Rated: NR

Running Time: 72 Minutes

Year: 2007

Boobs: Zero

One Sentence: Last independent movie review.

This is the last movie without distribution of some sort that I will be reviewing.  I got hit with way too many requests too fast, and while many of them were good, many many more were not, so I have decided to shelf the independent with no distribution.  Sorry indies.  This last movie is Dying For Dollars, from the husband-and-wife team, Ray & Migdalia Etheridge.  The budget for this one was $3000 dollars.  

Dying For Dollars is the second film I have reviewed from this team of movie makers.  It seems like they have done everything better in this movie, better story, acting, lighting, sets and general plot are all generally good, and when you look at it from the micro budget point of view you have a pretty good movie.  The movie kept at a pace which I felt was pretty good.  It did have some scenes where it drug out a little too much on that subject, but overall it worked.  I didn't feel as scared as I thought I should have in scenes where I was supposed to be worried about a character.  There were some things that were lacking but they come with most low budget movies.  I felt this movie was on par with a lot of others I had seen.  I would consider checking it out if you are near the Treasure Coast International Film Festival in Flordia, where Dying For Dollars will be featured.  The movie is also available for Download and Purchase through Amazon.  Click on the poster image to be taken to the Dying For Dollars website. 

Rated: NR

Running Time: 74 minutes

Year: 2006

Boobs: Zero

One Sentence: 0% Dialog 99% Robots.

I was lucky enough to get to see Daft Punk's Electroma last night for free.  It was a movie directed and thought of from the band Daft Punk.  I had heard about it recently, and had been trying to find a way to see it.  It is not available on DVD, and is not going to be releases wide.  So only if some small theater is pulling it in for some reason are you going to get to see Daft's vision of a all robot world.  

This movie is highly experimental, and not for the normal viewing audience.  Fans of Daft Punk will not even click with this movie if you are not a total film freak and are into highly symbolic movies with zero dialog.   It has long sweeping shots of the same thing over and over that take minutes upon minutes.  It is slow, has odd music, and is not very clear on it's message.  It has zero Daft Punk music, which I think will leave a lot of people wondering what the music that is in there is all about.  All I have to say is it is not electronic beats.  It is electronic, but not in a danceable way.

However I can not say I disliked the movie.  I am not sure I got it, and in some parts I thought it just went on for too long, but there was enough there to say that I did not regret staying up late to catch it.  I can not recommend it to anyone however.  It just doesn't have the legs for almost anyone to check out unless you are really curious or like experimental film.  I did hear it is possible it will be out on DVD after the new year, so you might get a chance to see it then.  

Rated: NR

Running Time: 100 Minutes

Boobs: Zero

One Sentence: Good idea, but needs more skills.

A group from Hawaii called 5' Giants makes movies and asked me to check out Comfortable Affliction.  A story about love, and what happens when love is lost.  Sometimes, you fade away, just like the love you lost.  This movie is available on DVD at the 5' Giants website, along with all their feature length and short films.  

Comfortable Affliction is an independent all the way.  Low budget, low quality, and low lighting, leaves a lot to be desired here.  The opening scene is a coloring sequence and is well shot, well lit, and is a great pull in, however it doesn't keep up.  Soon we are met with so-so lighting situations, set's and costumes that make you hunger for a few more dollars being spent here and there to up the level of this film.  I understand it's hard sometimes to make these things count, but unless your writing is the tip top caliber, then these other things people are going to notice, and I noticed them here. 

The story is actually kind of neat.  It is a new idea at least that I have seen about the loss of love and what happens when you suddenly lose love.  The story can do well and should be kept and built up.  It is solid and I think has a chance going farther.  But again with the lower quality everything here, it just didn't have it's day in the sun, in it's current form.  The acting too leaves something to be desired here.  I didn't feel the urgency of the situations that the actors were dealing with.  

With all these things together, it had an uphill battle, and just a pretty cool storyline isn't going to carry it.  However these guys do have the right idea, and if they keep working at it, I think they can have some better stuff coming down the pipe.  If you want to check out all of their info they are at 5' Giants Productions.  

Rated: Not Rated

Boobs: Zero

One Sentence: Not quite B enough.

I was sent Detour To Hell from Ray and Migdalia Etheridge, a film that was recently shown at the Delray Beach Film Festival, and the  Miami Independent Film & Music Festival.  They asked me to check it out and to write the review.  After I watched the movie I e-mailed them and told them how I felt about the movie, and they were gung ho about the review.  They have the best attitude toward their films even when someone is about to get them a less than positive review.  So buy their movies, and check out their site, we need more support of positive movie makers like these great people. 

Detour To Hell, played out as I have seen many times before, random casting, ok sets, and that lack of polish that we all come to know in high budget features.  Most of these things I can overlook when I am watching a micro budget film especially if you are going for that B movie feel.  I think they were trying to go for that B movie feel, but they just didn't make it there.  It was lacking all those things that really make it feel like a great B movie at least to me.  

It wasn't overdone, it wasn't excessively bloody, it wasn't gratuitous.  I didn't believe the peril, and I was hoping for more one way or the other.  Either way over the top, or really smooth and polished, here I got the middle of the road.  It was actually put together quite well.  Shot well, good large cast (which is amazing, its hard to get so many actors together) and a fairly good story.  However because those things were so good the polish that goes with that was missing.  So you have this movie that is lost about what it wants to be. 

However Ray and Migdalia seem to have a good eye, and they are helping actors, act, which is what this is about anyway.  I will be checking out the rest of their movies in the future, maybe the next one will and buy it if you like.  

Rated: NR

Running Time: 74 Minutes

Year: 2007

Boobs: Zero

One Sentence: Only 2 people, but that is all you need.

I have another independent film to review.  Brett Butler, the co-director sent me this film to review.  It has been hitting the film festival circuit and has won the audience choice award for best film at the Indiana University Video and Film Festival.  It is called Confusions of an Unmarried Couple.  It stars Brett Butler, and Naomi Johnson and no one else.  I think the casting of just 2 people really did well with this movie.  It allowed us to get into what these two people do in their personal lives, and didn't have anyone else there to mess it all up, provide opinion or mess up what we are supposed to be watching.  It was a choice that I think worked well.

Confusions is a comedy about a couple, and about the fight they have to resolve an issue that occurred in the relationship.  It is funny, witty, and to me, felt true to the opinions and issues men and women have when dealing with relationship issues.  The arguments seem real and each sex seems representative of themselves, at least from my point of view.  We are treated with lines and segments that are quite funny, and sharp.  The acting leaves a little to be desired, especially in the more heated scenes, where I felt the emotion was a little flat for the type of fight they are having, but it is a minor issue.  The star here is the writing, which in some parts made me choke becuase I was laughing so much.  This is one of those great movies, that you hope people get to see some day when it comes around to your film festival, so if it does, be sure to check it out.  

Confusions of an Unmarried Couple will be showing next at Charlotte Film Festival where they are nominated for the Indie Force Award. Friday September 7th at 12:45pm.  Then at the Southern Winds Film Festival in Oklahoma: Saturday September 15th at 11:00pm.  They have also been nominated for the Best Film at The Swansea Bay Film Festival in Wales.  So this is one to check out if you ever can.  I had a great time with it.  

Rated: NR

Running Time: Short

Year: 2007

Boobs: Zero

One Sentence: Sunny Side Up

Eric Carter, contacted me about checking out his short, A Very Sunny Morning.  I have made it a general rule to stop doing shorts, because they take up time from full length movies, and I have been getting a lot of requests for reviews lately.  However Eric, had his short online, and so it was a lot easier to watch it.  I am glad I did. 

A Very Sunny Morning, with a budget of less than 100 dollars, really should be shown to beginning film makers, and anyone that enjoys the short format.  This film is wildly creative, and extremely alluring to the watcher.   It drew me in and made me want to watch it, which I think is very important for a short film.  The quality of the film, that was shot on Hi-8 feels like thousands of dollars was poured into it and it's special effects.  After I had watched it and he told me how he shot it and how much money he spent I could not believe it.  Truly a wonderful piece of short cinema. 

It was recently shown on IFC and the Portland Underground Film Festival.  If you want to find out more about A Very Sunny Morning, click on the big yellow image at the top, it will take you to the myspace page.  You can also watch the whole film from his myspace, so check it out. 

Rated: NR

Running Time: 78 minutes

Year: 2006

Boobs: Zero

One Sentence: The Reviewer watches a baby movie.

I do not hate kids.  I am very nervous around kids, and I do not want any of my own, but that doesn't mean I don't like them.  I am afraid I will break them or say something that I should not have around them.  Next thing you know their mom is mad at me because their 2 year old is saying cunt all the time.  I am not really into babies or kids either, I just don't have that thing that makes me go crazy for kids.  While I don't hate kids I really hate bad parents, I think I would be a bad parent, which is one of the reasons why I don't want kids, along with about 1000 other reasons.  So for me to sit down and watch Ross Williams Independent Documentary, The Turning Point about the pregnancy and birth of their son is an amazing feat all by itself.  Then on top of that me saying that it is one of the better documentaries about child birth that I have seen, must mean they did something right. 

I know right where they did it too.  This movie, The Turning Point, is not about the baby.  Every time you see one of these shows, it seems to be so focused on everything about the baby, that we lose any connection with the people that we can see on the screen, all we hear is baby this and baby that, and here is the babies AWD stroller, and 18 piece Thomas The Tank Engine Brio Set.  The Turning Point was about Ross, and his wife Kristan and what they decided and their life trying to get pregnant to the eventual birth.   I am not saying that they did not address the kid, or anything like that.  That is not the case, they just didn't seem to get lost with the kid, and kept me interested in what was going on in these 2 peoples lives who were about to change dramatically.  

Same age as me.  They like movies, and photographs, and art, and geekdom all around.  They seemed like me and my gf.  It all worked for me.  I empathized with them, I understood them, and their choices, and the changes in their life.   I even in quite a few scenes felt stressed and on the edge of my seat for what was going to happen next.  This is not the normal statements I would say after watching that baby show on Discovery Channel.  It was a nice surprise and made me enjoy this small documentary, that was home grown and done on a shoestring budget.  Editing was very well done.  Film quality was a little low, but was not poorly done.  Music was great.  Usually independents have a problem with overuse of music, or poor music choice, or things like this, but again The Turning Point, seemed to choose everything right and made the right song, to help keep the mood that the director intended. 

You can click on the poster, to be taken to The Turning Point myspace page, where you can check out the trailer for the film, and talk to Ross, The Director and Father.  If you have a chance to check it out, and are interested in kids, have a kid, or are maybe thinking about it.  I think it is worth trying to see.

Rated: NR

Running Time: 83 minutes

Year: 2006

Boobs: Some side boob

One Sentence: Give these guys a movie deal!

The Reviewer is checking out another Independent movie, this time it is "Long Pigs."  A horror/documentary/comedy that is just awesome all the way.  I was a little worried going into it.  It sounds like a lot to take on.  A dark comedy documentary about a cannibal.   If the story is cool the gore is going to be weak, and if the gore is good the story is going to be weak.  It is rare that you get such a great combination of balance between everything when trying to take on something like this.  Long Pigs, seems to have done it. 

In what is a creepy yet funny look into the life and times of a modern day cannibal.  Long Pigs makes me wonder now, as I am writing this and when I was watching it, if it was real, because it seemed so real.  Especially the murder and gore scenes, which were just amazing.  I am blown away at the direction and the skill of some of these shots, and the depiction of death and gore, which seemed so real, so exact that it makes me wonder how they did it.   It wasn't sick twisted Hostel or Saw stuff, it was simple, real and perfect.  So good that I am still in amazement of the skill of the execution of it.  

However the death and murder isn't the only thing that is great.  The lead actor, Anthony Alviano, who played Cannibal Anthony McAlistar seemed to keep the storyline and the character so real and believable that while, we are supposed to know this movie is fake and sort of something that the directors might be making a joke about, we have to go, again, is this real?   The rest of the cast all made it work too, it just seemed so normal.  No acting really, just people going about their lives.  It really was one of the best small studio independents I have ever seen.  

I do have to give a couple of small very minute negatives.  The lighting was really bad.  There was one scene, where I couldn't even see what was going on.  Other scenes were poorly lit.  I think this might have been part of the plan or might have been because lighting is expensive.  Most of the time it's ok, a couple of times it was a bit distracting.  Audio also wasn't 100% on.  But these two things are so small compared to the quality of story, acting and gore, that I think this movie would do well with a studio backing it and a DVD release.  

Long Pigs was an Official Selection at the Cinequest Film Festival, and is currently trying to get into more, so perhaps you will see it in a town near you.  You can click on the image at the top to be taken to the website for the movie, where you can watch 2 trailers for the film, and get any updates and information.  Hopefully you all will be able to see this one really soon.

Rated: NR

Running Time: 80 Minutes

Year: 2006

Boobs: 3 Pairs

One Sentence:  Save gas, drive Blood Car. 

I was recently allowed to pre-screen Alex Orr's dark look at the future, 2 weeks into the future, with Blood Car.   A movie put together by a group who got an idea and gathered up $25,000 dollars to make a movie.  Currently making the Film Festival Circuit and winner of the The New Visions Award at the Cinequest Film Festival, Blood Car is the movie I think many of us have been missing.  

Snakes on a Plane was supposed to be that movie.  The simplicity of the idea, the perfection of the execution and the pure awesomeness of every line that was to be uttered.  Sadly Snakes on a Plane, did not hit the mark that those of us that wanted it were going to get.  Blood Car did however hit that mark.  Every mark I had and exceeded it.  Starting from the title itself, which when I told my girlfriend said, "Sounds Awesome."  This movie had a feel of those movies from the 80's that we have been missing but all loved.  Funny, bloody and gratuitous. 

The opening monologue is funny, shot extremely well, lit wonderfully and really gets you into the movie quick, which is something that you need to have with an independent.   It sets you up right from the get go and doesn't let you down at all.  It just seems to get better and better, like the movie that you loved from the start got a little bit better every 10 minutes and raised the bar a little bit higher.  Without the restriction of studio pressure, or the MPAA, this movie also pushes you to the edge of what a rated R movie might be and maybe goes over that line, which of course I think is absolutely wonderful.   Vulgar lines, excessive blood and random nudity makes it all just work with an awesome plot that is both fun, and possibly even a bit deeper and smarter than it looks on the surface.  

A solid fine acting cast that play their parts well and look their parts well, keep it all together.  Sometimes this is where a solid movie is lacking.  Great idea, great execution, but poor acting.  Blood Car did pretty well with that also.  Including Anna Chlumsky, who's name might sound familiar.  She played Veda Sultenfuss in My Girl 1 and 2.  Also had a role recently in one of my favorite shows 30 Rock.  Mike Brune who played Archie Andrews, the main male character, did well, as a Vegan trying to get a car running on Wheat grass.  Mike has a blog discussing the film and the process of making it here.   Supporting cast had some people who might not have quite looked the part, but I am willing to overlook that.  

Overall this movie was awesome in many ways, and is highly recommended for anyone that has a chance to see it.  You can click on the poster to take you to bloodcar.com where you can find more info on new places and festivals to watch Blood Car.  
 

Rated: NR

Running Time: 85 Minutes

Year: 2006

Boobs: Zero

One Sentence:  The reviewer loves independent too. 

Up until now, you have only seen me review movies released in the theater for wide release, or studio supported DVD releases.   Well attempting to be a more rounded reviewer and to help out and get the word out about non-studio releases, The Reviewer will be supporting independent screenings starting today.  Look for in the future a full submission form, where any independent that is looking for a review can submit their film and it will get a review here at The Reviewer.   The first movie to get this Independent treatment is The Lucky Girl.  

The Lucky Girl, is a story about the life of a drug addicted female, her house she squatted, her boyfriend, ex boyfriend and their friend.   The bad news that comes and the story of their life being told to a very young girl.  The story being told and the story on top of it about the storyteller and young girl are both addictive and complex, with very contrasting feelings and attitude.  Almost a dark and light view of the life that one is living and another is telling.  It leaves us wondering what is happening and what is connecting these two stories, but also keeping us interested in both.  The flow and pacing seemed to be just enough to keep me going on and trying to know more, and understand what was going on.  In the end I was very satisfied with the film, and surprised at the quality of the story and statement of the film, which takes a stand on an issue, very few wish to even address, let alone surround a whole movie with.  

As an independent, it is of course with it's flaws if you were comparing it to a fully funded feature.  Technical things such as film quality, sound and lighting, were on a lower budget scale, but not the worst I have seen by any stretch and is quite passable in film festival standards.  Sadly I do have to say that the acting of some of the characters left something to be desired, as a more powerful female drug addict and boyfriend, would have made the statement much more powerful.  But this things are minor and I was able to overlook them without much detraction for the plot and ending.  

Those of you looking for support of the independents, like The Lucky Girl, can click on the poster.  That will take you to The Lucky Girl's myspace page where you can look for screening possibilities and view a trailer for the film.  If you get the opportunity, I would think it would be something for a lot of you to check out.