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nickkarner
He directed his first 8mm feature film called THE LITTLEST DANCER, a documentary following a group of dancers in preparation for a performance.
He then made several independent short film such as CHAINSAW JUNGLE and RALEIGH ON ICE.
His second feature film was the controversial BABS JOHNSON, which was deemed so offensive, the premiere screening was cancelled only hours before the event. It is now making rounds at film festivals around the country. He was recently awarded the Best Director Award from the Honolulu International Film Festival.
Karner is also working on a film about stage acting as well as a short documentary about the SHADOW PLAYERS, a stage combat team based out of Raleigh, North Carolina.
Karner's key influences are Scorsese, Kubrick, Waters, Gilliam, Lynch, Solondz, Jarmusch, DePalma, Carpenter, Cronenberg, Herzog, Cox, and others.
His favorite movies include but are not limited to:
Blue Velvet
Goodfellas
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Happiness
The Cook The Thief His Wife and Her Lover
Taxi Driver
My Best Fiend
Revenger's Tragedy
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Monty Python and the Life of Brian
Mulholland Drive
The Brood
Pink Flamingoes
Tetsuo the Iron Man
Sleeper
Reviews
The Happening (2008)
Is this the end of Shyamalan...a-ding-dong?
Well, with the upcoming Avatar, I suppose not, but I can honestly say it might as well be. If Lady in the Water was the death knell, than The Happening was the death rattle. I was stunned at the awfulness of this film. By no means is it as ridiculous or incomprehensibly bizarre as Lady in the Water(although I think Lady was at least a good lesson for Mr. Shyabooballuh considering the little hint-hint he got from his double win as Worst Director AND Worst Supporting Actor at the Razzies. Notice how he cast himself as Joey, and then cut himself out? Hmmm...), it was still just as inept in its execution and oblivious to the machinations and traits of human beings.
It all boils down to this. Shamoomalan is GREAT visual stylist. He knows when to use innovative camera techniques and when to just leave it alone and let the actors go. But someone needs to come up, slap him in the face, and say you should never be allowed to write again! A retarted monkey could write better dialogue! It's just uniformly bad. I'm one of the 3 or 4 people who thought the Village was great. Didn't even notice bad dialogue. But you know what, after sitting through Unbreakable, Lady, and Happening, it dawned on me that Nighty Night found a loophole in Village. The dialogue was SUPPOSED to be stilted and weird. He couldn't do wrong. He must've had a ball writing it. Hmmm...this line sucks. Alright, yay for me! Are there any more muffins?
He needs to take a tip from the visual directors who think up the concept and maybe a basic story, then hand it over to more experienced and skilled writers. Take a clue from Sam Raimi and Alex Proyas! Hello! Alex Proyas thought of the story for Dark City, but instead of trying to pound it out by himself, he snagged two other writers(one of which was a writer on Batman!). Same for Raimi. He thought of Darkman, but there are FOUR OTHER WRITERS on that film! These are great films, period. But Knnnn-Night needs to realize that he simply doesn't know how to write realistic dialogue.
We all know the story. Hell, that's the best thing about the movie. Wind blows, plants release something in the air, everybody kills themselves. Marky-Mark is trying to figure out why, the clown from Spawn is trying to find his wife, Will Ferrell's ho from Elf is cheating on her husband(sort of), Cameron has finally become Mr. Rooney, and the chick from Cats is living in isolation and smashing her head through windows. Got it? Good.
I'm not going to sully this review with excerpts from the awful screenplay. I shall only describe SOME of the unbelievably bad scenes. Know what? They might not have been bad scenes if they were written better. But, que cera...
Dirk Diggler talking to his students like NO TEACHER has ever spoken to a class before. Is this Special Ed? Why is he sneaking around the class like a pervert on the run from the neighborhood watch? The idiot train attendants. The stupid woman who just randomly shows footage of the man being torn apart by lions. Thanks for that, ma'am. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to hurl on your Marc Jacobs boots. It's just so inappropriate and weird the way she shows it to him. Could've been written SO much better. Leguizamo(one of the only bright spots in this movie) appears to not be wearing a seatbelt in a crowded car. Not only that, but he's near the front. And yet when the car crashes, he's the only one who emerges to cut his wrists. How the hell did he survive and people were BEHIND HIM?! The soldier. That's it. Just the soldier. I certainly hope they're not shipping him off to Iraq anytime soon. Tiramisu?! I sincerely hope that's a new sex practice that I've just been totally oblivious of. What the hell, man?! There's no conflict! There's nothing to their relationship! Who cares if she ate dessert with him? Who cares if Sgt. Dignam checked out some floozy at a pharmacy? So do I! My wife works at one, and she's HOT!! Duurr!! The two kids they meet. Can you even believe the insults they try to spout off to those people boarded up in that house? "Open up, you bitches!" Are you freakin' kidding me? Just awful. The gym teacher from Carrie has gone cuckoo, and even though she was suitably creepy, her final scene became so ridiculous that it just became laughable. And speaking of laughable, the worst scene you ask? The scene that broke me? The plant talking scene. Hands down. I've been sitting there, in a theatre, patiently giving this ridiculous movie a chance, and then this. It needs to be seen to be believed. I started cackling, literally. It was horrifying.
The good? Anything visual, duh! The death scenes, obviously. Score wasn't bad, not Howard's best, but fine. And the basic concept was really great. But I beg of you, if you see McNight around, and I'm sure you will, just check any restaurant that accepts American Express and you'll see him in the corner imagining people's faces are melting. Tell him that unless he's using that pen to sign his check, he needs to put it down immediately!
The Sadist (1963)
Who's the Big Man Now?!
This undiscovered and extremely 'ahead of its time' gem was in a collection of cheap DVD's called "Freaky Flicks" that I got for xmas. The titles in this lot include Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, The Terror of Tiny Town, and The Killer Shrews. All low budget and wonderfully awful. Then, here comes The Sadist. Considering this film stars Arch Hall Jr., the astonishingly bad actor whose previous credits include Eegah!, Wild Guitar, and the Nasty Rabbit(one previous poster described Arch Hall Jr.'s appearance to that of a canker sore. I couldn't agree more), so I was prepared for another craptastic voyage down the celluloid skid row pavement. Imagine my surprise when I found that this is an extremely well-written, well shot, and dynamically entertaining character piece. First off, any film that dares to be 90 minutes and have only 7 characters in the entire film had better be damn good. And this sucker delivered. There are certain rules you must adhere by to make a movie, and the number one rule is DO NOT HAVE THE NAMES RAY DENNIS STECKLER OR ARCH HALL SR. IN YOUR CREDITS! The fact that they didn't leave their grubby little handprints on this film is a testament to how solid writer/director James Landis felt his material was. Hell, when you've got Oscar Winner Vilmos Zsigmond shooting his first American film(as WILLIAM ZSIGMOND!), you'd better make sure you've got your act together! I think this film is a classic example of a theory I call "If It Weren't For..." Dare I compare a masterpiece like Night of the Hunter to this film, but I was reminded of my theory while checking this one out. It's basically this: If it weren't for the fact that this film was made in the early 60's, when stylized acting was still running rampant and hardcore films with sex and violence that also combined naturalistic acting like Bonnie and Clyde and Easy Rider had yet to be made, this would be a phenomenal film. The problem with this film is that I don't think the actors could completely wrap themselves around the very idea of the darkness in this material. They do their best, no question, but there are too many moments that take you out of the action because of the sylized 50's acting. Its the same with Night of the Hunter. The evil of that film, especially considering when it was made, is astonishing. Yet, it's never completely believable because the actors in the film aren't able to convey the moments and emotions nearly as well as actors from the 70's and onward would have done. Its unfortunate because you can see these are great movies that were way ahead of their time. If it weren't for...Arch Hall Jr.'s performance. Like I said, this guy is a terrible actor. Watch Wild Guitar, on second thought, don't. Just take my word for it. Yet, I could see him really making the effort to act. There were moments when he suddenly kicked it into high gear and was genuinely menacing. But I think if Landis had found a more talented and interesting actor, I think the movie would easily have become a masterpiece. But there is SO much going on in the film that you have to watch for and its like a treasure hunt. The fact that Judy never speaks until the end, the execution scene of the older teacher along with the empty coke bottle moments, the gun clip scene(is the gun empty? You had your chance, mister!), the surprise ending, the dirt-eating scene, the knockout chase with the reflector mirrors, Doris calling her man a coward, the very concept of only 7 characters in the whole film, and the overall feeling of dread that permeates throughout. The other actors, all no-names, are all rather good if not spectacular. You know, just good enough to pass muster, yet I can't remember any of them particularly well. Check this one out. It's a dynamite film that you have to see for its strengths rather than its weaknesses. Ignore those, and this is a truly unique and terrifying film.
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
Excellent and Brilliant, with a few undeniable flaws
I'm a self-professed Sondheim fanatic. I have seen nearly all of the shows he has ever written and own all of his recordings, including songs for shows that have almost NEVER been performed, (i.e. Saturday Night, The Frogs). I was lucky enough to see Todd onstage twice in Repertory and then ultimately seeing the newest Broadway version with Patti Lupone and Michael Cerveris. Although I'm no one special, I think I can at least safely step away from my own love for Sondheim and be completely honest and truthful about the screen version of Todd. I'm not writing this to praise or bash the movie. I've seen it twice now and believe I can accurately and fairly assess its short comings and its triumphs. A lot of my own personal predictions came true. I knew(and everyone else did considering Burton got Dante Ferretti to design) that the sets would be fantastic. Also, the costumes and cinematography were excellent on all levels. That being said, let's get down to it. I knew Depp wouldn't be able to sing it full out like Hearn, Cariou, or Cerveris, because hell, he smokes like a fiend and he's just not a trained singer. And for those who don't know it, Sondheim music is not only extremely difficult to sing, I also do musicals and at some auditions they won't allow you to try out with Sondheim music! The one thing that Depp had going for him was that he is brilliant actor. And he used that to his advantage. AND, as an added bonus, he CAN SING! Sure, its not pretty, and die hard fans' hearts sink just a tad when he doesn't hit those awesome notes that Sondheim has written, but who cares? If he can't hit it, at least he's acting the crap out of the material, that, I have to admit is enough for me. Helena, Helena, Helena...how I loved thee in Fight Club, Big Fish, Wings of the Dove, etc...but it just didn't work. I'm being absolutely honest here. I think I know exactly how she decided to work the part. She realized that Lansbury's performance is VERY big and VERY in your face. So she tried to humanize the character AND make it more subtle. LOVE her, but big mistake. The problem is, her weird, breathy sing-song voice was at times a tad annoying, but more importantly, I think it was actually negating the very essence of her character. The things that she does in the movie are unspeakable, yet she feels like such a weak character compared to the force of nature as written. I just didn't like her singing. Sorry to say it, wanted to very badly, but I just think that Burton shouldn't have let her do it. When I found out it could have been Annette Bening or Toni Collette, it just kills me. Especially Toni Collette, who was excellent in The Wild Party. Alan Rickman, for a role VERY much reduced in the movie version, is solid. No great singer, but haven't we heard that before concerning this movie? Echo...echo... Anyhoo, he was fine, but for me, it was Timothy Spall who stole his thunder. Big fan of his Mike Leigh work, and is he not just the nastiest, greasiest mofo on the block? Just so nasty and awesome! Perfectly embodied the character. Casting Sacha Baron Cohen as Pirelli luckily served two purposes. Uno, it gave him a great part that he played with aplomb(we even get to hear his real voice! which is a rarity, since I don't count his Ali G voice as being completely real when he does it), and the other purpose is to lift the film up, not that it sags, but people need a lift after such a brooding opening hour, so it helps. The young lovers are cute. Anthony is far too pretty and really doesn't make me think he wants Johanna. I think she was good. The kid who played Toby could sing, but man was he stiff. I mean, really, sell it kid! Sell it! But for me, I will forever be indebted to Tim Burton. He did it right. He remained faithful and even improved on some things. He did an awesome job and I hope he's nominated.
JarJar Binks: The F! True Hollywood Story (2000)
Dynamite!
An absolutely dead-on, fantastic spoof of an already tired E True Hollywood Story. The film is very brief so it never overplays its hand. One of the most striking aspects of the film is how well it follows the rules of E True Hollywood Story, yet it finds endless ways to poke fun at the show while still delivering on the mandatory Star Wars in-jokes and overall madcap humor. Leif Einarsson is an excellent director and his massive background in special effects make the difference in this film. Some of the highlights include the crazy French critic: "Jar Jar showed that little bitch Mickey Mouse who the real boss is." A fabulously gay Darth Maul, numerous cameos and doctored pictures, and the so-called "archival footage" is hysterical. The actor playing George Lucas was especially brilliant. All in all, one of my favorite Star Wars spoofs and definitely a must-see for ALL Star Wars fans.
South Park: ManBearPig (2006)
SUPER CEREAL Episode!
This was a pretty good episode. Though no "Trapped in the Closet" or "Cartoon Wars," it had a lot of things going for it. The character of Al Gore and that bizarre-as-hell "super cereal" thing was pretty darn funny. But, the scene that made me adore this episode was one I'm sure everyone will agree was one of the greatest Cartman/Kyle moments ever. When Cartman is superstitious of Kyle that he'll be stealing his gold(which of course is fake!), and he comes within inches of his face. Suddenly, Kyle wakes up, and they have that crazy conversation where Cartman tries to act like everything is completely fine. Cartman crapping out the treasure at the end, though predictable, was pretty funny.
Team America: World Police (2004)
DID YOU CATCH THAT? For HARDCORE SP FANS ONLY!!!
Oh My GOD! Loved it. Loved it soooo much! Saw it at a noon show, the earliest I could see it to be the first. Weren't many people, which didn't piss me off because the more people in an audience, the more laughs, but because Matt and especially Trey are so awesome and deserve to have the number one movie at the box office, so the more the better. If you listen to the commentary on South Park season 4, this same thing happened when SP Bigger Longer Uncut was up against the godawful Wild Wild West and not only did it not make half as much, but people would buy Wild West tickets that were PG-13 just to be able to get into the theatre, then sneak into the SP movie. Not only did people pay for that piece of crap, but they actually helped it make money and keep Hollywood believing that they should keep churning out schlock like that. Hopefully, this will not happen again, although, please God NO! A film, if we can call it a film, with Jennifer Lopez in it, please kill me now! OK, its out of my system. I was going to say. Did you catch all of the references from South Park that went into the film? OK: 1. The montage song. Dynamite Trey song, is he not one of the best musical composer's around? I mean, even Sondheim said the SP movie was one of the best musicals in the last 20 years. If the master himself says its true, hey, it has to be. The montage song was in the ASSPEN episode which was in itself a parody of Savage Steve's Better Off Dead and other 80's ski movies. STAN DARSH! STAN DARSH! DARSH 'EM DARSH! If you look, during the montage on the show, the book is skiing for dumbasses. In the film, there is An Actor Prepares. 2. Another stab at Affleck. YES! SCORE! Once again they nail Affleck big time with that awesome song about how Pearl Harbor sucked. No objections here. They've of course made fun of him on several occasions, once when the Thompsssssonssssss, the people with asses for heads found out he was their son, and then in the He...Je...He...Je...Jennifer Lopez...Hennifer Lopez episode, where the hand puppet of Lopez that Cartman has gives ?ORAL? sex to Affleck in his "awesome" car. "I wanted to write a poem or a song, but I have no talent." It could be a handjob, do you realize how demented that is. Not only is this a blow job from a Jennifer Lopez hand puppet, but a handjob from a Jennifer Lopez puppet of an eight year old boy. Oh, by the way, does anybody know what movie or show they are referencing at the end of that episode? "MITCH CONNOR! Looks like the sun...going down, I wonder...Will I dream?" Anybody? Can't figure it out. Also the Kim Jong Il and the Herroooo?! Definitely a Cartman/Ming Lee reference, as well as others. But hey, only seen it once, today? Anybody catch any other references to the show or other movies? You know they are always doing that! -NK This is my BOOMSTICK!