July 9, 2007
“When two worlds collide...”
That is the premise of the five films that were screened on tonight's episode of On the Lot. Before we get to the films, however, Adrianna sends us straight to the taped footage of this week's elimination. Based on last week, I thought Mateen should have been sent home, but America felt differently. Adrianna informs everyone that Shira-Lee Shalit has been eliminated from the competition.
So, this week, five filmmakers (Zach, Hilary, Will, Shalini, and Adam) got the privilege of making their films on the Universal Studios lot. Incredible opportunity. Before the films begin screening, Adrianna gives us one more very important piece of information. Next week, there will be not one, but two filmmakers eliminated from the group of five. And the same goes for the week after that. On to the films!
July 3, 2007
Tonight on On the Lot, six filmmakers showed us horror films that they made over the last week. This might sound pretty good in theory, but let's take a moment to think about it for a second. A two-minute horror film? Can that even work? Isn't the horror genre based on audience anticipation? Does two minutes allow the filmmakers enough set-up to make something truly scary? I would venture to guess no, and the filmmakers tonight seem to back me up on this. None of the films were particularly scary and everyone had a difficult time with the genre.
Adrianna Costa walked out on stage without showing any cleavage or any significant amount of leg. That was a disappointment. The guest judge this week was none other than Eli Roth, director of the Hostel films. Like last week, we cut straight to the taped elimination. I thought Hilary Graham should have gone home but, after giving America a confusing and bizarre romantic sex comedy last week, David May was cut from On the Lot. David seemed like a nice enough guy, but he wasn't up to snuff. Goodbye. On to the horror films!
June 26, 2007
That was better. After last week's more or less craptastic batch of films, this week's crop of On the Lot films was significantly improved, although not as much as the judges would like you to believe. There is such a discrepancy between the upper-echelon of talent and the lower on the show that it's unnerving.
How could FOX so blatantly cast people who were going to be in over their heads? Like with singing on American Idol, there are a remarkable amount of talented filmmakers out there begging for their big break, a number of whom undoubtedly tried out for On the Lot. There's no excuse to cast sub-par talent in the top 16, regardless of looks or their personal background.
June 19, 2007
FOX may make popular and successful reality TV series, but maybe it's time for them to re-think their casting strategy. American Idol, for instance, made a number of questionable decisions in concocting their top 24 finalists, seemingly going for looks over any recognizable talent (Antonella Barba, anyone?). For viewers and film lovers alike, On the Lot has been a frustrating beast, a reality show whose potential is enormous but whose execution has left much to be desired. The Mark Burnett casting model (the filling of types/niches) is perfect for a show like Survivor, because that show deals in social interaction and interpersonal relationships. For On the Lot, the films themselves are the stars, or at least they should be. What I'm saying is this: the top 20 filmmakers chosen for On the Lot were certainly not the 20 best filmmakers in the field and it's shown.
Here's what went down on tonight's episode.
June 12, 2007
For tonight's episode of On The Lot, host Adrianna Costa dropped some cleavage on us, which is never a bad thing. Continuing on from last week's format, which will hopefully be permanent from here on out, one filmmaker will be going home and we will see five new films. David Frankel, director of The Devil Loves Prada, showed up to act as the guest judge. Before we get to the new films, we get some initial results:
Adam is safe, as he should be. Shalini and Sam are also safe. That leaves Trever and Hillary. They have to wait until the end of the episode to learn their fate. On to the new films.
June 12, 2007
Director David Frankel, most recently known for his work on the hit film The Devil Wears Prada, has been named the guest judge of tonight’s episode of On the Lot.
Frankel will join the show’s regular judges, actress Carrie Fisher and director Garry Marshall, in evaluating the remaining 15 finalists.
June 6, 2007
On the Lot has returned, and we're down to 15 filmmakers. Tonight, 5 directors will go head to head. At the end of the episode, viewers get to vote, and the one with lowest vote total will go home next week. You have to assume that this will be how it works at least for the next month or so. The show is live, again, and that means we get Adrianna Costa, which is always a good thing.
The judges are Carrie Fisher, Gary Marshall, and joining them tonight is guest Michael Bay, director of Armageddon, The Rock, and the upcoming Transformers. Some people call him the anti-Christ, some people love him, and I'm somewhere in the middle. Every film tonight is 3 minutes or under, and were all made in the span of five days.
June 4, 2007
After a string of episodes of On the Lot, which have garnered poor ratings, Fox has decided to address the declining series. But instead of abruptly pulling the plug on the reality program, which premiered on May 22, 2007, Fox has decided to reduce its airtime to one episode per week.
Originally, Fox has intended for On the Lot to broadcast weekly, comprising of a 1-hour episode where movies are screened followed by a half-hour results show the next day, just like American Idol’s format. However, the network has now announced that On the Lot will just air one hour-long weekly episode beginning June 5, Tuesday at 8 pm ET/PT.