 |
 |
|
|
 |
 |
FADE TO BLACK #15
It's been too long since I've reviewed any volumes in Randoo Foo and Pangea Films' FADE TO BLACK series. Any one who has had the privilege of watching these guys in action will tell you the same thing, FADE TO BLACK is the forefront of the amateur film movement. The use of the word "amateur" to describe the work could almost be considered an insult. The final product is often as slick and creative as that by so called "professionals".With that being said, volume 15 doesn't hold up as well as the installments I reviewed last year. This one is comprised of "remastered classics," older short films that have been given new digital transfers and edits. It's interesting that these particular shorts come so far into the series, at the very least it shows viewers where the FADE TO BLACK gang started. For anyone taking note, these "remastered classics" should probably be watched before earlier volumes.
The first short is from director Jason Santo titled "Shortcut". In the past I've publicly stated that Santo's work has been some of my favorites in the series. He comes off as the best all-around natural story teller.
"Shortcut" details a man's desire to ask out the woman of his dreams in a scenario where Murphy's Law has him bound and gaged. Santo's use of comedic irony is well paced, but the overall feel is too lightweight. The first 5 minutes set up the punchline of the last 30 seconds, only the final irony doesn't pay off as well as it should. It's too subtle for its own good.
Santo also directed the final short, "How to Make the One You Love RUN," a sort of BACHELOR PARTY 2: THE NEXT DAY-type scenario. The regular cast of BLACK-ites wake after one helluva party to find a stripper passed out on the couch, a photographer dead in the bathroom, and the fiancé's prized Disney art cell missing.
Again, Santo plays up irony to its fullest effect, but this time around everything is motivated by the characters' eccentricities as opposed to merely irony for irony's sake. As the events unravel, Santo slowly reveals the previous nights activities while at the same time revealing his character's true colors and motivations.
The stand out segment is from director Chuck South, titled "Runnin with Scootie," a psuedo-documentary on Bostonian-suburb-gangster-wanna-bes.
(The thought just occurred to me to do the rest of the review in Scootie's whiteboy ebonics, but I'll save you from that bit of non-hilarity.)
I've never been to Boston. Never planned on traveling to Boston. Never even seen a picture of the place. All I know is what I've seen in movies like GOOD WILL HUNTING and BOON DOCK SAINTS, and that isn't much. You hear all this talk about how New England is this separate entity from the rest of the country, almost like Hong Kong to the rest of China. "Runnin with Scootie" proves that American youth culture is pretty much the same no matter what part of the country you're in, sheep are sheep and it's hard to tell one from the other.
With his hat on sideways, and his shorts down to his knees, young Scootie wakes one morning to realize he doesn't have much of a future. Wif a po-lite leter to Duke colig, Scootie starts his journey into basketball superstardom. (okay, so I couldn't entirely hold back on the whiteboy ebonics - sue me!)
"Runnin with Scootie" is a comedic character study of those kids we all see at the mall. The characters act and think (???) exactly how we picture they would. Though not entirely 3-D, Scootie and his pals aren't two dimensional stereotypes either. They fall in that gray zone where characters are almost tangible, but kept as arms length simply because we don't want them any closer. It reaffirms the judgements we all pass without really getting to know these kids, just because we think they do the same to us. (Like you don't do it - who do you think you're fooling?)
Scootie is the perfect example of why I love FADE TO BLACK. It's intelligent filmmaking that gets the audience thinking. The other shorts, while entertaining, don't come close to the level I've seen FTB attain. But like I said, everyone has to start someplace, and by studying the roots of the other cinema-veggies out there, we can all grow and blossom along with them.