Today the good fellows at Benten Films release Azazel Jacobs’ truly beguiling absurdist near-tragicomedy The GoodTimes Kid in a thoroughly lovely DVD edition. I have much to say about this picture, or at least I think I do, but the thing is, I’ve already said it, as I wrote the liner essay for this disc. Here is an excerpt from the piece:
I was rewatching the film one morning recently—this is a film, incidentally, that reminds us how the lack of a day job allows one to structure one’s time in unusual ways—and my wife, herself getting ready to head out to work, passed through our apartment’s viewing area during [a particular scene]. Recalling that I had once described the picture to her as a comedy, she noted, “This doesn’t seem all that comedic. Looks kind of painful and sad.”
“Well, yeah, this part is,” I said. “But hold on, it’s gonna get funny in a minute.”
And sure enough, after calling Rodolfo II by the name she has dubbed him with—“Depresso”—Diaz emerges from off-camera to perform the bit of choreography that’s one of the film’s most inspired and hilarious bits of business.
“See?”
No, really, it works better in context! Check it out…
I don’t want to be all pushy, but would it be too much to ask to post these blurbs about upcoming DVD releases before the film streets?
Netflix is telling me there’s a VERY LONG WAIT for this, and, being the instant gratification junky that I am, I simply detest long waits.
Also, for a conversation starter, best choreographed spontaneous dance scene in a film that doesn’t prominently feature a lot of singing and dancing?
Unless someone reminds me of something else, I always go with Hal Hartley’s “Simple Men”.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2Yy221HYps
I dunno, maybe it was the age when I caught it, my adoration of Sonic Youth, my serious crush on Manic Pixie Dream Girl (Eastern European edition) Elina Löwensohn, or the flat out goofy choreography, but I’ve adored that scene ever since.