Roadside Romeo Out!

[furtech]

I've been waiting for a while for this film to be released in the US. I don't think the previous foreign Disney film (Mexican?) was ever released. Roadside Romeo looked like a lot of fun from the "casting call" preview they had out. Thanks to brerandalopex, I found out that it's out on US DVD!

I found the film on Amazon and I've already ordered it (film night, Tracy? Roz?).

Brer mentioned that there was a cute extra on the disk, showing a music video with the costumed characters they made for it. They're neat costumes-- I'm almost sure they were made by Custom Characters here in Glendale.

Comments

[brerandalopex.livejournal.com]

[Alopex] I'm really glad that Brer got us a copy! The plot may not be anything brilliant (though the idea of a guy starting a gang of hairdressers to stand up to the local mob boss is unique), but it was a lot of fun to watch. Counting Slumdog Millionaire, this is only the second Bollywood film I've seen, and it makes me realize just how little I know of Indian culture. The frequent use of English, for example -- is that a way of showing off your culture and trying to elevate your status in a very stratified society? It was weird to hear it in a movie that as far as I can tell was primarily intended for an Indian audience.

The character "Interval" was especially interesting. He was animated with a much more tooney design than the rest, but on top of that, his dialog frequently involved doing impressions of famous Indian actors (named in the subtitles). The names were completely over our heads -- which is kind of sad, except for the fact that to appreciate the humor at that level we'd have to spend an awful lot of time catching up on Bollywood classics...and I've got too many hobbies already!

Hope you enjoy the DVD when you get it!

[furtech.livejournal.com]

I think I'll enjoy it more than most Indians: the negatives in the reviews noted the Bollywood the number of plot cliches (at least they avoided the ultimate cliche of "Bollywoof"). Since I've only seen a few of them, that won't bother me...nor will the odd dialect they chose to use (kind of the Indian equivalent of a Brooklyn or New England accent).

English-speaker-- this cliche I do know: it's the equivalent of DoodlesTheGreat the American comic relief who is an idiot that uses big words (usually incorrectly) to make himself sound smart. In India he thinks it makes him a higher class (+educated). Both types count on the people around him not knowing what he's saying.

Interval: think of it like the caricature-short cartoons from Looney Tunes/Warner Bros: you may not now the long-dead actors they were parodying, but they can still be funny (remember Greta Garbo's hilarious portrayal as being big-footed and slow?). The level of the film is kind of classic "Bowery Boys" level humor and story/character. In terms of film-making, Bollywood is currently doing films like they made in the 30's in the US. The actors there are revered much like stars from that era, too (and act like god-like divas).

Hopefully I can get Tracy and Roz together and watch it this week!