ARTS & CULTURE
d ea d center
The Jurassic Games | Photo deadCenter/ provided
Close-ups
Six deadCenter entries illustrate the quality and diversity of the festival’s offerings.
The Jurassic Games
Take the dystopian, gladiatorial realityshow aspect of The Hunger Games series and drop in some of Jurassic Park’s classic scaly predators and you have the basic premise for The Jurassic Games, the latest popcorn-shoveling sci-fi action flick from director Ryan Bellgardt. The man behind past fan favorites Gremlin and Army of Frankensteins has crafted his own creature-feature niche at deadCenter Film Festival. The Jurassic Games does more than live up to those titles, channeling two widely cherished major film franchises at once. Fans won’t find Jennifer Lawrence or Chris Pratt in this ambitious mashup, but strong acting performances can be found throughout The Jurassic Games’ cast. The story follows death-row inmate Anthony Tucker (played by actor Adam Hampton), who is accused of murdering his wife. Instead of straightforward execution, he is given the chance to compete in a hugely popular television reality competition that puts death row inmates on a computer-simulated island, where they must achieve a series of tasks while surviving attacks from the island’s dinosaur residents (and, of course, their murderous co-stars). The last standing survivor earns freedom and criminal exoneration. Tucker, who maintains his innocence, accepts the show spot in hopes that he might win and be reunited with his children, who are certain their father is no murderer. The Jurassic Games does not spend
much time explaining how the world has come to such a chaotic state that such a bizarre and ill-advised show would be allowed to exist, and that is a good thing. Fictional dystopias are frequently bogged down with setup and backstory. Bellgardt doesn’t ask his audience to do anything more than accept the story’s core scenario. Many of Tucker’s competitors are specialists in nasty, antisocial behavior. Convicted killer Joy (Katie Burgess) is as unpredictable as she is violent, but some others have redeemable qualities, like martial artist Ren (Tiger Sheu), who engages in the ever-rare kung-fu battle with three velociraptors. Guiding everything along is the show’s polished host (Final Destination 3’s Ryan Merriman), who has an unhealthy obsession with churning TV drama out of human suffering. The Jurassic Games should go down as Bellgardt’s best work to date. The visual effects are phenomenal considering the film’s miniscule budget — at least compared to the blockbuster franchises that inspired it. It’s classic summer fun the whole family can enjoy. — Ben Luschen
living in Oklahoma City through the character of Chad Johnson (played by Joseph Lee Anderson), a black man adopted by a suburban white family. The film opens with Johnson leaving a class assignment blank when asked to identify himself and a montage of images such a Black Lives Matter demonstrations and pictures from Oklahoma City’s Pride parade, but the film immediately takes a comedic turn with laughs presented by Johnson’s adoptive parents (Michael Gibbons and Cindy Hanska). The mixture of comedy and identity issues can be cringe-worthy at first, especially when Chad’s white best friend Michael (James Austin Kerr) tells Johnson they need to “revoke his black card” and calls himself the “Mr. Miyagi of Blackness” while using the n-word, but that is Chapman’s intent. Many of Chad and Michael’s interactions are based on Chapman’s real-life experiences and prepare viewers for intense scenes later in the film. Johnson’s worldview begins to
change when he’s introduced to love interest Melanie Fischer (Gabrielle Reyes), as he is worried he “isn’t black enough for her.” “You’re black because you’re born black. It doesn’t come with an instruction manual; just be yourself,” Fischer tells Johnson. His relationship with Fischer unfolds as his birth mother Jasmine Jones (played with an excellent turn by Vanessa Harris) enters his life for the first time. The film is aesthetically appealing and looks better than its budget might indicate. The most riveting scene in the film comes as Johnson is pulled over by a law enforcement officer late at night, and the flashing lights dance in the background like flames on a fire. Chapman shows much promise in his first feature, proving capable of balancing comedic and dramatic beats throughout the film. — Jacob Threadgill
Daughters of the Sexual Revolution: The Untold Story of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders
Inspiration can come in many guises. According to legend, the genesis of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders stemmed from a 1967 football game at the Cotton Bowl when Cowboys general manager Tex Schramm spotted a local exotic dancer, Bubbles Cash, as she made her way down a staircase while in a miniskirt and holding two spindles of cotton candy as if they were pompoms. An idea struck Schramm. Several years later, the Cowboys introduced its new cheer squad of scantily clad, buxom young women. The documentary Daughters of the Sexual Revolution: The Untold Story of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders chronicles how the original DCC became iconic of the freewheeling 1970s and early ’80s, bringing the allure of sex continued on page 36
You People
First-time director Laron Chapman mixes in comedy to make important subject matter more approachable and makes a $40,000 budget seem larger for his passion project, You People. Chapman, who also wrote the script, taps into issues of identity surrounding race, gender and sexuality by using his own experience as a biracial gay man
You People | Photo deadCenter/ provided O kg a z e t t e . c o m | J u n e 6 , 2 0 1 8
35