Will Bigham on ON THE LOT.
© FOX
Mania Grade: C+
Episode: Five Final Films
Starring: Carrie Fisher, Brett Ratner, Gary Marshall
Created By: Mark Burnett, Steven Spielberg
Episode: Five Final Films
Starring: Carrie Fisher, Brett Ratner, Gary Marshall
Created By: Mark Burnett, Steven Spielberg
ON THE LOT: Five Final Films
By: Stephen LackeyReview Date: Friday, June 22, 2007
Finally! I said it several reviews back that it would be better to announce the eliminated filmmaker right at the beginning of each episode to get it out of the way and not confuse viewers about voting at the end of the episode. So right away, Adrianna Costa announces that Marty received the fewest votes last week and that he will be going home. Marty had to learn a hard lesson that should have been a lesson that he didn’t need to learn, that personalities play as important a part on this series as the actual films. Now, if you ask me, the personality of the filmmakers shouldn’t matter, but the success or failure of filmmakers and actors in the real world offers plenty of examples of why this is true. Take Tom Cruise for example. For many years he could do no wrong but after he went nuts over Katie Holmes (that’s right Tom I said Katie, bring it) his last film Mission Impossible 3 wasn’t a box office success. That’s a sad thing because the movie is actually quite good. I’m a JJ Abrams fan though. Similarly, I don’t think Marty’s film was the worst last week but it was also far from the best. There are a couple of other filmmakers in that group that should have gone before him. At any rate, his arrogance did really annoy me so I can’t say I’m all that sad that he’s gone. The judges gave him some tough advice and hopefully he’ll follow it. Now, on to this week’s films.
Glass Eye by Will
Will’s previous film was simple and charming and this week’s film is similar with the addition of just a little more style. In the film, a man drops his glass eye and realizes that he can see through the eye when he isn’t wearing it. The film itself is in black and white and the vision through the eye is in color. At first I found the film confusing and wasn’t sure what we were supposed to be seeing. Wes Craven, this week’s guest director, recommended that the film be in color and the vision through the eye be in black and white. His suggestion might be right as it would have made more sense quicker. The film isn’t bad, it’s not perfect, but it is in the vein of what Will does, simple and quaint.
Blood Born by Jason
In this film, a troubled kid discovers that his blood has the ability to heal people. The film is both preachy and confusing at the same time. There’s a lot of color filter and off kilter sound effects in the film that give the feeling of a more surreal almost horror tale than the cliché morality tale that the film wants to be. I think Jason added all of the color filters and sound effects in response to what Marty has been doing. He probably felt threatened by Marty and Zach’s visual style. The problem is that the stylistic choices nearly destroyed his film. It’s not a good film, but not the worst of the night.
Sunshine girl by Zach
Zach is the special effects wiz kid of On the Lot but I’ve often felt that his FX abilities are a gimmick that he leans heavily on. I feel like my assumptions about him were proven with this film. In the film, a little girl is scared of the dark and she learns that she has the ability to literally pull the sun from the sky. I felt like the direction and the storytelling in this film are a little weak. The effect with the sun is fantastic though. I enjoyed parts of the film but it is easily his worst film so far.
Lost by Mateen
OK, so Mateen sold himself as the most mature filmmaker of the group he is competing with. Well, if that means making an extremely boring soap opera, he’s right. A woman calls a man and he insists she meet him. He asks why she ran away so many months ago and she complains that she didn’t put him first. One of the judges talked about the perspective in the film and I completely agree. The film starts with her calling him but once they actually meet it’s all about the guy. So, we get a sort of vague guess of a reason about why she called to start with and a totally predictable twist at the end. Man I hated this movie!
The Orchard by Jessica
OK my friends, introducing the worst film of the night; The Orchard. In the promo for the film, the voice over informs that the next film is a horror short where the trees are the victims. At first I was frustrated that the promos gave away the twist in the film, and then when I saw the film, I understood why. Had the promos not explained that the trees were to be the victims, it would have been hard to figure out that this was a horror film from the trees perspective. The film would have come off is a failure of an experimental film. With the help from the voice over, it comes off is a failed horror film. I’ve thought for a while that Jessica wasn’t a good filmmaker; that she was staying on the series because other films were just worse than hers. Well, now it’s her turn to go, without question.
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I'm glad Wes Craven gave somewhat good comments. The judges really need to be harder on the contestants and the audience needs to shut up...