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Film Geek
Directed by: James Westby
Starring: Melik Malkasian
Genre:
Comedy/ Independent
Run Time: 78
min.
Release Date:
January 2005
On The Web:
Official
Site
Teaser:
Movie Trailer
Reviewed by
Byron Merritt |
Watching something like
FILM GEEK makes me feel good. Sometimes I sense my social skills
slipping, but watching Melik Malkasian play Scotty Pelk in this flick
boosted my confidence several rungs. You see, I'm into films, too
(pretty obvious since you're reading this on a film review site, eh?)
Undoubtedly, I compared some aspects of the Pelk persona with myself.
Thankfully, I couldn't make many connections (Whew!)
Pelk is a video store employee with an encyclopedic knowledge of film
and film history. Trouble is that's all he knows (he even has a zero-hit
website devoted to film reviews, film history, and comparative film
theory). He drives everyone around him nuts. Employees. Store patrons.
Passersby on the street. No one is immune to Pelk's social ineptness.
And dark days are headed his way. He's fired from the video store and is
forced into a job at an auto-parts warehouse where he continues his film
history harassment to anyone within earshot. But then he runs into Niko
(Tyler Gannon, THUMBSUCKER), a funky artist who takes a strange liking
to Pelk. They meet. They go out. And Pelk becomes enraptured to the
point of stalking. He's so infatuated with her that he masturbates daily
into his bathroom sink while staring at her picture. Obviously this
isn't going to work. When Niko's old boyfriend shows back up, Pelk is on
the outs again and has a meltdown. He tears up his little apartment and
falls back into more masturbatory behavior ...only to have his phone
ring. On the other end is a newspaper editor who wants to do an article
on him and his website. The Film Geek becomes an overnight success, his
website gets massive hit numbers, and movie-goers comment on his
accurate film assessments. Even Niko comes back to him ...or does she?
Director James Westby lets us make up our own minds about what happened
in the end. Did the Film Geek actually become popular? Or was his mind
spewing forth fantasies while he let loose his physical emissions into
the sink? The dark humor is deftly handled (no pun intended) and the
scenes involving Pelk's discovery of his own social limitations are
pulled off very well.
Comparisons to NAPOLEON DYNAMITE are appropriate here. Both movies had
limited budgets. Both had quirky characters with poor interpersonal
relationships. Both main characters succeed (?) due to the very thing
that makes them so dysfunctional.
Although Film Geek had lower production standards than Napoleon
Dynamite, Film Geek certainly ranks up there with it in terms of script,
acting, and freaky character development.
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Image from Film Geek
DVD cost: $19.99
Purchase:
BestPrices.com
Film Review Stew
Favorite? No.
Stew Poo-Poo? No.
Newsworthy:
The movie was
selected as
part of the 2004 Independent Film Project in New York City, NY.
Movie Quote: "I
love movies more than anything. Movies let you be other people."
Other Actors/Actresses
from Film Geek
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