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 TREES
(www.treesthemovie.com)
Parody. 87 minutes. NR. As Memorial Day Weekend nears, the tourist hotspot
town of Hazelwood is readying its campgrounds for another stellar
holiday. However, a dark cloud forms over the quiet parks of Hazelwood, a
dark cloud in the shape of a killer Great White Pine Tree.
Unless you’ve lived under a rock for the past 25 years, those two
sentences should tell you what this video is all about. Yes, this is a
Jaws parody. Simply insert a
Great White Pine Tree into Jaws’ starring role and move the location
from the Atlantic Ocean to the woods of Hazelwood. The story line
basically mirrors Jaws, including some of the camera angles and word for
word script. As far as the characters are concerned; Kevin McCauley nicely
pulls off Park Ranger Cody (Chief Brody). Hell, he even looks like Roy
Scheider! Philip Gardiner does an ok job as tree hugger Cooper (Richard
Dreyfuss’s Hooper). The big disappointment here is the Quint character
Squint. This actor (not including his name because he doesn’t deserve
it) failed to capture, even in a comedic way, the Quint character. This
parody is made up of some great moments, and some all too “talky”
moments. But if you think of it, that’s how Jaws is. The scene when the
three main characters sit around the table discussing injuries then
bursting into a festival like rendition of “Old McDonald Had a Farm”
(as opposed to that “I Had a Drink About an Hour Ago..” song in Jaws)
is as funny as it is priceless! Director Michael Pleckaitis does a good
job with the camera shooting to mimic Jaws director Steven Spielberg. I
was also most impressed with the sound, lighting, and editing of this
indie release. And you have to laugh at the green and wavy Great White
Pine’s point of view. Besides a bitten off foot and a small splatter of
blood, there is no gore. There is also zero nudity, but if you like big
bouncing boobies (I don’t), you’ll dig the opening scene of a large
breasted woman frolicking through the forest. If you like Jaws, you’ll
probably get a kick out of this movie. If you like silly parodies,
you’ll probably enjoy this parody. If you like neither, well, why are
you still reading this review? Good ol’ fashioned sappy fun….get it?
– Denis Sheehan
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