Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. Yes, the review is very positive and yes, the reviewer wants to be called "Plant! Plant!" but having read the script for this, I tend to believe everything "Plant! Plant!" says. It sounds like what I read was translated perfectly to the screen. The script was incredibly sweet and funny and it sounds like that's exactly what we'll end up with the finished film. Enjoy this very early look at Michel Gondry's BE KIND, REWIND!
PS For you LA readers, I'm told that Michel Gondry will be doing a signing of the SCIENCE OF SLEEP DVD at the Virgin on Sunset at 7pm! Don't know for how long, but you might want to look into it!!!
Hey, I saw a test screening of "Be Kind Rewind" last night in Pasadena and thought it was great. It's not what I expected, because the film's premise is a little one note. For anyone not in the know, it's about Jack Black and Mos Def as two guys from a run down little vhs video store who accidently expose their library to magnetism, and destroy all their tapes. In an effort to keep from going under, they decide to remake a bunch of the films using a camcorder and a little elbow grease to keep renting them out to people. Michel Gondry hasn't made a movie like this before, I'm so used to his romance films and focus on what makes our minds work. This is as close to a "studio picture" as he's going to make, but there are no fart jokes here. It's very classy and weird, but mainstream audiences can definetly get into it. Jack Black is pretty standard Jack Black, but Mos Def is great. He and Black's friendship is very fun to watch and is remiscent of the best onscreen duos we've seen in the past. There's a lot of physical comedy, probably inspired by the old time Laurel & Hardy type shorts from the 30's. If they still made those kinds of shorts today, this plot could fit perfectly for one. I was surprised that Danny Glover was in it. He plays the owner of the video store. It's no wonder he doesn't want to make any more Lethal Weapon movies and wants to make small stuff like this. He's really great in it, and it's probably my favorite role he's had so far. The recreations of the movies were classic Gondry makeshift lunacy. I wish they would've shown more of them, but he seemed to know when enough was enough. The scene where they remake GHOSTBUSTERS will have film geeks rolling in the aisles, this I will promise you. It's the hardest I've laughed in the theater since BORAT. The ending was great, I thought from it's build up that it was going to fall flat, but ended up being the sweetest part of the film. It's not a think piece, but it left me very satisfied. I think for the hard core film geek, they'll get a little bit more out of the movie because the love for cinema in this movie isn't portrayed as a casual hobby, or a prentious academic analysis. It's more about the fun that comes from the making and watching them. It doesn't have a release date yet, but I think it might come out this summer. The version I saw was pretty complete. If you post this, call me "PLANT! PLANT!"
