Merawi Gerima’s film Residue is an impressive debut for the young filmmaker. The 2020 film deals with major issues in today’s society, particularly gentrification and racism and how the former can lead to the latter. Gerima takes on a huge job to deal with these issues through film and does so in an experimental way; which more often than not works fantastically to engage the audience.
The story follows Jay, a young screenwriter who returns to his home town in Washington DC to work on a script. The film very loosely follows a plot, as it takes us through lots of different situations that the character experiences to create realism.
We are first introduced to the film via a dreamy sequence at a street party in the city. It is filmed in an unconventional way, using blurry, home video footage to connote a hazy memory that the character has. Throughout the film we are shown flashbacks that are shot in this way, the dreamy tone of the flashbacks shows that Jay is reminiscing on happier times. The beautiful cinematography is a key feature of Residue’s brilliance, with a magnificent use of colour.
The DOP, Mark Jeevaratnam, opted to use 16mm film for the flashbacks which works wonderfully to create the desired atmosphere that Gerima envisioned. As well as this, to add to the realistic tone of the film Gerima often uses longer takes and a shaky camera to create a documentary style of film.
The writing by Gerima is masterfully done, and feels authentic to the story which works great with the realism created by the camera work. The sound design also contributes to this feeling, especially the use of the diegetic sound of construction in the background of scenes; this use of sound in particular is important to the themes of the film, creating a sense of dread that even more gentrification is occurring when the events of the film are unfolding.
My only problem I have with Residue is the pacing. Despite the film’s 90 minute runtime, the film often drags and goes through boring spells. This could’ve been intentional by the director however it isn’t pulled off as well as other films do it, such as Scorsese’s ‘Silence’. This is likely due to inexperience, and Gerima will have hopefully ironed out this flaw in his follow up films.
Another theme Gerima tackles in this film is racism. We are introduced to this theme early on as soon as Jay parks his car outside his home. He’s told the police will be called if he doesn’t turn his music down by a white neighbour. This is scene in particular emphasises Gerima’s point about gentrification leading to racism and discrimination. We don’t hear the music as being loud in this scene, this is done so that we are confused as to why the white man is picking on Jay for a petty reason.
Another white character describes the town as being ‘cleaned up’ which is another subtle nod to racial tension by Gerima, as there are now less black people in the town than before. As well as racism, this film tackles the issues of the fear of police, with many characters referencing former crimes and injustices that have happened to them. These themes are reminiscent of Spike Lee’s work, in particular ‘Do the Right Thing’ and Joe Talbot’s ‘The Last Black Man in San Francisco’ so if you enjoy these films I’d highly recommend checking out Residue!
Despite its pacing flaw, Residue is a really excellent debut film, with sublime cinematography complimented by a great colour palette, as well as an interesting story that tackles important themes in today’s society. Gerima is one of the most exciting voices working in film today, and I will be following his work closely from now on.
In Corpore tells the story of different people in four different locations around the world; Melbourne, Berlin, Malta and New York. In Melbourne, Julia (Clara Francesca Pagone) is worried about telling her parents that she secretly married an older man in Las Vegas. In Berlin, Milana (Kelsey Gillis) and Rosalie (Marie Schmitt) are having financial trouble and a rift is caused between them when one of them reveals an unorthodox solution.
In Malta, Anna (Naomi Said) and her husband, Manny (Chris Dingli) are trying for a baby, although they don’t appear to want the same things and in New York… well let’s just leave that one as a surprise.
Directed and written by Sarah Jayne and Ivan Malekin, In Corpore’s four stories about love and relationships, set them around the world to show the audience that everybody has similar relationship problems, no matter where you live. Unfortunately, none of these stories feel authentic and sincere as most of them end with a salacious twist akin to that of a soap opera.
Although there is an emphasis on love and sex and how it can twist relationships, at times the sex scenes do seem to go on a little too long. This makes it feel like the audience is watching a soft porn movie rather than a subtle and nuanced character study of the complications of relationships.
Putting the soap opera storylines and the gratuitous sex together and the audience will either love the tawdry and scandalous behaviour of its cast, or wish they were watching something more intelligent.
There’s just something about the whole thing that doesn’t feel real and it completely takes the audience out of the moment. One minute there could be a frank discussion about the future of a couple’s relationship and the next there’s a steamy shower scene thrown in for the sake of it. It just seems like the directors didn’t know how to progress the stories without it.
In Corpore should have been a multicultural, gender diverse, sexually fluid story of love and sex in the present day, instead it feels cheap and tacky.
My Dinner With Alan: A Soprano’s Session – Review. By Beth Widdicombe.
Don’t be put off when you see the run time of 2 hours and 41 minutes for the new documentary ‘My Dinner with Alan: A Soprano’s Session’, practically a decade of time for the TikTok generation, but absolutely time well spent. Split into three manageable chapters, we are not just entertained, we are left as sad as we were at the iconic final episode ‘Made in America’ back in 2007.
Which brings me to part one of the interview film based on the book ’Soprano Sessions’, the writers Matt Zoller Seitz and Alan Sepinwall meet in Holsten’s diner in New Jersey (which any fan knows is where the final scene was filmed) to catch up, reminisce about their days as critics at the ‘New Jersey Star-Ledger’ during the seasons release, and their facts, theories, favourite episodes and how it impacted on their lives. Although this could seem quite dry unless you were a fan, their chats are fun, you feel the warmth between them and the genuine heartfelt friendship.
The second part ’The Last Supper’ is set in another restaurant, (apt as all good mafioso chats centre around the table where wine and food are as integral as the Colt 45 under the table) with some of the series favourite cast members. It is refreshing to have such candid chats considering what we are now used to due to today’s well-oiled PR media machines influences on stars. They are a funny, tenacious bunch, very respectful to one another, and you get the sense that they really loved each other. Very complimentary of James Gandolfini…not so much about HBO.
Closing with Part three, which unlike the Godfather is the cherry on top, we get an interview with writer and genius creator of The Sopranos David Chase. He seems a little frosty at first, but soon warms up as they coax out of him his influences. Audiences will appreciate his frank honesty, and you can genuinely feel the respect from all in the room.
Personally, I will admit to bias for this review, I watched it at its release and countless times since and have been known to call it ‘THE BEST THING TO EVER HAVE BEEN MADE FOR TELEVISION’ – so naturally I would lap up a documentary celebrating The Sopranos. For hardened fans there isn’t any new information, but the chats are funny, candid and heart-warming. This is definitely a fan film. For those who haven’t watched the Sopranos, skip this documentary and get on downloading the Boxset. You’ll never regret it.
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and with Christmas holidays in sight, many began to look for a good TV series to binge watch in the comfort of their own homes (and with no risk to their health and the health of the others.
Much like the others, I, too, was spending hours upon hours scrolling through the variety of options, until I came across the Tilt. Released back in 2005, it caught my attention for two reasons: the cast seemed very good and the short description was very engaging.
Three friends, three professional poker players united by a single goal – to participate in the Las Vegas poker tournament and take down the local poker legend – gambler Don “The Matador” Everest. Poker aside, each of the players has their own reasons for wanting to see “The Matador” fall – perfect setting for an interesting drama to unravel.
When TV Series are both entertaining and educational
First of all, this TV series is definitely one of a kind. It perfectly captures the atmosphere and the tension of the poker game, all wrapped up in an interesting plot with complex character developments. The latter is what makes these series so unique, as at times you are not really sure whether you should be rooting for the protagonist, “The Matador”, whose ruthless lifestyle will leave no one cold. On the other hand, you might find yourself unsure of whether you should sympathize with the main characters, as sometimes they appear to smug for their own good. You might think that this is due to the show’s creators’ inability to develop likable characters, however, that’s where you might be wrong. I firmly believe that the main characters are not as obviously positive on purpose, and that’s why we can often see the flashback where we learn how each of them has ruined their own life. Overall, there is definitely a good depth to the series in general, and nothing is as apparent as it seems.
As for the poker aspect of the series, there are two things to be said about it. First of all, the way this game is portrayed is very inspiring. So much so that when the series first came out, there has been a sudden surge of new players joining the poker platforms across the world. Betting websites operating in Norway, Malaysia, Brazil, or even South Africa have all been reporting thousands of new players signing up during the period when the series was aired.
For more experienced poker enthusiasts, the series had something even more interesting to offer. In a number of episodes, you can see the cameo appearances of the real poker champions, such as Phil Hellmuth, Norman Chad, David Williams, Erik Seidel, and many others. Thus, one can definitely see that ESPN has made a good effort of feeding into the surge of interest in professional poker, by combining the best of the two worlds – quality cinematic production and the real stars of poker.
When it comes to the series’ cast, unfortunately, one has to note that although in general, the actors are doing alright, sometimes the dialogues come out a little wrong. There is an easy explanation to it, as although today both Chris Bauer, Eddie Cibrian, and Kristin Lehman all have managed to create a solid acting career, back when the Tilt was shot they were merely a group of aspiring actors with little experience to rely on.
In poker jargon, “on tilt” refers to the emotional state when the stress and frustration interfere with the player’s ability to make a rational judgment. And, with the slogan of “You’re playing poker. They’re playing you.” the series does deliver the level of tension that the game should be defined by. Overall, whether you are interested in poker, or simply enjoy the thrill of gambling and action series, the Tilt can be a good choice for a quiet holiday season indoors.
Interview: William Grefe – He Came From The Swamp – LEGENDARY GRINDHOUSE DIRECTOR WILLIAM GREFE DISCUSSES FILMING IN THE SWAMP, SNAKE ATTACKS, SIGNING WILLIAM SHATNER AT THE AIRPORT, AND THE TRUTH ABOUT THE FLORIDA YETI
Q1: Did you ever think your films would be given the Blu-ray treatment like this?
William Grefe – In all my emails and Facebook, people from all over the world love this Blu-ray edition. I’m hearing from strangers and people I’ve met over the years – it’s interesting how people love the old grindhouse movies. It’s a lost art. Arrow have called this boxset He Came From The Swamp – they won’t let me out of the Everglades however hard I try!
Q2: What was it like filming in the Everglades?
William Grefe – I’ve been out in the Everglades ever since I was a kid, because I was born in Miami… The only film I made which was a nightmare, Sting of Death, the producer had never produced a movie, he was a building contractor. He wanted to go to a hunting camp out in the middle of the Everglades. To get there you had to take airboats. We got all the way out there, and the camera had a cord that goes to the battery, and the cord fell overboard… so we couldn’t film… so we had to send the airboat back, and go all the way back to Miami to the equipment house, so I didn’t start shooting until 1 or 2 in the afternoon. From that bad experience I knew areas I could drive to and not experience that, if I had an equipment problem. There’s a lot of areas you can drive to quite easily.
Q3: Is it fair to say Sting of Death was your version of Florida classic The Creature From the Black Lagoon?
William Grefe – Sting of Death was my third film – when you look at it today, the jellyfish monster, they’d laugh you out of the theatre… but back then they thought it was great, they loved the jellyfish monster! Anyway, Doug Hobart, he played the jellyfish monster, he also played Tartu in Death Curse of Tartu. He preferred playing Tartu as he created all the makeup – the jellyfish monster was just a big old balloon over his head.
Q4: Sting of Death was a double bill with Death Curse of Tartu wasn’t it?
William Grefe – Back in those days, all horror movies were released in double bills. The distributor couldn’t find another horror movie, so he said the magic words – he said he’d finance another movie if we could make one immediately. The magic time for releasing these films was April 15th, because up north all of the drive-in theatres opened – so we had to have both films ready. This was December. I wouldn’t turn the deal down, so I said ‘no problem’. I knew I had to start shooting immediately. So I went home that night, sat down, and said, what can I write about? I took the age-old script – a mummy, in Egypt, the pyramids – anyone who disturbs the pyramid he’ll come back and haunt them. I moved that to the Everglades and made Tartu an ancient Indian witch doctor. I stayed up all night and wrote the script in 24 hours. I started shooting the next day and I shot the film in seven days. Which, nowadays you go on a major film set, it’s seventy or eighty days. Some of the critics used to criticise our films, and I’d say ‘let them try and make a film in seven days and get it distributed’.
Q5: How did you manage to get Hollywood star Rita Hayworth for The Naked Zoo?
William Grefe – I wanted Rita Hayworth for Naked Zoo so I went to Los Angeles. I made that film for $250k. I only had fifty thousand in the budget for the star. So I went to her agent. The agent wanted $250k for Rita. I said, I don’t have it, I only have fifty. He said ‘no deal, no deal’. We fought back and forth for a couple of days. So I called my investors in Miami and said, ‘look you’ve got to trust me on this, wire me fifty thousand dollars’. And so I got a cashiers cheque and walked into the agent and put down the cheque and said ‘I will put this in any bank in California in escrow, for Rita, but that’s all I can afford’, and the agent said ‘we’ve got a deal’. Money talks and you know what walks – BS walks!
Q6: Hayworth looked like she was enjoying making the film
William Grefe – Rita was from the old school and I knew that they did seven or eight takes. You see I only do one or two takes, so for the first couple of days I budgeted six or seven takes until she got confidence in me – even though I didn’t need six or seven takes. She was a very very shy person, not like you’d expect. There’s a famous statement I think she made, she said ‘everyone wanted to go to bed with Gilda and they woke up with Rita Hayworth’.
Q7: You also worked with the great William Shatner on Impulse
William Grefe – Socrates Ballis, he was in The Hooked Generation, he was one of the Cubans at the beginning that got shot with the speargun. He had worked with me on three or four movies and he wanted to produce a movie, so he went over to Tampa and raised the money then he hired me to direct. We were in the Miami airport, we were flying out to Los Angeles to try and locate a name actor, and Shatner comes walking by. I said ‘There’s William Shatner!’ so we stopped him and gave him our pitch. We never went to Los Angeles – we made a deal right in the airport.
Q8: How did you get on with Shatner?
William Grefe – I get along great with Shatner. Shatner is a funny funny guy in person. He has a big ranch in Kentucky – he loves horses – the last time I saw him I said ‘Hey Bill how are the horses?’ and he says ‘Let me tell you this Grefe – you never invest in something that eats while you’re sleeping!’ You can imagine what it costs to feed 25 horses. Anyway he’s really got a great sense of humour.
Q9: Tell me about your involvement in the James Bond film Live and Let Die
William Grefe – I was at the Cannes film festival – at that time I was president of Ivan Tors film studio, the studio that did Flipper and Gentle Ben and all those series, so I had experience in underwater filming. I met Cubby Broccoli and made the deal at the Cannes film festival, so I did some of the second unit on the Bond film. We shot the shark footage over at Bimini, which is about 50 miles in the ocean off of Miami. We did the crocodile footage in Jamaica.
Q10: You have a lot of animals in your films – alligators, snakes, sharks – are you an animal lover?
Well, let’s say I love dogs (laughs). I’ve always had a dog. I love animals, but still, if I’m out in the middle of the Everglades and a water moccasin comes at me, I’m gonna kill him! I’m not going to give it a kiss and say ‘I’m an animal lover, I love you!’. I was at Quentin Tarantino’s theatre out in Los Angeles, he owns his own theatre called the New Beverly, and they screened Stanley and Impulse. The people in the audience said ‘How can you possibly kill one of those rattlesnakes?’ in Stanley.
Q11: In the film Stanley there are a LOT of snakes… what was that like to film?
I’ll tell you a real interesting story – when I did Stanley, Crown International, they didn’t believe all the stories I was going to do with snakes. So they sent an executive producer, a guy named Johnny Burrows down, to see if I was full of BS or what. I met him at the airport. He said ‘can I meet your animal trainer?’. Well Frank Weed lived out in the Everglades – we drove out there to his cabin, he wasn’t there but his 18-year-old son was. The son says come in so we went in and right in the middle of his living room in a big wire cage there’s like 10 rattlesnakes in there… and Johnny says ‘what are you doing with these rattlesnakes in the house?’ and he says, ‘well, Bill’s got to use them pretty soon… it’s winter time and he didn’t want them getting cold.’ So Johnny says ‘Do you handle these like your father?’ and the kid says ‘yeah yeah’, and he reaches down in the thing and he grabs a six foot rattlesnake and Johnny says ‘Don’t you ever get bit?’ And the kid says ‘yeah we were out in the Everglades hunting water moccasins as we were getting five dollars a hide to make belts – and i got hit right on the end of my finger by a water moccasin.’ Johnny says ‘what did you do?’ and he says ‘well I kept hunting, but that night my finger turned completely black and swollen, so I cut my finger off.’ Johnny says ‘You cut your finger off!’ And the kid says ‘yeah here it is’, and he reaches over and he’s got a jar of alcohol, and he shows his finger floating in the alcohol. And Johnny says to me, “Ok, we can leave now.” And he never questioned what I was going to do from that day on.
Q12: Did you ever think of making a yeti film, because Florida has its own yeti doesn’t it, the skunk ape?
The skunk ape. I knew what the skunk ape was. It was a big, I think, orangutan – some monkey that’s about five feet tall. Frank Weed, my animal trainer – he did Tartu and he did Stanley for me – he had one of those and the thing escaped. I’ll never forget on TV one time, they interviewed a guy, and he was drunk, and he said ‘and the skunk ape jumped on my car, and he was seven feet tall!’. When you’re drunk you think a five foot monkey is seven feet tall. I think it was Frank Weed’s ape – it escaped, and suddenly it became the skunk ape.
Q13: Are you still active in filmmaking?
I was very active with young filmmakers. We did a lot of short films until this virus hit, and that’s sort of put a monkey wrench on filmmaking. If anybody wants to go on YouTube I did a little thing called Thumbs – a little 7 or 8 horror thing I did with a bunch of kids. And I did Consider Us Evil, a horror thing with two girls being held captive.
Q14: What advice would you give budding filmmakers?
Today it’s a no brainer, making a film – the cameras are so light, the editing process and sound mixing is so fast. Back in those days it was a nightmare to film – the cameras weighed two hundred pounds, the editing took months, the final mix took forever – now it’s beep, zap, on the computer, it takes no time at all. But I tell young filmmakers, technically it’s nothing to make a film today, but the only thing that hasn’t changed is dealing with actors and crewmembers – you’ve got to be an amateur psychiatrist. You’ve got to figure out everybody, their temperament and how to handle them. When I did Whisky Mountain, we were up in the mountains – and Christopher George had his own TV series called The Rat Patrol, and he was in three John Wayne movies. He comes up to the mountains and walks in the office and says “where’s my trailer?” and I say well uh you don’t have your own trailer, I have one Winnebago but it’s for you four actors, and for make-up and wardrobe. He said “on the John Wayne movies I had my own trailer!” and I said well I’m not John Wayne. You’re now on a Bill Grefe movie. So he was pretty good about it. He shared the Winnebago… now we’re going way out in the country, and we had to tow a generator, we only had one truck. The head grip came and said ‘Bill, you’ve got these two portapotties on a flatbed, how are we going to tow those out?’ I said, look the actor’s Winnebago has a trailer hitch, hook it to that. Chris George comes up to me and says, “Grefe I’ve put up with a lot of your… I won’t say the word… but if they ever find out in Hollywood I had to tow two shitters to the location I’ll never work again!” But anyway he was a good sport about it.
Q15: So you have to be resourceful?
In Hollywood they throw money at problems – on independent films you’ve got to use your brain in pre-production. The big mistake kids make is they fight to get the money to make a movie and they don’t prepare it properly. All the films except Death Curse and Stanley, I always took six to eight weeks prep. Where I knew everything and I had blocked the shots on paper. Kids just start right in and can’t figure out why they’re over budget or schedule. You’ll never hear this from anybody else – I’ve made way over 15 films, I’ve never been one day over schedule or one dollar over budget. I don’t think there’s a filmmaker in the world that can make that statement!
Thanks for your time Bill.
Thank you. Everybody stay safe and let’s get over this virus so we can get back to filmmaking!
He Came from the Swamp: The William Grefé Collection
He Came from the Swamp: The William Grefé Collection is available on Limited Edition Blu-ray from Arrow Video and is available to stream on ARROW (www.ARROW_Player.com)
