Yet another format change but it was a little more bearable this time. Just a focus on the films without a lot extraneous “personal” drama or cheesy American Idol hooplah. The films weren’t too bad either. I liked the last one (the documentary subject about the gay Indian comic) and I kind of liked the musical. The judges didn’t much like the “Finkelsteins” film but it made my wife laugh her head off. The only one I thought was really lame was the blind date one.
When do they do the results? Are they doing a separate results show at all? i’m totally lost about the format now. They keep changing it like every five minutes.
I missed the first one. I didn’t get the appeal of the gay Indian comic film. I kept expecting something to happen, like him actually being funny. There didn’t seem to be any point to it. The Finkelstein one had a couple good lines but it had more that were just over the top. I actually liked the musical the best.
I’m confused. So did they choose those 5 films at random and one of those 5 directors goes home after the voting? Do we not find out who goes until next week? And the other 10 get a free pass?
I can’t remember the last time I saw a clusterf@ck like this on TV. They don’t seem to know from one episode to the next how they want to sell this show. It was supposed to be on on Monday, for crying out loud, and this is what, the third format change? And that hostess sucks goatse.
But beyond that, I’m not sure this show even belongs on TV. I don’t think many people are into voting for a thing rather than a person. On competitive music/dancing shows, the focus is naturally on the contestant. On this show, the focus is on the product, and the audience doesn’t know where to place their loyalty. I can’t even remember most of the names, and it doesn’t help that most of the guys look alike. So I can’t remember which of these people did what last week or the week before.
Which is not necessarily a problem for me, because I think in this situation, liking a particular contestant should not even be a factor. Judge them on their output; that’s what it’s all about. I think Carrie Fisher is a waste of flesh as a person, and I’m not too high on Garry Marshall either, but I don’t question their worth as judges in this contest. But I can see where people who are used to choosing a favorite on AI or SYTYCD would get fed up with not hearing backstories or seeing Ford commercials, and simply change the channel.
Just hope this somehow ends up being worth the while of the contestants. Especially since I have a feeling that they’re just going to choose a winner offscreen, toss the money at them, and never air it.
I love and hate this show. I like watching the filmaker’s movies and I like it when the judges make salient comments about them (I thought Michael Bay was very good). But everything else about the show is horrible, starting with thhe host, who is absolutely pathettic.
My take on the movies:
Dough: The Musical - Creative, fun, interesting, well-made, I really enjoyed this movie.
Broken Pipe Dreams - me annd my wife really enjoyed this one. We thought it was clever and funny and well shot, although it did, as Bay noted, seem like he dragged it out to three minutes when it could have been two.
Laughing Out Loud - I thought stylisticly it was very good, but I thought narratively it was lacking. Far too much of the guy getting ready and not enough of his act and also not enough of what were the consequences of his coming out.
teri - It was a very competently made film with good acting that showed little creativity and little adventure and unfortunately little humor.
The First Time I Met the Finklesteins - First of all it looked very amateurish to me, the acting was not good and the story was poor. There was a setup (“Don’t find yourself alone with my mom”) with no payoff. It seemed a lowest common denominator attempt to win votes.
I have to go with Rilchiam. Dear god, what a fucked-up mess. Why was there yet another comedy? Who the hell did the casting for the judges and host? Why should I give a damn about any of these people? Why am I seeing only five shorts when there are fifteen contestants? And why do I never know when it’s going to air? I mean, shit! Why can’t anybody get the premise of these shows right? The one Ben Affleck and Matt Damon did was a little better, but the productions were too cheap. And finally, speaking of which, what the hell is somebody going to do with a million dollars on a movie in this day and age? It’s doomed to be a low-budget artsy-fartsy indie knock-off film that nobody will ever see. Gah. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the show just stopped showing up on the schedule, without fanfare, going out Elliotishly.
Dough: The most ambitious and risky given only 5 days, but it was technically a bit off with the overdubbing of the singing. The camera work was also very static and lifeless for a musical.
Pipe Dreams: Good concept and some creative interesting camera shots, but the pacing was very slow and plodding, the editing sucked out the suspense instead of creating suspence.
Laughing out Loud: The most interesting camera work and direction, but not a very interesting narrative or concept. Carrie Fisher’s only valid criticism, that “Just Be Yourself” is hardly a challenging or creative concept. Technically the best of the five.
Finkelstein: The best script and story of the five, but had the poorest actors (the young couple) that failed to contribute anything to the film. I agree with the judge panel that it was also shot way too claustrophobic.
Blind Date: Retread of a concept seen dozens of times in romantic comedies. Ending with an outdated gay stereotype that looked like a Three’s Company Mr Furley casting reject didn’t earn any points either.
The Judges:
Carrie Fisher is a waste of space, she spends all of her time sounding like a rambling cranky diner retiree.
Garry Marshall gives very good advice in general, but isn’t welcoming of anything challenging or “outside of the box”. Too obsessed with the women behind the camera being women to evalute them objectively.
Michael Bay: Comes across as an arrogant tool, but gave blunt honest criticism that I completely agreed with.