For those of you that are unfamiliar or visiting PINNLAND EMPIRE for the first time - I’m very much in to cinematic comparisons (both intentional & unintentional) and visual similarities. Crime Wave is all of those things and more so I was very drawn to this
John Paizs doesn’t shy away from the possibility that he may (or may not be) influential in some way...
The basic plot of Crime Wave centers around an author (Steve) in the midst of a serious writer’s block (he only gets inspiration late at night when the street light outside his room comes on). The majority of the story is told from the perspective of a young girl (Kim) whose parents rent a room to Steve while he figures out his next book idea (Kim is both very observant and also has a huge schoolgirl crush on Steve).
But the basic premise doesn’t do the film justice. There’s a serial killer dressed up as Elvis, a horny sadistic cowboy and interludes that come right out of Ren & Stimpy. Crime Wave feels like a footnote in the development of early 90’s Nickelodeon programming (Pete & Pete, Are You Afraid Of The Dark, Ren & Stimpy, Rocco’s Modern Life, etc) or modern day Cartoon Network Adult Swim programming (Tim & Eric, The Shivering Truth, Joe Pera, Eric Andre, The Heart She Holler, etc). I think that’s what fascinates me most about this film. It’s filled with a ton of influences and it also went on to (possibly) influence later films in the same lane.
I came across this movie while I was in the middle of a serious Guy Maddin phase. Maddin has always been one of my favorite modern filmmakers but it only hit me recently how much I love his work. Reading everything I could about his early career eventually lead me to his fellow Winnipeg contemporary; John Paizs.
A young Guy Maddin appears in a few of Paizs’ early short films...
The Coen brothers...they were sent CRIME WAVE very early on by my distributors to see if they might have any suggestions for a recut of the film or whatever - John Paizs
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| Crime Wave / Raising Arizona |
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| Crime Wave / Raising Arizona |
What I do know is that about five years after, they came out with their own postmodern writer’s block dark comedy, which even had its own made-up movie genre, the wrestling picture. And of course I’m talking about BARTON FINK - John Paizs
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| Crime Wave / Barton Fink |
But the basic premise doesn’t do the film justice. There’s a serial killer dressed up as Elvis, a horny sadistic cowboy and interludes that come right out of Ren & Stimpy. Crime Wave feels like a footnote in the development of early 90’s Nickelodeon programming (Pete & Pete, Are You Afraid Of The Dark, Ren & Stimpy, Rocco’s Modern Life, etc) or modern day Cartoon Network Adult Swim programming (Tim & Eric, The Shivering Truth, Joe Pera, Eric Andre, The Heart She Holler, etc). I think that’s what fascinates me most about this film. It’s filled with a ton of influences and it also went on to (possibly) influence later films in the same lane.
I came across this movie while I was in the middle of a serious Guy Maddin phase. Maddin has always been one of my favorite modern filmmakers but it only hit me recently how much I love his work. Reading everything I could about his early career eventually lead me to his fellow Winnipeg contemporary; John Paizs.
A young Guy Maddin appears in a few of Paizs’ early short films...
The “It’s a fact girl” had to have been influenced by Kim in some way...
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| Crime Wave / The Kids In The Hall |
I’d always imagined that this would play at a midnight movie, kind of a cult movie and that this needed special handling. It needed to be directed at the same audiences that were going to see, for example, Lynch’s Eraserhead. That wasn’t part of the market that they had experience - John Paizs
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| Eraserhead / Crime Wave |
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| Mulholland Drive / Crime Wave |
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| Mulholland Drive / Crime Wave |
And Lynch’s cinematic first cousin (and Canadian hero) David Cronenberg also seems to have rubbed off on Paizs/Crime Wave
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| Videodrome / Crime Wave |
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| True Stories / Crime Wave |
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| True Stories / Crime Wave |
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| Rabbit's Moon / The International Style |
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| Scorpio Rising / Crime Wave |
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| Scorpio Rising / Crime Wave |
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| Scorpio Rising / Crime Wave |
The visual similarities extend beyond film & TV...
Other possible darker visual influences can be traced back to everything from Friedkin’s Cruising to the frustrated writer in The Shining...
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| The Shining / Crime Wave |
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| Cruising / Crime Wave |
I do have to shoutout my friend David Davidson of Toronto Film Review who tried his best to get me to watch Crime Wave for the last 6 years...
