Film Geek
Picture:
C+ Sound: C+ Extras: C Feature: C
Here and
there, attempts are made to do films and other productions about the film mind,
fans and film world. James Weston’s Film Geek (2005) is about a video store
employee named Scotty (Melik Malkasian) who is one of those walking
encyclopedias on film. He does
everything he can to take care of the VHS rental store and is always will to
supply excess information in between re-shrink-wrapping the boxes. Eventually, he drives everyone nuts from
employees to customers and lands up getting fired.
He cannot
find another job, none of the other video stores are hiring and he is obsessing
about his half-naked neighbor who hardly pays attention to him. The box tries to say it is the next Napoleon Dynamite, but it has more
common denominators with The 40-Year-Old
Virgin. Both characters love their
pop culture (film vs. toys) and both are too isolated for their own good. I had problems with 40-Year-Old Virgin going too broad for its comedy and not having
enough character development. The same
happens with this film, but this time, the film references never get beyond a
history 101 class and it trivializes & marginalizes Scotty in a way that
adds to the character development problems.
Once again, there is no ironic distance, even though there is humor.
The film
has one big laugh when Scotty goes to a record store to find out about
Electronica to impress a girl who like David Cronenberg, but even that moment
is ruined by a badly composed shot. Why
no retake was done is bizarre, but it ruined the moment and is a metaphor for
the missed opportunities throughout. It
might be worth a look to some, but just don’t have your hopes up too high.
The 1.33
X 1 image was shot on videotape, but does not look too bad. Color is consistent, even when detail is an
issue. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo is
clean and clear for the most part, though features no surrounds. Extras include the theatrical trailer,
stills, text notes, cast/crew bios, behind the scenes featurette, two extra
extended scenes and a dull short film called The Auteur.
- Nicholas Sheffo
