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Sam Goes To White Castle
 Hello Filmspotter,
From Chicago, this is The Dope Sheet... I'm Sam Hallgren.
Have you had this experience? You're in a hotel room in a random
city. You've got some time to kill. You've got free HBO in your room.
You flip on the TV and in a matter of seconds you're able to identify
the movie that's playing. You've never seen it before, but you've
been deluged with movie advertising since birth, enabling you to
instantly identify any film made in the last 25 years. It's a sad,
sad useless gift. You have no idea how far along the film is, but you
stick with it for a little bit ... and then suddenly you're hooked in.
And maybe that movie is
"Harold And Kumar Go To White Castle" (
available on Peerflix)
. The next thing you know you're at a wedding reception later that
night asking people if they've ever seen "Harold and Kumar." "It's
really funny," you're saying to complete strangers.
How much longer can I keep writing in the second person?
OK, that was me just a couple of weeks ago. I think I missed the
first 15 or so minutes of "Harold & Kumar" and here's my point:
movies are automatically 25% better when 1) you're in a hotel room
with nothing better to do; 2) you're in boxer shorts, ironing; and 3)
you tune in too late to see the movie's (often times) agonizing and
completely unnecessary exposition.
Skip the exposition and suddenly you're invested in a story you
might otherwise have no interest in. Who are these people? What's
their relationship? Where are they? Nobody's telling you, so you
have to figure it out for yourself. If the movie is even remotely
coherent, you're going to remain engaged.
Even better than skipping the exposition, I have this
recommendation for movie directors: take the script you're just about
to shoot. Throw away the first 20 pages. We'll figure it out. I
promise. And if we don't, your movie is probably no good anyway.
For me, bad exposition is like a huge warning sticker from the
filmmaker: "You, the audience, are dumb." And it can have a serious
impact on how I watch the rest of the movie.
So why did I like "Harold and Kumar" so much? I missed sitting
through some potentially painful set-up stuff; but I also liked John
Cho and Kal Penn a lot. I think I can be pretty forgiving of a movie
if it gets something right about human interaction. I believed that
Harold and Kumar were friends. They talk like friends talk and they
act like friends act. And I think a lot of movies get this wrong
("Wedding Crashers" comes to mind).
To be honest, most of the really outrageous stuff in "Harold and
Kumar" (including the infamous Doogie
Howser-snorting-coke-off-a-stripper's-behind scene) didn't really
work for me. I just liked spending time with those guys.
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Overlooked DVD Pick: Felicia's Journey
 OK. A quick Overlooked DVD Pick.
I was in Atlanta last weekend during the Atlanta Film Festival
and met up with Filmspotting listener Brian Mann. He's an aspiring
filmmaker and he mentioned a list of actors that he's determined to
work with should he ever be in a position to hire. The actors had in
common the fact that they once had really great careers that have, of
late, cooled off. Brian wanted to be the man to reignite their
careers.
Michael Keaton was on list. A great pick. Also on the list: Bob
Hoskins. Great in Neil Jordan's "Mona Lisa" and Gilliam's "Brazil,"
and "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" in the mid-80s, Hoskins has stayed
active as a reliable supporting player in American and British films
(most recently in last year's so-so "Mrs. Henderson Presents").
The film I want to recommend is Atom Egoyan's "Felicia's Journey"
--
available on Peerflix.
Hoskins is alternately charming and vicious as a British serial
killer who befriends young, vulnerable women only to take advantage
of them. "Felicia's Journey" isn't as great an achievement as
Egoyan's "The Sweet Hereafter" (a Filmspotting favorite), but
Hoskins' performance alone makes it worth seeing. A good rental for a
rainy weekend when it looks like the English countryside outside your
window ...
And speaking of the Atlanta Film Festival ... I mentioned
"Laura Smiles"
on Filmspotting #107, but I want to mention it again just in case it
ends up playing at a film fest in your area. A really well-written
and directed film from writer/director Jason Ruscio, the film
features the single best performance I've seen all year -- Petra
Wright as Laura. Sometimes described as a movie about manic
depression (in an attempt to dissuade anyone from seeing it?!), it's
a really moving portrayal of how a woman deals with grief (OK, so
maybe I'm not selling it so well myself). Look for it. And hopefully
it will get a theatrical run later this year.
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Next week in The Dope Sheet...
Adam here... I wanted to respond briefly to a recent email from
Nick Poblocki: "Quick question, why are you guys not reviewing
'Cars'? I know it's considered to be a kids movie, but there's a
reason why these movies are successful -- their strong adult
following."
Nick's Pixar Rankings
The Incredibles ("great movie")
Toy Story 2
Finding Nemo
Toy Story
A Bugs Life
Monsters, Inc.
Nick, great list... but I assume you saw "Cars," so where does it
fit on the list? Sam and I aren't reviewing "Cars" on the show, but I
did see it last weekend and will share some thoughts -- along with my
Pixar Rankings -- in next week's edition of The Dope Sheet.
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Dope Sheet |
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n. Slang.
A list of scenes from the script that have already been filmed,
or a list of the contents of an exposed reel of film stock.
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