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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (May 21, 2009)
movies BY MOLLY TEMPLETON Henry Weintraub directs Melvin Revenge of the Nerds The local undead rise in Melvin T hough it’s the middle of summer blockbuster season, let’s ignore those bloated Hollywood fl icks with huge casts and multi-million dollar budgets for a little while. “I think Hollywood movies cost way more than they need to. Fifty million dollars for The Happening!? Let’s get movies down to a more realistic level!” says local fi lmmaker Henry Weintraub, whose latest fi lm is the product of $4,000 and the work of about 50 people. For more than seven years, Weintraub has been making short fi lms that range from the sci-fi comedy MindSlime (which should see national release from Troma Entertainment this year) to music videos for The Sawyer Family. This weekend, he premieres Melvin, his fi rst feature length fi lm. It’s the story of a picked-on high school kid, Melvin (Leif Fuller, who also serves as cinematographer), who enlists an unwilling and equally put- upon college student to help him have his revenge on a trio of bullies. If Norton Pincus (Patrick O’Driscoll) gets the girl in the end, hey, even better. Did I mention that Melvin has been dead for three years when he recruits — which is to say bites — Norton? Like many good genre fi lms, Melvin takes a not-unrealistic basic scenario and twists it, using the elements of the genre to up the stakes, the drama and, in this case, a particular kind of bloody humor that comes not from straightforward jokes but from the creative ways the fi lm’s undead fi nd to kill people. Weintraub’s last non-music- video fi lm, the 26-minute Depraved, also focused on a person getting violently back at her tormenters, but it was a much darker affair. Weintraub notes that it was written by Ryan Nyburg (an executive producer on Melvin), who has a different style. But he also says Melvin wasn’t meant to be quite as humorous as it turned out to be. “It seems when I write something (like one of our last fl icks, MindSlime), I usually shoot for something way more serious, but when the cast gets a hold of it and puts their spin on it, it turns out way funnier than intended,” he says. “I think that’s part of the charm of our movies, though: Everyone has a bit of input, especially with their characters.” The DVD version of Melvin includes a generous selection of bonus material from the fi lm’s shoot, much of which involves Weintraub and company cheerily putting together scenes involving, say, a Mortal Kombat-style spine removal. But as entertained — and entertaining — as they are, they’re not messing around when it comes to their work. Weintraub says of his cast and crew, many of whom have become friends and worked on several of his fi lms, “We have a lot of fun kidding with each other on set, but we take our fi lms and jobs very serious, which I hope shows in our fi nished product.” And it does. While Melvin is clearly a movie with a small budget, it’s equally clear that time and care was taken to stretch every dollar. Scenes in Melvin’s timeline have a vivid glare that makes them look a little eerie. The effects can be over the top, but at times they’re downright stomach-churning, particularly Norton’s nasty thigh wound and the copious amounts of red vomit that follow his bloody nighttime excursions. Some images in Melvin have an off-kilter grace that nicely contrasts with the unpleasantness they’re depicting, and the Eugene locations are well-chosen, from the dim alleys of downtown to the red walls of Wandering Goat. “I think Eugene’s a great place to make movies,” says Weintraub, who shot Melvin entirely in Oregon. “I really hope some of the other fi lmmakers around come together and start helping each other out. I’ve recently come in contact with Mr. Ooh La La, who made the local horror fi lm Earth Day, and I’m glad to be in touch with someone locally doing similar things to me.” After this weekend’s premiere, Weintraub has a handful of screenings planned all over Oregon. Beyond that, he’s hoping to get Melvin into places like Hollywood Video and Netfl ix, and to distribute the 1,000 DVDs he’s made. But his plans are already reaching beyond this release: “I have an idea for our next movie, but it’s going to take more money than this one. It’s another feature called Midnight Movies. We made Melvin for under $4,000, and I hope to get 10 times that for our next one!” ew Melvin premieres at 9 pm Friday, May 22, at the Bijou, and also shows at 10:25 pm May 22 and 11:15 pm May 23. For future screenings, see www.531productions.com movie clips OPENING OR RETURNING: Archaeology Channel International Film & Video Festival: The annual festival features a broad lineup of fi lms from around the world that exhibit “the wonderful diversity of human cultures past and present.” Films include Secrets of the Parthenon and The Mummy Who Came In From the Cold, among many others. May 19-23, Hult Center. See full schedule at www.archaeologychannel.org Dance Flick: How many genres are left for Hollywood to make spoof fl icks of? I hope we’re running out. PG13. Cinemark. VRC Stadium 15. Fired Up!: Two football players think they’re sooooo clever when they realize that if they go to cheer camp, they’ll be surrounded by girls. And hey, they can make the crappy cheerleading squad better, too! PG13. Movies 12. Great Directors Seminar: DIVA screens two fi lms by Howard Hawks (His Girl Friday, 1 pm, and The Big Sleep, 4 pm), followed by discussion led by Thomas Blank. Sunday, May 24, DIVA. $7. Haunting in Connecticut, The: This horror fl ick about a haunted house is “based on a chilling true story” and stars the slightly odd (to a pop culture buff) trio of Princess Irulan from Dune, Casey Jones from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Beaver Casablancas from Veronica Mars. PG13. Movies 12. Heckler’s Night: Mock loudly as the Goat screens the wonderful yet absurd Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. 7 pm Wednesday, May 27, Wandering Goat. Free. I Love You, Man: Some people are calling this one a dick fl ick: Paul Rudd proposes to his girlfriend (Rashida Jones), but then desperately needs to fi nd a male best friend to be his best man. So he goes on a bunch of “man-dates.” With Andy Samberg and the delightful Jason Segel. R. Movies 12. 44421 (3/26) Lymelife: Two Culkins (Kieran and Rory) are among the strong ensemble cast in this story of suburban Long Island life in the late ’70s. With Alec Baldwin, Emma Roberts and Timothy Hutton. R. Bijou. Melvin: Local fi lmmaker Henry Weintraub premieres his latest work, a feature-length fi lm about the titular kid (Leif Fuller), who rises from the grave to enlist a nerdy college kid (Patrick O’Driscoll) to take out the bullies who killed him. Bloody, funny and entirely Oregon-made. Bijou. See story this issue. My Bloody Valentine 3D: The lone survivor of a coal-mine accident keeps waking up from his coma to kill people; the guy who caused the accident returns, in an obvious moment of brilliance, to the small town where it all went R. 96 min. Bijou. See review this issue. Taking Root: Documentary about Kenyan Wangari Maathai, for whom planting trees was the fi rst step toward forming a movement that eventually earned her the Nobel Peace Prize. 7 pm Tuesday, May 26, Room 307, Building 17, LCC. $5 donation supports the Makindu Children’s Fund. Terminator: Salvation: Christian Bale takes on the role of John Connor, the hopeful savior of humankind. Sam Worthington is Marcus Wright, whose memories don’t match up with his body; Bryce Dallas Howard and Star Trek’s Anton Yelchin also costar. PG13. 115 min. Cinemark. VRC Stadium 15. wrong — on the same day the terrible things all happened! No way! R. 101 min. David Minor Theater. Night at the Museum 2: Battle for the Smithsonian: Ben Stiller returns to the museum in which everything — Amelia Earhart (Amy Adams), tiny statues, Lincoln — comes alive at night. PG13. Cinemark. VRC Stadium 15. Race to Witch Mountain: Disney heads back to Witch Mountain with the Rock, er, Dwayne Johnson, who plays the taxi driver who gets caught up with two kids (AnnaSophia Robb and Alexander Ludwig) who are actually aliens. PG. Movies 12. Sugar: The latest fi lm from the creators of Half Nelson follows a young baseball player as he moves from the Dominican Republic to the American minor leagues. Sugar trips over a few clichés, but becomes extraordinary in the end. Films open the Friday following EW publication date unless otherwise noted. See archived reviews at www.eugeneweekly.com Tim Verkler • Historically low mortgage interest rates • $8000 tax credit for fi rst time home buyers • Average sales prices down 13.2% from last year • Most sellers are agreeing to do repairs • It adds up to being a great time to buy a house! 485-1613 timverkler@remax.net • www.eugeneproperties4u.com SY’S NEW YORK PIZZA COUPON SPECIAL 1211 ALDER 686-9598 COUPONS GOOD UNTIL JUNE 4, 2009 ON CAMPUS NEXT TO SACRED HEART HOSPITAL SERVING DELICIOUS NEW YORK PIZZA BY THE SLICE AND BY THE WHOLE PIZZA PIE 11:00AM-MIDNIGHT SUN-THU ★ 11:00AM-1:00AM FRI-SAT FREE MEDIUM $ 2.00 OFF $1 OFF ANY ANY 18” LARGE ® OR COUPON COUPON COUPON SODA 2 SLICES W/ PURCHASE OF 16” MEDIUM PIZZA COUPON WWW.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM • BLOGS.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM EUGENE WEEKLY MAY 21, 2009 19
