60 Second Review: The Parking Lot Movie

Directed by Meghan Eckman
Rating: 6 out of 10

The Parking Lot Movie is about a corner parking lot behind a strip of bars and restaurants near the University of Virgina campus. More to the point, this documentary is about the men who work there.

Looking at the job and the experience through the eyes of  20+ years worth of employees, we learn that it takes a special kind of person to appreciate and do well the not-much-to-do-ness job of being a parking lot attendant. Some say the rude customers and ample down time allowed them to reflect on their place in the world; others--namely anthropology students--think of working the small booth as field work.

What they all have in common is a disdain for their customers' owners (the customers being the cars). This revulsion for snotty sorority girls, wasted frat boys and their condescending parents (who drive ever increasingly rotund SUVs) seems to increase every day, every hour while on the job.

As strange as it sounds, The Parking Lot Movie is a love letter to a parking lot and the its owner who does his level best to instill in his employees a feeling that they have power over this little paved corner of the world. What The Parking Lot Movie does best though is serve as a reminder to not judge a book by its cover--people with simple jobs are rarely simple people.

Why I Admire Kevin Smith

On Sunday, writer/director/podcast star/entrepreneur Kevin Smith’s new film, Red State opened at the Sundance Film Festival. Initial reactions to the film have been mixed, but most agree that the political/horror film is unlike anything Smith has done to date.

For weeks, Internet movie bloggers—those folks who somehow make a living at it—have been dissecting Smith’s tweets and came to the conclusion he was planning to auction off the film immediately after the screening. How much would it go for? Would the film, which stars Academy Award frontrunner Melissa Leo, open immediately? How would Smith fare at Sundance over 15 years after getting his start there with Clerks?

It turned out Smith had another trick up his sleeve: he sold Red State—to himself. He then announced he would tour the film this spring to 12 large venues across the country with the goal of making back at least half of the film’s slightly less than $4 million cost. Red State will open to a wider audience in October under the distribution of his own studio. Oh, and he announced after his next film—a love letter to hockey called Hit Somebody—that he would retire from directing to help others get their movies made.

The reason Smith is doing this is simple: whether you love or hate his films, there’s little argument that he’s an old school independent filmmaker. He’s efficient. His films often cost less than $5 million. You don’t hear about his shoots going over schedule or budget. In this day and age, that’s an anomaly. Every project is a labor of love and Red State is no exception.

In the typical studio formula, a filmmaker’s control usually ends when the film is complete leaving the studio’s marketing department to promote and advertise it any way they want. Who of us hasn’t been lured into the theater by a deceptive trailer? Add to all this, national marketing and advertising campaigns cost several times more than what a Kevin Smith movie does. So Red State, which wrapped at about $4 million, in the hands of a traditional distribution house would likely have to make $15-30 million to break even. By selling the film off, Smith may make his initial investment back, but the chances of the film being seen as a financial failure would be greatly increased (the typical Kevin Smith film makes about $30 million). Plus, he would give up creative control on a project he has spent several years languishing over.

To Smith, these numbers and facts simply don’t add up.

After Smith announced his plans for Red State, some bloggers and entertainment reporters missed the point. There were Twitter rants and rages over Smith’s perceived subterfuge. They wanted an auction! They wanted bloodshed! They wanted to go back to their safe corners and speculate if Red State would be the joke Cop-Out has become! Instead they got an idea. Parts of it aren’t groundbreaking (indies like Bubba Ho-Tep have toured the country before), but others (Smith retiring to throw his indie cred and expertise at a studio to help others break into filmmaking) are at least interesting and have the potential to create a ripple effect in the independent world. That’s a good thing. While plenty of truly independent films still exist, many touring the larger festivals are just Big Studio productions packaged under sub-house names. This isn’t to say these offerings aren’t any good, but they aren’t ‘independent’ in the spirit of the word.

I have my doubts that Smith can pull off what he is proposing on a wide scale (that is, on films other than his own), but it’s exciting he’s trying. Smith, again and again, has proven that his art is his passion. Sometimes that art takes the form of two guys hanging out in front of a convenience store or an archangel trying to find a loophole back into Heaven, but, as they say, art is subjective—it’s to the viewer to decide whether it has merit. And to Smith’s credit, he has always owned who he is—a film fan with a blue streak and a working class background with a penchant for writing dialogue. Despite his detractors (and if the Internet is to be believed…he has many), Smith has built a tidy career for himself. He tries new things (Red State; directing a studio picture he didn’t write with Cop-Out), but, ultimately, stays true to who he is and who he knows his fans want him to be.

The other fascinating thing about Smith is how completely accessible he is—something that, for him, I imagine can be a blessing and a curse. He waged a very public war (with his over 1.5 million followers not always coming down on his side) with SouthWest Airlines last year in “Too Fat to Fly”-gate. He spills the beans on just about everything in his life—from how he met his future wife to being intimidated by Bruce Willis while shooting Cop-Out—in hilarious Q&As he holds around the country. He has built a podcast network—called Smodcast—with popular offerings hosted by Smith and others from the View Askew universe. He once protested his own film (Dogma) claiming to be offended by it even though he had never seen it. For the premiere of Red State at Sundance, he riled up members of the Westborough Baptist Church (which the villains in the film are based upon) so they would come and picket. Like in his films, Smith likes poking fun at the seriousness of life by making a joke of almost everything.

Smith is the P.T. Barnum of the film world and I don’t mean that as an insult. He’s a master of promotion and has continued to work seemingly on his own terms. He owns his reputation—whether that’s as a celebrated young auteur at Sundance or the guy who got thrown off an airplane. He doesn’t apologize, but he has the potential to surprise—and that’s what he did this past Sunday. Kevin Smith is his own industry; his own reality show.

I, for one, am looking forward to what happens next.

Will Smith is remaking 'Annie'

My mom was a big fan of musicals. Dad had westerns; mom had musicals. Think Sound of Music, Paint Your Wagon, Oklahoma, West Side Story. When we bought our laser disc player, she played these and anything from Leonard & Bernstein in a seemingly endless loop. The only one I could stomach was Annie.

Now Will Smith wants to ruin my childhood.

Okay, maybe that's not fair, but I'm not too hopeful.

Smith, through his production house Overbrook Entertainment, is remaking Annie for--wait for it--his 9-year-old daughter, Willow. She will play Annie. She of Whip My Hair fame.

Jay-Z, who produced Willow's single, will be involved in the music for the film. Clearly, I think this means It's a Hard Knock Life will sound a bit different. Maybe more like this?

I am not hopeful.

It's that time of the year...

The nominees for the 83rd Academy Awards were announced this morning. I have seen shockingly few of the nominated films. Like not even Social Network and that's embarrassing to admit because, well, you know.

Here are a list of the nominees from the major categories:

Best Picture
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
The King's Speech
127 Hours
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter's Bone


My Uneducated Take: I like that they gave a token nod to Toy Story 3, but token is all it is. It won't (and, in my opinion, shouldn't) win. Despite Inception being a huge hit, I don't think it'll go home with the top prize. My money's on Black Swan or The Social Network.

Best Director
Darren Aronofsky for Black Swan
David O. Russell for The Fighter
Tom Hooper for The King's Speech
David Fincher for The Social Network
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen for True Grit

My Uneducated Take: I would bet on Aronofsky, although I'd like to see Fincher win. It might kinda sorta make up for the Academy completely snubbing the fabulous Zodiac. Okay, not really.

Best Actor
Javier Bardem in Biutiful
Jeff Bridges in True Grit
Jesse Eisenberg in The Social Network
Colin Firth in The King's Speech
James Franco in 127 Hours

My Uneducated Take: Jeff Bridges was great in True Grit, but he won last year and I don't see him pulling a Tom Hanks. Too few people have seen Biutiful and 127 Hours. This is Eisenberg's first nomination and he's young so I don't see him winning. I think this is Colin Firth's to lose.

Best Supporting Actor
Christian Bale in The Fighter
John Hawkes in Winter's Bone
Jeremy Renner in The Town
Mark Ruffalo in The Kids Are All Right
Geoffrey Rush in The King's Speech

My Uneducated Take: Bale. He won the Golden Globe and has the kind of body of work voters like to reward. This isn't to say there can't or won't be an upset. Bale certainly has his detractors. If not Bale, I'd love to see Jeremy Renner or Geoffrey Rush win.

Best Actress
Annette Benning in The Kids Are All Right
Nicole Kidman in Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence in Winter's Bone
Natalie Portman in Black Swan
Michelle Williams in Blue Valentine


My Uneducated Take: I'd love to see Michelle Williams win. We should reward films that aren't afraid to be honest. Alas, I think he nomination is simply a token. The frontrunner here is likely Natalie Portman, who won the Golden Globe and with whom Hollywood is in the middle of a love affair.

Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams in The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter in The King's Speech
Melissa Leo in The Fighter
Hailee Steinfeld in True Grit
Jacki Weaver in Animal Kingdom

My Uneducated Take: Jacki Weaver is the surprise here. She won't win. Why is Hailee Steinfeld nominated in a supporting role when she was in 90% of the film? She was fabulous and could win ala Anna Pacquin in The Piano. I hope Leo and Adams don't cancel each other out as sometimes happens when multiple nominees are in the same category from the same film. Considering all the love around The King's Speech, Helena Bonham Carter could easily take this one.

A couple of snubs that come to mind: I would have like to have seen more love for The Town. Ben Affleck deserved a little thrown his way. Aren't we over hating him yet?

Also, I know it's been a strong acting year, but what about the Keira Knightley and Carrey Mulligan from Never Let Me Go? Or even Andrew Garfield for that matter.

Speaking of the next Spiderman...no acting nods (other than Eisenberg) for The Social Network? I bet Justin Timberlake (who I understand was great) is sad.

Over the next few weeks I plan on catching up with my movie watching and will try to post thoughts as they come to me!

I now have another reason to hate Comcast.

In 2010, I became a movie- and TV-loving, news junkie without TV. It's not that I wanted to "cut the cord." I'm not one of those people. I love watching TV. I love mindlessly flipping channels. I love all the world of bad reality TV. I love all the cable news networks--even Fox.

What ended my relationship with traditional television (six months and counting...) was a year-long fight with Comcast. I won't get into the gory details, but will offer three pieces of advice if you're a customer of Xfinity, Comcast, Con-artists, X-Men, or whatever they're calling themselves these days:

1.) Always ask if the rate they're offering you is a special. Don't trust anything they say.

 2.) If you have direct payment, check your statements diligently to make sure the charges are what you believe they should be.

3.) If you're ever transferred to the "Customer Retention Department", know that the person who picks up the phone has no interest in retaining you as a customer. In all likelihood, this person will do everything they can to bully you into submission or force you into canceling. As an example, my "Customer Retention Representative" accused me of lying and questioned the existence of my mother-in-law (it's a long story).

After a year of almost weekly "chats" with my friends at Comcast, this was the last straw. I canceled my service, bought an AppleTV, and weaned myself from marathons of "Millionaire Matchmaker."

I thought my relationship with Comcast was over, but like an ex-boyfriend at a mutual friend's barbecue, all those bad feeling have come rushing back with the news that Keith Olbermann's "Countdown" is no more. 

To be fair, details are twitchy. Some, including Rachel Maddow (via an appearance on Bill Maher's HBO show), say the decision was mutual. Others say he was fired because NBC's new overlords (aka Comcast...as of yesterday) don't think he knows how to play nice. I tend to think the latter is closer to the truth and not just because of my ugly break-up with Comcast. There have been rumblings since the FCC started considering the buyout of NBC by Comcast that the monopolistic cable provider wanted changes over at MSNBC. The fact that the deal was approved yesterday and Olbermann is out today (coinciding with the departure of NBC chief Jeff Zucker, one of Olbermann's biggest advocates) seems like too much of a coincidence.

To be sure, Olbermann never had a reputation for towing the line or holding his tongue. In November, he was suspended for making campaign contributions that fell outside the rules MSNBC has for its hosts (despite the fact Joe Scarborough was allowed to make such contributions until media outlets began to point out the double standard). Behind the scenes, many reports suggested there was no love lost between Olbermann and his bosses. He suggested as much on his show and even referred to the strife in his farewell. While his ratings had declined over the last year, he was responsible for landing MSNBC at a comfortable second place (behind Fox, but ahead of CNN) in the cable news wars. He was, as of yesterday, the highest rated show on MSNBC.

Love him or hate him, he was the counter-voice to people like Bill O'Reilly. And unlike other supposedly left-leaning hosts before him, Olbermann apologetically wore his liberal views on his sleeve and had no problem calling out the bullshit of politicians and other political pundits.

With the end of "Countdown", there's one less voice on air who believes that health care should be a right, big business is less important that worker rights, and the wealthiest among us should pay their fair share. Last year, Olbermann suspended and then revived a lighter version of his "Worst Persons in the World" segment, which called out bad behavior by GOP members and media. Bill O'Reilly, Sarah Palin, Glen Beck, Rush Limbaugh, and Lou Dobbs were frequent targets. He was criticized for the segment and that was why, supposedly, he chose to do away with its harsher tone. Olbermann softened while Limbaugh continued to compare Democrats to Nazis and Glenn Beck predicted the end of the world and called President Obama a racist. Then, of course, there's Sarah Palin and that now infamous crosshairs political poster.

Olbermann may have had his critics and his abrupt departure raises questions about what's to become of MSBNC, but, at least by me and the people who enjoyed his show, "Countdown" will be remembered as an unflinching watchdog for the more liberally-minded. I'll miss his perspective and, unlike Comcast, hope we meet again soon.