October 09, 2006

Indian guy meets dolphin gal

“Dude Vision” Rocks. Life through the Eyes of a Guy...Dude Vision is not dopey humor like Dude, Where’s My Car? It’s clever; it’s glib; it’s satirical, but never demeaning or crude for the sake of a cheap guffaw. For that you can thank [Jon] Proudstar, who wrote, directed and stars as the film’s title “dude.”

In the opening scenes we see Jon lying in bed with his “bombshell” girlfriend, Veronica, played by Juoy Luzania. Yeah, he loves her enough, but it’s Saturday morning and what would any guy under 40 want to do on Saturday morning? No, not that—he had plenty the night before; and it surely ain’t cuddling, which he’s afraid his honey is expecting. It’s free time playing X-box and drinking soda and eating cold pizza. Now, that's the American man we all know and love.

In typical dude fashion, Jon gamely agrees to go shopping at the mall with main squeeze. As she’s chastising him to get ready, her voice, ummm…her voice becomes…“When is she going to learn that as a guy, I have a genetic predisposition to hear a maximum of eight words in a given sentence?” Jon says, “Anything beyond that is…dolphin talk.”
Comment:  Proudstar was also the writer of TRIBAL FORCE #1--reputedly the first comic book done by Natives.

3 comments:

writerfella said...

Writerfella here --
Now we're in writerfella land. "Dude Vision" escapes almost all the traps and pitfalls of subjective filmmaking, save for three. The pacing could have been tighter and, even in only 25 minutes, the film dwells overlong on scenes in which very little happens. Certain thematic elements help carry the action and then sort of end up forgotten, like dolphin-speak dialog and the XBox connection. There should have been more wordless glances at the audience that seem to ask, 'Did you hear/see/believe that?'
The scene at the bar needed to be a one-angle setup with couple AND bartender visible, and we see his reaction to the argument, dutifully refilling her drink each time she throws it. Then the third time the barkeep leans forward, 'dude' stops him and says, "Okay, okay! Look, I'm driving!" THEN the barkeep punchline about the cost of the drinks...
Otherwise, it's hilarious and ambitious, very enjoyable, and it keeps a fair hand on its own pulses. The 'internalized reality' sequences are just right and we even find that dude's fantasies in fact are shared by his girlfriend, only he never will know it.
Commendable job! ***
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'

Rob said...

I don't know about the revision of the bar scene, but I agree with your other comments. I'd add that the scenes with men acting as apes or Jedi knights were overly familiar, while the scenes with the girlfriend speaking "dolphin" seemed fresh.

In terms of both quantity and quality, I would've liked to see more original insights. Still, the film was entertaining overall--a fine look at (one extreme of) the male psyche.

writerfella said...

Writerfella here --
The bartender would or would not be a distraction to the audience, but I see him as a mostly 'expected presence', like the postman whos is supposed to be there. His arm intruding into the frame momentarily distracts from the couple and that's an error.
Plus, it is the case of the Native couple are in situations and contexts that anybody could be in, BUT -- that they ARE Native is the Luck O' The Iroquois and adds its own angle therefore.
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'