JohnDoe
Bryn
Brenton
Series 7: The Contenders (2001) - Footage Included
Series 7: The Contenders
Writer/Director: Daniel Minahan
Starring: Brooke Smith, Meritt Wever, Mark Woodbury, Glen Fitzgerald, Michael Kaycheck,
"He is in intensive care after a self inflicted knife wound to the back." - Narrator
The only good reality game show contestant is a dead reality game show contestant, if only the world really worked like this. In an era where celebrity has become a worthless commodity that can be gained without talent or skill, attention seeking losers try for there 15 minute of fame.
A mockumentary Television send up of a show called “The Contenders”. Perfectly presented, Series 7 makes our wishes come true. It’s a pitch black satire that faultlessly recreates the “Survivor” style propaganda and culture.
In the season 7 marathon (hence the title), 6 contestants are chosen at random, handed a gun and with camera man in toe, told to kill each other or be killed, if you live the prize is fame and notoriety.
The lucky competitors for this round are, an unwed pregnant bitch who embraces the death sport and wants to win at all costs. A peppy, pampered teen with her parents along to keep her psyched. Next is an elderly looking nurse with a panache for exploiting the helpless and a suicidal manic depressive. Followed by an estranged husband and father with a cocaine habit and lastly a reluctant middle aged conspiracy nut.
Out of control, we get to see all the drama unfold, the tears, the laughter, the bloodshed and a bunch of no hopers go head to head in a battle royale.
John Doe says
Smartly written with a beautiful bright shiny streak of malice and carefully shot, edited and told to mirror that which it emulates. Series 7 will make you laugh while constantly reminding you with authentic violence and thrills that this is an inevitable reality if brain dead entertainment continues down this pointless path.
Writer/Director Daniel Minahan (Deadwood, Six Feet Under) came up with the idea while working on the set of an early incarnation of the genre. Like Richard Bachman’s (Stephen King) short story The Running Man, (Not the film) this was written before the reality TV craze really ignited.
Immediately he knew what it said about society and where this false world and the detached voyeurs watching it were heading.
Frighteningly observant, while making you grin like Jack after he fell in the vat, the script and the film it supports only works because the dialogue is deceptively natural. Corny and shallow words surround the brutal and savage primal instincts of the fight or flee mentality.
It may not have happened yet but as Jerry Springer did for talk shows, so reality TV game shows will eventually inflict more and more pain on unsympathetic, self involved faces that are mocked for being lower than the viewer on a self gauging hierarchy.
The cast all exude that false outer shell that seems to appears on every ad for “Big Brother” and completes the illusion that you have flicked through the channels and are watching just another commercial TV show. Keep your eyes and ears on alert for your presenter, played by Will Arnett (G.O.B Bluth from Arrested Development)
Sadistic, maybe? Hilarious and challenging, JD finds himself conflicted because the film catered to his sick and twisted curiosity, but it is important to remember that it is just a film and not real, yet.
The other part of JD really wishes they would do this show for real so we could be over and done with it and reality TV would no longer clog our airwaves. Removed because of moral outrage, or ratings so high they have to make a new independent channel that runs it 24hrs a day.
A channel for the unsympathetic masses that forget they are watching another human being die, a person that is someone else’s family or friend.
The DVD
Transfer: Anamorphic Widescreen/5.1 Dolby Digital
Extras: Q&A with the Writer/Director and deleted scenes,
Warning: Below is some offensive stuff.
Click the morbidly funny clip and watch a fan made reedit where scenes from the movie are cut to Monty Python’s “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life”….made me laugh does that make me a bad person.
DVD Cover
Starring: Brooke Smith, Meritt Wever, Mark Woodbury, Glen Fitzgerald, Michael Kaycheck,
"He is in intensive care after a self inflicted knife wound to the back." - Narrator
The only good reality game show contestant is a dead reality game show contestant, if only the world really worked like this. In an era where celebrity has become a worthless commodity that can be gained without talent or skill, attention seeking losers try for there 15 minute of fame.
A mockumentary Television send up of a show called “The Contenders”. Perfectly presented, Series 7 makes our wishes come true. It’s a pitch black satire that faultlessly recreates the “Survivor” style propaganda and culture.
In the season 7 marathon (hence the title), 6 contestants are chosen at random, handed a gun and with camera man in toe, told to kill each other or be killed, if you live the prize is fame and notoriety.
The lucky competitors for this round are, an unwed pregnant bitch who embraces the death sport and wants to win at all costs. A peppy, pampered teen with her parents along to keep her psyched. Next is an elderly looking nurse with a panache for exploiting the helpless and a suicidal manic depressive. Followed by an estranged husband and father with a cocaine habit and lastly a reluctant middle aged conspiracy nut.
Out of control, we get to see all the drama unfold, the tears, the laughter, the bloodshed and a bunch of no hopers go head to head in a battle royale.
No, I am NOT a happy camper!
Smartly written with a beautiful bright shiny streak of malice and carefully shot, edited and told to mirror that which it emulates. Series 7 will make you laugh while constantly reminding you with authentic violence and thrills that this is an inevitable reality if brain dead entertainment continues down this pointless path.
Writer/Director Daniel Minahan (Deadwood, Six Feet Under) came up with the idea while working on the set of an early incarnation of the genre. Like Richard Bachman’s (Stephen King) short story The Running Man, (Not the film) this was written before the reality TV craze really ignited.
Immediately he knew what it said about society and where this false world and the detached voyeurs watching it were heading.
Frighteningly observant, while making you grin like Jack after he fell in the vat, the script and the film it supports only works because the dialogue is deceptively natural. Corny and shallow words surround the brutal and savage primal instincts of the fight or flee mentality.
It may not have happened yet but as Jerry Springer did for talk shows, so reality TV game shows will eventually inflict more and more pain on unsympathetic, self involved faces that are mocked for being lower than the viewer on a self gauging hierarchy.
The cast all exude that false outer shell that seems to appears on every ad for “Big Brother” and completes the illusion that you have flicked through the channels and are watching just another commercial TV show. Keep your eyes and ears on alert for your presenter, played by Will Arnett (G.O.B Bluth from Arrested Development)
Sadistic, maybe? Hilarious and challenging, JD finds himself conflicted because the film catered to his sick and twisted curiosity, but it is important to remember that it is just a film and not real, yet.
The other part of JD really wishes they would do this show for real so we could be over and done with it and reality TV would no longer clog our airwaves. Removed because of moral outrage, or ratings so high they have to make a new independent channel that runs it 24hrs a day.
A channel for the unsympathetic masses that forget they are watching another human being die, a person that is someone else’s family or friend.
The DVD
Transfer: Anamorphic Widescreen/5.1 Dolby Digital
Extras: Q&A with the Writer/Director and deleted scenes,
Warning: Below is some offensive stuff.
Click the morbidly funny clip and watch a fan made reedit where scenes from the movie are cut to Monty Python’s “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life”….made me laugh does that make me a bad person.
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak
Film & TV on DVD
Next time your in the mood for a comedy satire check it out.....or have you seen the film already?
Horrorphile
Film & TV on DVD
Totally agree and Croneburg saw it with Videodrome and Sidney Lumet with Network......have you seen Series 7? I think its right up your alley
From The Home Front
Enviro Warrior
Dream Herald
Esoteric Bookshop
>>>whooosh - thanks for the link >>> better hurry before it times out again...
ABSOLUTELY POTTY ALRIGHT!
Shame is that kids watch this stuff and think it's real and Whammo! next generation of psycho, runs around living it! Too silly for me, although I may watch a commerical free episode for research purposes, from hire shop.
Real TV?
I don't watch TV. I'm allergic to it, and the commericals. I start to loose the will to live and eventually end up spinning my head, and spewing green pea soup at everyone...
Lilla
Ps I don't think you're evil for laughing, it's absurdly dark!
Horrorphile
Film & TV on DVD
Now I have cable for docos and movies, any TV shows I do watch (Deadwood, Oz, Arrested Development) I own on DVD....
As for kids imitating it, that comes down to bad parenting....the sooner they ban some people from breeding the better..
You are aware by the way that Series 7 is a documentary movie that was released on the bigscreen? You can only see it on DVD or they play it on World Movies frequently..
Its not everyones cup of tea, thanks for dropping in.