Contestant Andrew Hunt, the director of "Spaced Out", from ON THE LOT.
© Fox
Mania Grade: B-
Episode: 18 Comedy Short Films
Starring: Carrie Fisher, Brett Ratner, Gary Marshall
Created By: Mark Burnett, Steven Spielberg
Episode: 18 Comedy Short Films
Starring: Carrie Fisher, Brett Ratner, Gary Marshall
Created By: Mark Burnett, Steven Spielberg
ON THE LOT: 18 Comedy Short Films
By: Stephen LackeyReview Date: Wednesday, May 30, 2007
OK, Monday night’s episode felt like a completely different series than the episodes from last week. The changes are good, bad, and repetitious. Last week, the series showed the filmmakers’ actually making their films for all that was good and bad with that. Even though the drama was cranked up it still felt real and we actually saw films getting made. This week, there’s a new host and a formulaic American Idol format. Last week, the series ended with the directors being sent to Hollywood soundstages to shoot a single scene with professional actors and crew in one hour. It seemed to me that the filmmakers were going to be put through their paces as directors in mini Hollywood style challenges to see who can handle it. Well, it seems that all of that soundstage stuff didn’t matter. This week, it’s as if that episode never happened and even the 24 filmmakers have already been whittled to 18 over the weekend. The producers lost their edge fearing, rightfully so, that On the Lot was on its way to being cancelled. Honestly, the series in last week’s format felt like it was a better fit for IFC or Sundance rather than the cotton candy mainstream audience of FOX. Realizing this situation, the producers spent the weekend retooling the series from the ground up making it into a complete American Idol clone. The filmmakers were sent home to spend a week making a one minute long comedy film. So the formula went as follows: filmmaker steps up, video montage promo reel is shown that allows the filmmaker a minute or two to talk about themselves cut with a scant few seconds of them making their film, and then the film is shown. Next, the judges judge and the phone number to vote for that particular filmmaker is given. One thing I really dreaded was seeing the director’s cheese up their numbers on screen as the number is read like Idol contestants do, and there it was. I was disappointed to see the creators of this series give in to the “me too” syndrome but honestly mainstream America doesn’t want to be challenged and it was showing in the ratings.
Each filmmaker wrote and directed a one minute short and many of these films were fantastic, while others fell radically flat. Being a filmmaker, I can relate because I don’t do comedy and if were forced to, it would be very tough for me. So, let’s take a look at the best and worst of the 18 films.
The Best:
Dance Man was a film I didn’t expect to enjoy. In the film a man has stopped talking and just simply replies to people with interpretive dance. The film is completely predictable but it does feature enough funny to make it a solid film even with its predictable nature.
Spaced Out is a film about a traffic cop that pulls over a flying saucer. Two puppet aliens step out of the vehicle, act plenty dunk and appear to have been partying, and vomit all over the officer. I quite liked this film and found it very funny.
Lucky Penny is a short film about a man who finds a lucky penny and the minute he picks it up his luck goes in the opposite direction. Some of the judges mention that the film reminded them of a silent film style comedy and that comparison fits. It’s simple and funny.
Danger Zone is from a filmmaker whiz kid who relies heavily on his skills in special effects. The entire film, recorded in one shot follows a single accident that spirals into many more Rube Goldberg style accident causing fires and other disasters around a room where volatile experiments are happening. The film is very funny and innovative. I’d love to see this filmmaker forced to make a film without the use of special effects to see if he’s still good.
Replication Theory is a short about a man that considers the idea that the only way to cover up a fart sound is to replicate it the sound and he considers all the way this replication has been done in different areas and even different times. The film is simple and fun.
The Worst:
Whack Alley Club is a huge mess that feels twice as long as it really is. The film is full of cheesy color filters and horrid actors. Basically it’s about a crazy cab driver who, by the way, isn’t driving a cab; he’s driving a convertible with a sign attached to the door. It’s annoying and incoherent and none of the judges can figure out what the movie is about, neither could I. This guy was a complete egomaniac and he’s proof that so many filmmakers are more talk than ability. I don’t think we’ll see him again after tomorrow night.
The Big Bad Heist is a trailer for a feature, which is not what the filmmakers were even tasked to do. They were supposed to do a 1 minute comedy short, not a trailer. With that said the trailer features some solid style but it’s just not all that funny. I like this guy as a person, but based on the criteria set before the filmmaker’s, tomorrow night should be the last night we see Marty.
How to Screw in a Light Bulb is a short that based on the old joke about how many people does it take to screw in a light bulb. Here’s the thing, the way it’s cut it’s hard to tell what the story is about. Even when you do figure it out, the movie is over and the proceedings were boring. This girl also thinks she’s hot stuff and she just isn’t. Hopefully, this is the last we see of this director as well.
There were other bad films, I just think these three are the worst and I’m predicting these three filmmakers will not make the next cut. The other films aren’t terrible, they just aren’t great. Also, I hope the filmmakers got something for the cell phone product placement that stood out in at least two of the films.
In the end, I’m still with the series and I can only hope the producers will find some way as the series progresses, if it manages to stay on television, to show us more of the filmmakers making their films. That’s why I started watching On the Lot to start with. I’m a big fan of short films so it’s kind of cool to get to see a new bunch of them every week.
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