That New Film Smell

As I have gotten older the little boy in me has pretty much stayed the same. With a bit of variance.

When I was young I would buy toys and play with them to escape from life. As an adult I display those toys instead and playing with them transformed into making animated films. My oldest son used to call playing with his toys "making movies" because when he was very young he saw me "making movies" with my toys.

When I read comics as a young teen, I would imagine growing up, putting on a costume, and fighting crime. As an adult, I read comics to return to when I thought that way, and reality didn't suggest otherwise.

I used to see Hollywood blockbusters opening weekend. Indiana Jones, Star Trek, Star Wars, were still new types of films. At that time a copycat didn't come out 6 times a year and a video copy wasn't easily accessible.

Today I still yearn for something new. Hollywood has failed me in that respect.

To recapture that feeling of "new" from my youth, I have looked beyond Hollywood for a different take on the formula movies. You might think independent film is the best place to find new and fresh ideas. Not really. Even independent film is beginning to spew out the same stuff again and again. Long gone are the days of Kevin Smith's then "new" comedic take on pop culture and Star Wars. His humor, thanks to shows like Family Guy and Robot Chicken, has become mainstream. I even find myself rolling my eyes at Star Wars references in sitcoms where it's sole purpose is to attract me, the thirty something guy who is in charge of the remote.

The official death of Star Wars references being cool, in the know, and underground, died with the new Wii Clone Wars advertising campaign. I am sure you have seen the commercial. Two geek's that were too young to see the ORIGINAL trilogy in theaters, exchanging quips while playing the newest Star Wars video game. There is this weird emotion when seeing something like that now. There isn't a feeling of "wow they really get me!" Instead it's more like, "Oh My God! Stop trying to be cool by marketing un-cool as cool."

To enjoy film again, I have found myself having to fake out Hollywood and go BACK or ABROAD. Seeking out those movies NO ONE has heard of. To create my OWN NEW in jokes. Only known to my circle of friends. Jokes tucked away and held tightly so mainstream can't find them.

Over the next few months I want to examine those films exclusively here at Cirque Du Jerks. Every Monday I will offer my take on films from different countries or eras. I will talk about lost filmmaking art forms like Stolen Shots and Exploitation to name a few. My hope is to attract other people like me who might be looking for something new from the now heavily manufactured art form known as film.

See you next week.