The Reel

I’d always had mixed feelings about David Mamet’s work. Some of his films are far too preachy and all the characters’ voices blend together into one long expletive. Others are quiet meditations on a subject with underpinnings of truth about life in general. It wasn’t until I read his book, “Bambi vs. Godzilla”, that I really understood what was going on in Mametville.

The book is basically an existential rumination on filmmaking. I can easily picture it as the cornerstone of a film school theory class. It’s funny, thoughtful, clever and honest. Just like the best of Mamet. But what really struck me was the voice of the writing. I’d heard it somewhere before…And then it hit me.

My favorite Mamet film, and one of the best films about filmmaking period is State and Main. It’s considered the least “Mamety” of his films. It feels toned down. I think it’s due in large part to having found a cast that perfectly grasps the tone of his dialog. In particular, he found the great Philip Seymour Hoffman. Hoffman is downright adorable in the role Joseph Turner White; an earnest playwright turned screenwriter who is frustrated by having to rework his script. The film is called “The Old Mill” but the crew, having been run out of the previous location thanks to the errant actions of their leading man (Alec Baldwin basically playing himself) now must complete production in a town which does not have an old mill. This is the film industry exposed, forsaking story for drama and dollar signs. White doesn’t want to lose the heart of the story. The director doesn’t care what happens so long as the producer is happy. In short, White is Mamet is why Mamet prefers to direct his own films.

Turner White is also a gentle, soft spoke, thoughtful man. He is charming and morally upright. He falls for a like-minded local girl (the quintessential Mamet actress Rebecca Pidgeon who, by happy coincidence, is married to Mamet). She is a fan of his plays and attempts to help him find his new story without selling out. They both have an old-timey manner of speaking which shows that they are cut from the same cloth. There is not an expletive uttered between them. They are clearly meant for each other.

State and Main could have just as easily been called Mamet in Love. And when one reads “Bambi vs. Godzilla", one hears Joseph Turner White.

But the true revelation occurred when I watched Mamet’s new film Redbelt, starring Chiwetel Ejiofor. Ejiofor is another incredibly gifted actor. Like Hoffman, he can convey a rainbow of emotions with a simple look. His deep, dark eyes are pools of insight. In Redbelt he plays Mike Terry, a teacher of Brazilian Jui Jitsu who lives by a very strict moral code. But he sees only truth and justice which allows him to be taken by evil men. Like Joseph Turner White, he speaks softly, earnestly and without profanity. The profanity is reserved for the bad people. People like Tim Allen’s spoiled aging Hollywood star and Joe Mantegna’s corrupt producer (tell us how you really feel about producers, Dave). They drop the F-Bombs like Nagasaki. And that is your clue to the Mametverse. As a viewer you know they are nefarious the minute they open their mouths. Swearing is the mark of corruption. Mamet has injected a natural spoiler into his scripts. The good people control their speech and their volume. They choose their words carefully. They speak like David Mamet.

For most people, Mamet is a love-him-or-loathe-him kind of guy. I have always been on the fence. I don’t care for Glengarry Glen Ross’. But I adore State and Main and I similarly took to “Bambi vs. Godzilla” and Redbelt. They always say you should write what you know. Now that I’ve cracked the Mamet code, I can safely say that he is at his best when he’s just being himself.

If you could go back in time and fight any historical figure, real or fictional, which one would you fight? Mike Terry would fight someone purely villainous like the Joker. Why? Because Mike Terry represents the light. He represents the light because he fights for it. He doesn’t fight for the prize, the fame or the glory, but for fact that he is a fighter. That’s what he does. He is a Shaolin monk, the difference being his religion is Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

David Mamet is disciplined. His capability as a director has been built on his tight sets and crews. He’s been known to run rehearsals with a metronome. It’s almost no surprise that Mamet has been practicing Jiu Jitsu for over seven years and is a purple belt. This discipline is on what his leading characters are often able to establish their integrity.

Mike Terry sweats integrity. He is a paradigm of virtue swimming in a river of corruption. None can be trusted in his life but those that have nearly drowned in the briny improbity themselves. It is those that look to Mike Terry to be their gold standard. The weight bears down when the whirlpools form around him and suck him into behavior he so despises.

The Difference between Mamet and Terry is that Mamet is real and Terry, played so capably by Chiwetel Ejiofor, is fiction. But the fiction could be fact and Mamet could be using his creation to decry a lack of ethics in both Hollywood and the prize fighting. Mamet goes so far as to allow characters to utter lines like “Of course the fights are fixed.” Mike Terry is David Mamet’s swift kick in a back alley to corruption’s chin.

While at times slightly preachy, Redbelt is a gem. The cast is remarkable and spot on, the script is free of flaw, and the shots are well composed. This isn’t Spanish Prisoner Mamet, its Glengarry Mamet: tight, rhythmic and dynamic. Redbelt is a challenge for any aspiring filmmaker current or future. If I were an aspiring filmmaker and could fight any historical figure, real or fictional, I would fight Chiwetel Ejiofor…at thumb wrestling.

Redbelt is in theaters now. See interviews with star Chiwetel Ejiofor on Reeltime.com!

Hey folks, Joey here! Since I’ve been working at ReelTime, I can truly say I’ve become an entertainment industry insider! Oh yeah, we hear about everything, first! Remember it was your pal Joey who broke with the Indiana Jones shooting script pages and who told you about Meet Dave!

Well, now I’m here to tell you about a new one, that I know is gonna be a Big Hit!!! It’s The Wonder Twins Movie Finally! I know we’ve been waiting a while for this one. Get this: it stars Winonna Ryder and the guy from Panic! at the Disco! Great casting, I know, right? Kevin Spacey will reprise his role as Lex Luthor! Wooo Hoooo!!!!!

Okay, one last thing, I just want to get in a little self promotion here, since I have a national audience - heck Worldwide audience (W.W.W. - LOL!) Me and my man Renald are performing this weekend at the Jones Beach Boardwalk!!! OMG!!! Yes, our FIRST GIG of our cover band Twins of Glimmer, a tribute to the Rolling Stones 1980-1989!!! Trust me, you are going to go ga-ga over Renald’s rendition of “Emotional Rescue”. Reeltime fans and friends, come out this weekend and see us!!!

Okay Homies I’m audi - going home to practice!!! I’m not waiting on a lady; I’m waiting on a friend! LOL!

I’ve never been religious. When I was growing up, Mother was a devout Baptist, but my Old Man had no use for it. She wanted to get me baptized, but Terry the Second would have none of it. So when I was older, I was surprised to see my dad going to the Jewish temple once or twice on different Saturdays. He wore the yarmulke and everything. It was when the studio was going out of business. He had started carrying around a revolver, too, which worried Mother, but I thought it was neat. It was the 50’s, what can I say? I asked him one day, “Pop, are you praying to God for a big, boffo hit at the BO?” Precocious, little guy wasn’t I? Pop sez, “Kid, if God exists, it certainly doesn’t care about the movie business. God has nothing to do with the Box Office, honey.”

Pop was right; but he was wrong, just ask Mel Gibson. His career may be over because of it, but he can afford it to be over. People in flyover country have Jesus to love, but at the end of my driveway I have Jenna Elfman telling me about Xenu. God is alive and well at the box office, even if it’s only in the minds of movie-goers.

“Why all the navel-gazing, Terry?” you might ask. Well babies, maybe it’s just me getting on in years and thinking about my own mortality. Maybe these days are a lot like the old days when the studios were going out of business because of television. Or maybe it’s all these Lightworks Spirituality Segments I’ve been watching on ReelTime. Ha. Only when I just said that did I realize how much that sounded like a crappy ad pitch.

But it’s not, kids.

Listen, would ol’ Terry bullshit you? I’ve been watching them because I’m interested. See, I’m a man of the wheel, and it goes ’round and ’round. Some of these Lightworks Segments are up; some are down. Some I like; some I don’t. These numerous Lightworks segments all showcase unique personal experiences of spirituality among everyday people. They show that whether it’s Xenu, Jesus, or The Bicycle Thief (1948), every form of spiritual expression is valid. And for what it’s worth, Terry likes that.

Ciao.

We’re going to try something rarely done in movie reviews. We’re going to choose our own adventure. I’ll make this really easy, if you want to read the good news, pet the purring kitty on the carpet and read ahead. If you want to enter the cave and read the bad news. skip the next paragraph.

Writer, director and cinematographer Jay Lee has proven himself a very capable shooter and lighter. It doesn’t hurt that the art direction, led by a very skilled Tim E. Smith, is exemplary and helps redefine what one can and should expect from a “B” grade horror movie/parody. It probably doesn’t hurt that the two have previously worked together and will most likely work together again in the future. We have that to look forward to right?

The kitten turns out to be a rabid puke monster. Run into the cave.

You enter the cave. Oh, Jenna. That’s so cute that you thought you could leave your porn career behind you and enter the world of mainstream film. It’s also cute that you left a “distinguished” career in porn to play a…stripper? In a zombie movie? With a supporting cast that includes Robert “Freddy” Englund and Tito “My T-shirts are Witty” Ortiz. What’s that sound? The phone! Jenna, it’s the Academy! They are telling you to go back to porn!

Is it really Jenna’s fault, that Zombie Strippers is a dirty toothbrush used to clean toilets? The answer here is no. The blame must fully rest on the shoulders of Jay Lee. Jay Lee thought it would be clever to take zombies…wait for it…and unite them with strippers. Good idea, yes? No. One could say Zombie Strippers is a clever poke at the government sponsored war machine with a strip club used as a metaphor for the corporate whoring. We could also say that the strippers’ urge to become zombies represents the double standard with which said government operates. We would be wrong. Jay Lee is as capable a Director of Photography as he is lousy at writing and directing.

Either way if it weren’t for the shooting and lighting there would be nothing to save Zombie Strippers. The writing is hackneyed, the characters have no dimension, the topical humor is dated and you can see the scars from the fake boobs.

You reach the end of the cave just in time for the puke monster to regurgitate enzymes that break apart your physical chemistry. You are dead

Watch Zombie Strippers on ReelTime.com RIGHT NOW!