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Elston Gunn Reviews A BETTER PLACE On DVD!!
Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.
You all know Elston. He's the guy who does our weekly recaps. He's also about to tie the knot. Yet somehow he finds the time to drop a little DVD review on us. How cool is this guy? And, Elston... buddy... best of luck with the big day. Everyone here at the Labs wishes you much joy. Now let's check out that review...
When I was in high school, fights between students were a rare treat.
Cat fights were really few and far between. At lunch, gym class, sometimes
in the parking lot after school, if two folks were coming to blows, our eyes
were glued. It was free primal entertainment once or twice a month and
nothing more. Maybe we should have paused for a moment and wonder whether
or not one or both of these students had deep psychological problems. I'm
not sure if it would have changed anything, but the thought could have given
such an incident more meaning. Nowadays, high school violence goes beyond a
short scuffle of slaps and missed punches. Weapons are involved and higher
prices are paid.
Vincent Pereira's film A BETTER PLACE addresses such violence, as well
as the potential psychological issues that may serve as a catalyst to such
brutal activity, in his 1997 film A BETTER PLACE executive produced by View
Askew's Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier. A Special Edition DVD of the movie is
being released in August by Synapse Films. The story centers on a new kid
in town, Barret, who is having trouble making friends on the first day of
school. He meets hot-tempered rebel Ryan who takes up for Barret during a
confrontation with one of the school's cocky jocks, Todd. Subsequently, the
two become friends and embark on a dark odyssey that culminates in a bloody
end. The tone and themes reminded me of Terence Malick's BADLANDS and David
Lynch's BLUE VELVET at different times during the film and Pereira even
confesses his influences of both directors in his commentary.
Pereira, who wrote, directed, edited and co-produced (with Paul C.
Finn) the film, paints a strong picture of teen angst and loneliness using
only a $40,000 budget, a good script, fine editing and solid performances
from his cast. I'm looking forward to Pereira's next project and anxious to
see what he can do with a bigger budget.
The film stars Robet DiPatri, Eion Bailey (upcoming "Band of Brothers"), Joseph Cassese, Brian Lynch (upcoming NIGHTCRAWLERS, angrynakedpat.com) and Carmen Llewelyn (CHASING AMY, NEVER BEEN KISSED). Jason Lee, Llewelyn's husband, makes an appearance twice in the film under the pseudonym Dennis Pepper. Ethan Suplee has a cameo as well.
The disc has a good presentation with clear and concise menus making it
easy to navigate for simple DVD viewers like me. The disc has scene access
with 25 chapters to choose from and a nice transfer from 16mm presented in
full frame. The audio, mixed at Skywalker Ranch, is presented in Dolby
Digital 2.0 and 5.1. Good sound. In fact, one of the extras on the disc
lets you listen and compare the original audio track to the new 5.1 remix
for three different scenes from the pic. Speaking of extras, the audio
commentary for the film is very enjoyable. Pereira is very thorough with
the trivia and the technical aspects of the making of the pic. It's
probably the most informative commentary I've ever heard. Actors Cassese,
DiPatri and Lynch are also on-hand to divulge their experiences and witty
commentary for the film. And the disc's liner notes by Lynch are easily the
funniest liner notes I've ever read.
There are also 8 different deleted scenes from the film on the disc,
with or without commentary by Pereira. (Deleted scenes with commentary is a
favorite DVD extra of mine. Love it on the BOOGIE NIGHTS disc.) The
director is good to explain to us his original concept, intention and making
of each scene as well as his reasons for leaving each one on the cutting
room floor. Personally, I think commentaries like these are good examples
for up-and-coming directors--not to mention editors--to take note.
The extras make this disc superior to many, many of the independent
films released on DVD, in my opinion. In addition to what I've already
mentioned, there are also three separate introductions to the film by
executive producers Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier of View Askew Productions.
Each intro is more witty and informative than the last. There are also
color bars on the DVD which, if you run for about 20 seconds, presents an
outtake/clips reel. Easter eggs are hidden in the disc as well, but I'll
not ruin that surprise for you. Fun stuff all around, I assure you.
Visit Synapse's A BETTER PLACE site for more info including where to
order the disc, or visit the film's official website.
A BETTER PLACE is a nice DVD to own. As far as the movie goes, it's
amazing to see the results of a $40,000 budget and good talent. And this
special edition has more extras than your average disc, containing
information and surprises I wish many other filmmakers would include in
their DVDs.
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+ Expand All
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Jul 19, 2001 2:14:39 AM CDT
Funny, I watched them plug this last night on the Dogma DVD
by toby o notoby
Thank God this guy is doing his own work. I don't think the title "View Askew Historian" pulls many babes.
-
Just how much money does Kevin pay you guys...???
-
Yea, I'm happy that some fresh independent talent was given the oppertunity to be noticed through the success of View Askew and Vincent always seems to present himself as a real film maker with his knowledge in interviews and commentary tracks rather than being some lucky SOD (son of a director) who found his way nepitistically(??) into the frame. I intend to check out the dvd when I can. Also while I'm here I was reading the questions that Mysterio had for Kevin Smith the other day and I thought of a good question that wasn't asked it would be cool if someone could fit it into a new interview :
considering you were working in a quick stop whilst in your twenties and had dropped out of Film school and were putting yourself into debt to fund your first film. (And don't take this the wrong way) but didn't your parents think "What the hell is this boy doing?" and then what do they think now where you're directing 20million dollar films which you star in, write and direct plus have a very succesful business and a beautiful wife and every night drinking champagne from fresh oyster shells in your Jersey mansion? Just I thought the parent angle would be an interesting story. And if Vincents reading then sorry to be taking up your talk back with questions about that hack :). And if Mr Smith is reading this then get that Fletch film fast tracked now man!!! Cheers! -
To Mad Dog- I'm pretty sure Kevin's parents were generally supportive of him during the making of CLERKS, although when Kevin first showed it to his mom- of course this was before it went to ANY film festivals- she said something like, "I can't believe you spent $28,000 on that piece of shit!" I'm pretty certain she hasn't repeated that sentiment in light of what's happened since :-)
To asianexcess: Maybe, just maybe, Elstun Gunn oh, I dunno, actually LIKED "A BETTER PLACE" and dug the DVD? I know for a fact that AICN is not on the View Askew payroll- I checked this morning aften reading your post to be sure. And even if they were, that doesn't explain the rave review that the Digital Bits gave the DVD, and there are upcoming reviews on DVDFile and Film Threat as well. If they are good, does that mean we are paying all of them off? I simply don't have that much money, and Kevin isn't making bank off of this DVD so it's not exactly in his best interest to pay internet sites money to give good reviews to A BETTER PLACE.
To Toby: Actually, I use my killer good looks and magnetic personality to land babes, but yes, being a working filmmaker will help out as well :-)
Vincent -
Jul 19, 2001 10:45:15 AM CDT
"Nowadays, high school violence goes beyond a short scuffle of s
by speaker wiggin
I'm sorry but this statement just isn't true. Just because it has happened doesn't mean that high school violence goes beyond fights. That's like saying that "Aint It Cool News reports movie news, therefore websites report movie news" NO! High School violence is still what it has always been, minor scuffles. there have been a few deranged individuals who use weapons but that can be said of grownups also, grown up bar fights are usually minor scuffles, but a few deranged individuals pull a gun on someone who cuts them off... :-)
Speaker -
Since you're actually reading this stuff Vinkie here's a question for ya, Film school or no film school (and I'm about to finish my BS in real college). Anyways to the movie, what do ya think has turned some teens into massmurderers? Older generations felt the same pressures and had guns (if not as lethal)? Just curious.
-
True, older generations had guns and they had their own pressures, but the world today is a lot more populated and lot more fast-paced, and the guns we have are a lot more deadly. I think all of this "pressure" was probably building over time, from generation to generation, and it just exploded in the late-1990s. I think the media coverage played a big role too- if the first of the "school shootings"- I believe it was back in 1997- hadn't been so heavily covered, I dunno that the other ones would ever have occured. It seemed like a copycat syndrome, with all these other kids seeing the media coverage of one act and saying, "Hey, I'll make a statement like that!"
It's obviously a complex issue and there's no one answer- in the end, I think it's deeply routed in our society itself. You can't point a finger at movies alone, or music alone, or the media alone, or guns alone, or parents alone, or bullies alone- it's a combination of elements combined with the stressfull, fast-paced world we live in.
BTW, I shot the film in 1995 before any of these things happened. We hit the festival circuit in 1997, just as the rash of school shootings began. -
I mean, why bother hiding features? Enough already. Should be a way to list a DVD's file folders and see exactly WHAT can be run from it. Dogma DVD info was informative - too bad couldn't find the Hosties animatic commercial that KS said would be on the disc somewhere. Anyone know where that is? Looking forward to A Better Place.
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Unfortunately, the Hosties animatics were a victim of the Mouse's scissors on the DOGMA DVD (along with the "Judge Not: In Defence of Dogma" documentary). I have no idea why Disney insisted on it being dropped, but they did and Columbia Tri-Star Home Video complied.
Vincent -
I had never heard of this film and thats surprising since I am a big movie fan but I saw it mentioned on Newsaskew and decided to start reading about it on IMDB and Amazon to read more about it.
I will check it out when it comes out and hope it is as Powerful as people talk about. -
No offence intended, man. I've just always found that your job title appeals to my warped sense of humor. Congratulations on the good looks and sense of humor. Me, I just rely on the charity that females exhibit after five Long Island Ice Teas. Question: Why didn't Jason Lee go under his real name?
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We couldn't credit Jason Lee or Ethan Suplee due to SAG (Screen Actor's Guild) rules, since they are both SAG and the movie wasn't SAG.
And no offense taken at all man.
Vincent -
Ahhh fuck, turns out Vincent is actually cool. Now I'm going to have to buy this goddamn thing. (If nothing else just to say to my easily impressed friends "Yeah, we've rapped in the AICN talkbacks.") Fine, take the last few dollars out of a starving man's pocket, you happy Mr. Nice Guy!?!
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Ahhh fuck, turns out Vincent is actually cool. Now I'm going to have to buy this goddamn thing. (If nothing else just to say to my easily impressed friends "Yeah, we've rapped in the AICN talkbacks.") Fine, take the last few dollars out of a starving man's pocket, you happy Mr. Nice Guy!?!
-
I guess you have the inside info, m-man. Thanks. Hopefully this message will appear in an appropriate spot in this forum listing because lately, dammit, they randomly appear at the top and bottom of the forum.
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