| Thomas in Love (2001): Here's an interesting French science fiction film. The title character is a young man afflicted with a mortal fear of going outside. He has never left his apartment. This being the future, however, he never has to. All of his needs can be met via his home computer, whether it's ordering supplies, contacting his mother, or even having cybersex with a computer-animated vixen.
Throughout the film, all we see is the computer screen that Thomas sees, and never the character himself. We see various other characters speaking to Thomas through the medium of the computer, but the protagonist himself is only present as a voice. Thus, the film is arranged in such a way that we (the audience) become Thomas. It's an interesting effect that is well suited to the home video format – I can't imagine seeing this film in a theatre.
The buxom, animated playmate who opens the film (and is featured heavily on the box art) raises an interesting issue – cybersex. It's a topic that used to be talked about quite a bit, although interest seems to have cooled down. Still, what sort of effect will high technology have on the future of "adult entertainment?" Keeping this question in mind, let’s move on to.…
2 Funky 4 U (2002): This tongue-in-cheek hardcore porno is billed as "Private's First Animated Feature!" ("Private" being the name of a film company that produces erotica). A true novelty, this is actually a computer-generated porno, complete with anatomically correct (sort of) characters, full frontal nudity, explicit sex and even "money shots." It's amazing that this oddity ever got made, especially since animation is very expensive, and adult movies are well-known for being produced, shall we say, rather thriftily.
It's very unlikely that this film will launch many imitators eager to jump on the techno-smut bandwagon, since its appeal to the raincoat crowd is limited. It's more likely to be rented by the curious as an oddball conversation piece. In any case, I'd advise liberal use of the fast-forward button.
The biggest problem in making a film like this must surely be making the "actors" look appealing. Photo-realistic human characters are possible with today's computer graphics imaging technology, but, as the bankrupted makers of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001) will attest, getting them to look "right" takes a great deal of hard work. Obviously, no porno company is going to spend a Final Fantasy-sized budget on a 50-minute novelty hump flick, nor should they.
To put it bluntly, the characters in 2 Funky 4 U look grotesque. Some complain about the gravity-defying proportions and immobile faces of actresses who have had plastic surgery. Well, brother, you ain't seen nothing yet. Ventriloquist dummies have more facial expressions than these guys, and move more naturally to boot.
Cost-cutting takes the form of repeated footage. Remember those old Spider-Man cartoons where they just re-used the same footage of Spidey over and over? Same deal here – even the ejaculation scenes are shown three times in a row.
Thankfully, the filmmakers seem to be aware of the absurdity of their project, and a lot of self-mockery is evident throughout the feature. The main characters are porno producers themselves (in charge of "2 Funky 4 U Productions") and the foibles of the industry are gently ridiculed. ("How much of a budget do we have this time?" "Um... $34." "Gee. Our last picture cost $68.")
Also, there are bizarre little advertisements for ridiculous products from time to time ("New Pimp Slap in a Box!"). The whole thing ends with a Matrix-style shootout in a warehouse, and a psychotic midget takes on a 300-pound black woman in slow-motion hand-to-hand combat. Odd, to say the least. |
