Cinephiles de notre temps

So I went this afternoon to a screening of Step Up 2 The Streets, because that's just how devoted I am to you, the readership. It was one of those mixed screenings, wherein we media mingle with "real people," usually kids who've won some radio contest or some such promotion. I got up to my snazzy roped-off seat and began perusing the movie's printed production notes, which were in a booklet with its digital press kit, all of which is packaged in a DVD case.

One of the kids in the row behind me said, "Excuse me. Where'd you get that?"

"This?" I said, waving the case. "They gave it to me when I got my pass."

"They're giving that away?" the kid's friend asked.

"Yeah, to press and such."

"So that's a DVD of the movie they gave you?"

I was genuinely befuddled by this question, and I swear to you what I said next was not in the spirit of sarcasm or snobbery.

"If this was a DVD of the movie, why would I be sitting here?"

The kids didn't take that all too well. "You don't have to be all like that!"

"Well, no, but this isn't a DVD of the movie. It's just a disc with the press notes and pictures and stuff."

And that was the end of the conversation. I did hear, from behind me, mutterings along the lines of "Mr. Snotty who thinks he's so cool in his reserved seat and that," but what was I gonna do? It wasn't as if I'd come in looking to make any new friends, anyway.

As for the movie itself, my official review will hit the website proper on Thursday, but I can't say I was overly impressed. After about 20 minutes the pictures' main point of interest became tracking the compressions and expansions of the bustline of the picture's, um, sassy lead actress, Brianna Evigan. (Yes, she is the daughter of Greg "B.J. And The Bear" Evigan.)

Compressed

Expanded

What was it Joseph Campbell used to say? "Follow your bliss"?

Lest you think I'm just being a pig here (and I wouldn't necessarily blame you), the movie's diegesis offers some support for me: in one scene, after Andie (the character played by Evigan) is gifted with a sexy new outfit by pal Missy (Danielle Polanco), and Andie's showing it off, Missy delightedly squeals, "Oooh! You got titties!"

So there.

Comments

[Aaron Aradillas]

So, it wasn't as good as Breakin' or Krush Groove?

I ask this not in the spirit of sarcasm or snobbery, but genuine interest.

Krush Groove is the shit.

[Glenn Kenny]

Oh no man, not even close. Both those films are old enough to be Golden Agers by comparison. This pic is more in the, ugh, tradition of "You Got Served," "Save The Last Dance," that sorta thing.

[don lewis]

Don's name that film quiz!!: "Now there's a concept I can't get enough of...a man and his monkey." (In reference to BJ and the Bear).

And GK....I haaaaate those press screenings that are with the masses. It's always some obnoxious station sponsoring them and the people that are there are the SAME middle agers who are desperate for a freebie.

They're always first in line and they RUSH in to get the freebies put out by the studio or station. Plus, there's almost always tension and near violence as the freeloaders come in with 5 minutes till screen-time because they're out getting snacks and they bum rush the press section, having a tizzy with those of us seated or worse, those poor interns who have the clipboards and won't let them in.

I'm not sure if it's the people I hate at these screenings or the fact it's usually some mass marketed crap like "Step Up 2" likely is.

[addison dewitt]

Sorry, but. . . "the masses"? "Freeloaders?"

First off, hard as it may be for some reviewers to believe, to most people, getting to see a movie, good or bad, before its release -- and for free, which we do all the time -- is a treat. Why shouldn't they be jazzed?

Second, as a practical matter, it's always helpful to see a movie with a "real" audience. If deadlines didn't preclude it, I'd much rather see anything I'm going to be writing about at the nearest multiplex, just for the vibe.

And third, scorn for the audience just ain't a real attractive or useful quality in a critic. Arguing with the big public's tastes/priorities in print is one thing; complaining that the peasants are interfering with your privileged experience is another.

Me, I always enjoy those dopey radio-station contest screenings: the silly quizzes, the freebie toss. A surfeit of screening-room cushiness where we're all trying to one-up each other with our cultivated cinephile wit, on the other hand, can sometimes leave me feeling kind of weary.

[Aaron Aradillas]

I guess my feelings fall somewhere between Don's and Addison's.

I used to go to radio-sponsored screenigs a lot when I was younger.

I hadn't been to one in five years when I found myself at one a few weeks ago. It was for There Will Be Blood. Yes, the lines were long. Yes, the theater people made us wait forever. Yes, the audience seemed only interested in freebies. I told my dad I expected almost half the audience to walk out of Anderson's reportedly confrontational epic movie .

What shocked me was NOBODY walked out. What surprised me even more was the audience was laughing in all the right places. It turned out ot be one of the sharpest audiences I had ever been apart of.

I agree with Don that the audiences can get pretty crazy at some of these screenings. I also agree with Addison that I think I prefer to see movies outside the screening room. (This was one of the aspcects I really dug about Kael. I always loved it when she was forced to come to terms with an audience responding well to a movie that she didn't like.)

I actually think movies like Step Up 2 and You Got Served are better served whe nseen with an audience. I have fond memories of the audience cheering and applauding during Dromline and the underrated Varsity Blues.

You read that correctly. Varsity Blues is an underrated teen sports comedy.

[don lewis]

I didn't mean to come off as a condescending crumudgeon but the free screenings here in San Francisco are a frigging nightmare. I'm all for a packed house seeing a movie but the crowds here are insane.

And (God, I shouldn't say this...) the worst offenders are when the local R&B/Hip-Hop station does the screenings. Cell phones, talking, pagers, blackberries. Ugh. Not saying it's a black/white thing...just saying in GENERAL the crowds are more irritating.

And no matter who does the freebies, there's almost ALWAYS a fight or heated argument over seating. Always.

[Chad Channing]

Of course Greg Evigan spawned a hot daughter. Because Mother Nature wants Greg Evigan to replicate his DNA, which, if you think about it, is much more preferable to me replicating my DNA, which is what I did anyway, even though I shouldn't have, hence my daughter not looking anything like Brianna Evigan, not now, nor ever. That's why I try to make sure I'm not seen with her in public. I don't want the rest of the world to get mad at me for sullying the gene pool. And the best dance movie of all time is Ninja III: The Domination, starring Lucinda Dickey, who, as far as I know, is not the daughter of James or Lynn.

[tk]

Damn you, daddy, sir!

--Chaddalita Channing

[demimonde]

Heh. We used to call them "yobbo screenings," but not unkindly. The worst part was when civilians started muttering excitedly, "There's Arch Campbell!" (Non D.C.-ites may not get that.) But people do enjoy it. They love getting free shit (feel under your seats) and answering trivia questions (Shaq's shoe size! Who played Bond in "Octopussy!") I actually sat on the floor for a screening of "Collateral Damage," so packed was it.

Anyhoo, Aaron's right about "Varsity Blues." And "Step Up 2: Electric Boogaloo" looks kind of awesome from the trailers. sorry to hear it disapointed, Evigan 2: Electric Boogaloo or no.

[don lewis]

My favorite free screening story has to do with this time I was at a screening in SF and in front of me was gold medalist Johnny Mosely. He was just laying low and minding his business when the local radio DJ gets up and does his speel....throws out some shirts....etc.

Then the DJ goes, "Tonight there's a very special audience member here tonight....world reknown, a superstar...maybe if we give him a hand, he'll come up and say a few words...?" People start clapping and whooping, Mosely gets uncomfortable but the noise is rising so he starts getting ready to go up.

Then the DJ goes, "ladies and gentlemen....CHI MCBRIDE!!!" Cue rousing ovation.

[Jables]

The free screening crowds in my part of Canada are much more docile. (at least compared to San Francisco by the sound of it)

And as a radio guy who occasionally "is proud to present" a film, I think I'd rather some whooping and hollering from time to time than the blank stares that usually come with the territory. I think mostly they're baffled because they haven't seen a movie introduced before.

[BurmaShave]

Imagine a post with the same subject matter, but written by Jeffrey Wells. The mind reels at the vaguely racist possibilities.

[Peter Debruge]

I know, I know, I don't get Godard (YET -- I'm working on it, I swear) and I have a genuinely good time watching movies like Step Up 2, but I prefer to think of these mixed screenings as a reminder (however disheartening) of who really goes to the movies.

That doesn't mean I'm obliged to share their taste or anything, but I hope it makes me a little less condescending in my reviews. As for the dance movie genre, it's less complicated than you imagine: It's about dancing. Other than that, the genre basically piggy-backs off every other formula in the teen-movie playbook, so while the Step Up films are about the clash between street and classical dancing (the pauper/princess cliche), that's not true of most of the other examples -- the common thread being a "be yourself" philosophy (these are basically the anti-Army recruitment stories).

Movies like this are part of a separate conversation from film criticism, really, since they seldom have anything meaningful to say and rarely feature anyone resembling a fully fleshed out human being. BUT, they're exceptional showcases for amazing dance moves, and I've gotta hand it to Step Up 2, it certainly succeeds in the "less talk, more dancing" category. And while the dialogue is invariably lame, the dancing itself is a meaningful form of expression. This movie actually shifts some of its storytelling out of the afterschool special bits and into actual dance sequences.

In other words, with a little effort, I think a critic of your sophistication might have picked up on some of Step Up 2's merits, rather than resorting to eye-rolling and sarcasm. I've got a date with some more Godard movies, starting with Pierrot le Fou. Would you like me to recommend some good dance ones?

[Glenn Kenny]

Peter, I love dance movies, from "It's Always Faie Weather" to, um "Wild Style" (I admitted in my "Step Up" review that I'm kind of behind) so I retrospectively regret being so jokey in my notice that I failed to press home the point I was aiming for in the last graf: that the dance sequences, as ingeniously conceived and energetically executed as they were, were presented in a hobbled fashion; as if they were subordinate to the drama, not the other way around. And with the drama as lame as it is, it drags the movie's merits down with it.

As for the snark in this blog post, it's snark in a blog post. Sorry, Lee Siegel!

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