SFist Watches: Your Locals On Reality TV
Last week's holiday meant nothing but reruns for most of the reality TV shows, save "Pirate Master," unfortunately. But we did realize there is another local competing on another reality show we've forgot to mention. That show is "On the Lot," and the local is director Mateen Kemet from Oakland.
Now, "On the Lot" is a show with a lot of problems. It probably would have been cancelled a long time ago, but since Steven Spielberg is one of the producers, it's been hobbling along for over a month now, having moved time slots and been cut down from two episodes a week to one. The first episode was a lot of fun, with a bunch of aspiring directors having to team up and create short films in a short amount of time. The entertainment came, as it does in many reality shows, in watching egos collide, and seeing artists under pressure. Watching the filmmakers struggle on their sets, and then seeing the result of their efforts was entertaining. But that's all gone now, and instead we see nothing but the finished product, and almost none of the work that went into the films themselves. Some might say this is a fine notion, as we should really be judging the winner of this thing based on their work alone, and not their personalities--to which we say, "Pshaw!" This is reality TV. It's all about personality!
Which leads us back to Mateen Kemet and his "horror movie" entry, "Profile."
We have nothing against what he was trying to achieve--a film about real-life horrors. But we did have issues with how he tried to achieve it. It needed to be refined a bit, and it was just kind of sloppy and amateurish. And what does that ending mean, anyway? We don't think it's a matter of whitey not getting it--we get it. It's so heavy-handed, how could you not get it? We just think it was a bad movie. We'll see if the dozen or so people who are actually watching the show feel the same way tonight.
Speaking of shows that should have been cancelled a long time ago: "Pirate Master"! Last week local girl Nessa started to make some enemies, but managed to lose one of those enemies to the casting adrift ceremony. This week, her team did not win the treasure, and she had to give her royal pardon to the highest bidder. She did not get a black spot, so was not cast adrift, but she did make out with Joe Don, who DID get a black spot, but was also the high bidder on the royal pardon, even though he didn't need it. HA ha! Joy was sent drifting.