Screen Machine

Uncategorized: Jake Wilson VerbosityWatch: LOVE THE BEAST

The dastardly editors of The Age this week assigned Jake Wilson the task of reviewing Eric Bana’s film about how awesome Eric Bana is, Love the Beast, and horror movie retread, Friday the 13th; two mundane films hardly worthy of J-Dub’s particular brand of lofty, baroque rhetoric. Not the sort to be disheartened, J-Dub heroicly mined Eric Bana’s vanity project to deliver at least one nonsensical diamond in the rough:Bereft of any cinematic substance, J-Dub stretched his grand semiotic powers to observe:

it’s clear that the car serves as a representation of his shifting self-image: comprised of old and new parts, outwardly polished yet requiring constant repair.

Eric Bana makes film about his car… Must think of METAPHOR… Metaphor emerging… Eric Bana IS the car! The car has replaced parts like Eric Bana has… uh… a new liver… no… different acting roles? Yes! The car always needs repairing just like Eric Bana’s career which has been prey to… constant and increasing success and praise? D’oh!

Figuring out this Eric Bana = Vintage Car metaphor is probably more fun than the film itself. Big up to ya J-Dub!

[Jake Wilson's review of Love the Beast and Friday the 13th]

Brad Nguyen is a co-editor of Screen Machine. He studied Cinema Studies at the University of Melbourne, was the film reviewer for Triple R Breakfasters and has written for Senses of Cinema.

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