Humpday (2009/Magnolia DVD)
Picture: C- Sound:
C Extras: C Feature: C
The “houseguest from hell” tale is made with a few twists,
but none that work in Lynn Shelton’s remarkably poor Humpday (2009) about a
couple who are visited by a male friend (Joshua Leonard of the overrated Blair Witch Project) of the husband (Mark
Duplass, one of the two brothers responsible for the overrated Baghead) and will not go away. It affects the marriage and (did you see it
coming?) the drifter from years ago might love him!
One thing female directors try to pass off as a female
point of view is to criticize men and often in ways that do not ring true. Sure, men are gay, believe they fall in love
and even have sex, but there is a phony way in which these ideas are thrown
into a generic narrative and are not truly explored. This is one of those cases.
Shelton could know something about it
from friends, but here, it works as a desperate plot device and despite more
honest sexuality all around from all the characters, nothing works here. We get the same tired shaky camerawork that
has ruined a generation or so of new filmmakers, a video camera fetish that
makes no sense (and is usually another admission of having no talent and/or
nothing to say) and dialogue that does not reflect how anyone talks in real
life.
You have been warned.
The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image is awful
throughout, with a combination of motion blur, edge enhancement and bad detail
that is some of the worst we have seen in a while. The Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 mixes are flat,
have all kinds of flaws in their endless location recording and lack
professional presentation. Beware how
loud you play this distorted mess.
Extras include Deleted Scenes that make no difference, two audio commentary
tracks (one with Duplass & Leonard, the other with Shelton & Crew) and
a behind the scenes featurette.
So awful, it is a guide on how not to make a feature and
so shockingly bad that you have to see parts of it to believe it.
For more on Baghead,
try this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/8031/Baghead+(2008/Sony+DVD)
- Nicholas Sheffo
