 |
 |
|
|
 |
 |
ODD NOGGINS
Written, Directed, and Edited by Joe Sherlock
Directors of Photography - Bru Stephen, Mike Beezel, Tim Davis, Jeff Dylan Graham, Liberty Hughes, Joe SherlockMirricalla/Helen - Kimberly Lynn Cole
Lemon Pudding Girl/Conehead Convention Attendee/Scream Queen - Shannon
Abducting Alien/Gluttonous Co-Worker/Masked Convention Attendee - Joe Sherlock
Monster in My Car/John - John Bowker
Girl on TV #1 - Stephanie Beaton
Jeff - Jeff Dylan GrahamDirector Joe Sherlock would like, if he may, to take you on an odd journey. Right now I'm still trying to absorb the damn journey, and "odd" does not even begin to describe it. Picture Richard Linkletter's SLACKER meets Ed Wood's PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE crossed with an AT&T commercial and you have a good idea as to what you're in store for.
Oh man, if only I were making that last part up...
The film opens with an introduction from one of those late night horror hosts, the kind you can only find now on public access. This is Kimberly Lynn Cole in her first of two roles, and her appearance as Mirricalla only adds to the camp value by letting the audience know exactly what a strange and goofy experience they are about to have.
From there it's a seemingly never-ending series of character introductions. The camera follows the action from either breast to breast or phone call to phone call. Once a character throws down their rap it's on to the next person's shtick. Like SLACKER, some of it works and some of it doesn't. I kept waiting for someone to walk into frame trying to sell Linnea Quiqley's pap smear.
The catalysts for all the action are Pimento Loaf Sandwiches and a late night sci-fi horror movie where aliens try to take over the world "only to draw attention to themselves by breaking down their victims cellular structure", and I'm not talking about free weekend minutes here. These folks melt like a pint of Ben & Jerry's under the noonday Texas sun. It's kind of icky, but then again, so are Pimento Loaf Sandwiches.
It's not until the thirty minute mark that characters start to reappear. All the previous events begin to take shape and parallel the Ben & Jerry's drippy, icky, sticky horror flick, eventually giving the title meaning...not that that makes the action any more clear. I was just as confused by the ending as I was during the trip getting there. It's like being stuck in Turkey with a roadmap printed in Japanese. All you can do is stare blankly at the pages and scream "what the hell?"
To like ODD NOGGINS or not to like ODD NOGGINS, that is the question. And it's one I can't answer, at least not yet. The movie is so damn strange that I'm still trying to process everything. It might take some time. A long time.