Shot of the Day #116: The Mighty Wiseau

Shot with iphone. Click to enlarge.

What a fucking night.

Clocked in 9 hours of edit straight, pissed and shit myself while I slashed and sliced & diced and hacked. Didn't stop. I had a mission. Get as many of the notes completed as possible and then get Sushi (Dan) and FINALLY got to witness the tragically hip magesty that is Tommy Wiseau's THE ROOM.

Shot with iphone. Click to enlarge.

When we first moved to LA, I remember seeing billboards on LaBrea for this indie flick simply titled, THE ROOM. It had a picture of what looked to be a disfigured mongoloid, staring back at us with dead emotion...well at least one eye. He almost looked like Frank Stallone's inbred brother. Yet, there was something intriguing about the poster. Clearly, this was also the visage of the writer/producer/director of the film, Tommy Wiseau. Why else would he use his own Rourke-esque grill as a marketing tool and it WASN'T a horror flick? Always had interest in seeing the flick, just to skin the cat's curiosity, but never happened. Just slipped past radar, like the first 3 seasons of DEXTER. Shame, right?

Flash forward almost 7 years later. Life has moved on...but not for Wiseau. While I can barely remember what i was working on or promoting or whatever back in 2003 (probably the latest edit for ATM MACHINE #2 or a Kataklysm video i directed), Tommy has still been pushing his indie epic with near-sighted passion ever since...and its finally paid off. Now the crap-tastic film is a cult classic, with celebs and hipster douchebags coming out in droves to the Sunset 5 to see it play at midnight, making it THE newest cult hit you must see absolutely fucked up with 5 of your buddies.

So, naturally, Green and I had to go. So we made a plan to check it out back in January before the coming of The Remy and production began on FROZEN. Bishop joined in the fray, so it was bound to be a night of hetero male bonding, bad-cinema commiseration & Rainbow Rolls. Alas, we were met with a swift selling out of tickets 2 hours before and a line almost around the block, bastards. So we vowed to try again the next night THE ROOM was unleashed again, once everyone was back in town.

Tonight was that night.

ATTEMPT #2: Green and Bishop got there early, noshing on Sushi Dan next door (that...sounded bad), and luckily we got tickets. Check paid, we pulled out of Dan (...er) as the line was just starting to accumulate. Not 45 minutes later,the line stretched AROUND the 2nd floor, all the way to the other side of the box office! It was like an "Opening Day of a Summer BlockBuster" kind of line. I was SHOCKED to see how many people showed up, and the wide array of cliche cliques: From said hip douches to older nerds to high school teen girls who should be creaming over Zac Efron, not this ugly fucker...this wasn't a cult flick, it was a Four Quadrant Event!!! We were getting excited to see some quality crap.

Shot with iphone. Click to enlarge.

Also, why the hell are people wearing ties around their heads and carrying plastic spoons? Things are getting interesting.

Finally, 20 minutes before they opened the doors to let us into ALL FIVE SCREENS SHOWING THE MOVIE (!!!!), Mr. Wiseau himself appeared, like a ghost in the wind, and the place went NUTZOID like FAT GUY(see photo, above). Seriously, it was like George Clooney himself appeared; A bono-fide cee-lebritee. I literally heard one tweenage girl saying "Oh if he asked? I would SO suck his dick!" WOW. Tommy was very gracious to his fans, yet I wasn't sure if people were cheering for him or AT him, if you know what I mean. No offense to the dude, he clearly worked hard and persistence paid off big time (he must be making major bank on the film and his cult status has gotten him work in the comedy circuit) but like ANVIL, I think the novelty is what is keeping his (and THE ROOM's) fires burning. But I can't knock the guy, cause clearly he's doing something right! But the guy was just so damn gracious, so genuinely hsppy to see every person there, any misgivings or skepticism quickly faded. This guy was a fucking rock star, this was his monthly affirmation, his closing credits moment.

So we finally get into the theater and my anticipation is at a fever pitch. The biggest disapointment this movie could hold for me is if it wasn't GOOD BAD or even BAD BAD but merely mediocre. But with a rowdy crowd like this, coming back time and time again for more, it has to be epic.

Shot with iphone. Click to enlarge.

...and "epic" it was (note the quotes). I can't divulge any more info but to say you have to witness the awful magesty of THE ROOM for yourself, and not on Adult Swim or on DVD. This is one of the best times at the movies I've had in too long, complete with massive call/response moments, hilariously well-timed banter amongst the faithful devotees of the flick (who supposedly come up with new ad-libs each time it screens) and best of all...flying spoons. As the credits rolled, we stumbled out of the theater feeling a little shell-shocked at the whole ROOM experience, but weren't disappointed at all (that was some high grade crap!!!) and in fact, probably all felt better about our own oeuvre. It actually got me so charged, I went back to editing far into the morning. Thanks Tommy!

You honestly have to be there to see it in all it's spoon-y glory. I can't wait to go back with a bigger crowd of newbies next time.

Wiseau, you da man.



Joe