{"id":95,"date":"2006-10-06T08:30:34","date_gmt":"2006-10-06T13:30:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/?p=95"},"modified":"2014-09-06T15:01:34","modified_gmt":"2014-09-06T21:01:34","slug":"critique-du-c-u-shot-reloaded","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/?p=95","title":{"rendered":"Critique du C-U: SHOT reloaded"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bringing our parade of student-film posts to a close (for now), C-U Blogfidential<\/strong> has exhumed some material for those University of Illinois<\/strong> students interested in the \u201clost\u201d feature film SHOT<\/strong>, created by their long-graduated peers three decades ago. Rumor has it that members of Illini Film & Video<\/strong> will give SHOT<\/strong> a shot over the weekend, and\u00a0we’ll be interested to learn what they think of<\/em>\u00a0this vintage police-chase flick.<\/em><\/p>\n

The following is a review of SHOT<\/strong> published by The Daily Illini<\/u><\/strong> on March 29, 1973. It has been edited to correct punctuation and spelling mistakes.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

“SHOT \u2013 Bullseye on First Try”<\/strong><\/p>\n

by Allen Estrin<\/em>
\nDaily Illini<\/u> Reviewer<\/em><\/p>\n

Ross<\/em> \u2013 His hair is too long and his temper is too short. He\u2019s a cop, but he has the psyche of a homicidal maniac. Women waste his time. His passion to inflict pain burns like a white hot branding iron. He might have been the one who bloodied helpless students in the riots here several springs ago.<\/p>\n

Wilson<\/em> is his sidekick. Wilson reads dirty magazines in his spare time, orders rotten donuts, and has a marshmallow for a brain.<\/p>\n

Blasi<\/em> \u2013 He pushes heroin. He is very mean. If his sense of right and wrong hadn\u2019t been warped when he was a child he might have been Ross\u2019 good friend. He has a cesspool for a soul.<\/p>\n

These are the three main characters in Cinemaguild<\/strong>\u2019s first adventure into the movie-making business, SHOT<\/strong>, a raw, rough-cut, but largely successful cops-and-robbers film that only a clan of degenerate students could dream up.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The plot, like any good cops-and-robbers film, is simple \u2013 Ross and Wilson seek to foil the evil doings of a demonic drug pusher, Blasi. But the biggest mistake the viewer can make is to take the movie seriously. Director Mitch Brown<\/strong> has his film jumping back and forth between drama and self-parody as fast as your little sister jumps rope. The result is to leave us slightly confused, but always laughing and usually contented.<\/p>\n

SHOT<\/strong> is far from flawless, however. In fact, it\u2019s riddled with (bullet) holes. The editing for one is so staccato at spots that it makes us dizzy and the use of sound effects is at various points inexcusable. Tires screeching as a car pulls out of the mud, Wilson\u2019s heartbeat during a tense moment, and ricochets are heard after a bullet hits rotted wood are examples of where sound effects used for comic effect come across like a bad joke.<\/p>\n

These irritating rough edges are overshadowed by Rod Adrich<\/strong>\u2019s excellent photography and the strong performances by Rick Watt<\/strong>, Chuck Russell<\/strong>, and Frank Himes<\/strong> as Ross, Wilson, and Blasi. Through Adrich\u2019s photography, we can feel the chill of the winter in the exterior shots, the warmth in the interiors (superbly captured in the scene where Wilson and Ross break into an apartment), and the ugly face of Champaign-Urbana<\/strong> wherever we go.<\/p>\n

Watt and Himes couldn\u2019t be meaner as the equally ornery cop and pusher. Russell captures [well] the strangely innocent Wilson, who should be sucking his thumb in his mother\u2019s lap rather than getting caught up in the messy business of being a cop.<\/p>\n

The personality of the characters leads one to question Mitch Brown\u2019s script, which portrays everyone as demented and depraved. One wonders if half a decade at this University inspired Brown to such a pessimistic vision.<\/p>\n

The pace of the film is properly very fast, shifting from one shootout to another. Try as he might, Brown was not able to illicit consistent performances from his secondary actors, Neil Lifton<\/strong> as Stiller and Jay Brett<\/strong> as Sammy. Blasi\u2019s sadistic associates are adept at comedy, but clumsy in the straight scenes. The rest of the cast follows this example.<\/p>\n

It should be noted that this film is not THE FRENCH CONNECTION<\/strong> or DIRTY HARRY<\/strong>; it is not in their league. Asking a director to make a feature film with a $15,000 budget is like asking the Queen of England to live on welfare. It can be done, but it isn\u2019t easy.<\/p>\n

SHOT<\/strong> is the premier effort in a feature-length production for just about everyone involved. It is somewhat analogous to Melvin van Peebles<\/strong>\u2019 SWEET SWEETBACK\u2019S BAADASSSS SONG<\/strong>. As a first try, considering the material available, the film is a great success and credit is due to Brown and his producer, Nate Kohn<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

No one is going to call it a masterpiece, but its primitive toughness and self-parody are attractive. The true value of this film may be left to posterity. It\u2019s a premier of no small importance and \u2013 for all its admitted faults \u2013 it deserves to be seen.<\/p>\n

A Cinemaguild Production. Written and directed by Mitch Brown. Produced by Nate Kohn. Cast: Ross \u2013 Richard Watt, Wilson \u2013 Chuck Russell, Blasi \u2013 Frank Himes.<\/em><\/p>\n

****<\/strong> (four stars)<\/p>\n

\u00a9 Illini Media Company<\/a> \u2013 Reprinted with permission<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Review author Allen Estrin<\/strong> went on to write or co-write numerous screenplays for television shows such as BOSTON PUBLIC<\/strong> and TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL<\/strong> and occasional features like POCAHONTAS II<\/strong> from Disney. He is currently the producer for radio talk-show host Dennis Prager<\/strong> and a Senior Lecturer in screenwriting at the American Film Institute\u2019s AFI Conservatory.<\/em><\/p>\n

The next section, adapted from material that will appear in <\/em>MICRO-FILM<\/strong>\u2019s upcoming B-movie magazine Backyard Cinema<\/u><\/strong>, explains how SHOT<\/strong> fell into your trusty editor\u2019s hands.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Upon researching movies made in the region where Backyard Cinema<\/u><\/strong> is published, I discovered articles about SHOT<\/strong> in old issues of The Daily Illini<\/u><\/strong> and talked producer Nate Kohn<\/strong> into lending me a dub of this Cinemaguild<\/strong> opus. Currently an instructor at Grady College, University of Georgia-Athens, Kohn also acts as director of Roger Ebert\u2019s Overlooked Film Festival<\/strong> every April in Champaign, during which he sheepishly handed over SHOT<\/strong> in 2001. I\u2019m certain that to his eyes, the movie hasn\u2019t aged well in the slightest, but this amateur film historian desired to see that amateur film anyway.<\/p>\n

I had little preconception about the movie other than the Daily Illini<\/u> coverage and Kohn\u2019s anecdotes during an interview conducted in 2000. Self-conscious acting and dated threads aside, the movie blew me away because it stomps the concept of \u201cstudent film\u201d well into the ground. SHOT<\/strong> resembles an elongated Seventies cop show targeted for the big screen, mainstream in its appropriations but weirdly sarcastic in its execution. I unearthed a copy of the mid-Eighties VHS release from Sony earlier this year; it\u2019s a much better transfer than the version on Kohn\u2019s dub that provides a clear look at this curiosity item and Champaign County time capsule. Thankfully, the amusingly \u201cexploitative\u201d new title dreamt up by Sony\u2019s marketing team \u2013 DEATH SHOT<\/strong> \u2013 is relegated to the MISSING IN ACTION<\/strong>-style box art.<\/p>\n

Most people don\u2019t realize that the University of Illinois<\/strong> has ushered more alumni than Roger Ebert and Hugh Hefner<\/strong> into the entertainment world. SHOT<\/strong> features several in its credits crawl, including Charles Russell<\/strong> (a.k.a. Chuck Russell, director of THE SCORPION KING<\/strong> and A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 3<\/strong>), Fred Rubin<\/strong> (producer of numerous sitcoms such as NIGHT COURT<\/strong> and ARCHIE BUNKER\u2019S PLACE<\/strong>), Jason Brett<\/strong> (president of Second City Entertainment in Chicago and an original producer of David Mamet<\/strong>\u2019s play\u00a0Sexual Perversity in Chicago<\/strong>), Tomlinson Holman<\/strong> (Professor of Film Sound at USC and developer of George Lucas<\/strong>\u2019 THX Sound System), and Peter Crombie<\/strong>, \u201c\u2018Crazy\u2019 Joe Davola\u201d on SEINFELD<\/strong>. Kohn has produced the occasional feature (SOMEBODIES<\/strong>, ZULU DAWN<\/strong>) and written several screenplays, although SHOT<\/strong> director\/writer Mitch Brown<\/strong> apparently drifted away from the entertainment business some time ago.<\/p>\n

So, what kind of cinema culture existed at UIUC at the time? To wit \u2026 The Foellinger Auditorium<\/strong> premiere of SHOT<\/strong> took place on March 28, 1973, one night after THE GODFATHER<\/strong> won \u201cBest Picture\u201d at the Academy Awards and a week before legendary director Jean-Luc Godard<\/strong> (BREATHLESS<\/strong>) spoke at Foellinger. Also on March 28, the student film magazine MacGuffin<\/u><\/strong> made its debut at a booth in the Illini Union<\/strong>. Movies playing in commercial theaters included CABARET<\/strong> with Liza Minnelli<\/strong>, DELIVERANCE<\/strong> with Jon Voight<\/strong> and Burt Reynolds<\/strong>, SAVE THE TIGER<\/strong> with Jack Lemmon<\/strong>, THE LIFE AND TIMES OF JUDGE ROY BEAN<\/strong> with Paul Newman<\/strong>, SOUNDER<\/strong> with Cicely Tyson<\/strong> and Paul Winfield<\/strong>, JEREMIAH JOHNSON<\/strong> with Robert Redford<\/strong>, SLEUTH<\/strong> with Michael Caine<\/strong> and Laurence Olivier<\/strong>, THE TRAIN ROBBERS<\/strong> with John Wayne<\/strong>, and the infamous LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT<\/strong>. One week later, the former Co-Ed Theater<\/strong> in Campustown presented two Swedish dramas starring Liv Ullmann<\/strong>, Ingmar Bergman<\/strong>\u2019s CRIES AND WHISPERS<\/strong> and Jan Troell<\/strong>\u2019s THE EMIGRANTS<\/strong>, along with a midnight show of the X-rated FRITZ THE CAT<\/strong>, while Lincoln Hall<\/strong> hosted the \u201c3rd Annual University of Illinois Student Film Festival<\/strong>.\u201d Finally, manager Richard Lynch<\/strong> of the Art Theatre<\/strong> announced one week earlier that he would not book a return engagement of DEEP THROAT<\/strong> for fear that he\u2019d be arrested by the FBI, which had been busy confiscating prints of the landmark porno nationwide.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Jason Pankoke<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"SHOT<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Back to the fore, MacDuff\u2026<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Visit the Critique Cache<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Return to Home Page<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reviews of SHOT from Champaign-Urbana, IL. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,18,31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-95","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-critique-du-c-u","category-student-film","category-the-old-school"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=95"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=95"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=95"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=95"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}