You are Tearing Me Apart, Lisa!
August 10th – August 16th
Phase V - We caught Brian Hearn’s (Film Curator at OKCMOA) remix of Saul Bass’s Phase IV at Mainsite Art Gallery in Norman on Friday evening. Hearn cut out all the dialogue and all the shots showing the actors talking from the original. Then on Friday night he presented his remix with actors providing wonderful live dialogue for the three main roles backed by a live musical score. While I’ve never seen the original Phase IV, I still had a bunch of fun with this remix. As it started, I briefly thought it might veer off into pretentious, art-installation territory. But before long the line readings were bringing in the laughs. This presentation wasn’t just for the art crowd, but for people who love movies both good and bad.
The Room – Speaking of bad movies…This one has been called the “Citizen Kane of bad movies.” It’s awful. But I totally recommend it. Occasionally, one person’s singular vision and self-delusion is all that is needed for a hilariously painful cinematic disaster. It’s not so much that people make bad movies; it’s that they think they’re doing it brilliantly (see also Audience of One and the occasional deadCENTER film or many student films). I’m still not quite sure how intentional the awfulness is though. Director, writer, and leading man Tommy Wiseau is either brilliant or earnestly incompetent. In the end it doesn’t matter because he’s made an entertaining movie. Perhaps brilliance and earnest incompetence are simply two sides of the same coin. Note: Don’t bother with the RiffTrax commentary. It’s seriously lacking in the funny. Usually, they get it right but not this time. Instead, just put The Room back in your DVD player and press PLAY again.
