Film Geek (2005)

Director:

James Westby

Writer:

James Westby

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

His Knowledge is your misery.

Plot:

The story of Scotty Pelk, a socially inept video store clerk who gets fired from his job and becomes a sensation as an online film critic. |

Plot Keywords:

Video Store Clerk | Video Store | Video Store Manager | Applause | Fish Out Of Water

Cast

Melik Malkasian	...	Scotty Pelk
Ritah Parrish	...	'Days of Heaven' Customer
John Breen	...	Mr. Johnson
Dennis Adkins	...	'Letterboxed' Customer
Tara Walker	...	Kaitlin
Taylor Nida	...	Taylor
Daphne Carver	...	'Godard' Customer 1
Kristen Torrianni	...	'Godard' Customer 2
Michelle Garner	...	Cindi
Michael Ramirez	...	Video Store Customer
Jack Ryan	...	Mr. Mooney
Kim Hill	...	Video Underground Manager
Tyler Gannon	...	Niko
Leslie Taylor	...	Temp Agency Counselor
Tony St. Clair	...	Virgil
Andrew Harris	...	Record Store Guy
Ezra Daniels	...	Record Store Customer / Interviewee 2
Matt Mitchum	...	Brandon (as Matt Morris)
Norther Mallinson	...	Lesbian
Kai Ness	...	Lesbian
S.E. Dogaru	...	Intern 1
Joe Hill	...	Intern 2
Byrd McDonald	...	Party House Owner
Isaac Foust	...	Cindi's Boyfriend
Laura Ewers	...	Waitress
Jason Hughes	...	Cody
David F. Walker	...	Himself (as David Walker)
Katie Jones	...	Interviewer
Jayanta Jenkins	...	Interviewee 1
Becca Glatt	...	Interviewed Girl
Whitney Kilian	...	Interviewed Girl
D.K. Holm	...	Himself
Shawn Levy	...	Himself
Jacob Pander	...	Himself
Angi Moss	...	Herself

Directed by
James Westby

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
James Westby

Produced by
Amber Geiger	....	co-producer
Katie Jones	....	associate producer
Stephanie Lloyd	....	co-producer
Byrd McDonald	....	producer
James Swisher	....	executive producer (as James R. Swisher)
Zach Wilson	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Jason Wells

Cinematography by
Jason Hughes		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
James Westby

Casting by
Jeffery Hasseler

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Byrd McDonald	....	assistant director

Art Department
Ezra Daniels	....	props
Chad Gay	....	artist: collages
Amelia Santiago	....	artist: paintings

Sound Department
Shawn Dawes	....	sound mixer
Jason Wells	....	sound designer
Jason Wells	....	sound editor
Jason Wells	....	sound mixer

Stunts
Morgan Hobart	....	stunt double
Morgan Hobart	....	stunt double: Melik Malkasian

Camera and Electrical Department
Anthony Georgis	....	still photographer
Jason Hughes	....	still photographer
Byrd McDonald	....	additional camera operator
James Westby	....	additional camera operator

Editorial Department
Bruce Bolden	....	colorist

Music Department
Nate Carson	....	music supervisor
Richard Cawley	....	musician: shaker
Daniel Lamb	....	musician: trombone
Kyrstyn Pixton	....	musician: singer
Jason Wells	....	musician: trumpet, flugelhorn, guitar and piano
Jason Wells	....	musician: trumpet, flugelhorn, guitar, vocals and piano

Other crew
James Swisher	....	production attorney (as James R.F. Swisher)

Thanks
Andrew Blubaugh	....	special thanks
David A. Cohen	....	special thanks
Warren Pereira	....	special thanks
Bill Plympton	....	special thanks
Morgan Spurlock	....	special thanks
David F. Walker	....	special thanks (as David Walker)

Production Companies

• Parkwood East Productions
• The Portland Narrative Project

Distributors

• First Run Features (2006) (USA) (theatrical)

Other Companies

• Audiowells  soundtrack recorded, mixed and mastered at

Runtime:

78 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

USA:Not Rated

Filming Locations:

Portland, Oregon, USA

Company:

Parkwood East Productions

Trivia:

Director Cameo: [James Westby]The Video Underground employee leaving messages on Scotty Pelk's answering machine.

Quotes:

Scotty Pelk:I love movies more than anything. Movies let you be other people.

Movie Connections:

References Shoeshine (1946)

A movie in dire need of entertainment value

Film Geek, from writer/director James Westby, has all the hallmarks of a film that has been made with absolutely no compromises at all and as such comes off as an incredibly self-indulgent exercise on Westby's part. He got every scene and line of dialog he wanted but didn't really bother to let the rest of us in on the joke.

Scotty Pelk (played by Melik Malkasian) is the titular geek whose life we are supposed to find fascinating. Everything from his monotonous droning about movies to his box sniffing is supposed to endear us to this man but succeeds in doing nothing more than reminding us why it is most people who are labeled geeks are social outcasts. He's not funny, he's not charming, he's not sweet, he's not anything but a pain in the butt and we get to be subjected to his nonsense for almost two hours.

And while Scotty is most certainly in the running for the title of Most Annoying Thing About This Movie, the winners, far and above the tepid acting and predictable plot line, are the little bits of dialog that rear their ugly heads from time to time to remind us that Westby has a horribly overdeveloped grasp of melodrama. The only thing worse than hearing Scotty drone on and on about movies is hearing Scotty drone on and on about his dreams and aspirations.

Perhaps if somebody had told Westby (preferably at the script writing stage), "You might want to try to entertain someone other than yourself," it would have been a better film. Since this movie is supposedly based upon Westby's days as a video store clerk, it's easy to see where this narcissism comes from.