Review: Comic Book Junkies

Text © Robert Barry Francos / FFanzeen, 2020
Images from the Internet

Comic Book Junkies
Directed by Lenny Schwartz, Nathan Suher
IM Filmworks
105 minutes, 2020
www.imfilmworks.com

Note: Please ignore the different sized texts. Blogger/Blogspot is going through a change, and this is an issue in their end. Hopefully they will get it repaired soon.

In the current pandemic crisis, has Zoom become the new artistic toolbox launch-pad, especially in the cinema field? And why is Rhode Island so far ahead of the curve? And will Timmy find his way out of the well? Tune in next week for the answers to this chilling… nah, just keep on reading.

A few weeks ago, Lenny Schwartz and Nathan Suher came up with Far From Perfect: Life Inside a Global Pandemic (reviewed HERE), which serially presented local Providence (and it’s environs) actors and filmmakers talking into their computers via the Zoom software, and compiled it into a nearly two hour narrative that refused to be boring.

Schwartz is a playwright who has a history of giving us theater about comic book originators, such as his production Co-Creator, the story of Bill Finger, who helped bring Batman to life. So Lenny, who is well-versed in all things comics-related, has now given us an original idea that interweaves the fantastical with the everyday, in a comedy superhero low-budget adventure spectacular, co-directed and edited by Suher.

The style of this film is very close to the earlier Far from Perfect in that we are introduced to the cast through a series of Zoom chats, phone video services and mini-cameras, who one-by-one introduce the next one. But rather than discussing the pandemic (though you know it’s coming), the topic at hand at the start in Act 1 is them getting tickets online to the San Diego Comic Con, arguable the comic convention (as a side note, I used to go to comic cons in New York in the late ‘70s-early ‘80s run by Phil Seuling, my high school English teacher who taught a class in, yep, comic books; got to meet Gray Morrow, Jim Steranko, and others that he brought into the classroom).

One of the nice things about this is that the fans are all ages and genders, not just some guys living in their mom’s basement (though there is at least one of those here, too). While there is a lot of inside joking, talking about particular artists like Jack Kirby and filmmaker Joss Whedon, honestly, you don’t have to be a follower of any particular brand or universe (e.g., MCU or DCU) to find the humor in these characters. In fact, not all of those presented are even comic book fans, but are involved with those do are. The palate is quite wide. It’s the level of fanaticism that is the focus, in my opinion. For example one person complains about not caring about the convention because it is silly, but she is just as fervent about water polo (you heard me).

A fun way to watch this is to pay attention to the room behind the person talking, often filled with interesting memorabilia with anything from Batman to Star Wars paraphernalia. It’s even curious when there is an absence of such. It’s like walking by someone’s house after dark and their front window shade is open, and you can see a little bit of their lives. A true mixture of fiction and reality.

The first part of the film spans a few months, from pre-COIVD to the epicenter, with the cancellation of the Comic Con, and the freak-out that follows. This wisely follows the fans’ reaction to the termination, rather than focusing on the misguided and dangerous anti-maskers who deny.

Act 2 starts with, I kid you not – after all, this is about comic books and superhero worship – the Earth being swallowed by some kind of black hole of white light. Now evil aliens are on the prowl. So, who ya gonna call? Since superheroes aren’t real, is it up to the cosplay heroes to defend the earth? Oh, by the way, if you’re wondering, the plotlines I’ve divulged are in the story’s descriptors on IMDB, so I’m not really giving much away. No spoilers that weren’t already spoiled by the filmmakers themselves, okay!?

This dimension is clearly a metaphor for the isolation of distancing, the economy crashing, the lack of governmental oversight and care, and a general mixture of malaise, ennui, and terror of this virus culture. And since there are lots of heroes and hero-wannabes, there are also a number of potential supervillains who side with the darker forces here as well (Samantha Acampura has a funny, over the top moment as a follower of the dark side in what appears to me a Harry Potter cosplay). This evil can be seen as a metaphor for Republicanism, as I see it, and would explain a bit about the storyline as it enters Act 3, which is the transition to post-apis runs the gamut from startingly bad to deliciously hilarious. For example, one person ponders, “I just paid off my 30-year student loan and now space aliens are invading. Just perfect.” In another, an alien states, laughing hysterically, “Not even David Caruso can save you.”

The acting is… well, it’s a bunch of cosplayers, actors, directors, filmmakers, artists and every-day folk so you’re going to have a wide range of skills, but each bit is no more than two minutes, so like they say about the weather in many places, “If you don’t like it, it’ll change in a minute.” The kids near the end tend to dominate the storyline and are great, and there is a wonderful rant by Mr. Troma himself, Lloyd Kaufman (the man is a treasure, I tell ya!). After the credits, wait for a spooky, demonic end piece cameo with Michael Thurber as Mr. Dark.

The film usually respects the characters, even the fanboys of both genders (we need a better, more inclusive term). Yeah, they can be a little wacko, as I have seen first-hand, but mostly it’s a collection of people who have focused in on a single thing with the passion of those ammosexuals, except a comic book isn’t going to discharge a bullet or drive a truck into someone for their beliefs.

This is a bit of a miss-mash and sometimes the storyline is a bit WTF, but it’s inherently and dominantly fun and watchable, even though it touches on something tragic at the same time. I enjoyed it from beginning to end.

Review: Far from Perfect: Life Inside a Global Pandemic

Text © Robert Barry Francos / FFanzeen, 2020

Images from the Internet

Far from Perfect: Life Inside a Global Pandemic

Directed by Lenny Schwartz and Nathan Suher

IM Filmworks

142 minutes, 2020

Available on Amazon Prime

First of all, props to whomever designed the poster/logo of the Earth as the Corona Virus. Brilliant.

Even for those not directly affected by the Covid 19 virus, we are all mutually suffering through it. For some, it is being locked away and sequestered like Rapunzel, and others it’s a tantrum reaction to being told to stay inside so they bring out their misspelled placards and guns. But if you are talented and involved in the arts? It can be an opportunity to spread those butterfly wings (okay, not literally…).

Michael Thurber

The East Coast has been hit hard, and what’s a New England writer for film and theater supposed to do to take up the time? Well, if you’re Lenny Schwartz, you write a screenplay about the sitch. Plus, thanks to the Found Footage style genre, use of Skype, Snapchat, WeChat and now especially Zoom (among others), combined with a culture of selfies, artists who are used to being in front of the camera, even if it is their own, can still work from their locus. Then with Nathan Suher, you turn that into a visual work of art.

Lenny wrote a long screenplay that fits in 117 actors as characters, many from his local New England part of the world, and has them leapfrog each other; or another way to see it is as a game of Tag-team. As one quick story end, usually lasting a minute or two, it concludes with them describing someone like their neighbor, friend, spouse, parents, “essential workers,” etc., and then we meet them. It’s like a railroad apartment of actors, going from room to room sequentially.

Jamie Lyn Bagley

Each has a different story, possessing its own tone, with quite the wide range. It can go from hysterically funny, to tragic, to a “yep, that’s what it’s like for me” moment for the viewer. We see people who are loving, fighting, depressed, really getting into the separation, and so forth (and scooby-doo-bee-doo).

As I indicated, the cast is mainly actors, directors, and crew of independent film and local theater troupes. For example, there’s Michael Thurber who runs the Theater Company of Rhode Island, Scorpio Releasing film director Richard Griffin, and a whole menagerie of actors like underrated Jamie Lyn Bagely (who is also a mindfulness/yoga instructor), Samantha Acampora (also a Rocky Horror Picture Show reenactor), Chad Kaplan (also an film animator), Sheri Lee (who was wonderful in the short film Doll House), and a host of so many others, all worth mentioning but… who has the time? Go look it up on IMDB. Or better still, watch the film. Anyway, as I was saying…

Richard Griffin

There are a lot of really smart moments, such as the teen girl who sells her engagement ring and goes to party on a beach in Florida, or a couple who wake up their marriage by robbing from closed stores. While some of it sounds a bit fantastical, most of it is a realistic montage of moments of pathos and joy, sadness and surprised bliss, and the occasional just plain wackiness. Some find inner peace; others find their fears.

Samantha Acampora

One of the aspects of this whole event that it touches on indirectly is that people are losing their minds over two-three weeks of isolation. How do survivalists plan to – err – survive for months in seclusion in shelters? Speaking of survivalist types, despite it’s length I really would have liked to have seen more representatives of the extreme right wing (like those maroons protesting with armor that they want haircuts and to dine in restaurants – talk about White Privilege) and religious fanatics that believe Jeebus will cure all who believe. I am, however, happy how little the President, who holds much responsibility for what is going on that triggered this film, is mentioned (he would love that).

Sheri Lee

When all is said and done, even after the quarantine is lifted and life goes back to relatively normal work-eat-shit-sleep, this will remain as possibly an important time capsule of what it was like “in the time of the plague.”

From beginning of the concept to the final editing took a total of three weeks, and many characters mention being locked up for two weeks and going stir crazy. I have been home for a month now, and I gotta say as much as I would like to go out, it has not been that bad. The house is clean, I have seen some really interesting films like this one, kept in touch with friends and relations, and done quite a bit of writing. Perhaps when the second wave hits, as it is supposed to happen around the beginning of the New Year (Happy Holidays everyone…), just when we hopefully usher in a new President, we may see volume two? I am not wishing for it, just curious, as I would concerning a sequel about after the whole megillah is over and done.

There is no trailer, as of yet.