Warner Bros. // 2000 // 140 Minutes // Not Rated
Reviewed by Appellate Judge Mike Pinsky // December 4th, 2000
"Jacques Derrida who?" "Precisely."
Warner's theme this time out is "Chaos." A few of the entries on this latest volume of Short qualify as strange attractors. A few are merely random noise.
As always, we will examine each section of this showcase of short films in
turn:
Chaos: Ostensibly the main attempt to articulate the theme of
the disc, this first section, which contains three shorts, does not clearly
elaborate on "chaos" from any solid perspective. All three shorts here
are entitled "Chaos." The first, by skateboarding enthusiast Preston
Maigetter, consists of one minute of skateboarding bloopers. That's it. A
twenty-second animation from Eileen O'Meara is an exercise in fractal scaling,
but seems to be missing weight. It stops just as it is getting interesting.
David Birdsell's "brief film about bad animals" is a five-minute
"why did the chicken cross the road" joke. A puzzled man is pursued by
a costumed chicken, mouse, and bear. They kidnap him and throw him in the trunk
of a car. It is funny, and a bit cryptic, but again, I am unsure how this is
meant to develop the theme of the disc.
Classic: A real find this
time out: George Lucas' student film from USC, the notorious "THX 1138
4EB," here retitled "Electronic Labyrinth" (to avoid confusion
with Lucas' later feature-length version THX 1138). Although the
surviving film (made in 1967) is a bit scratchy and grainy, it turns out to be a
winner. Shot mostly without sound (overlapping radio traffic provides most of
the exposition), the film weaves together overlaid text, "security
camera" footage, and bits of stock footage to give a choppy, documentary
feel, as if we are watching through surveillance cameras indirectly. The
depersonalized atmosphere distances us from the hero, on the run for some vague
crime against a technocratic society. The oblique narrative style is quite
inventive, and even after 33 years, this is still a smartly made film. What
happened to this George Lucas, the one willing to experiment? Hints of
today's Lucas are evident in the end of "Electronic Labyrinth," which
gets a bit corny. Included with the short: production notes and two somewhat
pointless supplements. The first, "George Lucas at USC," interviews an
old teacher, the actor who played Lucas in "George Lucas in Love" (is
this just a plug to download that film off the internet?), and a cute female
Star Wars geek. All three tend to worship Lucas (and they point out how
many buildings at USC are named after him too). Also included is a two-minute
blurb on the THX sound system, featuring brief interviews with Lucas and Francis
Ford Coppola. The most interesting thing about this is the revelation that the
system is not named for THX 1138, but for sound designer Tom Holman. THX
= Tom Holman Crossover!
Narrative: "Five Feet High and
Rising" is a marvelous verité-style story of a brash street kid
(Victor Rasuk) trying to summon up the courage to ask out a cute neighborhood
girl (Judy Marte). Shot with handheld cameras and non-professional actors, the
film explores how young people in the city (with no visible adults) form
relationships. Director Peter Sollett lets improvised conversations wander in a
seemingly aimless fashion, subtly teasing out a sense of how boys talk to boys
and girls talk to girls when the other gender is not around -- but most of all,
how the two genders communicate (or miscommunicate in most cases) with each
other. Three extra scenes are included, as is an interview segment with the two
leads, who both show keen intelligence off-camera, giving the audience more
respect for their performances.
Two animated shorts round out this section
of the disc. "The Fly" also appears on Short: IR. It comes from
Hungary and shows the point-of-view of a fly (drawn as brown ink-sketches)
buzzing through a house. "Bebabaluba" is an entertaining animated
pitch by a Turkish doner kebab (we know them as "gyros") salesman, who
pushes his "very successful" kebabs on passersby. Also included on the
disc is a recipe for the "world's best doner kebab," just in case you
have a craving for shaved lamb.
Student: Sienna McLean presents an
excellent documentary on two women's experiences with the Black Panther Party on
the 1960s in "Still Revolutionaries." I am reminded of feminist critic
Donna Haraway's comments on the multiple perspective provided by what Haraway
calls "women of color:" traditionally double-marginalized (by gender
and race), these women have the potential to provide a more complex perspective
on critical social issues. Indeed, "Still Revolutionaries" provides a
critical look at the Black Panthers from their idealistic origins in the
mid-'60s (when they were formed to protest police brutality and initiate social
programs in the inner city) to their collapse by the start of the next decade
(pressure by Hoover's FBI and increasing paranoia and demagoguery among the
Panthers' leadership blew the organization apart). While most documentaries on
the Panthers overstress their militancy, McClean shows other sides, from their
community service to a disturbing sexual double-standard among its leadership,
through two female members of the Panthers who "recovered" from their
rough experiences and went on to teach the next generation to try and live up to
the promise of the organization. A director's commentary track is included, but
while fairly solid, it is less illuminating than I had hoped for.
There
are two other shorts in this section. "deleriouspink" consists of
black and white xerox animation of trapped faces. Cute, but way too long even at
four minutes. "The Bottomless Cup" is a fifteen-minute ode to the
Twilight Zone (with a bit of David Lynch thrown in): a tired driver gets trapped
in a diner drinking a "bottomless cup" of coffee. Yes, it plays out
exactly as you think it does. The highlight is a performance by Aysha Quinn as
the world-weary waitress. An interview with Quinn and director's commentary
track for the film itself are included, as well as about a dozen production
photos.
Experimental: "Po Mo Knock Knock" is not really
"experimental," but it is a very funny satire on postmodernism. I'm
not sure how many people will get the jokes though (scroll back up to "The
Charge" for an example). I teach and publish "postmodern" theory,
and I have read nearly all of Derrida's work in English (and I even think I
understand it!), so I thought it was hysterical (and my guess is that Derrida,
who has a wonderful sense of humor, would too). Performed by the improv group
"The Pollyannas," this short is, in the words of the director, "a
joke that became so invested with meaning [that it became] a post-modern
parable." Adding to the layers of the joke are three commentary tracks: one
by the director alone, one by the writer, lead actor, and director commenting on
the film (like a good improv team, they have great chemistry and laugh a lot),
and a third by the same three analyzing The Matrix! Yes, the third track
is an anti-commentary track of sorts, a complete non-sequitur. Get it? It
is very postmodern. Also included is a mockumentary made exclusively for the DVD
called "Po Mo Love Doc," which treats the characters in the film as
real people (named "Knock Knock" and "Who's There" of
course) and follows up on the status of their triangle with Vin Knight (played
by Vin Knight).
Music: Once again, the Australian short
"Burnout," which I have already reviewed twice (on Circuit 7
and Short: IR). Forgive me if I am, no pun intended, a little burned out
on it.
Rounding out the disc: two trailers (for The Perfect Storm
and The In Crowd), a trailer for the next installment in the Short
series (on the theme of "Ecstasy"), which looks like it will include
Varda's "Du Côté de la Côte" (reviewed on Short:
IR), and a "Random" feature which...well, randomly plays one of a
half-dozen or so short cartoons (about seven seconds a piece).
As always, the quality of these shorts varies wildly. And again, the commentary tracks tend to be inconsistent, even with the better films. In the case of this particular volume of Short, I am disappointed that the theme (which is one I am particularly fond of -- just ask my students) was not handled better. And while I am thrilled to see "Electronic Labyrinth" on this disc, I wish the supplemental material was more substantive. One last bone to pick: this time around, the menus are grating, consisting of static and layered noise, like someone in the art department has listened to too much Trent Reznor. It works in small doses, but it gets really irritating after a while.
Short 10: Chaos has a lot of chaff. But when it is good, it is damn good. "Electronic Labyrinth," "Five Feet High and Rising," "Still Revolutionaries," and "Po Mo Knock Knock" are the standouts this time around (have you noticed that these discs tend to have one really good short per section?) and that certainly makes the purchase price worthwhile.
All charges are dismissed against Warner Brothers for another solid anthology disc. But the producers are admonished to provide more focus toward their chosen theme in the future.
Review content copyright © 2000 Mike Pinsky; Site layout and review format copyright © 1998 - 2009 HipClick Designs LLC
Scales of Justice
Video: 85
Audio: 85
Extras: 85
Judgment: 90
Perp Profile
Studio: Warner Bros.
Video Formats:
* Various:1 Non-Anamorphic
Audio Formats:
* Various
Subtitles:
* None
Running Time: 140 Minutes
Release Year: 2000
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Distinguishing Marks
* Production Notes
* Alternate Audio Tracks (for some shorts)
* Movie Trailers
* "George Lucas in Love" (plugged on the disc) is available at http://www.mediatrip.com
Accomplices
* None