit at a loss on why his compatriot across the river at the Pioneer Press, Chris Hewitt, is being left out.
The other negative that I have is that I’m not exactly happy that mediocre critics with wide ranging publications like Roger Ebert, Owen Gleiberman or ugg, Peter Travers, means that they might skew the reviews simply due to their wide readership, rather then their competency. And while the limited amount of critics does reduce the number of highly questionable critics being included, a major fault of Rotten Tomatoes, the same small sample size means that the resulting aggregation might potentially be widely skewed. It will be something to keep an eye on over the coming months, and hopefully this site proves as reliable and accurate as its lofty claims.
Since their seems to be a lack of reviews of the various issues of Wholphin, though the internet sure seems to enjoy talking about them, and as I am a subscriber, I thought it would be a good idea to offer up my feelings on the discs. And since they are comprised of multiple short films, I figured I would simply offer up short synopsis and reviews of each film contained within the issues. This will hopefully prove helpful to those considering purchasing/watching them, as so little is explained on the packaging.
I’m going to start off with Issue 8 since it is both the latest issue and because the Internet seems abuzz about James Franco destroying a room during one of the films. Being that Wholphin is released quarterly I’ll hopefully have plenty of time to go back and review previous installments that I own. And while I don’t own every issue of Wholphin, I do own all but the inaugural issue, and it is out of print, making a review less then helpful for those wanting to purchase it. Even so, it is my hope that I can provide some additional insight to those of you who haven’t been exposed to this “magazine”, and hopefully help you decide which issues are worth your time and money.
This winner of “Best Short” at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, Short Term 12 focuses on a single day at a residential facility for at risk teens. While the length of the film might initially be viewed as a short coming, the film delicately creates believable characters and interactions in its relatively short time span, making it easy for audiences to quickly identify and empathize with them. It also helps that the story is surprisingly strong, being both direct and full of emotional surprises. While not the best film on the disc, it certainly is enjoyable with a high rewatch potential.
The first of two truly standout films on this disc, Kids + Money is a documentary on teenagers living in Los Angeles and their copious spending habits. The kids are all of differing economic backgrounds, but the one thing they have in common is an obsession with status and they use their money, and sometimes their parent’s, to acquire it. And while this concept is fascinating in and of itself, there are three key moments in the film that utterly encaptivating. One involves a girl with her own personal nanny discovering on camera that her best friend couldn’t afford to go to prom and had been lying about this to maintain her status. The second involves a sixteen year old child actor who has his own show on Nickelodeon and has been acting since he was a baby. In the last few years he has earned so much money that his mother quite her job and started managing his career. But when he states he’s been supporting his family financially for three years, his off-camera mother steps in and puts him in his place. While they try to give the appearance of a normal, healthy familial relationship, it is clear the relationship is far more complicated and tenuous then they want to admit. The last involves two pre-teen sisters who are growing up in a family that has more money than God. And while their mother seems relatively comfortable and open about trying to maintain balance and sensibility, the two girls present a see-saw dynamic unlike anything I’ve ever seen. The older of the two is relatively empathetic and caring, while the younger sister is an unholy Capitalist monster, basing everything on looks, makeup and clothes, and making sure everyone knows about it. And wait until you hear them talk, completing each others sentences in a way that the other never intended. As fascinating as the rest of the film is, these two clearly could have a feature made about them and your jaw would be on the floor for every minute of it.
The one film in this issue I truly didn’t like, so much so I didn’t finish the film. It’s smart, well written and has some fantastic dialogue, but it is also so pretentious I wanted to vomit. Though the degree of turgid self-aggrandizing this film reaches is almost impressive in its own right.
A truly odd film, as Bisignano relates to the world his past struggles with OCD when seemingly every interaction caused him to think he had become infected with AIDS. If that isn’t enough, there is a Greek styled chorus following along, only it is played by a tape recording of Bisignano’s mother, who just might be crazier then he was.
Based on the short story “Peter Shelley” by Patrick Marber, Love You More is the second standout film on this disc, as it chronicles a boy and a girl who just might fall in love because of a shared interest in the Buzzcocks. Simply a magnificently made film that easily navigates the awkward “Will we or won’t we?” tension of newly blossoming adolescent love.
Damn my HDTV. Once again a foreign film proves impossible to watch as the subtitles were cut off due to it being presented in letterboxed full frame. But what I did see was animation that was impressive to no end. Animated like it was being filmed by a non-professional cameraman, complete with sloppy zooms and awkward focusing, the animation clearly stands out as something special. Make no doubt about it; I’ll be checking this one out on my computer the first chance I get.
Great Man and Cinema
Directed by Jim Finn
4 min Documentary
Just a half step behind the two best films on this disc, this “documentary” is actually a semi-straight faced propaganda film about the Dear Leader Kim Jong Il, using archival stock footage of the man. All backed by the outstanding track “Fucking U.S.A.” by the Bay Area band Neung Phak, making it just as much a bizarre music video as a propaganda film.
The Room Before and After
Original Wholphin Short
Directed by Dave Eggers
Part 1: James Franco 40 min
Part 2: Creed Bratton 10 min
Part 3: Maria Bamford 10 min
Finally the one the entire Internet seems to be talking about, James Franco destroying a room. Oddly enough, Franco’s version was the one I found least compelling, as it essentially was him mumbling and breaking stuff for a half hour. Sure, running through a door Looney Tunes style is impressive in its own right, but the sheer length of the ordeal really ends up detracting from the impact of the film. And since Franco’s segment is clearly all about seeing how many things he can trash, it simply pales in comparison to the other two pieces. Creed Bratton’s clearly has the strongest narrative of the three, and in the course of the four minutes you watch him crumble from rage to despair before your eyes. It is easily the most disturbing of the three, yet oddly enough garners the most sympathy as well. But my favorite was Bamford’s, already a bonafide loose screw in her stage act, brings inspired lunacy to these proceedings as a woman with all sorts of relationship issues. And I dare you to not laugh when she pulls the scale out to weight herself. The only drawback to her scene is the post-performance interview in which she stays in her on-stage caricature of herself. I was far more interested in hearing about her goal and motivations for the scene then simply cracking a few jokes.
Overall I can happily recommend this disc as nearly every single film on it is worth watching multiple times, which is rare in compilations. And while this is not the best issue of Wholphin to date, it certainly ranks very high and is a worthy benchmark for newer releases to aim for.
With just a cursory glance it would appear that Jared Hess’ career is in decline. After hitting it big with Napoleon Dynamite, his next film, Nacho Libre, struggled to gain a following as it garnered mixed reviews. Their certainly seem to be a certain group of devoted fans, but it had no where near the mainstream appeal of Napoleon Dynamite. Now along comes Gentlemen Broncos, and its stunningly poor 15% Rotten Tomatoes rating.
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