Punk's Dead; SLC Punk 2 (R)
"Only posers die"
Of all the crowd funded, nostalgia-glomming and remake raping that the film scene perpetrates now, nothing takes the crappy cake quite like SLC Punk 2, aka Punk's Dead. So, how dead is it?
If the ultimate message of SLC Punk! was the inevitability of selling out in modern society to survive, then SLC Punk 2 shows just how damaging artistically it can be to do so. Watching this film leaves one with the impression that maybe you're better off freezing to death than living. One half of the movie, the better half, focuses on a carload of teenaged punks, some goth some hardcore some straight edge, crossing back over county lines into Salt Lake City for a concert while. One, Ross, is suffering from heart break of a very stereotypical nature. Along the way they get drunk, do drugs, fight redneck fathers and barely act their way out of their cliched paper bags. However, let's not focus on them; at least they are young and inexperienced and serve some reason for the film to have been made (misguided though it may be). Meanwhile the film is haunted by the ghost of Heroin Bob (Goorjian) who provides us context (hah!) exposition (haha!) and the strongest tie to the original movie (sad face).
Bob, with an ill fitting bald cap/mohawk, is now the narrator of SLC2 (Matthew Lillard reportedly refused to appear in the sequel, good call Matt). One of the young punks, Ross, is his son who he fathered with Trish, and so Bob paces about oblivion in his combat boots offering his opinions on the state of his family and society. This is the only part of the film that even barely resembles the original film. Joining Bob in SLCP2 are also our old friends Sean, Eddie and John the Mod, aka, the only other actors unwisely willing to return for the sequel. They are given a few useless lines (and reportedly paid next to nothing for doing so), and have their beloved characters dragged through the mud (John a sleazy internet porn tycoon?). They sit in obvious, flat sets or in the back of cheap rented limos and read as much time-filling mush of dialog as the director can give them to fill in the holes between Bob and his kids. Meanwhile, the concert they are all meeting at not only looks and sounds terrible, it was a kickstarter "bonus" to backers and is given so much screen time its almost another character. A character every bit as terrible as the rest in the movie, both in conception and portrayal (betrayal)? Compare, for instance, the Sean character's amusing anecdotes from both movies: SLC1: the acid flashback, the homelessness, Sean is a funny yet tragic tale of youth gone awry. In SLC2 he is a lawyer (somehow) who steals a cop's bike in a scene that is painfully, systematically unfunny. The only thing laughable in that scene is how inept it is.
Gone is the intelligence, the wit, the energy, the newness, the raw camera work, the snappy conversations, the pastiche of film, even the underground music! In it's place are bad wigs on top of unpracticed performers stiffly reading a bad script in a bad movie that shovels in as much concert footage as it can to pad it's run time. If SLC Punk! hadn't been such an artistic success, would Punk2 be as Dead as it is here, visually decomposing the good will from the first to fleece the good memories and bank accounts of the original's devotees?
If Punk is dead you'll have to ask returning writer/director James Merendino. Who killed it James?
2 No Stevo, No Shooter, No Service out of 10 (AWFUL)
Showing posts with label Indy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Indy. Show all posts
Green Room (2016)
Green Room (R)
"Wolfenstein 2D"
A small time Metal music band becomes stranded in Oregon when their gig cancels. They accept a make up gig from a fan in order to generate enough funds to get home: a rural backwater club that just so happens to be patronized by Neo-Nazis. When things go terribly wrong the band is stuck with their backs against the wall in Director Jeremy Saulnier's gritty and intense Green Room.
When Saulnier's Blue Ruin (he must have a thing for colors in his titles) hit the indy scene it caused a sensation with its dynamic thrill vs budget ratio. In Green Room he raises the bar even higher, the look is much more evened out and professional, the thrills more smartly paced, the acting and situations more believable, the plot more brisk, the characters more expendable. This is one of those films where you can totally put yourself in the protagonists shoes, and are doubly shocked when characters are suddenly and violently killed. The cast is mostly young, bearded and realistic, with perhaps the most notable exception being the ol' Captain himself, Patrick Stewart (STTNG). We all should have guessed, he was a natural Skin Head all along!
Much like Ruin before it, Green Room does have some issues. Audio is either unclear or not mixed properly, it can be a pain to understand clearly some important moments. Sometimes motivations are just as unclear as the audio. And the director's motif may also veer a little too close to previous efforts, violent white-trash shoot outs in the woods anyone?
Yet it all doesn't fall apart at the end like Blue, it remains tense and full of anxiety until it's last few moments. A survival tale with a real sense of dread and chock full of surprises, Green Room achieves exactly what it sets out to do more competently than anyone would have guessed. Now lets see if the filmmakers can get out of their comfort zones and make something truly great since from the looks of things they have the talent to do so (also good choice on the CCR).
7.5 Red Laces out of 10 (GOOD)
"Wolfenstein 2D"
A small time Metal music band becomes stranded in Oregon when their gig cancels. They accept a make up gig from a fan in order to generate enough funds to get home: a rural backwater club that just so happens to be patronized by Neo-Nazis. When things go terribly wrong the band is stuck with their backs against the wall in Director Jeremy Saulnier's gritty and intense Green Room.
When Saulnier's Blue Ruin (he must have a thing for colors in his titles) hit the indy scene it caused a sensation with its dynamic thrill vs budget ratio. In Green Room he raises the bar even higher, the look is much more evened out and professional, the thrills more smartly paced, the acting and situations more believable, the plot more brisk, the characters more expendable. This is one of those films where you can totally put yourself in the protagonists shoes, and are doubly shocked when characters are suddenly and violently killed. The cast is mostly young, bearded and realistic, with perhaps the most notable exception being the ol' Captain himself, Patrick Stewart (STTNG). We all should have guessed, he was a natural Skin Head all along!
Much like Ruin before it, Green Room does have some issues. Audio is either unclear or not mixed properly, it can be a pain to understand clearly some important moments. Sometimes motivations are just as unclear as the audio. And the director's motif may also veer a little too close to previous efforts, violent white-trash shoot outs in the woods anyone?
Yet it all doesn't fall apart at the end like Blue, it remains tense and full of anxiety until it's last few moments. A survival tale with a real sense of dread and chock full of surprises, Green Room achieves exactly what it sets out to do more competently than anyone would have guessed. Now lets see if the filmmakers can get out of their comfort zones and make something truly great since from the looks of things they have the talent to do so (also good choice on the CCR).
7.5 Red Laces out of 10 (GOOD)
Bone Tomahawk (2015)
Bone Tomahawk (R)
A posse sets out from the town of Bright Hope in pursuit of some mysteriously sinister natives who have made off with a nurse, a deputy and their charge, a murdering vagrant. With an aging backup deputy, a paranoid man with a healthy trigger finger and a husband with a shattered leg, the local Sheriff heads out with his crew with no backup, no guide and no real hope of succeeding in the auspicious debut of director/writer S. Craig Zahller's surprisingly successful Horror/Western genre mashup.
A still mustachioed Kurt Russell (Hateful Eight) leads the men and the cast as the veteran Sheriff Hunt with supporting roles filled by fantastic character actor Richard Jenkins (The Cabin in the Woods), out-of-his-element Patrick Wilson (The Watchmen) and quirky Matthew Fox (Lost). This rousing group has a great script to play with and better repartee, and like the film are better than the sum of their parts. Jenkins in particular uses his great personal charms to enliven the role of dim-witted backup Deputy Chickory. The same can not be said for the female roles where a competent line reading has been sacrificed for a pretty face. The writing however is not to be blamed, as the jolly palaver and old timey vernacular of the dialog can attest to be the strongest asset of the film.
Not so strong are the visuals, a flat arid desert may be our playground but something perhaps could have been done to liven up the proceedings. Perhaps it was an attempt to accentuate the stark realism that underlies the plot, but more likely it is a symptom of the independent (and cheap) nature of the production that everything looks so one dimensional and backyard like. The posse's monstrous foes, a pack of cannibalistic troglodytes that even other Native-American fear come straight out of a 1980's D&D rule book. Alien, immutable and stoic, these cave-Indians are built like body builders and sound like video-game werewolves (which is quite silly). However the overall mythical, adventure-gone wrong feel to the plot lends itself to these creatures existing in a world where Tombstone meets Beowulf with a dash of Hostel.
This is where the genre mixing comes into full force. Bone Tomahawk is a long film, at over 2 hours with most of the action in the last half hour it can be a trek. In fact most of the beginning of the film can be seen as a ill-conceived camping trip through the badlands, and if it wasn't for the sharp characterization and pristine chatter among the group it would have sink into tedious sands from the wieght of pretension. Instead it builds tension quite slowly until the quick sudden release of bow strings and triggers, then blood bursts and appendages sever (the great practical effects show where the film makers allegiances lie) as it's genre mashup goes into full effect. To go 2 hours of tromping through the trail to sudden, violent, in your face charnel house really places the viewer squarely into the terrified boots of these law-loving prairie folk who are about to witness it up close and personal. It is shocking, brutal and very effective for both parties, and better than it has any right to be.
It's shortcomings easily outpaced by it's strengths, Bone Tomahawk is an auspicious start to a writer's career, one with interesting ideas and a zest for dialog. The movie itself is aptly named, the bony instrument would be blunt and cheap and yet just as effective as any expensive steel ax at cleaving, maiming or slaughtering, probably more painfully so.
7.5 Corn Chowders out of 10 (GOOD)
A posse sets out from the town of Bright Hope in pursuit of some mysteriously sinister natives who have made off with a nurse, a deputy and their charge, a murdering vagrant. With an aging backup deputy, a paranoid man with a healthy trigger finger and a husband with a shattered leg, the local Sheriff heads out with his crew with no backup, no guide and no real hope of succeeding in the auspicious debut of director/writer S. Craig Zahller's surprisingly successful Horror/Western genre mashup.
A still mustachioed Kurt Russell (Hateful Eight) leads the men and the cast as the veteran Sheriff Hunt with supporting roles filled by fantastic character actor Richard Jenkins (The Cabin in the Woods), out-of-his-element Patrick Wilson (The Watchmen) and quirky Matthew Fox (Lost). This rousing group has a great script to play with and better repartee, and like the film are better than the sum of their parts. Jenkins in particular uses his great personal charms to enliven the role of dim-witted backup Deputy Chickory. The same can not be said for the female roles where a competent line reading has been sacrificed for a pretty face. The writing however is not to be blamed, as the jolly palaver and old timey vernacular of the dialog can attest to be the strongest asset of the film.
Not so strong are the visuals, a flat arid desert may be our playground but something perhaps could have been done to liven up the proceedings. Perhaps it was an attempt to accentuate the stark realism that underlies the plot, but more likely it is a symptom of the independent (and cheap) nature of the production that everything looks so one dimensional and backyard like. The posse's monstrous foes, a pack of cannibalistic troglodytes that even other Native-American fear come straight out of a 1980's D&D rule book. Alien, immutable and stoic, these cave-Indians are built like body builders and sound like video-game werewolves (which is quite silly). However the overall mythical, adventure-gone wrong feel to the plot lends itself to these creatures existing in a world where Tombstone meets Beowulf with a dash of Hostel.
This is where the genre mixing comes into full force. Bone Tomahawk is a long film, at over 2 hours with most of the action in the last half hour it can be a trek. In fact most of the beginning of the film can be seen as a ill-conceived camping trip through the badlands, and if it wasn't for the sharp characterization and pristine chatter among the group it would have sink into tedious sands from the wieght of pretension. Instead it builds tension quite slowly until the quick sudden release of bow strings and triggers, then blood bursts and appendages sever (the great practical effects show where the film makers allegiances lie) as it's genre mashup goes into full effect. To go 2 hours of tromping through the trail to sudden, violent, in your face charnel house really places the viewer squarely into the terrified boots of these law-loving prairie folk who are about to witness it up close and personal. It is shocking, brutal and very effective for both parties, and better than it has any right to be.
It's shortcomings easily outpaced by it's strengths, Bone Tomahawk is an auspicious start to a writer's career, one with interesting ideas and a zest for dialog. The movie itself is aptly named, the bony instrument would be blunt and cheap and yet just as effective as any expensive steel ax at cleaving, maiming or slaughtering, probably more painfully so.
7.5 Corn Chowders out of 10 (GOOD)
Dope (2015)
Dope (R)
"Slippery Slope N(word)"
From the slums of Englewood comes the story of Malcolm, a geeky straight A student trying to get into Harvard. At times joyfully refreshingly new, others painfully derivative, Dope is at the least an interesting new voice supplied by a new actor in a landscape of bland dull remakes of whitewashed Hollywood entertainment.
Dope begins with a 90s HipHop nostalgia, a groovy kind of energy that introduces us to Malcolm's world of the hood, a place where you can get shot for no reason but also most people don't. It's not a gloomy, trash ridden cess pit, it's a place where real people live and eat food and kids form punk bands and dream of escaping. Where not every household is broken (though quite a few are), and not every car is a low rider (just some), not every black man is a thug (but watch your backpack). Malcolm is not your average black kid either. Played with geeky-awkward-perfection by new comer Shameik Moore, Malcolm like many of his peers, must at some point give up his Yo MTV Raps childhood and make some tough life decisions. This is of course the point of the film, but is also where it loses much of it's fun.
Imagine if SuperBad stopped goofing and laughing about halfway though because it was time for "the point," and you have the toughest selling point of Dope. Now, there is no contention that a kid in Malcolm's hood, his age with his situation wouldn't run afoul of some hard choices. However the way it is handled is a bit nonsensical and confusing, and is quite a shock going from a happy-go-lucky "myfriendsarecoolbutIwantagirlfriend&nevermetmydad" to drug dealing bitcoin memes stand ins. The motivations to do so are unclear, and the tacked on romantic angle is exactly that, tacked on because every film has that. On the other hand, there really isn't another film like this, with this strong of an African-American voice and music and fashion, that is respectful and realistic and un exaggerated. And yet it also dips into amateurish tropes (the cliche white guy hacker/stoner, the dropped subplots loss of focus, the aformentioned romantic subplot, the sometimes dippy dialogue of the other characters) muddles the message and also sometimes fumbles the humor. However the acid washed sunsets and dayglo sneaker design of the production and a solid cinematographic base lend much to it's Indy cred. Like Do The Right Thing the preachiness that, yes, preaches the ending must be allowed since a young man like Malcolm so infrequently allowed a soapbox to kick it from.
7 Gotta Say it was a Good Day out of 10 (GOOD)
"Slippery Slope N(word)"
From the slums of Englewood comes the story of Malcolm, a geeky straight A student trying to get into Harvard. At times joyfully refreshingly new, others painfully derivative, Dope is at the least an interesting new voice supplied by a new actor in a landscape of bland dull remakes of whitewashed Hollywood entertainment.
Dope begins with a 90s HipHop nostalgia, a groovy kind of energy that introduces us to Malcolm's world of the hood, a place where you can get shot for no reason but also most people don't. It's not a gloomy, trash ridden cess pit, it's a place where real people live and eat food and kids form punk bands and dream of escaping. Where not every household is broken (though quite a few are), and not every car is a low rider (just some), not every black man is a thug (but watch your backpack). Malcolm is not your average black kid either. Played with geeky-awkward-perfection by new comer Shameik Moore, Malcolm like many of his peers, must at some point give up his Yo MTV Raps childhood and make some tough life decisions. This is of course the point of the film, but is also where it loses much of it's fun.
Imagine if SuperBad stopped goofing and laughing about halfway though because it was time for "the point," and you have the toughest selling point of Dope. Now, there is no contention that a kid in Malcolm's hood, his age with his situation wouldn't run afoul of some hard choices. However the way it is handled is a bit nonsensical and confusing, and is quite a shock going from a happy-go-lucky "myfriendsarecoolbutIwantagirlfriend&nevermetmydad" to drug dealing bitcoin memes stand ins. The motivations to do so are unclear, and the tacked on romantic angle is exactly that, tacked on because every film has that. On the other hand, there really isn't another film like this, with this strong of an African-American voice and music and fashion, that is respectful and realistic and un exaggerated. And yet it also dips into amateurish tropes (the cliche white guy hacker/stoner, the dropped subplots loss of focus, the aformentioned romantic subplot, the sometimes dippy dialogue of the other characters) muddles the message and also sometimes fumbles the humor. However the acid washed sunsets and dayglo sneaker design of the production and a solid cinematographic base lend much to it's Indy cred. Like Do The Right Thing the preachiness that, yes, preaches the ending must be allowed since a young man like Malcolm so infrequently allowed a soapbox to kick it from.
7 Gotta Say it was a Good Day out of 10 (GOOD)
What We Do In The Shadows (2015)
What We Do In The Shadows (R)
"BAT FIGHT!"
Four Vampire roommates in New Zealand allow a camera crew into their den, a flat in Wellington that is soaked in blood and laughter in the new mockumentary What We Do In The Shadows.
Ridiculous and raucous, the flatmates interpersonal relationships drive the film as we discover the weird and zany lives of bloodsuckers. Co-written, starring and co-directed by Taika Waititi and Jermaine Clement (of HBOs Flight of the Conchords), the film offers a peek into the underbelly world of the undead as they deal with finding victims, taunting (s)werewolves and doing the (literally) bloody dishes. Flatmates include Viago as a vampiric neat freak with a hole in his dead heart, Vladislav the Prodder has serious issues with his Ex leading to a lack of self confidence, Deacon is the brash newcomer at only 183 years old, and their terrifying master 8000 year old vampire Petyr sleeps in a sarcophagus in a basement covered with gore and bones. When Petyr converts a new kid named Nick to his brood, tensions arise in the house as rules are broken and fashion is stolen, leading to brushes with vampire hunters and irritable lycanthropes, culminating at the annual Undead masquerade ball where a human friend and the camera crew itself is in mortal danger from the attendees.
The film is often hilarious, the premise of mixing vampire jokes with bad roommate jokes is fantastic and rife with humor. The NZ cast is funny, the mockumentary angle, while trite, is effective, and it hits all the right veins of humor and horror. The camera work and editing can be a bit rough at times, but the special effects work in its favor and the characters will win over your black heart as they charm your neck out of hemoglobin and laughter. Perhaps a bit of a trifle, and it's low budget nature does rear it's shaggy head now and again, but in general you will be too distracted by the humor and good intentions of the filmmakers to mind being hypnotized into liking this silly goof-off
8 Vampires Vacuuming Vehemently out of 10 (GREAT)
"BAT FIGHT!"
Four Vampire roommates in New Zealand allow a camera crew into their den, a flat in Wellington that is soaked in blood and laughter in the new mockumentary What We Do In The Shadows.
Ridiculous and raucous, the flatmates interpersonal relationships drive the film as we discover the weird and zany lives of bloodsuckers. Co-written, starring and co-directed by Taika Waititi and Jermaine Clement (of HBOs Flight of the Conchords), the film offers a peek into the underbelly world of the undead as they deal with finding victims, taunting (s)werewolves and doing the (literally) bloody dishes. Flatmates include Viago as a vampiric neat freak with a hole in his dead heart, Vladislav the Prodder has serious issues with his Ex leading to a lack of self confidence, Deacon is the brash newcomer at only 183 years old, and their terrifying master 8000 year old vampire Petyr sleeps in a sarcophagus in a basement covered with gore and bones. When Petyr converts a new kid named Nick to his brood, tensions arise in the house as rules are broken and fashion is stolen, leading to brushes with vampire hunters and irritable lycanthropes, culminating at the annual Undead masquerade ball where a human friend and the camera crew itself is in mortal danger from the attendees.
The film is often hilarious, the premise of mixing vampire jokes with bad roommate jokes is fantastic and rife with humor. The NZ cast is funny, the mockumentary angle, while trite, is effective, and it hits all the right veins of humor and horror. The camera work and editing can be a bit rough at times, but the special effects work in its favor and the characters will win over your black heart as they charm your neck out of hemoglobin and laughter. Perhaps a bit of a trifle, and it's low budget nature does rear it's shaggy head now and again, but in general you will be too distracted by the humor and good intentions of the filmmakers to mind being hypnotized into liking this silly goof-off
8 Vampires Vacuuming Vehemently out of 10 (GREAT)
Wolfcop (2014)
Wolfcop (R)
"Hair of the Dog that bit ya"
An small town alcoholic Deputy in Canada's Great White North is terrible at his job. He drinks, he's late, he's lazy, he's hungover, ...he drinks. But when he gets cursed one night by a cult of shape shifters in the woods he becomes one hairy, scary, extraordinary law enforcement officer!
Granted Wolfcop has a slow start, and until the movie's first transformation kicks in there is a lot of heel dragging and iffy acting (but it's only 78 minutes so hang in there!). Once he transforms (and wait till you see WHAT transforms first), the movie's gore and humor kick it way past its cheapo one-idea script. The make up is dollar store wigs and makeup with some rubber hands so you'll never confuse this with an American Werewolf in London remake (its more along the lines of Canadian WereWolf in Saskatchewan with Strange Brew thrown in for good measure). Fueled by whiskey, driven to serve and protect (or is it sever and project?), Wolfcop is lewd, rude and in the nude with a tasty 1980's horror style and soundtrack (and love scene, ick). Much rougher and ghetto-er than it's Canadian cousin "Hobo With A Shotgun," Wolfcop nonetheless attains coolness as he wolfs down donuts and booze in his tricked out squad car on the icy roads of justice.
Next time team him up with BioCop!
6.5 Hip Hop Theme Songs over Credits out of 10 (GOOD)
"Hair of the Dog that bit ya"
An small town alcoholic Deputy in Canada's Great White North is terrible at his job. He drinks, he's late, he's lazy, he's hungover, ...he drinks. But when he gets cursed one night by a cult of shape shifters in the woods he becomes one hairy, scary, extraordinary law enforcement officer!
Granted Wolfcop has a slow start, and until the movie's first transformation kicks in there is a lot of heel dragging and iffy acting (but it's only 78 minutes so hang in there!). Once he transforms (and wait till you see WHAT transforms first), the movie's gore and humor kick it way past its cheapo one-idea script. The make up is dollar store wigs and makeup with some rubber hands so you'll never confuse this with an American Werewolf in London remake (its more along the lines of Canadian WereWolf in Saskatchewan with Strange Brew thrown in for good measure). Fueled by whiskey, driven to serve and protect (or is it sever and project?), Wolfcop is lewd, rude and in the nude with a tasty 1980's horror style and soundtrack (and love scene, ick). Much rougher and ghetto-er than it's Canadian cousin "Hobo With A Shotgun," Wolfcop nonetheless attains coolness as he wolfs down donuts and booze in his tricked out squad car on the icy roads of justice.
Next time team him up with BioCop!
6.5 Hip Hop Theme Songs over Credits out of 10 (GOOD)
It Follows (2014)
It Follows (R)
A College student enters into a new sexual relationship which leads her to a new life of terror in the anxiety ridden yet only subjectively effective It Follows.
Indy Horror can be a mixed bag, for when something goodish comes around the starving fan base and critics fall over themselves to fawn. And while the dream like pulse-pounding instinctual fear of the first third of the movie is wonderful film making that retains a gorgeous cinematographic look of suburban Detroit and its surrounding environs, the creep comes to an abrupt halt about half way through and then continues to dig it's own grave by breaking it's already established rules and being obviously obtuse.
There is still a lot interesting here and if the movie lived up to it's first half then it would indeed be the "scariest movie of the decade." Well, considering the decade it still might be, for it's not the 80s anymore. It Follows has a preternatural fear instilled in it, the feeling of being stalked is captured vividly, hackles will rise. Inspired by dreams the film maker had as a child, the way the camera moves and the antagonist's slow pursuit will set off the alarm bells in your head and heart. Good acting, odd production values and strange music (the synth sounds, old tube televisions, big back seated cars and no cell phones are invoking a 70s-80s spin on the present that homages back to the genre's and filmmaker's roots), its all an elaborate technique to throw the audience into a unknown situation filled with panic, forcing them to scan the screen constantly for the bad guy. It's a slow, terrifying trip that ends too soon.
For then there is that scene on the beach and the specter of supernatural CG on a shoe string budget snaps the suspension of belief. When they come into actual physical contact the buzz and creep and anxiety melts away as it becomes another "YAs vs. the thing movie." Suddenly "It Follows" stops following its own urgent rules and just literally stands and stares instead. It was a fantastic premise that unfortunately someone had to write a semi-commercial ending for. It's not bad, it just isn't as strong as what followed.
And yet the first half is stellar, the look and work of the camera stunning, the emotional under pinning of parental child-abuse (physical and sexual), the dangers of sensual awakenings and the prepubescent fear of sex, so much works and all hackles were risen. Yet while the ending turns out to be a simple parable (me and you against the world, baby) the film will probably have you looking over your shoulder for a couple days, and that might earn "It Follows" a place in your nightmares, just not the history books.
7 Soggy Arm Casts out of 10 (GOOD)
A College student enters into a new sexual relationship which leads her to a new life of terror in the anxiety ridden yet only subjectively effective It Follows.
Indy Horror can be a mixed bag, for when something goodish comes around the starving fan base and critics fall over themselves to fawn. And while the dream like pulse-pounding instinctual fear of the first third of the movie is wonderful film making that retains a gorgeous cinematographic look of suburban Detroit and its surrounding environs, the creep comes to an abrupt halt about half way through and then continues to dig it's own grave by breaking it's already established rules and being obviously obtuse.
There is still a lot interesting here and if the movie lived up to it's first half then it would indeed be the "scariest movie of the decade." Well, considering the decade it still might be, for it's not the 80s anymore. It Follows has a preternatural fear instilled in it, the feeling of being stalked is captured vividly, hackles will rise. Inspired by dreams the film maker had as a child, the way the camera moves and the antagonist's slow pursuit will set off the alarm bells in your head and heart. Good acting, odd production values and strange music (the synth sounds, old tube televisions, big back seated cars and no cell phones are invoking a 70s-80s spin on the present that homages back to the genre's and filmmaker's roots), its all an elaborate technique to throw the audience into a unknown situation filled with panic, forcing them to scan the screen constantly for the bad guy. It's a slow, terrifying trip that ends too soon.
For then there is that scene on the beach and the specter of supernatural CG on a shoe string budget snaps the suspension of belief. When they come into actual physical contact the buzz and creep and anxiety melts away as it becomes another "YAs vs. the thing movie." Suddenly "It Follows" stops following its own urgent rules and just literally stands and stares instead. It was a fantastic premise that unfortunately someone had to write a semi-commercial ending for. It's not bad, it just isn't as strong as what followed.
And yet the first half is stellar, the look and work of the camera stunning, the emotional under pinning of parental child-abuse (physical and sexual), the dangers of sensual awakenings and the prepubescent fear of sex, so much works and all hackles were risen. Yet while the ending turns out to be a simple parable (me and you against the world, baby) the film will probably have you looking over your shoulder for a couple days, and that might earn "It Follows" a place in your nightmares, just not the history books.
7 Soggy Arm Casts out of 10 (GOOD)
Blue Ruin (2013)
Blue Ruin (R)
"Fear the Beard "
A young homeless man hears his parent's killer is being released from prison after years of incarceration and immediately sets out to avenge them. After sudden, violent confrontation brings him and his kin into a bullet ridden feud with the other family, the man finds himself embroiled with not just family politics but the skeletons in their closets too in this super independant and anti-Hollywood thriller made with much polish and less budget than your average footwear commercial.
Featuring a cast and crews of unknowns, shot and produced on their own shoestrings by a group of go-getters, funded by the internet savy on Kickstarter (using a colorful pitch showing the bearded vagrant with a shotgun walking around a carnival), Blue Ruin maybe the future of crowd-sourced entertainment over the studios or just a rare example of perseverance and hard work, talent (and luck) paying off, but in either case Blue Ruin does it more professionally than most high end production. The director has an eye for visuals, his young star (and best friend) has a nice case of believability, and even with some amateurishness seeping into the edges of the frame with some iffy acting and physical effects, it upholds its side of the bargain with an unusual story married to strong cinematography. A unique spin on the old story of the Hatfields and the McCoys but this time with automatic weapons, Blue Ruin may be a small movie in scope but could spell big changes later on for the film indistury, if only for it's cast and crew's futures.
6.5 Fear The Beards out of 10 (GOOD)
"Fear the Beard "
A young homeless man hears his parent's killer is being released from prison after years of incarceration and immediately sets out to avenge them. After sudden, violent confrontation brings him and his kin into a bullet ridden feud with the other family, the man finds himself embroiled with not just family politics but the skeletons in their closets too in this super independant and anti-Hollywood thriller made with much polish and less budget than your average footwear commercial.
Featuring a cast and crews of unknowns, shot and produced on their own shoestrings by a group of go-getters, funded by the internet savy on Kickstarter (using a colorful pitch showing the bearded vagrant with a shotgun walking around a carnival), Blue Ruin maybe the future of crowd-sourced entertainment over the studios or just a rare example of perseverance and hard work, talent (and luck) paying off, but in either case Blue Ruin does it more professionally than most high end production. The director has an eye for visuals, his young star (and best friend) has a nice case of believability, and even with some amateurishness seeping into the edges of the frame with some iffy acting and physical effects, it upholds its side of the bargain with an unusual story married to strong cinematography. A unique spin on the old story of the Hatfields and the McCoys but this time with automatic weapons, Blue Ruin may be a small movie in scope but could spell big changes later on for the film indistury, if only for it's cast and crew's futures.
6.5 Fear The Beards out of 10 (GOOD)
The Sessions (2012)
The Sessions (R) - Review
"Hot and Heavy (My Iron Lung)"
A crippled man begins to regret the lack of a love life, and with the advice of his church and his colleagues and armored with a sly wit, embarks upon the thorny paths of love and sex and mortality.
The true life story of Mark O'Brien, a polio stricken poet who cannot be far from his iron lung for too long. He is a challenging role played with absolute brilliance by John Hawkes (Winter's Bone). Equally courageous is his sex surrogate he begins to see Cheryl Coen-Green (Helen Hunt, beautifully cast), a middle aged mother and wife. How anything this awkward and embarrassing, the disabled and their oft disregarded human needs, can come across so light and funny is a tribute to Hawkes and Hunts chemistry and unselfishness (and in no small part to the poet O'Briens prose, which offers stellar insight into an artistic man trapped in an uncooperative body). Rounding out the cast is a fave, William H. Macy, as O'Brien's priest who must take confession and live vicariously in equal measures.
The Sessions is touching without being touchy feely, has pure real emotions without all the focus group mumbojumbo and achieves a frank openness about sexuality that might have caused picket lines among the semi-prudish if it's charm wasn't so endearing with a quick disarming wit. The Sessions elicit high marks.
8 Gurney Gropes out of 10 (GREAT)
"Hot and Heavy (My Iron Lung)"
A crippled man begins to regret the lack of a love life, and with the advice of his church and his colleagues and armored with a sly wit, embarks upon the thorny paths of love and sex and mortality.
The true life story of Mark O'Brien, a polio stricken poet who cannot be far from his iron lung for too long. He is a challenging role played with absolute brilliance by John Hawkes (Winter's Bone). Equally courageous is his sex surrogate he begins to see Cheryl Coen-Green (Helen Hunt, beautifully cast), a middle aged mother and wife. How anything this awkward and embarrassing, the disabled and their oft disregarded human needs, can come across so light and funny is a tribute to Hawkes and Hunts chemistry and unselfishness (and in no small part to the poet O'Briens prose, which offers stellar insight into an artistic man trapped in an uncooperative body). Rounding out the cast is a fave, William H. Macy, as O'Brien's priest who must take confession and live vicariously in equal measures.
The Sessions is touching without being touchy feely, has pure real emotions without all the focus group mumbojumbo and achieves a frank openness about sexuality that might have caused picket lines among the semi-prudish if it's charm wasn't so endearing with a quick disarming wit. The Sessions elicit high marks.
8 Gurney Gropes out of 10 (GREAT)
Safety Not Guaranteed (2012)
Safety Not Guaranteed (R) - Review
"The Craigslist of Indy SciFi comedys"
Interns at a Seattle-based magazine are sent on assignment with a reporter on the verge of third-life crisis. The story centers on investigating a help wanted ad (which actually existed and reads:
"WANTED: Someone to go back in time with me. This is not a joke. You'll get paid after we get back. Must bring your own weapons. I have only done this once before. SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED".
I'm not sure if any film has ever had less to adapt, but the filmmakers fill it out pleasantly. The acting is low ball yet enjoyable, the characters paper thin yet charming. The outsider emo chick, the man boy slacker reporter, the supersmart yet shy foreigner, all well worn roles but the situations they get in are quite unique. Starring Mark Duplass (Zero Dark Thirty) as the reclusively odd timetraveling engineer, the narcissistic yet harmless reporter Jake Johnson (New Girl) is actually looking for heartbreak through nostalgia colored glasses, and Aubrey Plaza (Scott Pilgrim) as the open minded sarcastic geeky girl who is bored by standard American life and would much rather adventure into the unknown ether with an odd duck love interest than shop at the GAP.
7 Men In Black out of 10 (GOOD)
"The Craigslist of Indy SciFi comedys"
Interns at a Seattle-based magazine are sent on assignment with a reporter on the verge of third-life crisis. The story centers on investigating a help wanted ad (which actually existed and reads:
"WANTED: Someone to go back in time with me. This is not a joke. You'll get paid after we get back. Must bring your own weapons. I have only done this once before. SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED".
I'm not sure if any film has ever had less to adapt, but the filmmakers fill it out pleasantly. The acting is low ball yet enjoyable, the characters paper thin yet charming. The outsider emo chick, the man boy slacker reporter, the supersmart yet shy foreigner, all well worn roles but the situations they get in are quite unique. Starring Mark Duplass (Zero Dark Thirty) as the reclusively odd timetraveling engineer, the narcissistic yet harmless reporter Jake Johnson (New Girl) is actually looking for heartbreak through nostalgia colored glasses, and Aubrey Plaza (Scott Pilgrim) as the open minded sarcastic geeky girl who is bored by standard American life and would much rather adventure into the unknown ether with an odd duck love interest than shop at the GAP.
7 Men In Black out of 10 (GOOD)
Bellflower (2011)
Bellflower (R)
"Slacker Max: Beyond Pretentious-dome"
The internet buzz is high for this indie flick, with critics and viewers alike falling over themselves to praise it. Two friends, DIYers with a penchant for muscle cars/Mad Max fanboyism and flame throwers, have moved to L.A. to live out their pre-apocalyptic post-pubescent fantasies among the other white middle classed unemployed cliques. The main c haracter Woodrow (who is also the writer/director), falls in love with the wrong girl and everything comes crashing down around their moronic ears after the inevitably violent breakup. Supposedly shot for 3 years with a budget of only $17,000 on an impressive camera rig hand-built by the director, I can understand why the film has gotten some attention, but to laud it and speak of it as as the next Tarrantino/Resevoir Dogs is quite absurd. The acting is pathetically amateurish, the editing and pace woefully inadequate, the characterization so hip, cool and clichéd it should be held up as the whipping boy of the “alternative lifestyle” archetype. The cinematography (highly praised by many viewers) is both colorfully striking and at times completely unprofessional. There is nothing mesmerizing about a shallow depth of field; every shot is a tedious exercise in overuse of focus pulls. All of this would be fine if the movie had stayed as a student film; as such it is a very impressive stepping stone to a potential career. As a professional piece of entertainment it ends up laughably bad, like what Ed Wood would make now with a prosumer DSLR and a couple of PBR tall boys inside him. Unsatisfyingly vapid in almost all its film techniques, its emotional heart works somewhat, cheaply feeding off the overly angst filled misogyny of the trendy American young male (its not hard to get genuine blood with an audience by scratching at such a common scab as heartbreak). Uniquely fetishistic and yet disturbingly self-pleasured by its own narcissism, Bellflower deserves a fraction of its acclaim but its criticisms twofold. I feel Lord Humongus himself would be displeased with his inclusion, throwing down his half eaten box of Rasinettes after the long boring first act, slightly on the edge of his seat for the second, but the finale having him throw up his hands in complete disbelief while his mo-hawked minions howl to their chief “Why oh Humongous? This movie looks so rad and sweet!?”. Humongous can only bow his head in shame, dragging his leather clad sycophants by their dog chains behind him, a grown man among silly boys.
3 petrol tankers out of 10 (BAD)
"Slacker Max: Beyond Pretentious-dome"
The internet buzz is high for this indie flick, with critics and viewers alike falling over themselves to praise it. Two friends, DIYers with a penchant for muscle cars/Mad Max fanboyism and flame throwers, have moved to L.A. to live out their pre-apocalyptic post-pubescent fantasies among the other white middle classed unemployed cliques. The main c haracter Woodrow (who is also the writer/director), falls in love with the wrong girl and everything comes crashing down around their moronic ears after the inevitably violent breakup. Supposedly shot for 3 years with a budget of only $17,000 on an impressive camera rig hand-built by the director, I can understand why the film has gotten some attention, but to laud it and speak of it as as the next Tarrantino/Resevoir Dogs is quite absurd. The acting is pathetically amateurish, the editing and pace woefully inadequate, the characterization so hip, cool and clichéd it should be held up as the whipping boy of the “alternative lifestyle” archetype. The cinematography (highly praised by many viewers) is both colorfully striking and at times completely unprofessional. There is nothing mesmerizing about a shallow depth of field; every shot is a tedious exercise in overuse of focus pulls. All of this would be fine if the movie had stayed as a student film; as such it is a very impressive stepping stone to a potential career. As a professional piece of entertainment it ends up laughably bad, like what Ed Wood would make now with a prosumer DSLR and a couple of PBR tall boys inside him. Unsatisfyingly vapid in almost all its film techniques, its emotional heart works somewhat, cheaply feeding off the overly angst filled misogyny of the trendy American young male (its not hard to get genuine blood with an audience by scratching at such a common scab as heartbreak). Uniquely fetishistic and yet disturbingly self-pleasured by its own narcissism, Bellflower deserves a fraction of its acclaim but its criticisms twofold. I feel Lord Humongus himself would be displeased with his inclusion, throwing down his half eaten box of Rasinettes after the long boring first act, slightly on the edge of his seat for the second, but the finale having him throw up his hands in complete disbelief while his mo-hawked minions howl to their chief “Why oh Humongous? This movie looks so rad and sweet!?”. Humongous can only bow his head in shame, dragging his leather clad sycophants by their dog chains behind him, a grown man among silly boys.
3 petrol tankers out of 10 (BAD)
Manborg (2011)
Manborg (NR) - Review
"Death by Green Screen"
General Draculon of Hell has invaded Earth and decimated humanities ranks. Sometime later a slain soldier reawakens; he is cybernetically modified, and with a group of multi-cultural freedom fighters attempts to revenge the death of his brother, who once said:
"It's not about the killing, it's about family"
It's actually about the aping of popculture sci fi, anime and video games by super-lowballing the budget and shooting everything on a greenscreen found in your grandmother's basement. While some of the costume and makeup effects are ingeniously inventive with those inside them cheesy yet likeable, the majority of the film is student grade hokum with very few real laughs. The good quality stop motion animation and sometimes quick witted dialogue cannot overcome its short lived humor and simple rehashing of well known plots where ideas and creativity could have saved it. The team's short film that followed, BIO-COP, proved how great Manborg itself could have been if it were just a 5 minute joke trailer instead of a 60 minute quasi-feature.
4.5 Overdubbed Australians out of 10 (MEDIOCRE)
"Death by Green Screen"
General Draculon of Hell has invaded Earth and decimated humanities ranks. Sometime later a slain soldier reawakens; he is cybernetically modified, and with a group of multi-cultural freedom fighters attempts to revenge the death of his brother, who once said:
"It's not about the killing, it's about family"
It's actually about the aping of popculture sci fi, anime and video games by super-lowballing the budget and shooting everything on a greenscreen found in your grandmother's basement. While some of the costume and makeup effects are ingeniously inventive with those inside them cheesy yet likeable, the majority of the film is student grade hokum with very few real laughs. The good quality stop motion animation and sometimes quick witted dialogue cannot overcome its short lived humor and simple rehashing of well known plots where ideas and creativity could have saved it. The team's short film that followed, BIO-COP, proved how great Manborg itself could have been if it were just a 5 minute joke trailer instead of a 60 minute quasi-feature.
4.5 Overdubbed Australians out of 10 (MEDIOCRE)
Juan of the Dead (2011)
Juan of the Dead (NR) - Review
"Embargo Couldn't stop this?"
A spanish language rip off of Shawn of the Dead, both in plot and title, Juan is a middle aged slacker in Cuba. When the undead begin to rip apart his not-quite-beloved society, Juan and his slacker cohorts band together to exploit the situation and keep his young daughter safe. Using zombie-ology as a pastiche for the wrongs of communism is a good idea, but all the zany humor, gaffing at the camera, absolute no brainer script and iffy special effects makes this one hard to swallow, even with a pile of salt.
2.5 Floatillas out of 10 (AWFUL)
"Embargo Couldn't stop this?"
A spanish language rip off of Shawn of the Dead, both in plot and title, Juan is a middle aged slacker in Cuba. When the undead begin to rip apart his not-quite-beloved society, Juan and his slacker cohorts band together to exploit the situation and keep his young daughter safe. Using zombie-ology as a pastiche for the wrongs of communism is a good idea, but all the zany humor, gaffing at the camera, absolute no brainer script and iffy special effects makes this one hard to swallow, even with a pile of salt.
2.5 Floatillas out of 10 (AWFUL)
Super (2010)
Super (R)
"The Office with Bloody Wrenches"
A goofier, gorier, more realistic take on do it yourself SuperHeroes, an Indie KickAss for a more refined palate. Fans of the Office, Kevin Bacon, Pipe Wrench violence, Liv Tyler and Anime Tentacle pron take note: The Crimson Bolt is the real deal. "Shut Up Crime!"
Score:8 Animated Bunnies out of 10 (GREAT)
The Dead (2010)
The Dead (R) - Review
"Script is Dead on Arrival"
Low budgets, first time filmmakers, a decade of work to get it produced, The Dead is an imagining of the George Romero Rules styled zombies in Africa, seen through the eyes of a native Soldier and a blackops styled survivalist. The continent has been lost to the zombie host, society has broken down and all there is left is to survive and save your loved ones. It's a shallow thin plot that feels longer than its run time would suggest. Slower than a corpse in a wheelchair, the movie simply throws up situations for the characters to fight through and does so again 10 minutes later, there is no narrative, there is almost no spoken dialogue. The zombie effects are basic and unremarkable (probably most are done in post production far cheaper than applying makeup to the local African extras), the entire film looks like one long deleted scene from a movie with zgrade potential. To be fair there are some moments of cinematographic beauty, though again to be fair any Africa-bound tourist with a modern DSLR could capture them equally well. Then the rotten no-good ending happens and all you can think is that the zombies aren't the only soulless unimaginative cannibals present here and that perhaps the film makers have a future in Hollywood after all (or at least the SYFY Channel).
4.5 Bland Digital Gore FX out of 10 (MEDIOCRE)
"Script is Dead on Arrival"
Low budgets, first time filmmakers, a decade of work to get it produced, The Dead is an imagining of the George Romero Rules styled zombies in Africa, seen through the eyes of a native Soldier and a blackops styled survivalist. The continent has been lost to the zombie host, society has broken down and all there is left is to survive and save your loved ones. It's a shallow thin plot that feels longer than its run time would suggest. Slower than a corpse in a wheelchair, the movie simply throws up situations for the characters to fight through and does so again 10 minutes later, there is no narrative, there is almost no spoken dialogue. The zombie effects are basic and unremarkable (probably most are done in post production far cheaper than applying makeup to the local African extras), the entire film looks like one long deleted scene from a movie with zgrade potential. To be fair there are some moments of cinematographic beauty, though again to be fair any Africa-bound tourist with a modern DSLR could capture them equally well. Then the rotten no-good ending happens and all you can think is that the zombies aren't the only soulless unimaginative cannibals present here and that perhaps the film makers have a future in Hollywood after all (or at least the SYFY Channel).
4.5 Bland Digital Gore FX out of 10 (MEDIOCRE)
Trash Humpers (2009)
Trash Humpers (NR) - Review
"Yes, they do."
Never has the title of a movie been so accurate. Harmony Korine, strange filmologist extraordinaire, brings us this mockumentary about strange elderly creatures who patrol the night looking for Trash to, yes... hump. Depravity amidst shaky handheld homevideo is the motif and it will go beyond your appetite for bizarre buffet. It is presented and intended to be like a found VHS tape you discovered in the gutter of a thrift store. You gather your friends, pop it in dad's VCR and experience the unknown. Only for the interested and the experienced, Trash Humpers has too few of the expected genuinely odd Korine moments that might lead to a recommendation, the film is made to outtrash Jack Ass (boy does it ever) and is as memorable as a stumbled upon crime scene. Sometimes its ok to look away.
3.5 Rubber Masks out of 10 (BAD)
"Yes, they do."
Never has the title of a movie been so accurate. Harmony Korine, strange filmologist extraordinaire, brings us this mockumentary about strange elderly creatures who patrol the night looking for Trash to, yes... hump. Depravity amidst shaky handheld homevideo is the motif and it will go beyond your appetite for bizarre buffet. It is presented and intended to be like a found VHS tape you discovered in the gutter of a thrift store. You gather your friends, pop it in dad's VCR and experience the unknown. Only for the interested and the experienced, Trash Humpers has too few of the expected genuinely odd Korine moments that might lead to a recommendation, the film is made to outtrash Jack Ass (boy does it ever) and is as memorable as a stumbled upon crime scene. Sometimes its ok to look away.
3.5 Rubber Masks out of 10 (BAD)
Birdemic: Shock and Terror (2008)
Birdemic: Shock and Terror (NR) Review
"The Turds"
Billed (ha ha) by its director as a new entry into his personally conceived genre of the Horror Romance movie, Birdemic is not the kind of bad you can sit around with your friends on a friday night and laugh about. Birdemic is such an utter embarrassment on every conceivable level (Editing, Sound, Writing, Special Effects, Acting) that its only success was how it got so famous. Much like William Hung's American Idol success was a pop culture phenomenon that centered on exploitating a terrible dreamer, so is James Nguyen's film about a couple finding new love amidst killer birds. It was self financed, self filmed and self promoted at Sundance by driving around in his family car plastered with fake birds. He bought a midnight showing and filled it up with indy movie producers and schlock fans, people knew a cash cow when they saw one and it was bought for one million dollars and then excreted into our lives.
Indy films like this I try to give some leeway and crow about their positive points, but Birdemic is only an excuse to laugh at Nguyen and his inept filmmaking skills. The first time the shoddy birds appeared on screen (shockingly late in the film) they squeezed a hearty laugh out of me. An hour later and the same shoddy birds in the same awkward poses made me squirm in my seat, the wooden acting and terribly recorded audio made me want to plug my ears and hug my wallet in thanks that I hadn't spent any single dime on watching it. The ham-fisted slapped on "environmental message" will set back the green movement for years, and I can't imagine anyone with half an IQ point not being redfaced over its lousy... well, everything! Shame on the films distributors for giving Bay Area Businessman/Crappy Film Director/Exploited Outsider Artist James Nguyen the ability to kill (cgi birds) ever again, I hear a sequel is in the works for 2013. A man who can produce such a piece of work and feel good about charging someone to watch it deserves to have his taxes audited and his drivers license revoked, his morals are suspect.
This is the kind of film you make but only show a handful of friends every couple years, projected on a white sheet in someone's basement, secure in the fact that the shame is all yours and the fake-grins on their friendly faces will tell no one of what they've seen or who is to blame.
Never has a subtitle been so accurate about its content.
1 Exploding Hawks out of 10 (AWFUL)
"The Turds"
Billed (ha ha) by its director as a new entry into his personally conceived genre of the Horror Romance movie, Birdemic is not the kind of bad you can sit around with your friends on a friday night and laugh about. Birdemic is such an utter embarrassment on every conceivable level (Editing, Sound, Writing, Special Effects, Acting) that its only success was how it got so famous. Much like William Hung's American Idol success was a pop culture phenomenon that centered on exploitating a terrible dreamer, so is James Nguyen's film about a couple finding new love amidst killer birds. It was self financed, self filmed and self promoted at Sundance by driving around in his family car plastered with fake birds. He bought a midnight showing and filled it up with indy movie producers and schlock fans, people knew a cash cow when they saw one and it was bought for one million dollars and then excreted into our lives.
Indy films like this I try to give some leeway and crow about their positive points, but Birdemic is only an excuse to laugh at Nguyen and his inept filmmaking skills. The first time the shoddy birds appeared on screen (shockingly late in the film) they squeezed a hearty laugh out of me. An hour later and the same shoddy birds in the same awkward poses made me squirm in my seat, the wooden acting and terribly recorded audio made me want to plug my ears and hug my wallet in thanks that I hadn't spent any single dime on watching it. The ham-fisted slapped on "environmental message" will set back the green movement for years, and I can't imagine anyone with half an IQ point not being redfaced over its lousy... well, everything! Shame on the films distributors for giving Bay Area Businessman/Crappy Film Director/Exploited Outsider Artist James Nguyen the ability to kill (cgi birds) ever again, I hear a sequel is in the works for 2013. A man who can produce such a piece of work and feel good about charging someone to watch it deserves to have his taxes audited and his drivers license revoked, his morals are suspect.
This is the kind of film you make but only show a handful of friends every couple years, projected on a white sheet in someone's basement, secure in the fact that the shame is all yours and the fake-grins on their friendly faces will tell no one of what they've seen or who is to blame.
Never has a subtitle been so accurate about its content.
1 Exploding Hawks out of 10 (AWFUL)
Primer (2004)
Primer (R) - Review
"See Jack Time Travel"
When the lack of audible audio in your film contributes to the palpable tension already causing your viewers to shred their fingernails you have the paradox that is Primer. When a garage startup of engineers stumble upon the confusing probability of time travel, they quickly begin to self implode as the crisscrossing timelines and power plays lead to stress induced head aches for the home viewer. Complicated doesn't begin to explain the plot that is purposely left vague by the filmmakers to not only lead to audience self-discovery but to plug holes left by its enormously small budget. You certainly won't be "talked down to" by the filmmakers, in fact many will feel like they've missed the conversation entirely! You have to strive to understand what is happening just as your ears have to strain to hear what is being said, leading to a movie that is equally frustrating as it is satisfying when you feel you "get it", even if its a couple days after viewin. This is a daunting math problem of a film that has achieved a deeply cult status through an understanding that something can be more than the sum of it's parts, especially when there are unknown variables involved.
6 Menacing Storage Units out of 10 (GOOD)
"See Jack Time Travel"
When the lack of audible audio in your film contributes to the palpable tension already causing your viewers to shred their fingernails you have the paradox that is Primer. When a garage startup of engineers stumble upon the confusing probability of time travel, they quickly begin to self implode as the crisscrossing timelines and power plays lead to stress induced head aches for the home viewer. Complicated doesn't begin to explain the plot that is purposely left vague by the filmmakers to not only lead to audience self-discovery but to plug holes left by its enormously small budget. You certainly won't be "talked down to" by the filmmakers, in fact many will feel like they've missed the conversation entirely! You have to strive to understand what is happening just as your ears have to strain to hear what is being said, leading to a movie that is equally frustrating as it is satisfying when you feel you "get it", even if its a couple days after viewin. This is a daunting math problem of a film that has achieved a deeply cult status through an understanding that something can be more than the sum of it's parts, especially when there are unknown variables involved.
6 Menacing Storage Units out of 10 (GOOD)
Jesus' Son (1999)
Jesus' Son (R) - Review
"WWDJD?"
The early 1970s American drug scene comes into fuzzy focus through FH and Michelle, a couple of love struck hop-heads skip through a fragmented narrative full of beauty and tragedy, until the inevitable rock is bottomed and the bottom of the barrel scraped. An early Billy Crudup plays lovable loser FH, who along with a stellar cast (including the likes of Jack Black, Dennis Leary, Dennis Hopper and Holly Hunter) they reel along the scuzzy streets arm in arm, tripping through surreal misadventures wearing thick beer goggles in dewy heroin-soaked sunrises.
Alison Maclean's direction of Denis Johnson's short story generates a film that is alive with humor and sorrow, lowering us to black out depths and back up to the highs of sobriety. FH's voice is prevalent throughout, struggling through the disjointed narrative as it jumps from thought to thought like a burned out synapse in Tim Leary's nervous system. The Love (inside the film and out) is palpable, complex and all too human.
9 Sacred Hearts out of 10 (OUTSTANDING)
"WWDJD?"
The early 1970s American drug scene comes into fuzzy focus through FH and Michelle, a couple of love struck hop-heads skip through a fragmented narrative full of beauty and tragedy, until the inevitable rock is bottomed and the bottom of the barrel scraped. An early Billy Crudup plays lovable loser FH, who along with a stellar cast (including the likes of Jack Black, Dennis Leary, Dennis Hopper and Holly Hunter) they reel along the scuzzy streets arm in arm, tripping through surreal misadventures wearing thick beer goggles in dewy heroin-soaked sunrises.
Alison Maclean's direction of Denis Johnson's short story generates a film that is alive with humor and sorrow, lowering us to black out depths and back up to the highs of sobriety. FH's voice is prevalent throughout, struggling through the disjointed narrative as it jumps from thought to thought like a burned out synapse in Tim Leary's nervous system. The Love (inside the film and out) is palpable, complex and all too human.
9 Sacred Hearts out of 10 (OUTSTANDING)
SLC Punk! (1998)
SLC Punk! (R)
An anarchic duo recently graduated from college try to find meaning and inebriation in their 1980s era Regeanomics American Utah Punk scene in Writer & Director James Meredino's semi-autobiographical film, SLC Punk!
Of all the post-Trainspotting inspired flicks that were made, SLC Punk! is the truest to harnessing it's internal spirit. It's an independently made slice of life film about the underbelly of a culture that not many people would openly discuss, entertainingly made and acted, well scripted with snappy dialog and situations, with a punch in the gut about conformism and society itself. Using it's young stars (not only does Matthew Lillard star, but Jason Segal is a very young, very memorable baby-faced Mike) in just the right way, SLC goes through the entire scene bit by bit very organically and breaks a few fourth walls on it's way through Mods, Skin Heads, UK Punks, Junkies, Euro-weirdos, Straights, Shit-kickers and even their own parents. The cliques and societal constructs fall like domino's before the films wit and humor, especially when Lillard is joined by Micheal Goorjian as Heroin Bob, so called because he is afraid of needles and who's portrayal often steals the show from Stevo's own frantic portrayal. Their relationship is the central core to the movie, from childhood to adulthood, and thrusts home the final nail in Punk's coffin.
Shot in a rugged mixed media style, told through the drug addled recollections of Lillard's Stevo shouted to us the viewers like a host over the stereo at a raucous party, the look of the film matches it's name, it embodies the Punk Rock "I Don't Give A Shit" mythos. The humor is loud and relate-able, the music is stylish yet loudly nostalgic, the sex drugs and rock n' roll pathos is loud and tragic. All this, added to the sociological interest of the time period, the perceived Mormon oppression of a minority group, the ex-Hippy yuppies and homeless mental cases, SLC Punk! humorously and sarcastically encapsulates everything that made being a Punk so attractive in the 1980s, especially to young attractive intelligent youths who were very far from the weirdo unwashed trash their appearance made themselves out to be. It is a short, timeless look at another side of American life that will never be again, but at least we have SLC to remind us.
9 "It's New" out of 10 (GREAT)
An anarchic duo recently graduated from college try to find meaning and inebriation in their 1980s era Regeanomics American Utah Punk scene in Writer & Director James Meredino's semi-autobiographical film, SLC Punk!
Of all the post-Trainspotting inspired flicks that were made, SLC Punk! is the truest to harnessing it's internal spirit. It's an independently made slice of life film about the underbelly of a culture that not many people would openly discuss, entertainingly made and acted, well scripted with snappy dialog and situations, with a punch in the gut about conformism and society itself. Using it's young stars (not only does Matthew Lillard star, but Jason Segal is a very young, very memorable baby-faced Mike) in just the right way, SLC goes through the entire scene bit by bit very organically and breaks a few fourth walls on it's way through Mods, Skin Heads, UK Punks, Junkies, Euro-weirdos, Straights, Shit-kickers and even their own parents. The cliques and societal constructs fall like domino's before the films wit and humor, especially when Lillard is joined by Micheal Goorjian as Heroin Bob, so called because he is afraid of needles and who's portrayal often steals the show from Stevo's own frantic portrayal. Their relationship is the central core to the movie, from childhood to adulthood, and thrusts home the final nail in Punk's coffin.
Shot in a rugged mixed media style, told through the drug addled recollections of Lillard's Stevo shouted to us the viewers like a host over the stereo at a raucous party, the look of the film matches it's name, it embodies the Punk Rock "I Don't Give A Shit" mythos. The humor is loud and relate-able, the music is stylish yet loudly nostalgic, the sex drugs and rock n' roll pathos is loud and tragic. All this, added to the sociological interest of the time period, the perceived Mormon oppression of a minority group, the ex-Hippy yuppies and homeless mental cases, SLC Punk! humorously and sarcastically encapsulates everything that made being a Punk so attractive in the 1980s, especially to young attractive intelligent youths who were very far from the weirdo unwashed trash their appearance made themselves out to be. It is a short, timeless look at another side of American life that will never be again, but at least we have SLC to remind us.
9 "It's New" out of 10 (GREAT)
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- Kevin Gasaway via HardDrawn
- Turlock, California, United States
- Media and Reviews by Kevin Gasaway