Occupational Hazard is a quasi-sequel to Just Another Day at the Office, in which a man gets into a car that explodes. This time, though, we are treated to a new twist on the old tale, and the result is extra fun. But wait, is it a sequel? In the Behind the Scenes, Robert refers to it as both a follow-up AND a remake. Just what constitutes a sequel in the Dastoli Digital universe? Obviously the only movies that can officially claim this title (as of June 2006) are Every Man Has His Price (the sequel to Smiert Spionam) and Evasive Maneuvers (the sequel to Under the Gun). I've often gotten the impression that James and Robert fear sequels, which might be why they were crazy enough not to do a sequel to Bottom Floor or Errand Boys, despite how many times I wrote them a script and called them idiots. Anyway, one could also argue that Complete Breakfast and Automated Assets are sequels to Amalgamated Metal Screw Co. of Bismark, North Dakota, which, if the Dastolis ever confirmed, could create tremendous precedent for the case of Occupational Hazard being a sequel. But I suspect their stance would be that none of these are sequels, they are just movies that exist in the same universe. I will confirm that James and Robert believe that the young man played by Alejandro Kontarovsky in Complete Breakfast, A Wind to Shake the Stars, and Southwestern Orange County vs. the Flying Saucers is the same guy. This is something that is guaranteed to bring a smile to their face if you ever bring it up at a party.

Anyway, this is a great short. James and Robert prove how kooky they are by how they solved the problem of a missing actor. Scott Yager overslept on the original day of shooting, but rather than figure out a way to wake him up, or call Donny Copeland back another time, they shot Donny one day, then Scott another day, then CGI'd them together. They figured that a car explosion and a flaming rolling tire weren't enough of a collective challenge for this project. And just how are Scott and Donny in their respective roles? Scott Yager is a god among men, delivering one of the most fangasmic performances in all of Dastoli Digital history. And then there's Donny Copeland. What does he do wrong?

In this movie, Donny Copeland doesn't do a thing. He stands there and he stares at Scott Yager while we wait for Scott to say his line. HE DOESN'T DO A FUCKING THING, AND HE STILL FUCKS UP THE PERFORMANCE. What would have been nice is if he had had some kind of expression on his face indicating that he was somehow involved in the car explosion that took place 12 seconds earlier, or that he had at least seen it or heard it. Now, I understand that I can't review a single movie containing Donny Copeland without complaining about how he ruins everything. Maybe in the future, some of James and Robert's new friends will be writing reviews complaining about how much I suck as the bus guy in Weekday Service. But what can I tell ya? I suppose there is the slight possibility that on set, Donny received no direction and, in turn, provided no performance. Then, a month later, one of the Dastolis probably leaned over to the other during editing and said something like, "God, Donny sucks." And then they just pulled the bit of performance that was least insulting for the audience. Then they premiered it at the UCF Film Club, where the biggest problem was that the copy they brought wasn't playing right and nobody noticed the absent performance. But it's also possible that Donny Copeland just sucks.

The funniest thing about this 2-minute movie: On the DVD, James and Robert have divided it into 4 chapter stops.

Here is what the Dastolis have to say about Occupational Hazard:

ROBERT:

"When Just Another Day at the Office came out I don't remember anyone really caring that much. But when we came to UCF and exposed our work to new audiences, we were able to show (at that time) all 21 in a different order than their completion dates, meaning that Just Another Day at the Office wasn't overshadowed by The Black Iris for instance. Matt London paerticularly liked Just Another Day at the Office and I think that's what prompted us the most to re-make it as Occupational Hazard."

JAMES:

"There wasn't really much of a reason to make a follow up to Just Another Day at the Office, we just were going crazy with Dark Exposures that we needed to release something."