This Friday night I am driving the 66 miles from Los Angeles to Lancaster to see this movie.
Just bought tickets online for an alleged 9:55 showing.
If we survive the screening, I will let you all know not only if this movie exists, but if, as the trailer promises, they do indeed use those printers in the basement.
I eagerly await your full report.
sharewow. it's 1:33am right now. i just got back from seeing the 9:55 showing of After Last Season. All five of us in the theatre (that's right, five)... we're all extremely confused. I will say this: the film does exist.
That trailer is 100% accurate. The feeling you get from watching the trailer - that's the vibe of the film. My brain feels a bit scrambled now - if anyone has any specific questions, by all means ask away.
What a baffling experience. I have so many questions about Mark Region - who he is, why he made this film, how he made this film. One of my friends said - what Jerry Bruckheimer is to "Dangerous Men," Ingmar Bergman is to "After Last Season."
Sounds fantastic.
A few questions:
1. Does she finally visit the main market?
2. Are the printers really in the basement?
3. Were all five people in the cinema familiar with the film through the trailer or were some people intrigued by the prospect of a film they've never heard of, unaware of the brain melting force that awaited them?
4. Is the cardboard MRI scanner presented sincerely? Really?
5. Do you think the film is a parody or a practical joke?
I was at the same screening as Mister Topps.
****POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD****
1. No. Unfortunately, the main market is never discussed any further than the scene glimpsed in the trailer.
2. The printers really are in the basement. It's not a major plot point, however.
3. Everyone in the theater came because they'd seen the trailer online.
4. The cardboard MRI scanner is played COMPLETELY STRAIGHT (as is the entire movie, actually).
5. NO. My assumption, based on the content of the film, is that the filmmaker actually made a sincere attempt at a thriller. There are several bizarre, I dare say fetishistic, aspects of the film that lead me to believe the filmmaker may in fact have some type of mental problem:
a) The bizarre obsession with blank pieces of paper that populate the film. They are EVERYWHERE - as elements of production design, etc. It is almost like a recurring motif.
b) The filmmaker seems obsessed with esoteric geography. Various towns and their attributes are discussed, at length by the characters, only to have no further significance. For instance, one of the final scenes of the film is a lengthy, one-sided telephone conversation about hot springs in some nearby town, only the character never actually states that they are "hot springs." He describes them as "deep pools of water, with lots of steam rising off the top" (I'm paraphrasing). Why????
c) Perhaps most telling is the obsession with neurology and schizophrenia discussed, at length, throughout the film. This is in no way intended as a compliment, but we all started to feel as though WE were schizophrenic as a result of seeing the film (which could be the result of seeing this film so late in a theater - I doubt it would be watchable in the slightest on DVD).
Would it surprise you if I told you the film was actually sort of a murder mystery, and at one point features an invisible killer stabbing the two leads? (In the trailer, the shot of the plastic tubs moving around on the floor is culled from this scene).
I honestly cannot believe I saw this film in a theater, on 35mm, with the trailer for The Ugly Truth and GI Joe in front of it. The whole of last night was one of the most surreal experiences I've ever had. So, thanks for that, Mark Region.
Incidentally, I recognize you as a frequent poster on the Tree of Life boards - it's so funny that Malick fans are also interested in this movie!
Here's actually some video of us in the parking lot after the screening, trying to figure out what the heck we just saw...
(few spoilers) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JA3MtmNWI_U
(major spoilers) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WtQdhUjb4Y
additionally @nickrob live tweeted the screening.
enjoy!
Sounds fantastic.
Another question: how many sets do you think were used? Is it really all shot in the same building?
And yeah Narrowfilm, the Malick fan crossover is strange. Maybe people open to his abstract, personal cinema are the only ones who can appreciate the fringe art of Mark Region.
A bunch of the film was shot within a house - the rest of it I believe were shot in some abandoned retail spaces that they built "sets" in. It's very confusing - a "college dorm" is basically some grey industrial walls half-covered with wallpaper, as well as a futon and a desk. A "conference room" is clearly the same room, but the desk is moved, and there are some extra chairs.
Many of the sets have what I can only assume are abandoned bits of furniture - the kind of metal shelving you'd see in a garage.
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