Wednesday, May 24th, 2000
The Chase ****
Wackbirds ***
Life After Y2K **½
Computer Concepts presents The Joy of PC
Computing ****
Blah Blah, Blah Blah Blah ***
Trouble in Paradise ****
Staff ***½
Tuesday, June 6th, 2000
Cronica
William Matheson’s “The Artifact”
Topic / Item: The Chase
Rating: **** (out of
*****, in ½* increments) View
ratings info.
Life
After Y2K
A film that could have been so much more.
Calum MacLeod wrote an excellent script. I drew up an excellent storyboard,
in my opinion. But something went wrong someplace.
It’s life after Y2K. Most of the human race has been destroyed by the Y2K bug, but there are still five students attending CPA. This is one of those funny concepts that readily appear in one’s head but are terribly difficult to execute properly in a medium besides one’s own imagination. Calum MacLeod has accomplished this task. The dialog is honest, sensitive, and funny... it’s a shame that the film itself turned out like a piece of crap.
This was mostly my fault. As a director, I soon tired of trying to exert any creative control over this film whatsoever because people didn’t want to listen to me. I should also have kept closer tabs on the camera, because it somehow got set up such that the current time (when we were filming the raw footage) counts itself away in the lower right-hand corner of the recording. And I don’t even want to talk about the quality of the sound... I edited in 8-bit sound instead of 16-bit by mistake.
But the film wasn’t a total loss. Joe Chisolm and Matt Langille save the show with their excellent acting. And Joe’s monolouge about being alone in a classroom is simply to die for. And the end credits are by far the best part of the film... thanks to Chris Spencer. But other than that, the film can’t do any better than ‘okay’.
Life After Y2K as my directorial debut was a disappointment. But it was mostly my fault, as it was I, completely inexperienced I, who did most of the post-production. Hopefully William Matheson’s “The Artifact”, which I wrote and produced, will turn out to be a more polished film.
Topic
/ Item: Life After Y2K
Rating: **½ (out
of *****, in ½* increments) View
ratings info.
Computer
Concepts presents The Joy of PC Computing
Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha... ha!
Misner and Spencer are at it again. If you’re feeling down, this film is just the thing to brighten up your day. The plot (if you could call it that...): It’s an information video about Intel Pentium III computers, sponsored by Wendamore Computers. As dull as that might sound, you have to realize that Chris Spencer absolutely hates Intel, and it comes through in the film. As much as the thoughtful computer sophisticate might enjoy this film, it is still humor accessible to the uninformed types, as the main joke is explained in the film: When Intel makes a new generation of microprocessors (computer brains, we’ll say), they neglect to invest in cooling technology. When chips go faster, they get hotter, and if you’re buying an Intel Pentium III motherboard for your PC, you’d damn well better buy the proper fan to go with it. Otherwise, you’ll have something that can toast bread and boil water... and that’s in the film too.
A digression about heat: I don’t know if anyone else noticed, but the computer lab has been several degrees hotter this year. Last year we just had a lab full of 80486 DX2’s with a couple of Pentium-90’s, and the other two labs were all 80386’s. It was certainly warm in here, but not totally roasting like it is this year with out three labs full of Pentium III’s. Anyway, now you could heat the school with these computers... try opening a window in January when it’s -15 degrees out and you’ll see it doesn’t make a bit of difference. Intel needs to learn some lessons from Apple. Anyway, back to the film review.
This is easily one of the funniest films I’ve seen this year. Unfortunately, like the other films on the docket here, it is difficult to access. If you do get the opportunity, opt for the VHS version, which is a better export in terms of the sound and video being in-sync.
Topic / Item: Computer
Concepts presents The Joy of PC Computing
Rating: ****½ (out of *****,
in ½* increments) View
ratings info.
Blah
Blah, Blah Blah Blah
Hope you like Blink-182... =)
Zoë Bigio, who wrote and directed and edited this solid short film pretty much by herself, is capable of producing work that is somewhat interesting. =)
Actually, that last line sounds very much like a left-handed compliment, but let me assure you it isn’t. She didn’t have a whole hell of a lot to work with, and it’s quite fortunate that the film did not at all turn out like a piece of crap. It was actually pretty good.
I can’t say much about the plot here, because it would give away the film a bit too much for my liking. I will say, however, that Jodie Wiswald makes an entertaining cameo appearance, and the editing was very clean.
Topic
/ Item: Blah Blah, Blah
Blah Blah
Rating: *** (out of *****,
in ½* increments) View
ratings info.
Trouble
in Paradise
Brilliant!
For “Mr. Smith”, the Film-and-Video teacher in Trouble in Paradise, read “Mr. Savage”. He plays the part anyway. =)
This film is an absolute jewel, made better by top-notch performances by Tim Barnard and Mr. Savage. You *need* to see this film, although it may be hard to find because it was never exported to VHS. The plot is pretty simple, for reasons individual to the victims, Mr. Sav- I mean, Mr. Smith, gives the students a Surprise Quiz that’s worth 20% of their term mark.
This thing is gold. It’s hard to properly appraise short films in words, due to their length. (Bwah? =) hehe) The acting and editing are all superb. But that’s all I can say, because I really wouldn’t want to spoil all the surprises for anyone. Watch this thing.
Topic
/ Item: Trouble in Paradise
Rating: ****½ (out
of *****, in ½* increments) View
ratings info.
Staff
Funny as hell, but...
Why didn’t anyone think of this before? A film exaggerating the working environment of teachers, and poking fun at the television show Cops? Well, Hurst Gannon did it.
This film is as funny as hell. Everyone should see it, but... Well, first of all, the sound and video quality is super-poor. This isn’t Hurst’s fault, and I’m too lazy to explain why right now. And second, it’s a little too long. You kind of get tired of watching Ms. O’Toole go after the people who didn’t put their paintbrushes back, or watching Mr. McCleave hike out of his van, go into the Main Office, check his mailbox, walk out, walk up the stairs, walk through the Solarium, walk into the corridor entrance of the Staff Room, say hello, remove his coat, laugh, hang up his coat... You see what I mean here. It really does get somewhat tiresome.
All these montages are done to various musical tunes, and this film has a great soundtrack. Furthermore, the dialogue and on-screen action (aside from the lengthy walking to and fro scenes) are always enthralling. And there’s a big fight in the Staff Room over a muffin that has to be seen to be believed.
Overall, this is another film you’ve gotta see. Some problems plague it, but then again, problems plagued Life After Y2K, and it’s still worth seeing.
Topic
/ Item: Staff
Rating: ***½ (out
of *****, in ½* increments) View
ratings info.
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