BeatRoute Magazine B.C. print e-edition - June 2016
BeatRoute Magazine is a monthly arts and entertainment paper based in Western Canada with a predominant focus on music – local, independent or otherwise.
BeatRoute Magazine is a monthly arts and entertainment paper based in Western Canada with a predominant focus on music – local, independent or otherwise.
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FILM<br />
RAIDERS! THE STORY OF THE GREATEST FAN FILM EVER MADE<br />
Indiana Jones and the 35-year remake<br />
by Paris Spence-Lang<br />
I<br />
love Indiana Jones. He is the greatest hero<br />
ever made, above even Harrison Ford’s very<br />
own Han Solo, and I will gladly watch any of<br />
the original movies at the drop of a well-worn<br />
fedora. But my love for the trilogy has rarely extended<br />
past the movies. As for Chris Strompolos<br />
and Eric Zala, their first meeting with Indy was<br />
the catalyst for, in the eyes of many, the greatest<br />
fan film ever made.<br />
It started in 1981, when Steven Spielberg and<br />
George Lucas teamed up to create Raiders of the<br />
Lost Ark. The next year, 11-year-old Strompolos<br />
Raiders! Is a story of fandom gone wild in the form of an Indiana Jones remake documentary.<br />
asked 12-year-old Zala if he wanted to help him<br />
remake the movie—the entire 115 minute, 20 million<br />
USD movie—on, as Strompolos’s son would<br />
later say, “his allowance.” Zala said yes.<br />
Seven years later, the pair—along with a cast<br />
of friends including special-effects whiz Jayson<br />
Lamb—had created a shot-for-shot remake of<br />
the entire movie, down to the live snakes, melting<br />
faces, and giant rolling boulder. Well, all but the<br />
plane scene—the one where Indy gets the tar<br />
beaten out of him by the Steve Austin of Nazis,<br />
who is then turned into an Aryan smoothie by the<br />
propeller before the plane explodes in a phantasmagorical<br />
fireball. That plane cost $700,000 to<br />
build, making its absence understandable.<br />
But, 30 years later, Strompolos and Zala<br />
decided they had some unfinished business—<br />
namely, blowing up that damn plane. Raiders!<br />
The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made<br />
Takes you through their film shoot, from Kickstarter,<br />
to camel, to “Cut!” But as the documentary<br />
progresses, it becomes less about the boys’<br />
remake and more about the boys themselves. To<br />
them, the project was a way to escape, a fantasy<br />
world where they could hide from the challenges<br />
of—in Strompolos’s case—separated parents and<br />
an abusive alcoholic stepfather. The boys were<br />
outsiders, and the remake became less about<br />
adventure and more about acceptance.<br />
The film is full of beautiful moments that<br />
underpin its emotional journey. John Rhys-Davies,<br />
who played Sallah in the original film, gives<br />
wisdom and priceless anecdotes throughout.<br />
Directors and film critics such as Eli Roth<br />
(Hostel, Inglorious Basterds) explain how the<br />
remake inspired them as film nerds. There’s<br />
even as much (if not more) drama than the<br />
original: romantic competition between the<br />
boys, crippling addictions, and even uncut and<br />
shocking violence that—when it appears—gives<br />
the sobering realization of how close Strompolos<br />
and crew came to serious injury or death time<br />
and time again.<br />
While Raiders! Has parts that go down like<br />
bad dates—for example, the audio of SFX expert<br />
Lamb, while talking about how he was all but<br />
absent from any media recognition, is faded<br />
out—the documentary flows well, and is surprisingly<br />
deep and satisfying. The movie won’t melt<br />
your faces, but it will give any fan of Indy plenty<br />
of enjoyment—especially if you, like Strompolos<br />
and Zala, are the kind of nerd who owns a whip.<br />
But I swear, it’s not mine.<br />
Raiders! opens at Cineplex International<br />
Village on <strong>June</strong> 17th<br />
THIS MONTH IN FILM<br />
TAIWANESE FILM FESTIVAL<br />
In Taiwan, the urban sprawl of cities like<br />
Tainan and Taipei fights with the surrounding<br />
jungle and mountains. Taiwanese<br />
film is just as diverse, and VIFF puts the<br />
best of it on display in the Taiwanese Film<br />
Festival. Featuring eight films, the people<br />
of Taiwan tell their stories through documentary<br />
and drama alike, with violinists,<br />
hit men, resort owners, and the Taiwanese<br />
black kite eagles taking starring roles.<br />
The festival includes The Moment, a<br />
celebration of Taiwanese culture that<br />
features footage from fifty-one films.<br />
<strong>June</strong> 10-12<br />
at Vancity Theatre<br />
UPCOMING RELEASES<br />
Skipping past Michael Bay’s Ninja Turtles, we<br />
find ourselves in Blizzard’s realm of Azeroth.<br />
Yes, the film adaptation of Warcraft is out on<br />
<strong>June</strong> 10th, which means we can finally play<br />
video games without actually having to move at<br />
all. But truth is stranger than fiction, as proven<br />
by the film Tickled. A seemingly innocent<br />
documentary about “competitive endurance<br />
tickling,” the movie turns dark as we fall down<br />
a rabbit hole of conspiracy, secret identities,<br />
criminal activity, and feathers. But that’s not<br />
the only way to get a laugh: our favourite fish<br />
is back in Finding Dory. Fighting her amnesia,<br />
Dory works with Marlin and Nemo—who was,<br />
if you’ll remember, found—to learn about her<br />
past. And where she learned to speak whale.<br />
Finding Dory<br />
by Paris Spence-Lang<br />
JUNE 3 GOOD BURGER JUNE 10 SUSPIRIA JUNE 17 CRASH (1996) JUNE 24 THE CRAFT JULY 1 STOP MAKING SENSE<br />
30 FILM<br />
<strong>June</strong> <strong>2016</strong>