"REWIND KINDLY" ONLINE CONTEST

“Be Kind Rewind” is a piece of s**t, a messy one with a few good bits mixed in with about a pound or two of real fecal roughage. That said, the good bits mostly involve the short amounts of video from the duo’s re-creations (if you have no idea what I’m talking about, it’ll get explained in a second), as Jack Black and Mos Def try their best to do “Ghostbusters” better’n they remember it. I remember thinking as I watched this cinematic stillborn kick its way across the screen that I would’ve been so much happier if I could’ve just watched hours upon hours of the cheap, amateur re-makes of classic films instead of the supposed “film.” Looks like I got my wish!

The press release is below, but the gist is this: the Alamo Drafthouse and Filmmaking Frenzy put together an online contest where folks could upload their best cheap re-makes of classic films, and then we could watch and vote for the winner. The press release:

Online voting begins for REWIND KINDLY- a filmmaking competition inspired by Michel Gondry’s BE KIND REWIND

AUSTIN, TX – All entries are in and online voting has begun for a Filmmaking Frenzy ‘sweding contest’ hosted by The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema and sponsored by AMD and Dell. ‘Sweding’ is term defined in the film BE KIND REWIND as the practice of re-creating something from scratch using commonly available, everyday materials and technology.

In the film, characters played by Jack Black and Mos Def must remake their own (cheap and truncated) versions of popular Hollywood films to re-stock the shelves of a video store when they accidentally erase every VHS tape. Using this premise, the REWIND KINDLY Filmmaking Frenzy asked aspiring filmmakers to complete an up-to-five-minute, homemade, low-budget remake of a popular Hollywood film. Well over one hundred teams registered and uploaded their remake to www.filmmakingfrenzy.com! Everything from HIGHLANDER to PURPLE RAIN to STARS WARS has been sweded by local, national, amateur and/or professional filmmakers hoping to win the first prize quad-core AMD-powered Dell workstation with a 30-inch monitor and the opportunity to have their film play before every screening of BE KIND REWIND when it opens on February 22nd at the Alamo Drafthouse. The turnout has been exceptional and the films have been extraordinary- it’s amazing how imagination can compensate for a complete lack of resources!

Beginning next week, The Alamo Drafthouse will host a series of screenings to showcase the films of all competing teams, leading up to a BEST OF REWIND KINDLY AWARDS CEREMONY on February 21st at the Alamo Drafthouse at the Ritz.

All the films can be watched and voted for right now at www.filmmakingfrenzy.com.

Okay, now I’ve already watched a few (“Commando” is my fav thus far) and I strongly suggest, rather than go see “Be Kind Rewind” when it finally vomits onto your local multiplex, that you just start watching these flicks. Really, THIS is the good stuff.