Tough Luck -JimtheJib

[JimtheJib]

Hello. I'd like to acknowledge everybody who worked on the film. It was difficult, but we made it.

Tough Luck

Written, Directed and Edited by Alexander Lewis

Starring: Louis Shannon and Gaston Jouany

With:
Randy Shorter as thug #1

Simon Zhu as thug #2

David Cisek as angry teacher

Eve Wolf as mother

Crew:Mick Krever

Original Score: Justin Durban (Edgen)

Special Thanks to: Jason McDonald, Jack Daniel Stan, DVXuser, Jarred Land (for putting this all together)!


I hope you enjoy it!

[Aaron Marshall]

I like the essence you captured in the school. It's been one of the most authentic films as far as sets go, that I've seen so far. I'll give a more in-depth review within the next few days.

[MsManhattan]

Alex, great job! Your cinematography shows tremendous growth since your last entry -- the framing and the lighting were really good. I love your lead actor -- reminds me of a male version of the lead in Welcome to the Dollhouse.

[Mike McNeese]

Well done...story was very well told. I started chuckling once I saw what was gonna happen at the ending. You captured that well.

[mrpunch]

favorite line delivery ... "nice costume"

I like the camera work and I was smiling through to the end! (especially the end)

GREAT JOB!

[Dahopafilms]

What a great film. Fresh. Funny.


I thought the actors were great. The two boys were great - although Louis' voice seemed distractingly low to me. And the teacher at the beginning was PERFECT to set the tone.
Nice music. Well paced.
Liked the opening cartoon drawings. A really nice touch.
Let's face it - the payoff ending was great. And the "zip me up" line killed me. Of course "Mom" was perfectly reactive. Terrific.


The only thing I found distracting was that some of the dialogue got a little lost in the background a few times on my system. No big deal, but I did notice it (and again, it could just be my system).

Very funny. Looking forward to more. Thank you.

[Mark Harris]

Yeah Alex, this was great to see at the NY meeting yesterday. I downloaded it to watch again! Very funny, great comic timing, good camera and excellent editing.

I agree, the only thing i had a problem with was losing some lines because they were not loud enough.

But can't wait to see what you come up with next.

[JimtheJib]

Thank you everybody for your kind support. It was a reallyfun shoot especially when the two actors showed up not having read the script. Well it wasn't funny that they hadn't seen the script but it was funny that they didn';t know what was in store for them. . Any way it was a really bare bone crew (only one other person, and he got sickthe first day and fell asleept) it was all good though because i used a mic stand. He couldn't come the secondweekend because he went to protest the genocide in darfur.

Hello to all the NYC dvxuser! yesterday was reallyfun ...especially putting faces to all those names! I can't wait for the next one!

Thanks again
/alex

[JimtheJib]

oh and about the audio: i guess since i knew the script i thought i could understand it or here it but i guess i was just reading lips or something...

[Edgen]

Hell ya Alex! Turned out pretty dang good! Good luck to ya!
/j

[Beat Takeshi]

I have not seen this yet but Im hearing its really funny and cant wait to see it when the films are back up again. I heard you are going to be great some day. The next Matt Mcdermitt. Sorry I missed you at the meeting but we shot until about 8pm yesterday. I thought I was going to get out around 3 and shoot up there as fast as I could to see everyones film projected. I couldnt get a final dvd version for that meeting done in time so sorry about the quality on ours.

[JimtheJib]

I have not seen this yet but Im hearing its really funny and cant wait to see it when the films are back up again. I heard you are going to be great some day. The next Matt Mcdermitt. Sorry I missed you at the meeting but we shot until about 8pm yesterday. I thought I was going to get out around 3 and shoot up there as fast as I could to see everyones film projected. I couldnt get a final dvd version for that meeting done in time so sorry about the quality on ours.

Thanks Aram. I heard a lot about you as well at the meeting. (the commercial with the fridge, and your awesome Cg effects in your hero fest!!!) Its too bad you didn't make it to the meetingI guess i'll see you at the next meeting.



alex

[sandesh]

Hi Alex,

I really liked the humor in the film. I personally think, comedy is the toughest! Making people laugh is not at all easy.
Bottom line, "Everybody was laughing and having fun."

[JimtheJib]

Hi Alex,

I really liked the humor in the film. I personally think, comedy is the toughest! Making people laugh is not at all easy.
Bottom line, "Everybody was laughing and having fun."

thanks so much.:)

the film is now on the mirror site: http://www.24puser.com/herofest/jimthejib-AlexanderLewis-ToughLuck.mov
alex

[Beat Takeshi]

Dude, my stomach is killing me from laughing. Its hard to type i have soo many tears in my eyes. OMG the ending was... was.... perfect. I mean the timing and everything. The uncomfortable moment with the zipper, the body language was PERFECT! I was thinking when I saw that close up them that it looked kind of sexual but the next shot killed me. The mom... classic.
This was really damn good man. Congrats to the 10th degree.

I thought the lost dialog was actually working in the film because kids that age sort of mumble when talking. Im used to it with my kids, well my kids talk really fast so its like mumbling.

[HybridCreations]

Hey Alex,
Great job. I was really impressed by this. Great actors, good dialogue and awesome camerawork. Nice to meet you at the meeting, can't wait to see your future projects.
-Ryan

[Ian Slessor]

Alex is it?

I have a disc full of HeroFest entries and yours is the first one I watch.

Well done!

I'm glad the kids are at school and the wife is at work or they'd be wondering what the hell is wrong with me.

You made me laugh out loud. Repeatedly. That doesn't happen often.

Let's get the technical stuff out of the way.

The score was heroic. Nicely done, Justin.
The camera work was OK although I would have liked to have seen you vary your shots a bit during the phone conversation.
The audio in places was very good and in others, frankly, I lost what they were saying as the actors either mumbled or the score overpowered the dialogue.

When the protaganist dials the phone, perhaps some sound fx for the dialing and was the cellphone on vibrate? Minor, but noticable.

The costumes were soooooo grade 9. Man. They were something I would have put together at 14. Nice job with the montage of costume sketching and the final result was worth it. The style and the way they were constructed pointed to a couple of kids and mom's sewing machine.

The actors were pretty good and their reaction at the end and great "uncomfortableness" of the moment when they see each other's costume, especially the friend's...leather gear was quite amusing.

Of course the end was the, somewhat telegraphed, but still worthwhile, payoff that had me laughing hard.

Thanks Alex for starting off my viewing with a big ol' laugh!

All the best with HF and....BEYOND!!!! (echo, echo, echo)


sincerely,

ian

[JimtheJib]

I thought the lost dialog was actually working in the film because kids that age sort of mumble when talking. Im used to it with my kids, well my kids talk really fast so its like mumbling.

Thanks. im glad you enjoyed watching it. I neverthough about their mumbling being a character trait. At the end i told them to mumble but otherwise it was their doing. Another reason why i believe they worked so well together is because they are best friends in reality so that aspect really came through when they were acting.


Hey Alex,
Great job. I was really impressed by this. Great actors, good dialogue and awesome camerawork. Nice to meet you at the meeting, can't wait to see your future projects.
-Ryan

Thanks man. i can't wait for the next meeting. I had a lot of fun.

Alex

[Blaine]

Alex,

You really came a long way in a short time on this entry. With John and Gustav you unfortunately miscast the piece using actors who, because of their age, were essentially unbelievable in their roles. Tough Luck is an entirely different story. Right from the opening scene I could see you got it right. Loved the acting. Loved the casting. The teacher and mother were particularly good. My daughter walked in just as the mother walked into the bedroom. I was laughing so hard, she thought I was crazy. I enjoyed this entry a lot. Good job. :thumbsup:

[Edgen]

The Score to "Tough Luck"

http://edgen.hostpaw.com/edgen_tough_luck.mp3

/j

[JimtheJib]

Alex is it?

Well done!
Let's get the technical stuff out of the way.

The score was heroic. Nicely done, Justin.

i'd just like to give a shout out to justin. not only did he do a great job but he worked really hard. he sent me the first version and we discussed. And this went back and forth until it was perfect. Thanks again Justin.


The audio in places was very good and in others, frankly, I lost what they were saying as the actors either mumbled or the score overpowered the dialogue.




I'll definitely have to work on that for next time. ive been hearing several people with similar complaints.... In this short i tried something new. i used a mic stand instead of a person. i think it worked alot better that last time when i used a boom and operator. In one scene i used an operator and a boom and in fact the audio was of less quality. if you listen carefully to the school scene in the beginning you can sometimes hear the boom hitting something. The audio in those parts isn't has consistent in my opinion




When the protaganist dials the phone, perhaps some sound fx for the dialing and was the cellphone on vibrate? Minor, but noticable.ian


i purposefully left it out. I don't know why but all of the SFX i found sounded cheezy and they detracted from the feeling and mood. so i guess the cell phone was on vibrate. it doesn't really matter. maybe next time i'll do some foley for on set recording. i just didn't like the way any of it came out so i left it out.


The costumes were soooooo grade 9. Man. They were something I would have put together at 14. Nice job with the montage of costume sketching and the final result was worth it. The style and the way they were constructed pointed to a couple of kids and mom's sewing machine.

i was going for that feel. It was really awqward when i went out and bought those costumes. I went to halloween costume store downtown (NYC) where i got weird looks and remarks from sales people. I kept trying to explain that it wasn't for me and that i was making a movie but they just smirked. haha


Thanks again for the comments

[Beat Takeshi]

"i was going for that feel. It was really awqward when i went out and bought those costumes. I went to halloween costume store downtown (NYC) where i got weird looks and remarks from sales people. I kept trying to explain that it wasn't for me and that i was making a movie but they just smirked. haha"

You freak!!!
thats funny, you have to put that in your behind the scenes.

[Edgen]

i'd just like to give a shout out to justin. not only did he do a great job but he worked really hard. he sent me the first version and we discussed. And this went back and forth until it was perfect. Thanks again Justin.

you are most welcome. I hope the score helped :dankk2::beer:
(remember folks.. on the ballot "Score... #10") :) muhahahahah

/j

[JimtheJib]

LOL. maybe i'll do an interview or two and add some bloopers but im incruch time as they say. i have a videography job on thrusday and exams coming up!!!

i wish i had planned more for behind the scenes.

Alex

[JimtheJib]

some edits to credits added..

[MiataFilmSomething]

Just watched this one. Initial thoughts:

Pros - Loved the art work at the beginning. I'll be honest, from the start of the action I thought it was going to be a cheesy high school student effort, and I guess it kinda was or appreared to be, but you know, there was a really endearing quality to it. I loved the scene with the costumes at the end where they are complimenting each ohter on their costume choices. It was great. They both showed fear and vunerability, something that always touches an audicence when the hero shows his weakness, but still strives on. Great acting during that scene too. Funny twist in the end as well (no pun intended...)

Cons - Took a lot of time on the phone converstaion. Kinda dragged there. Acting was so so until the end.

Overall - A fine effort with some great hidden qualities and underlying themes. Fun to watch.

[JimtheJib]

Just watched this one. Initial thoughts:

Pros - Loved the art work at the beginning. I'll be honest, from the start of the action I thought it was going to be a cheesy high school student effort, and I guess it kinda was or appreared to be, but you know, there was a really endearing quality to it. I loved the scene with the costumes at the end where they are complimenting each ohter on their costume choices. It was great. They both showed fear and vunerability, something that always touches an audicence when the hero shows his weakness, but still strives on. Great acting during that scene too. Funny twist in the end as well (no pun intended...)

Cons - Took a lot of time on the phone converstaion. Kinda dragged there. Acting was so so until the end.

Overall - A fine effort with some great hidden qualities and underlying themes. Fun to watch.

thanks for the honest criticism. thats what this is all about i guess. learning and getting better for the next fest. I was trying to make this film as ridiculus as possible while at the same time have some valid underlying themes as you mention. the actors were just two kids i randomnly picked from school because they seemed to work well together. Im realizing more and more that actors can make or break a film. (especially with in a 5 minute movie where you only have very little time to captivate your audience)

I think one reason why the acting during the telephone scene didn't work that well was because the main actor with glasses was very late that day. So we shot the telephone scene seperately. The actors couldn't play off of the friendship they had in real life. When they did get together at the end, they really worked alot better and produced great results. i don;t think they had worked with film before so that could have also been a contributing factor.

thanks again,

alex:)

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

Nice Work

Funny and believable world

The actors in the hall were a tad stiff but other than that, great all the way around.

I really liked the way the score worked against the improbabilty that these two would be heroes. In other words teh score wan't tongue and cheek or cute it represented how the kids saw tehmeselves or how they wanted to see themselves, and that gave it a cool Stephen Speilberg Amazing Stories kind of feel.

One place I thought the score was less effective was in the costume reveal scene.

I kind of wanted to hear a record scratch (not like rap music but like someone bumped the turn table) and then just have them play that scene in silence. The more silence the better because they are uncomfortable and feeling sort of goofy. The score didn't make as much sense to me here because it no longer mirrored what was going on inside them for these few beats. In the character arcs, they begin by imagining themselves as great and then start to put that into action -- so the non ironic hero music (which becomes ironic by its lack of irony) works even though these are just kids and not real superheros ... but when they were having a "uh ... maybe its not such a good idea moment" the score kept right on. I think it would be better both in the story telling and the comedic timing to have it cut out.

the moment played well but the audio problens and score were working against it IMHO.

try notching your vocals up alittle in the 3 - 5 k range which can add clarity

the story -- teh story was good and had a nice punch line

most impressive -- you know how to structure and tell a story.

you have an understanding of story sturcture and payoff that rivals most other people in the festival

Sorry I didn't get to meet you at the DVXuser meeting. Hopefully I'll catch you at the next one.

Jack

[TimurCivan]

That was aweosme. Seriously Awesome.

[MsManhattan]

Alex, I watched this again today and, as MiataFilmSomething said, it truly has an "endearing" quality. Also, just read your comment about how the two actors did better when they had each other to work off of and how actors can make or break a short. You are thinking about all the right things and I am just so impressed by your drive and motivation. Can't wait to see your HorrorFest entry!

[conradcliff]

Very funny. Really liked it.

[concannon]

I loved this one!!! Great work. I was sad when it was over...I wanted more.

[FlintMI]

I thought this was the most entertaining film of all the entries. great job Alex. I laughed hysterically all through it.

[soffcore]

Great. Job. i thought it was the best "comedy" in the fest. The productin value left a bit to be desired, but the story and humor made me foregt about that by the end. Loved the "Spider-Man" costume origin parody. The dryness of the humor was spot on.
Congrats to you on making a very funny short; and make sure your actors know how funny they were. It takes some balls to get in costumes like those!!

[JimtheJib]

sorry i haven't responded ... but ive been very busy lately

Nice Work

Funny and believable world

The actors in the hall were a tad stiff but other than that, great all the way around.

I really liked the way the score worked against the improbabilty that these two would be heroes. In other words teh score wan't tongue and cheek or cute it represented how the kids saw tehmeselves or how they wanted to see themselves, and that gave it a cool Stephen Speilberg Amazing Stories kind of feel.

One place I thought the score was less effective was in the costume reveal scene.

I kind of wanted to hear a record scratch (not like rap music but like someone bumped the turn table) and then just have them play that scene in silence. The more silence the better because they are uncomfortable and feeling sort of goofy. The score didn't make as much sense to me here because it no longer mirrored what was going on inside them for these few beats. In the character arcs, they begin by imagining themselves as great and then start to put that into action -- so the non ironic hero music (which becomes ironic by its lack of irony) works even though these are just kids and not real superheros ... but when they were having a "uh ... maybe its not such a good idea moment" the score kept right on. I think it would be better both in the story telling and the comedic timing to have it cut out.

the moment played well but the audio problens and score were working against it IMHO.

try notching your vocals up alittle in the 3 - 5 k range which can add clarity

the story -- teh story was good and had a nice punch line

most impressive -- you know how to structure and tell a story.

you have an understanding of story sturcture and payoff that rivals most other people in the festival

Sorry I didn't get to meet you at the DVXuser meeting. Hopefully I'll catch you at the next one.

Jack

i;m glad you liked it. a couple of things. ive always wondered what imho and imo mean?

i believe that story is the most important aspect. so i may had neglectd other technical aspects... having said that....

the music at the end was supposed to be the complete opposite of the visual aspect. it was supposed to build up to this anticlimax where the kids fail because the mom walks in. At this point they were supposed to be completely pumped for "battle" however they are the complete opposite. This irony or contrast was supposed to play off the fact that they are complete failures. its almost as if the score is making fun of these two losers. Before it was helping and supporting them.

actually the score here was my doing. edgen or justin had added a more somber tone to reflect what you were saying above, however i cut and pasted the heroic music in from before. i just wasn't feeling the somber tone. It made it seem serious, when it is the most rediculous moment of the entire film.

about the audio... i'll need to work on that for the next one.

ill see you at the next dvx user NYC meeting

thanks



That was aweosme. Seriously Awesome.


:dankk2:



Alex, I watched this again today and, as MiataFilmSomething said, it truly has an "endearing" quality. Also, just read your comment about how the two actors did better when they had each other to work off of and how actors can make or break a short. You are thinking about all the right things and I am just so impressed by your drive and motivation. Can't wait to see your HorrorFest entry!

thanks. that means a lot. i'll try to pull i together for Horror Fest. hopefully ill make something! maybe the NYC dvxers could team up! that would be awesome


Very funny. Really liked it.

thanks so much!


I loved this one!!! Great work. I was sad when it was over...I wanted more.

yay!:dankk2: i would have made a sequel or something extra however the blond actor is moving to florida next year. too bad...


I thought this was the most entertaining film of all the entries. great job Alex. I laughed hysterically all through it.

:) thanks!


Great. Job. i thought it was the best "comedy" in the fest. The productin value left a bit to be desired, but the story and humor made me foregt about that by the end. Loved the "Spider-Man" costume origin parody. The dryness of the humor was spot on.
Congrats to you on making a very funny short; and make sure your actors know how funny they were. It takes some balls to get in costumes like those!!


thanks!!! i hope my next one is even better. the reason "the production" value is lacking is because i had only one crew member who got sick the first weekend and couldn't come the next. so i might have overlooked certain aspects or just not done other things but im learning... glad you noticed the spiderman homage/ making fun of how tobey maguire suddenly can draw amazingly well!

yea and a i'd like to give a shout out to my two actors who were great in that they actually agreed to where those ridiculous things. The actor in the cat woman suit was about to kill me. i had 2 omni lights blasting on him. and i kept saying just one more.. and this is the last. he was getting very angry. but the other actor (his friends) calmed him down slightly. the funny thing was i had to reshoot the last scene. it was very... VERY hard to get the actors to come back. i wouldn't want to get back into a suit like that!!?@%

THanks again for all the feedback!

[Norm Sanders]

Great score (of course, with Justin on board), and a nice humerous story ... thanks for the entertainment! Especially the end ... priceless.

I really liked of course the opening comic book titles ... I'm a sucker for that stuff, and at 3:42 I loved the pen writing over the images effect ... nice work.

All the camera work & framing on this was really nice, but I'd say where this suffered the most would be in the audio (mic/dialogue ... just a little too heavy perhaps, but could hear it all very clearly), and for the images themselves it would be in the lighting ... really could have used better lighting throughout to bring things more to life or make the images pop, and perhaps some more stylistic CC to liven things up.

Otherwise, great job & enjoyable.

[JimtheJib]

Great score (of course, with Justin on board), and a nice humerous story ... thanks for the entertainment! Especially the end ... priceless.

I really liked of course the opening comic book titles ... I'm a sucker for that stuff, and at 3:42 I loved the pen writing over the images effect ... nice work.

All the camera work & framing on this was really nice, but I'd say where this suffered the most would be in the audio (mic/dialogue ... just a little too heavy perhaps, but could hear it all very clearly), and for the images themselves it would be in the lighting ... really could have used better lighting throughout to bring things more to life or make the images pop, and perhaps some more stylistic CC to liven things up.

Otherwise, great job & enjoyable.

thanks!> im glad you liked it. i don't want to make excuses but i believe part of it is the web compression. the full res version pops a little more and doesn't seem so washed out.

[Edgen]

actually the score here was my doing. edgen or justin had added a more somber tone to reflect what you were saying above, however i cut and pasted the heroic music in from before. i just wasn't feeling the somber tone. It made it seem serious, when it is the most rediculous moment of the entire film.

Ya, you guys should have heard the first version. It was a COMPLETE contrast to the first half of the score. Almost cartoonish and really hit the reactions to the two characters. But, Alex and I agreed for the somber part, and ya know, I didn't even realize that it was cut out. Man, shows how much I pay attention. :)

Perhaps when its all said and done i'll let you guys hear the 'first cut'

/j

[JimtheJib]

another thing that poped into my head envision, how would one make audio less heavy?

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

not sure what you mean "less heavy"

but this website has proven useful to myself and others around here

http://www.digitalprosound.com/2002/03_mar/tutorials/mixing_excerpt1.htm

[JimtheJib]

thanks for the website. im not sure what heavy menas either. envision said it sounded heavy. i was just wondering what that was so i could fix it.

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

/// ive always wondered what imho and imo mean?


In My Opinion

simillarly

IMHO = In My Humble Opinion

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

thanks for the website. im not sure what heavy menas either. envision said it sounded heavy. i was just wondering what that was so i could fix it.
I think maybe he means dialogue was too loud or hot... maybe?

rather than achieving clarity or a good mix by EQuing so that other elements like score and Soundtrack don't phase out the dialogue, meaning boosting the human voice range slightly in the dialogue, and / or backing it off in the elements like score or ambient sound FX around it. But that's just a guess.

I didn't notice this per se, but I watched a few days ago and don't remember audio issues other than the dailogue after the costume change being too low.

Jack

[JimtheJib]

maybe. i'll see what he says later. i have to work on my audio mixing skills aswell.! ahh so much....

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

yeah but your like ten years old right :evil:

you have a lot of time and are further along than most :)

I sent mine to an audio sweetener guy.

He might take a look at yours for you - he really like story and being a part of projects with a good story.

Basically you send him the seperated audio files like dropping of film at the drug store and he sends em back to you purdy.

Anything he does you disagree with, you just add that track back in in your NLE and boost it.

[JimtheJib]

haha... im almost ten. that sounds like a good idea. ill try to find an audio sweetner for the next one

[arielman]

I guess I must like comic book opening scenes ,yours was good !!

Nice choice in music for this short .

I liked the opening scene of him reading the Dark Knight comic book .
The ending was a hoot ..MOM walking in on the kids ..lmao.

Kudos to the actors in this , they were good!!!!
really liked this one ..Congrats
Ian

[JimtheJib]

thanks. im glad you enjoyed it. it makes me happy when people understand what i was going for. usually i only get it.

[spidey]

Heres my review of the film.

STORY: The movie was starting out good but fell real quick in the middle. There was nothing really in the middle and just pointless slow dialogue about nothing truly. The edning was going somewhere with the Gay little kids but when the mom says the last line you lost me. if you cut and did credits on the look you would have kept me but the line leads to something else and make what I saw previously lost. Decent effort. Beign and end were entertaining.

SFX: None? cept for the spiderman moment. few bugs in it.

SOUND: Decent audio did you have a mic?

SOUNDTRACK: Good no probs.

ACTORs: Acting, was very fickled. The gay ending had me but all the acton with the blonde kick sound underacted and forced. the other kidw was decent. try to to get them off the phone though that quite boring.

CINEMATOGRAPHY: Good alittle plane in spots but you're getting it. just watch movies and study shots.

Overall, decent attempt but poor in the middle and could have been better.

[Cryogenic Filmworks]

Thought this was pretty decent. The music was great. Only real problem I had was the mothers voice at the end was too loud. Other than that I really liked it.

[penfever]

This was a charming film, and it had a lot of excellent qualities. The young performers were surprisingly talented, and carried a fair amount of weight on screen. The lead actor had a surprisingly low voice.
The cutting was peppy and kept the pace flowing nicely. In a self-indulgent indie world where tons of projects drag because directors won't kill their babies, it's nice to see a director not treat his own work with kid gloves. This film is a model of pacing--mostly.
Which leads me to the weakness - the scripting, especially the ending. This ending is a terrible cop-out, and the joke is roughly timed, undercutting the humor of the situation. Holding so long on each shot drags the final joke out and leaves the viewer with a kind of soggy feeling at the end of the film. If you're going to make a film with an ending this frustrating, at least end it quickly, please.
Some of the framing was questionable - I often had trouble making out people's expressions, which after all is the easiest way to convey emotion in film. Those reflective glasses kept hiding the lead's eyes. Be careful with placement of lights when your lead has glasses.
Fun film, see you next fest.
-Ben

[JimtheJib]

thanks for the honest feedback. i know what i have to work on for the next one... this has been a great experience. now on to Horror FEST!

[Texture]

Loved this film, though a lot of the criticisms above hold true...

I think I could more patient with this film because I could identify with these kids. In high school years, I and a couple of friends were stunt artists, doing crazy stuff, like going to school wearing pajamas all day and the like. For that one we were actually doing something constructive, promoting the high school musical, "Pajama Game" but other times we'd do crazy stuff just for the kick of it... It was a pretty boring place and we just wanted to "shake it up." Of course, we were no super heros like these kids!!!

I think his overhearing the senior's and their devious plans could have been staged better. Maybe our hero drops his glasses through the football field bleachers and climbs down below blindly searching for them when the seniors sit above him and discuss their plans. Or maybe our central character is searching for a book in the library and overhears the wispering on the other side of the book shelves. Or he uses a stall in the men's room. The seniors come in to smoke. (our hero silently struggles not to cough or sneeze from the smoke) He hears the plan discussed and slowly raises his feet knowing if he's caught, its the end. The seniors start checking the stalls, but before the last one the smoke detector finally kicks in and they flee. Our hero has to climb out the bathroom window to escape so he won't be accused of smoking also. He runs home to make the call. The hallway moment, while effective, seemed a little too utiltity.

Despite its flaws and meandering moments, this was one of my favorites...

The music was really good.