Machine' movie underappreciated ... like 'Munich'
 Matt Scalici (left) and Ben Stark (right) star in “The Machine,” a 2005 student film directed by Graham Flanagan. It failed to qualify as a finalist in tonight’s TCF department-sponsored Student Video Competition.Contributed Photo |
Tonight, the UA department of telecommunication and film will host its annual Student Video Competition at the Bama Theatre in downtown Tuscaloosa. About a month ago, the TCF department announced the competition, in which student-made video projects are honored in various categories such as documentary, narrative and experimental.
I submitted my own project - "The Machine" - a fictional political-thriller about The Crimson White's investigation of an SGA scandal. The UA Film Society screened it at the Ferguson Theater on March 7, and was greeted with positive reviews in both The CW and the Web-only Dateline Alabama.
I was saddened on Wednesday, when I found out that my movie hadn't even been selected as a finalist.
This isn't the first time that my work has been slighted by "The Academy." My 2002 shorts "Vending Machine Jesus" and "Photographer" both went home empty-handed, the latter overlooked in favor of Burke Miles' strong experimental piece "Compress Decompress." Miles triumphed once again in 2004 when his brooding drama "Through the Cracks" upended my science-fiction comedy adventure thriller Jumbo.
That year I did, however, walk home from the competition a winner, taking home the prize for Best Non-Narrative with "Photographer 2". Perhaps my current situation is related to my politically-charged acceptance speech, which acknowledged the merits of one of the evening's previous winners - a short, anti-hunting documentary.
Perhaps my 2006 submission, "The Machine" was entirely too politically-charged itself.
In addition to a twist-heavy plotline dealing with a very timely subject, the movie features a spectacular helicopter sequence, a haunting musical score by Jon Ezell and hard-hitting performances by the two lead actors. Something's fishy.
You know, I said the same thing when I first recognized the American public's mass-neglect of Steven Spielberg's recently overlooked masterpiece "Munich." For a Spielberg film, "Munich" performed terribly at the box office, taking home just over $47 million domestically. Although it was nominated for five Oscars, it went home completely empty-handed, and no one seemed to notice or care - except, that is, for the people who actually saw the movie.
I'd be willing to bet money that most (if not all) of the people on the TCF festival's selection committee do not fall into that category, just like most Americans. And honestly, it's hard for me to find credible the opinions of "movie people" who haven't seen "Munich."
Why didn't they see it? It got a wide release. It came to a "theater near you," and likely stayed there for at least a month. And, most importantly, it's Spielberg!
The fact that it lost, let alone the fact that it even had to compete with some of the films with which it was nominated at the Academy Awards totally baffles me. That's why I don't take the Oscars seriously, and haven't since 2000, when the just-okay "Gladiator" stole the Best Picture award from the far-more-deserving "Traffic."
After participating in it year after year to similar results, I'm starting to feel the same way about the TCF competition. Of course, it's a lot of fun - all your friends are there and you get to celebrate the work of your colleagues. I hate, however, that so many movies have to suffer the same fates as those met by "Traffic," "Munich" and "The Machine." Perhaps, one day, balance will finally be restored to the force.
Graham Flanagan is a 2005 UA graduate in telecommunication and film.