Z/Web

Another pretty cool documentary parody from the people who did Best in Show, Spinal Tap, and other films. Like those others, this misses the mark in some areas, and it’s never laugh-out-loud funny, but has a lot of in-jokes for those who know the entertainment industry (I’m sure I missed a lot). This film’s about a low-budget family drama with young unknowns and older has-beens who suddenly get an Oscar buzz going which dramatically changes the way the film’s made and the actors and writers see themselves. Unfortunately, there were some odd aspects I didn’t understand: the buzz starting while the film was filming, the Oscar nominations coming out before the film’s release in January (film eligible for Oscars are supposed to be released before the end of the year); that didn’t make much sense. But I give it literary license and go along with the gag, but overall the film’s too uneven for true brilliance, but it is a fun, decent movie.

Odd movie. Difficult to explain. Definitely science fiction, perhaps too much so, so that it’s a bit alienating. I liked it overall, but it felt like it missed the mark. The ending was anticlimactic and didn’t satsify me completely, but it was more than just that — the entire film felt like it didn’t quite reach the heights it was aiming for. The mystery of the Tree (the tree that gives eternal life) was never explained, but that wouldn’t have bothered if there weren’t so many other loose ends left dangling. It’s definitely a movie I want to see a second time before I really judge it.