Saturday, May 9, 2009

Tossers

Went to see Danny Grossman's short film Tossers at Mockfest this afternoon.

Very amusing.



It was followed by a film that stretched the definition of "short film" (meaning it was interminable) and "mockumentary." Prior to the screening, Steve was joking that these festivals often include a genre known as "experimental." But that would be more accurately known as "failed experiment."

So when the title card flashed the writer/director's vanity card reading [INSERT NAME HERE] Experimental, I was wary. Turns out Steve's assessment was correct. The conceit was to take two actors, give them a backstory of married guy chasing his fed-up girlfriend on a train from L.A. to New York City, have them improv fights in front of real people and draw those people into the fictional story.

No a bad idea but it could have used some ruthless editing as it dragged on FOREVER. It takes five days to travel from Los Angeles to New York on train and that's how long it felt like watching the film. My cohorts slipped out one by one, but I stayed until the bitter end. Well, almost the bitter end. With an end card that dedicated the film to "patience," the act of endurance, I couldn't help but wonder if the screening was an elaborate joke on the audience who suffered through it.

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