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
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EUGENE WEEKLY MAY 21, 2009 19