Copernicus here was one of my safety nets for me selling out. When last he spoke of a film that I was 'allegedly' selling out on it was ARMAGEDDON, which he felt was the heftest turd to ever float to a top of a toilet, a turd that refused to be flushed, one that stunk up the whole city block. I loved it. You see Copernicus prides himself in being the geek round town that isn't a mirror of Harry. He calls Tom Joad and Robogeek and all the others kiss asses and pussies for their pathetic pursing of their brownish hued lips. He's full of shit of course, but then hey, he thinks the Earth is round. Hahahahaha. Here's the man's review...
I figure everyone needs a review of The Faculty by someone that had nothing to do with the movie. I'm probably still a little biased, because I was seeing it at the world premiere with a wild audience in the city it was filmed with the director and crew and extras there and all that. Only a soulless bastard wouldn't get caught up in the excitement at an event like that. (Of course I have been called that [by Harry, no less] but he's wrong!) I'll try to be even handed though. In truth, I wasn't expecting much out of this movie. When Harry told me the concept months ago, I thought it was stupid. I didn't really like the trailer, and I hated the ads. But the movie was much better than I expected. In fact, I loved it!
Before the movie started, Robert Rodriguez was running around everywhere with his video camera filming everything. I love a director that just has it in his soul. He can't stop! I've seen plenty of directors come through town that are just in it for the power, money, fame, women, etc. It is nice to see someone that is just so passionate about what they do that they just let it spill everywhere. Not only that, Robert was more excited than anyone there, and he was as gracious and kind as they come. He came over before the movie started and said hi to to the two extras that were sitting in front of me. Combined, they had about 3 seconds of screen time in crowds scenes, but he remembered them. How many big-time directors are that cool?
After a few words by another local director, Richard Linklater, and Robert, the movie started. The bad-ass Rodriguez touches are there right from the start. No opening credits to distract you, just a suspenseful scene to rope you in followed by the title of the movie, and a cool introduction to the main characters in a pan around the schoolyard. Already in the first 10 minutes of the movie you are thinking, "This is going to rock!" Not long after this, Harry made his first of a few brief appearances in the film, and even though they just cut to his face and he didn't say a word, the crowd of about 1200 just rocked the house with cheers. I guess the site is popular! It is the little touches like that that make this movie that much more fun. Everywhere you look there is either a recognizable face or an up and coming young actor. No one steals the show, there are just solid performances all the way around. If I did have to single out one person, though, it would be Robert Patrick. That dude is intense!
The real strong points of the movie, though, are the themes and issues it brings up. Some aren't earth shaking, but they are covered in a different way than we are used to seeing. It puts a whole new take on the usual teen movie topic of alienation! Conceptual puns, I love it! This movie deals with the normal teen topics of angst, alienation, and identity in a much more exciting way than your typical John Hughes movie of the 80's. Same themes, only instead of being in the teens' heads, these problems manifest themselves in physical reality, and the kids get to do battle with them. There are parallels between the mental and physical chrises. For example, every teen struggles to find an identity, but what if something is struggling to give you an identity you don't want, and you have to fight back and explore who you really are in the process? Here, the pressure to conform is not just mental, crosses the boundary to become a physical battle. Every teen feels alienated, but what if they are literally alien-ated? What a rich world to play around in. By pairing the two genres - teen horror and alien invasion - we get this kind of synergy that makes the movie much more interesting than a movie about just one or the other would ever be. And it is a fun ride too!
Ok there is one more thing that I just have to mention. Teen drug use is not only condoned, it is necessary for survival in this movie! Brilliant! I love a movie that rewards free thinking and pays no attention to the conservative elements of socitey. Pissing off the religious right is always a great idea in my book. I can see people are going to be mad that the drug use doesn't cause problems. It isn't presented as something that will ruin society. So many people have never even let this thought cross their mind that they will just explode at the very idea. Their small brains are incapable of thinking of things in ways other than how they have been conditioned to respond by years of brainwashing. When the teens start taking drugs, the Austin audience erupted in approval, and one guy even shouted "Just say yes!" In other words, see this movie with a crowd if you can, because you just can't capture the excitement of seeing a fun thrill movie like this with a packed house if you are watching at home on video. Thrills and intelligence, what more could you ask for in a movie?
Copernicus
