Adventures in Cruben Country

MOVIE #1,381 • 🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿 • 02.19.24 MovieJeff on Motern: A FARLEY/ROXBURGH DIRECTOR FOCUS Today we begin yet ANOTHER DIRECTOR FOCUS on the work of low/no budget New England masters, Matt Farley and Charles Roxburgh (check out their DF page for background on Motern Media). I think if there’s magic in any film made at this level it first comes down to the question of: is the fidelity and/or amateurishness a distraction? And based on this first movie, I can say it’s not without hesitation. The lofi nature isn’t played for laughs, in and of itself, either. This dialogue is legit funny and would work whether this cost ten bucks or $10-million dollars. Even scenes that felt semi-improved — like when they’re talking about how boll weevils are naturally afraid of hamsters — is funny. There’s the persistent feeling that this shouldn’t work, but it clearly does. It’s a nice feeling.

The film concerns a character named Mayor Matt Farley, played by Matt Farley, a songwriter turned politician who has won over his constituents on a three-pronged platform: giving everyone a random day off from work and school each month, establishing an a “pedestrian subway” (a series of underground tunnels which will eventually lead to a ban on all cars), and the creation of a giant recreation center in the forest on the outskirts of town (“Cruben Country”). Most of the characters in this are simply credited by their real life names, including Farley/Roxburgh staple Kevin McGee (who plays a local businessman/druid leader here). The quirky details and autobiographical nods let us know that we're immersed into this strange, multilayered world right from the get-go.

As I mentioned on the Director Focus page, I’ve learned alot about these films from the Important Cinema Club podcast, who have been championing them for a while now. So I feel like I have a better handle on the tone/style and how they will build upon it going forward. But hearing about it second hand in five-minute bursts is no substitute for seeing them for yourself, and I’m very excited for the journey. (All of the movies are readily available, by the way, either for rent/purchase at the Motern Media vimeo page or on various streaming services or YouTube.)

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Matt Farley has recently been elected mayor of Thomasville, a small New England city. Farley and his assistant Charlie begin making radical changes to town policies, which angers Druid Warlord Kevin McGee and his secret Druid society. It was released on September 22, 2002.