20th Century Boys (Yukihiko Tsutsumi, 2008): Japan

Reviewed by William Conlin. Viewed at The Santa Barbara Film Festival.

FADE IN:

EXT. THE ARLINGTON THEATER – DAY

Crowds of moviegoers quickly exit the theater, most of them looking very unhappy. The marquee reads “SBIFF U.S. Premiere – 20^th Century Boys”. WILLIAM CONLIN walks out into the sunlight and throws his empty popcorn bucket into a trashcan.

WILLIAM

(over)

Wow, that was horrible.

Another unhappy PATRON walks over to William and taps him on the shoulder.

PATRON

Excuse me. Did you think

that was a good film?

William lets out a burst of laughter.

WILLIAM

Not at all! It was poorly

conceived, poorly written

and extremely overacted. Plus,

it could have been at least

an hour shorter. 

PATRON

Is it true this is the

most expensive film ever

made in Japan?

WILLIAM

Apparently so. 6 Billion Yen.

 But that goes to show,

money can’t buy a talent.

 

PATRON

I don’t know why I even

came to this movie.

 

WILLIAM

Me neither.

 

The Patron walks away, shaking her head. William looks up at marquee.

 

WILLIAM

(over)

Why did I come to this

movie?

 

FLASHBACK TO:

 

INT. CLASSROOM – DAY

 

WILLIAM sits at a table talking to fellow film reviewer KEVIN TRAN.

 

WILLIAM

What about 20^th Century Boys?

 

KEVIN

Don’t see it. It’s horrible.

 

WILLIAM looks at his film festival guide and begins to read aloud.

 

WILLIAM

“A group of friends work to

stop the apocalypse they

predicted as children from

coming true.” Hmmm. Sounds

interesting. . .

 

KEVIN

Trust me, it’s horrible.

 

FLASHBACK TO:

 

EXT. THE ARLINGTON THEATER – DAY

 

William looks at the entry for “20^th Century Boys” in his film festival guide.

 

WILLIAM

(over)

Man, why didn’t I listen

to Kevin. . . That really was

the worst film at this year’s

Santa Barbara Film Festival.

 

WILLIAM pulls a pen from his pocket and marks a big “X” across “20^th Century Boys” in his guide. He places the pen and guide back in his pocket and begins to walk towards the Metro 4 Theater.

 

WILLIAM

I wonder what’s playing at 4pm.

Well, anything will be better than

“20^th Century Boys”. . .

 

FADE OUT.