In Smog and Thunder – The Great War of the Californias
(Mockumentary)
Picture: C+ Sound: C+ Extras: C- Main Program: B-
If you
are sick of hearing about The Civil War, current headlines, and sick of how
naïve PBS maven Ken Burns’ linear and sometimes over-simplistic versions of
history are, then you will get a kick out of In Smog and Thunder – The Great War of the Californias (2002). Producer/director Sean Meredith obviously was
sick of all of it, and did something about it.
Using a great set of mock sketches, wacky audio and videotaped segments
that trash the “voices of God” for the 21st Century.
Not
inspired by the arrival of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, it also decides to
mock the one thing missing from most Ken Burns mini-series: corporate
logos. Writers Sandow Birk (who did 120
faux historical paintings for this) and Paul Zaloom (who is also the narrator) do
the comedy on the passive aggressive level we have seen in films like The Rutles – All You Need Is Cash (the
1978 Eric Idle/Gary Weis send-up of The Beatles). This means that you should not expect
outright laughs up front, but approach it with the context intended, then you
will laugh. The “war” is between
“Smogtown” Los Angeles and “Fogtown” San Francisco, placing Hollywood types and wannabes against their
environmental equivalent.
The
satire is too broad to be too political, but this is still enough of a hoot to
check out at least once. Tom Patchett,
who was the mind behind the underrated TV sitcom Buffalo Bill, the now-infamous ALF
(for what happened to it stars), and an Emmy Winner for the original Bob Newhart Show. That is no surprise considering the edgy
nature of the final work. It is nice for
a change to see a smart satire for a change, somehow staying afloat in a sea of
pseudo-comic garbage. When it is
politically incorrect, it has a point.
The full
frame, color image was produced on analog videotape, but considering how much
TV it is mocking, makes sense. The color
is decent and the actual paintings are great approximations of the art of the
pre-still photography and motion picture past.
The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo has Pro Logic surrounds that are not
bad. The words are the most important
and they have been recorded clearly.
Extras include the original audio tour that included the actual
paintings in exhibition, though that does overlap with the main program. The outtakes/alternate takes section (3:35) is also funny, the trailer even
mocks trailers, and some of the paintings are in a slideshow section. Finally, there is a TV interview (7:30) from Good Morning Park City, which I guess is a real show.
There was
a time not too long ago that Hollywood itself could make comedies this
funny and intelligent. Now on DVD, In Smog and Thunder – The Great War of the
Californias deserves to find as big an audience as possible. Some of this will go over the heads of some
viewers, especially dumbed down ones, but repeat viewings would help. The return of such humor is long
overdue. Let’s hope that all parties
involved get to do more comedy, and they manage to keep this going for 98
minutes, which is not easy. We need that
about now.
- Nicholas Sheffo
