Posting Initiative

Yeah. Okay. So the posting has become infrequent. Sorry about that. Not that I have any readers (do I?). I've had one comment (thanks) and one spam (uh...thanks?).

And it's not that I haven't written because I haven't watched any movies. I have. A lot. But sometimes I just feel like I have only bits and pieces to say about them. Writing a blog seems like I'm committing the end-all-be-all to the criticism world.

But, that's not how I roll. I'm going to up the post-count here, but with smaller tidbits. I just need to warm up into this whole writing ABOUT movies thing.

It seems that AllMovieGuide has gone south (?) I know that the journalism world out there is crumbling. Which is a shame; there are many more knowledgeable film critics and writers that are losing their long-standing jobs and status to champion a small film.

Sure, this may lead to a more democratization of the popularity of film, no matter the size of (advertising) budget. Or maybe not. But that's a philosophical topic for another time.

I may not provide summaries from other sources any more. A writing exercise I will undertake is: I will try to provide a "logline" type summary for every film I write about. Then I will write my comments about the film. I think this will help me with coming up with succinct loglines, and it will be interesting to see how to boil already-existing films into such a summary.

I may start writing more about TV (because I watch a lot of it), and how I've been breaking down sit-com stories. That seems like a rather large agenda for someone who hasn't posted since January, doesn't it?

Well, hang tight.

The Foot Fist Way (2006, J. Hill)

From AllMovieGuide:

Plot Synopsis by Mark Deming

A new hero of martial arts rises from a North Carolina strip mall in this independent comedy. Fred Simmons is one of the world's most gifted practitioners of the Korean fighting style known as Taekwondo -- or at least that's what he likes to tell people. Despite his supposed skills, Fred teaches students out of a shabby dojo, where for the most part, he browbeats kids into learning the aggressive points of the martial arts without having much understanding of the philosophy or reasoning behind it. Not that most folks care -- in the small town where he teaches, Fred is considered to be the real deal, and his talent as a fighter earns him plenty of respect. But Fred's reputation (and ego) takes a serious blow when he learns his wife, Suzie (Mary Jane Bostic), has been fooling around with another man, and Fred challenges him to a fight that doesn't go well. Falling into an emotional tailspin, Fred goes on a pilgrimage to meet his hero and role model, martial arts celebrity Chuck "The Truck" Wallace (Ben Best). The Foot Fist Way was the first feature film from writer and director Jody Hill.

Color me surprised and impressed. The Foot Fist Way is an incredibly independent (ie. cheaply made) and crudely funny film starring up-and-comer Danny McBride. The missus and I saw McBride earlier this year in Pineapple Express and in a bit part in Tropic Thunder and made mental notes to watch out for this guy.

Then, we learn about The Foot Fist Way. How this film was picked up at Sundance a few years ago by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay to shop around. MTV Films managed to pick it up and put it out in theaters in a very limited run. I missed it when it played Seattle, and honestly, reviews of the film kept me wary. A co-worker of mine (who happens to take Tae Kwon Do) rented the film and loved it. Now I knew I had to make my own mind up about it.

The film was made by McBride and some buddies he went to school with from North Carolina School of Arts. They made the film independently the old fashioned way: charging up credit cards. Sure, the film looks cheap. But the comedy and performances are very funny.

McBride and the other actors really commit to ridiculousness that they say and do. McBride plays a Karate instructor that is very full of himself. His approach is not unlike the "overachieving doofuses" that Will Ferrell usually plays, only darker. McBride's character is even more unhinged, cruel, and filthy. And it's hilarious.

This is not a film for everyone. Like I said, they go to some dark places with the comedy. But that dark tone is what I think sets it apart from the glut of Apatow productions flooding the comedy market. McBride makes that character his own, and fills him with pomposity and brazen one-liners that my girlfriend hopes I won't start quoting.

This is the perfect movie to stumble onto, in the middle of the night, when you're buzzed on something, and you're just in one of those moods...

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