Hey folks, Harry here with the first film review out of Toronto Film Fest so far... and I have to believe it's the best title we'll see... HOW TO GET THE MAN'S FOOT OUTTA YOUR ASS is just a magnificent title for a film. It's disappointing to hear it may not be all that, but then... given that Buttercup hasn't seen SWEET SWEETBACK'S BADASSSSS SONG... well, that could have something to do with it. It'll be interesting to hear from someone that is familiar with Melvin's classic to see how this plays for them. Keep the Toronto Reviews coming, I'm dying to hear more!
Hey Harry,
Just a quick note. I managed to get into a screening for How To Get The Man's Foot Outta Your Ass (HGMFOYA). It's a docudrama about the making of Sweet Sweetback's Baad Asssss Song, with Mario Van Peebles playing the role of his father, Melvin Van Peebles. Most of the film consists of showing the making of Sweetback interspersed with soundbites from some of the actors playing crewmembers (speaking in the role of that crewmember), with a few brief sound bites at the end from those originally involved with Sweetback's. The official film fest blurb for HGMFOYA said that "the film reflects a particular filmmaking moment which launched a new black aesthetic ... and seems to say if only such energy existed today" - hell, if only such energy existed in this film! HGMFOYA definitely wound up being more drama than documentary. The characters in the movie all come off as charicatures, and by the end it actually begins to feel a little schmaltzy.
Some background: I walked into the film expecting something somewhat similar to last year's Baadasssss Cinema, so to be honest, I was a bit disappointed that HGMFOYA wasn't more documentary-like. Also, I admit that I haven't seen Sweet Sweetback's Baad Asssss Song. But I also hadn't seen a lot of the movies featured in Baadasssss Cinema (BC) and I thought it was great.
Personally, I found BC more compelling to watch than HGMFOYA. HGMFOYA felt a little unsteady, like it wasn't quite sure which direction it wanted to go in. There are elements of a documentary in it, via interviews and such, but the film is too fictionalized/dramatized to be a satisfying documentary. It's not entirely satisfying as a drama either, because the characters aren't really fleshed out enough for us to feel particularly connected to them. Overall, I thought it was okay, but not the most satisfying film to watch. Parts of it were interesting, but I just thought that it wound up ultimately falling short of a movie I would recommend.
If you use this, just call me Buttercup :)
