Wednesday, July 25, 2007



ON THE LOT
Episode 12
Comedy Night

So Kenny and Mateen are sent home and we’re down to a half dozen, with three more weeks to go.
And without further ado…

MY FAVORITE: Will Bigham’s “Unplugged”
In an office locked up for the night, two table lamps fall in love…
Will takes a concept you might normally see in a CGI short and makes it work in live action.

Adam Stein’s “Girl Trouble”
A dude finally gets lucky… with a dude.
The performances help sell this one, and the American Beauty bit was a hoot and a half.

Andrew Hunt’s “Keep Off Grass”
A superhero couple argue in an innocent bystander’s backyard.
Fun idea, though the couple may have spent a little too much time arguing verbally. I mean, that’s what normal people who don’t fly do.

Sam Friedlander’s “American Hoe”
A couple deep in wedding preparations get into an argument over the stamps for their invites.
Fun and funny, Sam makes this involving even if it is just two normal, non-flying people in a room. I could’ve asked for a better punchline though.

Zach Lipovsky’s “The Bonus Feature”
The bonus feature on the DVD player of a guy’s car zaps a couple into a number of very familiar situations.
This basically just bounces us around from movie to movie, and for Zach to deliver his weakest short in the competition thus far at this late stage is troubling. Maybe the pressure’s just gotten to the wiz kid. I’m hoping this is an aberration, and not a fatal misstep.

MY LEAST FAVORITE: Jason Epperson’s “Old Home Boyz”
A man at his 50th anniversary reunion with his former high school classmates has a dance-off over the girl that got away.
This one got the judges, though it really didn’t get me; I realize Jason knows how to please the crowd, but he’s just not pushing my buttons.
Of course, maybe it’s just that me and hip-hop aren’t exactly close.

Having gone on the record with my rundown tonight, I’ll be nonetheless surprised if Jason’s sent home, as I get the feeling he’s got a lot of the voting public in his pocket. We’re down to six contestants, five of whom I like, so next episode is the first that could genuinely make me feel bad when the elimination is announced.

Next week: shorts about the American’s love for the automobile. (Can anyone say, “Ford is a sponsor of the show”?)
Additionally, the box office winner from tonight’s batch gets Jerry O’Connell to star in their next short.

Tonight’s guest judge: Brad Silberling; see reVIEW (10).

(Contestant image courtesy of thelot.com; Brad Silberling image courtesy of dvdtoile.com.)

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