The FP (2011)

How one independent film can mix together a dance culture satire lampooning everything from "Breakin'" to "Step Up" with the feel good attitude of "Rocky" and "The Karate Kid" while topping it off with a pinch of "The Road Warrior" and "Class of 1984" is beyond me. However, one movie successfully does just this. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to "The FP." In the not-so-distant future, Frazier Park, CA is overrun by alcoholics in a land where consumption of the drink is limited and they've turned to meth and other drugs for their fixes. Two gangs now run the streets of the apocalyptic city. They settle their disputes through a dangerous street-level version of the video game "Dance, Dance, Revolution." Only one will be left standing when the gangs clash against each other and decide their fates playing "Beat, Beat Revelation!" Words can't possibly describe how literally ridiculous this movie is. They also can't describe how fun it is. I couldn't stop smiling the entire time. The urban street lingo flowing out of the white and Asian characters' mouths is laugh-out-loud hilarious. Everything in this movie feels like the result of a car wreck between the dance, new wave, redneck, and punk cultures of the 1980s and 1990s. How the actors played their roles straight-faced is beyond me. "The FP" is something to behold. I guarantee you've never seen a movie like it. I've never witnessed a film that perfectly captures the decline of Western civilization while simultaneously being inspirational. Rob Zombie said it best when he described it as "'The Karate Kid' starring Snake Plissken versus white trash Clubber Lang against the backdrop of 'The Warriors' set to a bumping disco John Carpenter soundtrack in the world of 'Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo.'" Enough said, yo!

Haters are gonna hate, and based on the low rating this film has received, they wanna hate on this movie. They are misguided.Reviewer Matt Hawkins calls this film "the first legit goofball comedy that speaks to gamers without flat-out insulting them." That is high praise, and only the tip of the iceberg. This film is a work of genius, plain and simple.Every costume choice, every bad line of dialogue, everything... it was all chosen for a reason, and anyone who takes this film seriously just does not get that. Watching the "making of" opened my eyes, and although I already loved the film, it made me love it even more -- the Trost Family has a bright future ahead of them.Yes, even the "Rocky" and "Karate Kid" knockoffs are intended...

Bizarre. Hilarious. Audacious. Good? If you like terri- awesome incredi- bad type flicks, this will be right up your alley. Imagine a post- apocalyptic world that is Riverside, CA meth culture with a dash of DDR -- I mean, Beat Beat Revelation. The slang is just wrong enough to ping your internal ear, the outfits are random hodgepodges, and the nudity is arbitrary. The pacing drags in the middle of the film, but overall, it is just crazy enough to cut it. It was as if someone raided TV Tropes and then made a film that just rolled with its own campy ridiculousness. There is no irony in the film -- it's all played straight. I loved it.

When I first heard about this film, I was admittedly intrigued by the silliness of the plot. I went in expecting a low budget, overtly sarcastic college film project. I expected a C- movie at best.Instead, what I received was a complete shock through my system. From scene one onward, my senses were overloaded as the living canvas before me unveiled its soul. The film invites the viewer to embark on a journey with JTRO in the synthpop mecca of FP; Am I not JTRO? Have I not toiled through the FP all my life?You see, this film is not about the golden age of electro dance set 50 years after mad max. This film is about love and war: the trials that we face every day. Open your mind and open your heart when you watch this movie. You will not be disappoint.