Local Movie Scene: Revisited

I saw Cuci about two weeks back. And it wasn’t that bad. That’s right, people, after a long hiatus, we return to the local movie scene discussion. Part 2.

The reason I was bothered enough to go to the cinema to watch local movies these days is to see Afdlin Shauki movies. It’s true. The last time I did something familiar was for Sumo-lah. And that was definitely worth my time. And that’s the thing. Afdlin Shauki movies nowadays are like Judd Apatow movies. You can expect a certain brand of humour which is refreshing and inventive, and certainly works. Not like the ones offered by Razak Mohaideen. Seriously, those people who say Jim Carrey is no longer funny apparently do not know Saiful Apek. Honestly, his jokes are getting cheaper by the movie and I really do wish he’d take a break from them because I just about have enough of him. 10 years sounds pretty good, don’t you think?

Anyway, back to Cuci. To know that it was the Afdlin gang who are fronting the movie, although it was Hans Isaac leading this time around, created an extra amount of excitement and intrigue to check out their latest work. Something Hollywood calls a movie buzz.

Demi Moore’s comeback in Chalie’s Angels: Full Throttle helped to promote the film. Demi Moore as a fourth Angel? I mean, who wouldn’t want to see that? And, sorry for saying this, but Heath Ledger’s death is going to do wonders for The Dark Knight. But this is only one type of buzz to create excitement for a movie yet to be released.

A prime example of taking the concept of movie buzz to a whole new level is Cloverfield. When they first release the trailer, it didn’t even have a title. Just a release date. Which initially became the call term for the movie – 1-18-08. Malaysian movies, on the other hand, make rubbish trailers!

Seriously, randomly picking 10 scenes out of that movie, mixing them up in a blender, intermittently listing the names of actors/actresses involved in it and then finally displaying the title at the end is not a trailer! That’s a fucking slideshow! Being moviemakers you might think they should probably know the importance of marketing a film and how a good trailer goes a long way in achieving that. Even Hong Kong love stories make better trailers than us these days.

A trailer is supposed to show the strength of a movie and an intriguing introduction to the storyline so that when someone had seen it, they go, ‘I’d like to see how that one turns out,’. And Cuci is no different. When I first saw the trailer, there were Hans, Afdlin, Awie and AC in yellow suits cleaning windows. Then there’s Erra. Then more of the guys in their yellow suits, and not in yellow suits and that’s pretty much it. No clue whatsoever on what the storyline is. How can you spread word of mouth if the people could not describe it? ‘Oh it’s a Hans Isaac film about window washers,’. And? And what? That’s like saying Lord of the Rings is a movie about this ring. Full stop. You think it would have been just as successful with that kind of promotion? Yes, I know Cuci is not doing that bad at the box-office but a good trailer would have made it a bigger sell-out.

Another aspect about local films that bothers me is the villains. Malaysian villains are bad. Not that cool kind of bad but downright bad. They are always the one with the terrible sense of fashion, cheesy one liners and complete lack of pride, faith and mercy. You can always tell who’s the bad guy the moment he/she steps onto the screen. Take Khir Rahman’s Wira for example. Who in their right minds wear a dark suit over a purple shirt? The hairstyle is trashy and the sunglasses just make him look even sillier. And he’s the all time kaki bodek. There is nothing to like about him.

Then we look at Hannibal Lecter. Sure he’s a psychopath who kills, cooks and serve his victims to his guests at his dinner parties. And yet, he listens to classical, reads a ton of books, well spoken and has a vocabulary someone can only dream of. Oh, and it’s Dr. Hannibal Lecter to you.

You see, as evil as they are, they are kind of cool. Terrifyingly cool in the matter of Dr. Lecter. And although you might not agree with the motives behind his evil deeds, you do sort of understand them. Joaquin Phoenix in Gladiator was overlooked for the throne by his own father and he was his only son. Sure he was a whiny little boy but if it were you, wouldn’t you be a little bit pissed off by that? Villains, as much the heroes, needs layers of character to make them more believable and memorable. And there’s still a long way to go for us in that sense.

And our product placing is embarrassing to say the least. Somehow, the word ‘subtle’ has been swollen by the word ‘money’ nowadays. Tony Fernandes is one of the producers of Cuci and what he did was to put a whole fuckin’ plane in one of the scenes! It made the placing of a Ford Focus in Casino Royale look like peanuts. Why only put phones in movies when you can have the whole HQ building be the main focus of the characters? I know corporate sponsors are essential but seriously, at times, it was like watching a commercial. As if an actual footage from The Truman Show. C’mon people, follow Pixar’s motto: It is always about the story.

Before I end my rant for today, one final thing about the trailer issue. If you think you can make good trailers and create a viable business idea for the local movie scene, you could might as well be the next media mogul and a wealthy one at that.

And with that bombshell it’s time to say adios and well do this again some other time in the future. Cheers.