On The Lot: Episode 14 (Fox Television)

POSTED BY Matthew Flute, 08 August 2007

Now, I normally don’t get upset when reality shows end up tossing a contestant because of something unfair. But being a Canadian that applied for the show, it was hard to sit still when Zach Lipovsky was eliminated this week. As you all know, only United States residents are allowed to vote. This is strange, considering the show has always been promoted as the search for the world’s next great filmmaker. Ever since that first week I tried to vote, and found out I couldn’t, I knew Zach would have an unfair disadvantage. For a while, I was sure he would ride it out, but that was back when the hometown advantage wasn’t really all that much of an advantage.

To top that bad news off, Epperson managed to avoid the bottom two, even with his terrible film and scathing reviews. What does this prove? No, it doesn’t prove that the audience doesn’t rely on the judges. As we’ve seen in previous weeks, the judge’s reviews are an integral part of the voting outcome. It proves that Epperson has enough people backing him to give him an advantage, even when he makes a terrible film.

This week marks the second last episode of On The Lot. Next week, we’ll get one of those overly long two hour specials that slowly drain the ounces of drama On The Lot has going for it. Anyways, this week we’ll see four new films that all have one thing in common. No, it’s not the fact that those usual actors are in them. It’s that they all have to use the same logline, “a man wakes up and finds he’s wearing a dress”. Let’s see what the contestants can do with this wonderfully original concept.

The Yes Men (Will Bigham)
Bigham returns to the office again, but this time he’s not exploring desk lamp love. This time he’s crafted a fine little satire on office drones. It’s similar to a film former contestant David May made, but Bigham’s is finer tuned. Bigham’s film concentrates on those employees that suck up to their boss at any cost. It’s wonderfully acted, and visually quite vibrant.

Dress For Success(Sam Friedlander)
Another film about office drones, Friedlander’s film tries to do much more. It’s more or less a revenge tale about female workers getting back at their sexist boss. The film switches from a grimy basement dungeon to a bland office off and on. I appreciated the visual switch, but it was really all the film has going for it. The acting is bland, the scenario doesn’t really pan out, and it doesn’t quite feel finished.

Army Guy (Adam Stein)
Stein’s ‘clever’ film isn’t all that clever in my mind. The idea comes off as a lesser episode of the twilight zone, and the result looks like something fit for the Disney channel. With that in mind, there’s some genuine humor here, and Stein manages to make this stale routine work to some extent.

Oh Boy. (Jason Epperson)
Where do I start? Epperson’s film turns the topic of revenge and bullying into an episode of Looney Tunes. Now if this was animated, maybe it would be okay. But as a live action short, it’s just too dumb for me to even somewhat enjoy.

Of this weeks films, it’s fairly clear I liked Will’s the most. Or maybe I liked Jason’s more? Maybe I should think things over again. Anyways, Sam is going home. When someone gets bad reviews, and has been in the bottom two the last couple of weeks, it’s not a difficult assumption to make. This means we’ll see a face-off between Adam, Will, and Jason. Out of those three contestants, I’d say Will deserves to win it the most. He’s showed the most talent, and his struggles are enough to give the guy his chance. Adam deserves a chance too, but he’s young enough to get one on his own. Jason probably deserves one too, but he’s far too unlikable for me to care. Maybe it’s just me, but I like when people can defend their films, rather than just sit there looking stunned. film, steven spielberg, on the lot, jason epperson, adam stein, mark burnett, zach lipovsky, sam friedlander, fox, will bugham