Extensions II: Victory (2020)

This year’s redux of Extensions II I found to be mostly engaging.
There are some great meta moments. The Nightmare sequence was very
well done– the scratchiness of the film really helped make it feel
more like a nightmare, and the cartoon colored bedroom felt
appropriate. The finale featuring the assassination of three friends
in the snow was a great moment in cinema history. All in all, I found
this to be inspiring from a story-telling perspective. May the new
Extensions films perpetuate the spirit of the earlier Extensions
films! oh and also, boobies.


The First Tasting

I was surprised and pleased by the high energy that this film
manages– this is a difficult feat, especially when composed via zoom.
Each of the performers settled into their roles nicely. Taken as a
stand-alone film, it works. Taken as part 1 of a two (or three) part
series, it also works, albeit, moreso as a display of Count
Vraqwhhfsdhkwawse’s character change. More on that in the later
review. A delightfully silly piece. The world needs more Gordon Stacks
laughs.


The Sea Peoples

There are some incredibly well-done moments in Willhelm’s quarantine
feature. There’s good characterization, and moments where the tension
is palpable (the final sequence leading to the reveal of the face
wound inside the belly of the shark was really effective). The opening
sequence is a clever riff on modern dating. The scenes in the belly of
the shark were really well done, especially the foggy bits with the
skeletons and the gun. I found a few moments in this film to be
funnier than maybe the rest of the live audience thought, especially
the scene at the Seals exhibit outside of the Aquarium, and the line
“Lakes from here on out” which gave me a hearty chuckle I think this
is because of my understanding of what was going on– I thought the
character was slowly turning into a were-shark, and was thirsting for
the flesh of a seal. By the end, my read on the story became more
unclear– was he duplicated? a were-shark? Something else? I dont
know. With that said, the final sequence featuring the character in
the bathroom, with his ‘doppleganger’ (?) in the bathtub, was
particularly unsettling. I would have preferred the film ends there,
leaving the audience with the question– What just happened?– with a
side dish of dread and uncomfortableness. The final Coda that was
included, featuring yours truly being attacked by a shark while the
female scientist friend finds the gun, was fun to film, but maybe not
necessary for the feature. That said, all the performances were great.
The music, especially the Sea Shanty jig, was really cool. All in all,
a technically well done film!


Girl with the Most Cake

Props to Maraschino for submitting some films. “The girl with the most
Cake” is effective in that it made me sort of uncomfortable. I felt
the raw energy of the cake being cut. A 2020 release of anguish. A lot
of the color choices were pretty cool, too, and made the piece more
interesting than it would have been otherwise.


2020

It’s lovely to see Pepper. I’m reminded of my times with my animals.
The telephone pole with the stickers was strangely compelling, as was
the door with the dent beneath the peephole. Pepper’s ascension was
the high point of this film.


The Sleep Demon

This was the film I originally wanted to make for this year’s
Extensions, dating back to a Sleep Paralysis event that occurred to me
on the first of April of this year. I’ve had sleep paralysis episodes
occur three times in my life, and all three times it has happened in
the same bed, in the room, in my grandparent’s attic. Of all the
places I’ve lived in my life, my time in this room has been the
shortest (one year from 09-10, and now since March). But during these
combined 15 or so months, this random unsettling act has happened
thrice, and only in this location. Akin to a nightmare, but I’m awake,
and I can’t move. Each time I’ve sensed some unwelcome feminine
presence attempting to get into bed with me. Usually, after a minute
or so, I’m able to snap out of it, and once I snap out of it, I’m
filled with dread–it doesn’t feel scary or like a nightmare when it’s
happening, only until after I’ve “woken” up from it does the fear
become palpable..
What’s particularly unsettling about the last occurence is that
immediately upon waking (this occurred for me around 615 AM), I texted
two friends, Nick D’Agostino (who helped me shoot the “Cribs” episode
from Extensions XXXV), and Billy Deeb (who’s created music for many of
the Extensions Features), and BOTH had had the same experience that
night. I found that to be exquisitely odd that I knew Nick and Billy
had had similar experiences that very same night. I also put a notice
out on Facebook, and two other people who I was friends with in
college also had it happen that night. Cosmic strangeness! A
coincidence? Or something else going on? (Likely stress related due to
the new conditions of the pandemic, but a boy can dream (or
nightmare), can’t he!).
Anyway, this was fun to shoot. I got to do planks in a dress for like
20 minutes to get the shot of the sleep demon levitating above the
bed. It’s good to know I can still fit into my sister’s prom dress…
not that I ever wore it back in the day, but I thought that I woulda
fit in it then, and I confirmed that I can fit in it now (at least my
waist does, I couldn’t zip it up). Anyway, BOO!


The Will

This turned out much better than I had anticipated, mostly due to the
miraculously engaging performances by VH, The Professor, Visitor Blim,
and Herr O. I had written the script to feel like a play, but using
Zoom to flip the ‘will reading’ cliche we’ve seen so many times into
something a little bit more ‘in the moment.’ Vlindinhauer Haverhast’s
turn as the loquacious Gregory Silver, aka “The Minister” is laden
with the right amount of gravitas and bombast. Herr O & VIsitor Blim’s
performances as “The Doctor” and “The Czar” are equally tender and
resigned, as much as one would expect people to be who have resigned
themselves to play Russian Roulette. The Professor’s turn as “The
Precepter” was a highlight for me, and digging through some of the
off-dialogue moments of his character’s reactions were a joy.
There are several things I would like to have changed, or at least
tidied up, if I had given myself more time. The common complaint was
that people thought the two survivors had somehow duped the two who
had killed themselves, when it was a once-a-year group event where
everyone plays Russian Roulette. I could have made this more apparent
during the conversations by actually mentioning “Russian Roulette,” or
in the final moments before leaving the frame, each character could
have been shown loading a single bullet, and spinning the revolver,
but the props didn’t really allow for that. I also could have cleaned
up some of the edits and the audio a little bit more; there is a
single Toast where I miss the bells, and which irks me upon rewatch.
Otherwise I found this to be somehow harrowing and engaging, despite
the fact that the actors did no rehearsals, and only read through the
script twice, live. More than anything, the actors should receive
special acknowledgements for their performances here. Bravo!

The Transmigration of Marjorie Nolan

VH and I riffed on this idea during the summer months, when we were
creating the Labyrinth. We were talking about the esoteric idea
encountered in the work about “food for the moon,” and, coming off the
heels of VH’s writing of the Tasting (where Mooncheese plays a pivotal
role), someone– I think it was VH– said the line “Who’s Cheese
Now?!” And so that inspired the tale of a much-beloved woman, who,
upon her death, believes her soul worthy of ascension. Unfortunately
for her, she was worthy only to be… food for the moon.


The Tasting

Partaking in the creation of this Zoom-film was a highlight of my
midsummer quarantine months. I hadn’t laughed as hard as I did during
the zoom filming of this than I had in months prior. VH’s reprisal of
Count Vraehdhalysner was full of crazed, controlled energy (this was
the fist time he’d portray the role in actuality). I was a little
less-than-pleased with my overall performance as “Fitzy,” but there
are some choice silly moments throughout. Maraschino makes an
appearance here as the lovely Soledad, and William returns as Navin
Tickwillis– I don’t know of a more fitting faux-name. The editing,
while choppy at times, kept the pace moving. I did feel sort of duped
by the false ending though. I honestly didn’t know what Count
Vraehalyse’s motivation or goal is. We know he was given the cheese by
Rhys Terrible in “The First Tasting,” and somehow, between then and
“The Tasting,” the Count has taken on a bit of a larger presence, and
seems to be pulling some sort of strings. Bu to what end?! Was his
gorey death (which I found to be incredible in the moment, and utterly
hilarious upon watching) some sort of manipulative subterfuge, or was
it actually brought on by having eaten the mooncheese in the past? And
where did he get the Mooncheese from this time? I guess we’ll have to
wait for the next installment to find out what the fuck is going on!


When the Alarm Goes Off

There’s some sick genius shit going on over at the Mulone household.
And I like it. A lot. This is fucked. Probably the most fucked up film
F2 has ever created. NoI take it back. This IS the most fuckedup film
F2 has ever created. ANd also the most beautiful. And weird. And
uncomfortable. Is it perfect, no, not really, but how perfect can you
get with no budget, no crew, and like a week to make it? Pretty close
to perfect, I think. Even where things didn’t go as planned– the
scene in the living room where Frank is half cut off– still works
thematically. It’s almost better we can’t see Frank’s head, it shows
that he’s so detached. PLus it makes the audience focus on Holly, who,
up until this point in the film, we don’t get a lot of. Both Holly and
Frank’s performances are top notch, feel real, and are actually
affecting. The Suicide shot is immaculate, and a primo- gif-worthy
sequence.
WHile the performances actually elevate this film to another level,
the actual philosophical foundation is equally engaging. What is
death, but entrance to another realm, closer to perfection? I had just
read “Jonathan Livingston Seagull” where the notion of the next world
after this one is one closer up to perfection, and there was some
thematic resonance that this film has with what I’d been thinking
about recently, too. Plus, this film seemed somehow to wrap everything
that every other film of the evening was trying to say into one
under-30-minute feature. There’s thematic resonance, then there’s meta
resonance, When the Alarm goes Off manages to transcend. My vote for
the Haverhast.


The Realization

A perfect way to end the event. The finale sequence, where Frank is
revealed to be a secret 45 supporter, was riffed on by myself and VH
on another day down by the labyrinth, and it was great to see that
brought to actuality. Captain Cat’s toy segment was cool to see just
how dang smart animals can be. I like all the labyrinth stuff— look
for my naked ass at the 4:08mark (you might have to zoom waaaaaaaaayy
in. the water was cold!). Harlan Haverhast’s song and dance in the
graveyard was great and silly and weird. Overall a fun time!
And the final shot of Frank rolling around was also oddly meta; as our
real life live Zoom hangout can attest, Frank wasn’t far off.


Bravo!