catapult magazine

Storytelling finally made it to Edmonton! Maybe it took them this long to take those red boxes out. Yes, no red boxes in Canada it seems. I had the privilege of being deeply disturbed by the uncensored image of a big old prof humping our little heroine from behind. That image is hauntingly unforgettable. Now I want to see those red boxes.

Last weekend I saw Boogie Nights again and can’t help comparing the approach of these two directors. Anderson plainly loves each and every one of his characters. Even when we see them doing dispicable things we understand why and still feel for them. Soltz hates them all, doesn’t he? I like both directors, but I have this feeling that the two live in different universes.

one criticism of the film would be: How does the gay-friend-gives-Scooby-a-blow-job scene fit into the film or contribute to it in any way? I thought it was distracting. And why was the race issue brought into this film? In my opinion the movie was complex enough without these two touchy subjects muddling the storytelling. And the whole hypnotizing thing was completely unbelievable, but the whole story hinged on it. Call it a strength if you will, but I’ll call it a weakness. I think the message (fiction/nonfiction) would have come through clearer if the hinge had been more plausible.

I loved all the allusions to American Movie and the quick dig at American Beauty. Overall I’d call it an ambitious movie that makes you think. I’m thrilled that Soltz graces this earth with his presence. And that he makes movies to boot.

Apparently there was supposed to be more gay stuff in the movie. One such scene reportedly would have involved Van Dam/Van Buren?, not the action star, the guy from Dawson’s Creek. What’s that guy’s name? He was in MtV’s Texas football movie too. Oddly enough, those scenes never made it to the final version.

Anyway, the only way I could make sense of those scenes was the way I did in my article, that it showed the extent to which the camera probed Scooby’s private life. But I read that much of the second half of the film was cut up in the editing room to make it fit an R rating, thus making some scenes seem out of place.

As far as the racism stuff goes, I really think the movie is putting our ideas about political correctness on the table. Is it better that our cute little hero does not show herself to be a racist than that she allows herself to be penetrated by her prof against the wall? Going through the sex act with the black man seems to prove to her and to us that she has conquered her racist thoughts and feelings. This is why she is our cute little hero. And because she isn’t prejudiced against people with cerebral palsey either.

Grant.

James Van der Beek?

yeah, that’s him.