I knew I'd have a problem with "Be Kind Rewind" (2008) by Michel Gondry because I had so many issues with his "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" (2004). But I'm a sucker for concept movies and Jack Black always seems to try hard...
Well, the concept (the two video store clerks accidentally erase all the tapes - this is the 70's - then proceed to re-shoot the movies on demand) made me laugh out loud, but the movie did not. Jack Black really does try hard and I came away thinking that Mos Def simply had no talent as the straight man, but it's really the director's fault: he's French. And he should know that you cannot do verbal humor when you living with English as a second language.
However, here's the funny thing: to promote the movie the producer started a website where you could watch all the movies the two characters "made." These are known as "Sweded" films, because they cost more to rent, as if they'd been imported from Sweden - you can actually look this up on Wikipedia. Anyway, the producer's website is gone, but Youtube has picked up the "Sweded" concept, and the results are uneven (of course) but much funnier than the original movie- an irony that is, perhaps, not lost on New Line Cinema.
If you Google "youtube - bekindmovie channel" you'll find what I'm talking about. On the right press "see all" under "uploads" and "favorites." There are the Sweded movies (none more than 4 minutes) by Gondry himself and, better yet, movies that have been submitted to Youtube by ordinary citizens. I had time to watch the Sweded versions of Blade Runner and Kill Bill, and my favorite was Goldfinger. Very funny.
They reminded me of a certain short film, "Spiderman vs. Superman" starring Michael Costagliola.
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i agree, the movie's premise is much funnier than the actual movie, but i thought it had some pretty good moments (once we start actually seeing the sweded movies). i forget the exact circumstances, but the scene where they invert the colors to make it nighttime, and then stick those inverted xerox papers on their faces was very funny. i'll check out the goldfinger one.
ReplyDeletei was thinking about including "spiderman vs. superman" on the must-see to be an american list, but the studio got in the way of distribution
What I enjoyed in 'Be Kind...' was the fun camera tricks in both the Sweded and actual film itself. Undeniably goofy, but fun film making nonetheless. I remember being impressed with the Men in Black tunnel scene. I think you're exactly right in saying the best to result from this movie was the Youtube videos. I think this was intentional.
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I have not seen the films of M. Costagliola, however, am familiar with his later staged works - Advent Prayer Service, Lenten Prayer Service, Advent II, etc. ...Perhaps much like M. Night Shyamalan, Costagliola was unable to escape the success of his earlier works (the aforementioned Spiderman vs. Superman), as his later period seemed... so... uninspired?