The Wizard of Speed and Time Movie Review

Ambitious, self-taught young movie f/x master is hired by a greedy producer to jazz up a TV show with his gags and gadgets. But he doesn't know the same exec has vowed to stop him at all costs to win a backstage bet. Mike Jittlov, a true special-effects expert, plays himself in this personally financed all-ages comedy that brims with inside jokes, soapbox satire, self-indulgence, and the sunniest portrayal of Hollywood fringies this side of Ed Wood. Its zippy, joyous style evokes a Pee Wee Hermanesque vision of life and a sincere plea for dreamers everywhere to persevere despite the odds (and unions). Constant visual trickery incorporates footage from Jittlov's many stop-motion and collage short subjects; be quick with the “freeze” and “rewind” buttons to catch it all, right down to subliminals. Plot is reportedly based on Jittlov's own fraught experience working on a prime-time special in 1979. As for the long-gestated “WoSaT,” its aborted theatrical release and videsocassette debut on a B-movie label set Jittlov and his estranged producer to trading accusations over what went wrong. The filmmaker subsequently took his case to cyberspace, presiding over computer bulletin boards patronized by a growing cult of WoSaT fans.

1988 (PG) 95m/C Mike Jittlov, Richard Kaye, Page Moore, David Conrad, Steve Brodie, John Massari, Frank Laloggia, Philip Michael Thomas, Angelique Pettyjohn, Arnetia Walker, Paulette Breen; D: Mike Jittlov; W: Mike Jittlov, Richard Kaye, Deven Chierighino; M: John Massari. VHS, LV WTA