On The Lot: Episode 8 (Fox Television)
Once again, too add drama to the show, they eliminated this week’s contestant in an unusual fashion. This week, they didn’t cut the contestant in front of a live audience; they did it behind the scenes. Jessica went home, and although I was saddened to see such talent disappear from the show, I was expecting it, so it wasn’t all that upsetting.
This week’s films were actually all made since the contest started, which is a nice treat, as it keeps things on fair ground. This week, we’ll see six short comedies by Shalini, Adam, Will, Hilary, David, and Zach.
Doctor In-Law (Shalini Kantayya)
While I found myself impressed with Doctor In Law’s technical merits, I was too embarrassed by the Asian stereotypes to really laugh. Then again, there was nothing all that funny here anyways. Luckily the cast did a good job, so even if you don’t laugh, you will find something.
Discovering the Wheels (Adam Stein)
In recent years, Cavemen have become the subject of one too many jokes. What Stein is directing here seems fit to be a Geico commercial. It’s completely unfunny, visually boring, and wild inaccurate in historical terms. It’s a shame, considering Stein’s first two films were quite good.
Bigham’s third film confirms that he’s the Guy Maddin of this contest, but he has about a third of Maddin’s talent. This film, branded as a ‘dark comedy’ is certainly that, but what’s funny here, I don’t know. I would assume American’s don’t take their flawed health care system lightly, but with this short, I don’t know. Bigham also shows once again that he is a talented filmmaker in visual terms.
There’s some good ideas here, and one could probably take it as a satire, but it comes off more as a dumb comedy than anything else. There’s clearly a few shots missing here, and it gives the whole thing an amateurish feeling.
How to Have a Girl (David May)
While it’s under conceived and a tad shaky at times, May’s film at least attempts to deal with a real-life scenario maturely. While it’s not all that funny, the humor that is here is darker than Bigham’s, because it takes something so delicate as child-birth, and throws it into the air with a slice of gender domination.
Die Hardly Working (Zach Lipovsky)
Ever since he started, Lipovsky has been trying to show that he can tell stories without visual effects. This week, he attempts to prove that by taking by making an effects film without putting the effects in, and it ends up proving absolutely nothing. He’s still telling stories through ‘physical effects’, rather than using the other aspects cinema offers. Whatever the case, Zach’s film is the best end result here. It’s an action-satire, not all that smart or funny, but still well achieved.
After this week’s episode, I felt rather depressed, not because of the quality of the films, but because of something else. At this point, its clear Zach is going to win the contest. The judges love him; the audience loves him, and probably the majority of the show’s viewers. While he’s a talented filmmaker, I feel that with the style of films he makes, he’ll just be lost in a maze of a dozen others doing the same thing after he wins this whole thing. Of the filmmakers left, I don’t know if any of their style of filmmaking is bold enough to make a worthwhile impact in cinema. Sure, there’s Kenny Luby, but DreamWorks would never put their name on something in the style he seems to enjoy working in. Every contestant here is talented in some way, and I’d probably invest in a $10 ticket to whatever feature film they made. But do I see any of these people as America’s next great filmmaker? No, I don’t. But then again, I never believed this show would prove anything along those lines. Cinema is a tricky art form, and the good and bad can not be weeded out by rules and regulations.
With the way the show is steadily dropping its viewers each week, perhaps none of this matters. Whether the show is cancelled, or finishes, we’ll probably never see a film as a result of the show, at least with the DreamWorks logo in front of it.
steven spielberg, on the lot, adam stein, mark burnett, zach lipovsky, will bigham, fox, hilary graham, david may, shalini kantayya, jessica brillhart
