Tag Archives: Jason Trost

Pod 366: A Weird Movies Podcast

POD 366, EP. 15: JASON TROST 4EVZ

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Audio only link (Soundcloud download)

Quick links/Discussed in this episode:

Jason Trost’s linktree, where you can find his social media accounts and links to FP-related stuff. Jason Trost interview begins here.

Panic Film Festival home page. Discussion begins here.

AmnesiA (2001): Discussion begins here. Described as a “surreal, stylized psychological drama”—with a lot of skin. From Cult Epics on two Blu-rays, with two rare Dutch TV movies on the second disc: Suzy Q (1999), described as portraying a “bizarre family in the 60s,” and Dark Light (1997), a thriller. Buy AmnesiA.

Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman (2022): Discussion begins here. A salesman, a giant toad, a cat, and a schizophrenic accountant seek to save Tokyo from an earthquake. Although set in Japan, adapted from works by Haruki Murakamia, and done in an anime style, this is a French production. Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman U.S. distributor site.

The Fisher King (1991): Discussion begins here. Read Gregory J. Smalley’s review. The ‘s fantasy about believing he’s a medieval knight in New York City is now available from the Criterion Collection in a 4K UHD/Blu-ray combo pack. Buy The Fisher King.

House of 1000 Corpses (2003): Discussion begins here. Read Gregory J. Smalley’s review. This lavish 20th Anniversary box from Lionsgate includes new bonus features, a poster, a sixty-page illustrated booklet, and six art cards among its grisly treasures. Buy House of 1000 Corpses.

Infinity Pool (2023): Discussion begins here. Read Gregory J. Smalley’s Apocrypha Candidate review. third sci-fi/horror, an exploration of depravity, privilege, and cloning, arrives on Blu-ray this week (no special features advertised). Buy Infinity Pool.

Leda (2021): Discussion begins here. A wordless, black and white, 3D optional retelling of the Greek myth of Leda (of swan fame). This independently produced effort did well at the few festivals it played, but slipped under our radar; now it’s out on VOD, DVD, or Blu-ray (in 3D, if your player and TV have that capacity). Leda official site. Buy Leda.

Tommy Guns [Nação Valente] (2022): Discussion begins here. A genre-hopping film set at the close of the Angolan war for independence in 1974. It includes serious war drama, an interracial romance, and, reportedly, zombies. Opening in theaters  this week in New York with more dates to follow. Tommy Guns official site.

WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE:

On the Watch Party front, join us tonight at 8:30 PM ET for Reality (2014) on Tubi via Discord (free). We’ll also host a noon matinee of Horrors of Spider Island [Ein Toter hing im Netz] (1960) on Discord this Sunday, April 16. Tuesday night (April 18) is Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010) on Netflix at 8 PM ET (sorry, Netflix subscription required, but this is the last month to see it there), while on Wednesday we’ll celebrate Bicycle Day at 8 PM with a free screening of Skidoo (1968) on our Discord channel. As always, the schedule is in the sidebar.

Next week’s Pod 366 guest will be of Strange Frame: Love & Sax (2012) and the upcoming Mermaid’s Lament.

In a busy upcoming week of written reviews, Shane Wilson tackles another one that Came from the Reader-Suggested Queue with the moody Messiah of Evil (1973); El Rob Hubbard takes on Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain (1983); Giles Edwards examines the bizarrely-conceived pseudo-sequel Uncle Kent 2 (2015); and gets you up to speed on the Residents’ under-the-radar underground release Triple Trouble (2022). Onward and weirdward!

Capsules

CAPSULE: FP 4EVZ (2023)

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FP 4EVZ is currently available for VOD rental or purchase.

Recommended*

*: Frrlz

DIRECTED BY: Jason Trost

FEATURING: Jason Trost, Tallay Wickham, Ryan Gibson, Leigh Myles, Mike O’Gorman

PLOT: The wet shit threatens to 187 the FP, and so JTRO and CHAI-T must B.E.A.T. into the futuredoo with their daughter to save the nowsies.

COMMENTS: Let me be abundantly clear: there is no reason for this movie to be this good. No, we are not talking love-child of and Harron—that’d be a real masterpiece. FP 4EVZ, a passion-continuation of Jason Trost’s lifelong FP passion-project, is not high cinema, or even middle cinema. But it’s a refreshing blast to the face, made in the difficult style of haute stupidité. The premise is idiotic—as it has been, it seems, for over a decade now; for those of you not in the knowsies, Trost has been exploring the intersectionality of dystopian living and DDR (re-named in this universe “BEAT”, probably for legal reasons, but also because “Balance/Expeditiousness/Aggression/Tempo” is a delightfully silly sum-up of that whole arrow-stomp-dance nonsense) for his entire professional career.

I have not seen the first three parts of the FP franchise, but that’s okay: this chapter begins with a thorough recap of the machinations so far. Space Ducks once lorded over humanity, which was saved by a visitation from a cosmic entity who brought with it a comet-ful of booze. Civilizations have risen, and fallen. Humanity—or at least, sober humanity—is hanging on by its finger-nails. JTRO, the scion of a BEAT bloodline, is married to the warrior queen CHAI-T, and their daughter CHAI-LATTAY is the chosen one. Chosen to what? Dance. Dance at the direction of flying neon arrows.

There are many flying neon arrows. And countless examples of dum-dum “modern” speak rips and dialogues. No other framework could allow a destiny child be praised as having “the body of a mortal—but the blood and soul of a duck.” Or for a long-dormant thinking machine to not only insist on being referred to by name (“Monsieur Computer”), but sport a stupid beret on its Frenchie AI head graphic.

I eventually gave up on scribbling down the saga-style exposition, the pun-soaked quips, and the genuinely heartfelt speeches, all of which were crafted in an hilarious pastiche of idiotic slang from the past decade. It was all delivered ably—and delivered in all seriousness. And that is the main reason why FP 4EVZ works as well as it does: it never winks at the audience. All the DDR combat, the plot-twists, the CGI desolation: never once did I disbelieve. So take my recommendation with a few grains of salt, perhaps, but Trost’s latest outing is something to revel in—preferably, as they themselves advise before the feature, with at least a few drinks in you.

WHAT THE CRITICS SAY:

“…Z grade in the best of ways. Damn near every shot takes place in front of a green screen, with some cheap After Effects to populate the space. But it’s clear they’re going for a certain aesthetic. It’s all cheese, all the time. There are never any weird elements fading in and out; the effects are well-executed, just a little strange and cheap.”–Tyler Nichols, JoBlo (contemporaneous)

Capsules

CAPSULE: THE FP (2011)

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DIRECTED BY: Brandon Trost, Jason Trost

FEATURING: Jason Trost, Caker Folley, Lee Valmassy, Art Hsu

PLOT: In the future rival gangs fight for control of a lawless suburban town, gaining power and street cred by winning dance video game duels.

Still from The FP (2011)
WHY IT WON’T MAKE THE LIST: It dances to the beat of its own beat machine, for sure, and will strike a chord with some, but it’s not weird enough to overcome its own lightweight aspirations.

COMMENTS: Although I can’t unconditionally recommend The FP, I do admire its willingness to play its goofy premise with a (mostly) straight face. There are only a couple of outright jokes in the movie’s entire run-time (including a pretty funny one about the ecology of alcoholics and waterfowl). Most of the time, we’re allowed to generate our own humor from the absurd spectacle of wannabe gangstas settling deadly scores on video game dance floors. Eye-patched hero J-Tro quits the 248 gang after brother B-Tro drops dead, presumably of shame, after losing a hoofing contest to mohawked L Dubba E, leader of the 245 clan. Coaxed out of retirement by monumentally irritating sidekick KCDC, J-Tro returns to the FP to find L Dubba E monopolizing not only the suburbs’ liquor supply, but also his would-be New Wave squeeze Stacy. This leads, inevitably, to a series of training montages before J-Tro faces L Dubba one-on-one for some beatbox vengeance. Meanwhile, a cast of spastic punk extras say the f-word while dressed in mix-and-match outfits from Road Warrior and Karate Kid (the ladies dress like Cyndi Lauper in the depths of a depraved cocaine binge). From the Commodore 64-style opening graphic scroll to the synthpop theme, the movie is oh-so-Eighties it hurts. It’s a parody of all those shy-and-stoic underdog defeats the arrogant villain and gets the girl flicks, and also a satire on today’s white suburban youth acting all ghetto (not the most challenging of satirical targets, for sure, but sometimes you aim at what you can hit). The slang is thick to the point of near impenetrability (“J-TRO jumped his ass and was like bow to the bridge, yo kick it! Believ’ dat!”), but it’s too near real contemporary teen talk (characters actually say “whatevs” and “for realz”) to have any poetic charm. Odd moments include an attack with an electric tennis racket and a drug trip where a freaked out J-Tro believes he’s being attacked by hipsters in rainbow wigs, but the weirdest thing about the movie is that none of the characters realizes that none of the other characters in the movie actually has a “black ass.” The 248 crew refer to each other as “Niggas” (“nig” for short), which they explain stands for “Never Ignorant in Gettin’ Goals Accomplished.” To me, a more accurate acronym for their behavior would be “Willfully Insipid Goofiness Galls Adults.” I desperately wanted to enjoy this offbeat movie, but I couldn’t, because every character was constantly screaming at me in a stream of profanity-laced, alphabet soup jargon, and I wanted them all to die in grisly ways. With its head-rattling techno soundtrack and post-apocalyptic rave visuals, The FP seems hellbent on giving anyone over the age of 30 a screaming headache; if that sounds like an endorsement to you, then by all means give it a watch.

The FP was released by Drafthouse Films, the new distribution branch of the famous Alamo Drafthouse saloon/cinema.

WHAT THE CRITICS SAY:

“…just a flat out bizarre experience that never quite clicks.”–Jeremy Lebens, “We Got This Covered” (Blu-ray)