Starring: Uma Thurman, Anthony Edwards, Minnie Driver
Written & Directed By: Katherine Diekmann
Grade: C+

I find it funny that for a film called Motherhood, the film at Sundance that dealt with the meaning with much more intelligence was the horror film, Grace. Motherhood is very much a one note film. It is a decent movie that has a very hectic tone that works with the situation to a certain extent, but ultimately holds the film back.

Eliza (Thurman), a mother of two, has a very crazy day in front of her. She has a massive list of things she has to get done, most of which revolve around her children. It is her daughter’s birthday so she has to get the party ready as well. She still needs to get decorations, the cake, and several other things. Also, she regularly blogs every day about what her day is like. When she does this she finds an opportunity to get paid to blog if she can turn in an essay about what motherhood means to her by the end of the day. During the day she also has to take care of her son as well since he is not in school yet. So the question is whether or not Eliza can get done everything her kids need her to as well as getting her writing done for herself. She used to be a writer professionally, but it has been quite a long time since she has been able to write. Eliza is hoping this will be her opportunity to get back in to it. Eliza’s car ends up getting towed since they are filming on her block. Now she has to ride her bike and forth for all of the errands she still needs to get done to get ready for the party. Her husband is no help at all and puts everything on her shoulders. Throughout the day, things just seem to be piling up more and more, driving her sanity away further.

Uma Thurman did pretty well with what she was given, although I think her character could have been developed a lot more. She does work with all of the crisis well and is believable as Eliza. Minnie Driver gave the best performance as Eliza’s best friend. She added some much needed comic relief and just had great energy and charisma. Even the way she delivered her language helped give the film a more comedic and light hearted tone. Anthony Edwards does pretty well as the neglecting husband. He does pin a lot of the responsibility on his wife, but he does show a caring side to him as well. Jodie Foster has a pretty random cameo as the mother of one of the kids that goes to the same school as Thurman’s child. The paparazzi swarm around her and her one line is just screaming at them.

There is a certain amount of humor in how hectic and overwhelming things are, but is played up for most of the movie and the joke doesn’t stay fresh through all of this time. The film does have its’ funny moments, particularly when Eliza is at the store getting things for her daughters party. It shows retail hell and how aggravating people can be at the worst times. When Eliza comes back with all of her overwhelmingly number of bags, a young man who was working on the film shoot that was going on in her street helps Eliza with the bags. There is very interesting interactions between the two. The boy talks to her about her writing and her life. He helps bring out that inner youth, joy, and independence in her just in the very brief moments that he is in the film. He stood out as one of the most powerful characters/actors in the film and he was only on screen for a matter of minutes. I really wish they would have done more with this as it could made up for that missing element that was just barely holding the film back. I suppose they didn’t do this to avoid any type of suspicions of an affair or simply awkward feelings because of the age difference. Still, I feel like having this extra angle to the film would have helped it a lot more than it would have hurt it.

I think for those who are mothers will probably be able to enjoy this movie more than those who aren’t, just for that relating quality, being able to compare it to moments in their own lives where things became this hectic. I found it amusing and I did feel for Eliza to an extent, wanting her to be a good mother as well as do something for herself. One of the biggest problems that Eliza’s big triumph seemed so miniscule. She was a published and respected author. Basically writing a journal about little parts of her day didn’t seem to be too rewarding. Starting to work on another book or covering something that really made an impact is the type of payoff that her character needed. By resorting so much lower than this made it seem like a weak conclusion. Personally, I didn’t feel like it gave Eliza a chance to grow.

“Vicky Cristina Barcelona”
2008
*½ out of ****
Director: Woody Allen
Cast: Javier Bardem, Rebecca Hall, Scarlett Johansson


I bet you have heard so many great things about “Vicky Cristina Barcelona,” the newest movie that has been directed by Woody Allen. Of course, so did I. On the cover of the DVD, there were quotes that read “Fiery, Crazy and Sexy,” “Seductive and Funny!,” and “Vicky Cristina Barcelona is one of Woody Allen’s finest films, with bravura performances from its incredible cast.” Those quotes were written by Richard Roeper, David Edelstein, and Jeffrey Lyons. Roeper loves “Shallow Hal,” go figure. David Edelstein can go fuck himself. And Jeffrey Lyons’s cockstain created the guy who now hosts the once-beloved “At the Movies.” Believe me, if you could pick any three critics with worst taste, it’s those guys.

But if I can pick a director with the worst lineup of films, it would be Woody Allen, yet for some reason, critics are still kissing his ass. Okay, so he has made three or four films that are going to be remembered when there is no more such thing as film, but for the other thirty-five movies? He’s really not that good. He was a one-hit wonder, and the one-hit still didn’t deserve a Best Picture win. And “Match Point” wasn’t really that good and “Hannah and Her Sisters” is boring. But critics have called “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” his best film since “Annie Hall.”

Something tells me they haven’t looked like I have.

Not that “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” is one of the worst movies of the year (would certainly make a runner’s up list), there’s just nothing good about it. Sure, there are some decent performances here and there, especially from Penelope Cruz who has just received her nom, but aside from that, there’s not too much here. This isn’t the film that I’ve heard about so much from… fuck David Edelstein!

Best friends Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) go to Spain for the summer and meet Juan Antonio, (Javier Bardem, and no, he’s not carrying around a cattle gun this time) a painter who is almost a Romeo in everyone’s eyes. His old girlfriend (Penelope Cruz) is fucking insane, but Juan Antonio will do anything to get in bed with these women (and without spoiling anything, thirty minutes into the movie they both get into bed with him). Complications arise, and you can imagine what happens from there, especially if you’re a big Woody Allen guy.

One of the biggest annoyances was the narration. The narrator’s voice itself wasn’t annoying, but it was how it presented the film to the audience that was. Instead of allowing our characters to tell the story through the dialogue and emotions, the narrator does it for them. For example, a scene goes like this – Vicky, Cristina, Juan Antonio, and Vicky’s fiancée Doug (Chris Messina) are eating lunch together. Juan Antonio slides his leg up against Vicky’s leg, thinking its Cristina, but because we can only see the legs touching each other, we don’t know whose leg it is. The narrator, voiced by Christopher Evan Welch, tells us that Juan Antonio accidentally rubbed up against Vicky’s leg. We’re told only five minutes later by Juan Antonio that he did it accidentally. In short, we’re told that it was an accident twice by two different characters.

Of course, this isn’t the fault of the narrator, but the fault of the screenplay written by Woody Allen. I understand how voiceovers and Woody Allen go together like peanut butter and jelly, but he can take advantage of them real easily. But the whole idea of a voiceover in a film like “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” is flawed anyway. Why not let a star-studded team act the story out instead of letting an amateur voiceover guy do the work for them?

But even Woody Allen couldn’t do this cast shit. This has been getting praised as one of the best acting ensembles of the year and I don’t understand why. There is a decent performance in this package of A-listers but when most of the stars were up for award consideration the past five years for their roles in other films, it feels like we just haven’t gotten anything from this movie.

I might as well get it out of the way that Penelope Cruz was the only thing that really held my interest. No, I’m not going to be the multitude of critics that say how beautiful and insane she was at the same time, I’m going to be the guy who says why she deserves an Oscar. Like Sally Hawkins in “Happy-Go-Lucky,” (who was snubbed by the way) she was the only one who saved the movie from being a total mess. Without Hawkins, “Happy-Go-Lucky” would have been depressive. Without Cruz, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” would be one of the worst films of the year. She deserves her Best Supporting Actress award just because she can hold a film like “Vicky Cristina Barcelona.”

Scarlett Johansson and Rebecca Hall are two of the most talented actresses working today. Now tell me why they can’t pull off a role in a movie that is suited just for them. Quite frankly, I’m not the biggest fan of Rebecca Hall, but if Scarlett Johansson can’t impress me in a movie, something’s wrong. 2008 wasn’t a very good year for her between “The Spirit” and “Vicky Cristina Barcelona.” I think that if anyone had a rougher year though, it would be Javier Bardem.

Of course, this role was a test for him. Even shooting this long before the success of “No Country for Old Men,” the guy still had to live up to the man with the haircut and the cattle gun. But believe me, if you forget about the success of “No Country for Old Men” and his Oscar win, it’s hard for me to say anything good about his performance here. It’s not memorable nor is it anything that we haven’t seen before. I don’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m starting to miss the neurotic character.

Being that this is a DVD review, I guess I should review the DVD… but there’s nothing to it. I guess the DVD and the movie are sorta similar.

Kiss of the Vampire
Aka: Immortally Yours
Year: 2009
Director: Joe Tornatore
Stars: Daniel Goodard, Katherine Hawkes, Costas Mandalor
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Studio: MTI Home Video
Running Time: 97 Mins
Official Website: http://www.immortallyyoursfilm.com/



“Kiss of the Vampire is about a leader of a Covent of vampires lead by Alex, a handsome charming man who has more than a taste for blood. One night, he meets Estelle, a woman whose father works at a longevity clinic that’s researching an approach to immortally for the head of the upper world illuminati organization who’s only interest is to profit off of war, politics, poverty, disease, and drugs. Alex begins to fall in love with Estelle, as she and her father begin to find a cure for him, as he desires to be human and be with her. But the illuminati wants his blood, so the group can become immortal and have uncontrollable power, to the point that they can’t be stopped. Will Alex give in on his desires or remain immortal for another eternity.

Kelsey’s Review:

I really wanted to like Kiss of the Vampire. It didn’t take long though to realize that that wasn’t going to happen. It’s clear that writer, Katherine Hawkes and director, Joe Tornatore have no concept of the horror romance, especially regarding vampires. There is no blending or middle ground between the two genres. Rather than being more of one than the other, which would have been fine if it was done well, we sporadically have over exaggerations of one or the other that just end up clashing. Both sides are very stereotypical and stale. The vampires are evil and we have your standard vampire slayer as well. All of the characters are flat, shallow, and don’t cause much of a reaction with the audience one way or the other.

The love story was extremely dense and I really couldn’t even suspend my belief to invest myself in it at all. At first when Alex, the vampire who falls for a human, and Estelle lock eyes it seems like Alex has found his next meal. The romance could have been used as a way to lure her in, but none of these vampire characteristics are shown in this film. It goes the other way by them wanting to have a normal relationship. For awhile he just appears every now and again until he tells her that he is a vampire and he has to have her father, Dr. Henderson, turn him to be mortal, wiping away all of the possibilities for eternal love. It’s okay that they decided to go a different way with this, it just takes away a lot of the powerful themes that could have made their relationship more thrilling. It also didn’t help that both Alex and Estelle were so underdeveloped. We knew little to nothing about their pasts, who they were, or their wants and desires. I couldn’t feel for either of them and really didn’t care what happened. The covenant of vampires were very one sided as well. They were simply the bad guys in our story and there was little else to them. Through them we do get the want for eternal life, but this still could have been gone in to a lot more.

The acting was really horrible as well, making the film seem all the more ridiculous. Katherine Hawkes stands out as one who gave the worst performance. Since she wrote the script you would think she would have a better grasp on her character, enough to give a somewhat believable performance anyway. Then again there isn’t much to her character so it could be hard to have an understanding of a character that is so hollow, which is her fault as well for writing it this way. Daniel Goddard was little less noticeably bad, but his performance just seemed so lifeless. Most of the vampires were very stereotypically portrayed and really did no justice at all to the vampire sub-genre. From everyone we either get over-acting, or very weak acting. There is little reaction between characters it is all waiting for their line, so when they do deliver it, it almost seems like they have already checked out and suddenly jump back in to the film. The pacing is just not there and all too jagged because of this let alone any chemistry especially from the two that are supposed to be in love.

The writing is horrible and in every aspect it is extremely underdeveloped. Kiss of the Vampire uses a very lazy script, atrocious acting, and little emotion. It is laughable through out and has so many shocking moments, for all of the wrong reasons. You can’t help but question majority of what you see on screen and before long can’t stay at all engaged in the film. Strangely, enough sci-fi even seems to find it’s way in to the film, in a very cheesy manner. The end is one the most obviously badly shocking moments I was talking about. It’s the type of ending you would expect on a bad children’s show episode. Power Rangers is actually one that comes to mind, which is pretty funny since Katherine Hawkes was actually in a few episodes of the show in 2002. Perhaps, she picked up on a bad sense of humor through that and wrote it in to Kiss of the Vampire. It just seems so random and weird. I get the point it’s trying to make, that if our villains want immortality than they can get it, just in a demeaning way since that is what they deserve. Still the way that it did this and how the vampires act makes the film seem more comic-like than anything else. Kiss of the Vampire does no justice to the vampire film and has no concept of the blending of genres. It ends up falling flat, making an unintentional mockery out of horror, romance, and even sci-fi at the end. Kiss of the Vampire is an extremely weak and underdeveloped film that fails terribly.

Anthony T’s Review:

You’re treating this film lightly, Kelsey, as I guarantee you that this film will be on my worst of 09 list. This was just an utter piece of garbage. Normally when I write a review, I like to write about why this film worked or not worked for me and get technical about it. For this review, I don’t think that I can do that, because I’m pissed at the fact that film makes no sense and has no logic whatsoever, as I felt that there was two or three movies going on at the same time, and the sad thing is, there is no attempt whatsoever to make coherent film. So don’t expect a traditional review, because I was subjected to this garbage and my review is going to be treated the same.

I would like to acknowledge the title of the film “Kiss of the Vampire” first. The title makes no sense, just like the rest of the film, because there was no attempt of any romantic scenes or any hints of romance. The characters felt complete dull and there is no personality to any them, especially with the two leads. There is nothing romantic with this film, as there were no scenes of romance that I can think of.

Also, how did I figure out that this film would turn out to be a piece of trash within the first five minutes of the film? The reason that I was right because the opening scene has a random character getting chased by vampires without any build up to the action. Katherine Hawkes’ (who’s performance was lifeless and awful, as the woman who’s is love with the vampire allegedly) screenplay has no logic whatsoever, like everything else this film has. She doesn’t build any romantic action or suspense whatsoever and that logic carried on throughout the whole screenplay, as I couldn’t figure out which film of the two or three films that I was watching. It was to the point that I had to go “Mystery Science Theater 3000” on it, just to make it a good time out of it. This film had way too plot lines that could take up two or three short films, because there were way too many things that made no sense, like the supposed romance in the film, or evil corporation, or the cops on their vampire hunt, or the Costas Mandalor (who should go away completely) character, which should have not been in this film, in the first place, as the character made no sense to have that much story presence, with his cocaine habit taking up most of his screen time.

With the screenplay out of the way, now it’s your turn Joe Tornatore, as your direction and especially your editing was atrocious. It felt like a rush job. I have a question for you? Were you in such a hurry to finish this film, because you knew that was awful to begin with. This is one of the worst editing jobs I’ve ever seen. There are scenes that spend a minute and then move on to the next one. He doesn’t let most of the scenes develop, as the scenes felt like fragments which leads to nowhere. This is one of the major reasons that I was pissed after watching this film. Another thing that made this very unwatchable was the fact that his direction of the actors felt lifeless. Most of them came out pasty and flat out dull, like the vampire and the woman that’s he's in love (allegedly, as there was no hints of love as she had the same expression on her face for ninety plus minutes) with him. It’s like you didn’t care about this film, being so boring to the point that this review is turning into a bloodbath. Then again, my review of this film is way better than that fucking waste of celluloid that I witnessed.

Everyone involved with the making of this film should be embarrassed to be apart of this production. If I have to make fun of it, while reviewing a film to pass the time, then you can expect me to rip the hell out of it, like I just did. See you on my worst films of 2009 list.

Starring: Amy Poehler, Rachel Dratch, Parker Posey, Amber Tambyln, Jane Lynch, Seth Myers
Written & Directed By: Ryan Shiraki
Grade: B+


Rachel Dratch and writer/director, Ryan Shiraki, got together to create Spring Breakdown after realizing the lack of good comedy roles for women. The main cast is almost entirely female. Each of the all star actresses involved use their comedic gems to work off each other, making this a hilarious and very fun film to watch.


Judi (Dratch), Gayle (Poehler), and Becky (Posey) were far from being popular in high school. At least they had each other though and as hard as not fitting in was they just told themselves that this was the popular kid’s peak. They would end up miserable after high school and Judi, Gayle, and Becky would have it all. We see a shot of three attractive and successful women, and walking behind them are our 3 main characters who are about at the same social stature that they were in high school. Gayle is a teacher, a dog teacher anyway. Judi is planning her wedding with her fiancé, William (Myers), and she can’t be more thrilled to be getting married. However, when she comes home from work early one day, she finds William being intimately massaged by a shirtless Hispanic man. She calls off the wedding and has to face the hard truth that the man she thought she was going to spend the rest of her life with is gay. Becky is an environmentalist and really wants to make a difference in the world. Right now she is an assistant to Senator Kay Bee Hartmann (Lynch). There has been a major scandal with the President and they are looking for someone with a clean record. Senator Hartmann might have a shot at the Presidency if she can keep what she believes is her out of control, sorority daughter, Ashley (Tambyln), under control enough to not get any bad press.


Becky hopes that if she can do a good job with this assignment than hopefully she can rise up and get a position where she can better make an impact. In order to go on Spring Break in South Padre, TX, where Ashley will be, she has to cancel on a woman’s appreciation road trip with her friends. Usually for fun they play games like 1-10 movies where they each have to take turns naming a movie that starts with the number that they are on until they can count up to ten. After Judi’s breakup and Gayle getting blown off by a blind man for having too ugly of a face, she decides that they could all use a vacation to have some real fun. When they get to their hotel it is full of trash, people passed out everywhere, and drinking everywhere. Their room itself has panties left behind, used condoms, and is pretty much as grotesque as you could imagine. Trying to find Ashley they go to a party at a club that night. Gayle sees a few horny guys who don’t seem to be able to take no for an answer from the girls they are hitting on. Gayle talks to them like she does the dogs she works with and gets rid of them. A popular group of girls called “The Sevens” are so impressed by this and end up becoming friends with Gayle. They give her a make-over and skankify her. Pretty soon she becomes an easy, shallow, binge drinker who stays out all night, waking up around a group of strangers, and lays on the beach all day again before doing it all again. She is so thrilled that she is training her girls for a talent show in hopes that unlike in high school, this might be the one that she could actually win. Judi gets drunk as well one night and wakes up next to a young, attractive man, assuming she had sex with him. For the rest of the trip, she makes several comments to him approaching him as if they were in a relationship when he clearly has no idea who she is. When Becky finds Ashley she becomes friends with her so she can keep a closer eye on her. She finds out that Ashley is not the wild child that her mother thinks she is. She is actually pretty dorky as a theater and medieval enthusiast. She has just lost her boyfriend who seems to like The Sevens much more than her, which is why she came to South Padre in the first place not because she is in a sorority. She is determined to change and be the girl that this guy could fall for again. Throughout this as well as some interference from Becky, Ashley ends up getting in much more trouble than she would have ever gotten in to normally. Meanwhile, Judi and Gayle have to question the lifestyle they have been living and who they really are.


The cast really made this film so entertaining to watch. I can’t remember seeing Rachel Dratch with significant roles in many films. I can understand her wanting to create a role where she could really bring out the comedy of the character and situation, which she certainly got here. She had some great material with struggling in her relationship with her clearly gay fiancé and acting like she was in a relationship with this guy who looked like an Abercrombie and Fitch model. With Seth Meyers, she gives out this great oblivious vibe towards him as if he is speaking another language. Seth Myers was hilarious in these scenes as well. His character represents the laziness of the internet generation where we have to shorten everything we type. He abbreviates every word though in normal conversation, and I mean every single world he says throughout the whole movie. Between that and trying to act like he really isn’t gay, despite the clear evidence, being completely dumbfounded by everything he says seems to be the only reaction you could have towards him. The scenes with Dratch and her mystery one night stand man were extremely funny as well. He has as little of a clue what she is talking about than she does towards William, probably less even since prior to this they had never even met. His reactions are priceless, which just makes Dratch’s heartfelt language towards him all the more strange.


Amy Poehler uses her trademark attitude here as Gayle, particularly as the made over Gayle, the type of person she hated in high school. She is very funny as the second version of herself and just how her interactions change is amusing. Still, some of her funniest moments were those where she treated men like dogs and essentially was her true self. She was bright and funny as her dorky self that you couldn’t help but love that person. Parker Posey probably played the dorkiest of the three friends and certainly the one who was happiest being this way. She was great to watch especially how much she was freaking out about her friends changing and how horrible she thought what they were doing was. When someone does finally show an interest in her, it’s just as amusing how the tables turn.


Jane Lynch was very funny as usual as the tough, gun loving, senator. The way she intimidated Posey’s character was particularly entertaining. I’m really glad Amber Tamblyn took on the role of Ashley. There is this very youthful characteristic here and she almost looks younger than much younger characters she has played in the past. There is this incredible energy that she shows. She is a lot like a younger version of Posey’s character. She has such a joy in things that most people would look down on. The difference is that she is letting one guy tell her that it is something she should be ashamed of. She struggles with how to change in to an ideal image, but in the end gains the courage to simply be herself. It was also quite a joy to see Sarah Hagan, who played one of the most hilarious geeky girls, Milly, on Freaks and Geeks. She played a pretty similar character, appalled by the actions of the popular and especially all of the sex, drugs, and partying that was going on over spring break. Laguna Beach’s Kristin Cavalleri had a small role in this as well. I never thought she would be in a film this good, but she only had two lines and was essentially playing herself. Leslie Grossman from What I Like About You and Missy Pyle were pretty funny as constantly trashed women too.


Spring Breakdown is a pretty simple story. More than anything else it is about taking a walk on the wild side to see how good your life is without that. It’s about staying true to yourself even if it takes you awhile to see that is the person you really want to be. The end with Ashley and her mother isn’t 100% believable, but it works and brings out this theme in doing so. Of course, the talent show that we see at the end is just as priceless as the one we see of the three girl’s in high school in the beginning. The characters are a ton of fun. There is a lot of creativity with the level of dorkiness in these characters that makes them completely loveable. Seeing them as such opposites through moments during the film is like a very entertaining experiment with no idea of where things are going to go next. There are so many priceless moments in the film that make it most funny especially through the obscurity of situations. As of now it’s set to go straight to DVD, but they are looking for further distribution. I really hope it ends up going to theaters, since I think this will be a real crowd pleaser for audiences that deserves to be seen rather than get lost on DVD.

Liberation Entertainment and Vitagraph films will be releasing “Toyko” into theaters, featuring the works of three great visionary directors. Michel Gondry (“Be Kind Rewind” Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”), Leos Carax (The Lovers On The Bridge, “Pola X”) and Bong Joon- Ho (The Host) They each direct a surreal triptych film that is set in Tokyo, Japan. The film will open in New York on March 6th and on Mach 20th in Los Angeles. For theater listing plus more information on each of the films, you can visit the film’s official website at http://www.tokyothemovie.com/

Here are some images of the film that Liberation Entertainment has provided us with.

Cold Prey
Aka: Fritt Vilt
Year: 2009
Director: Roar Uthaug
Studio: Anchor Bay Entertainment
Stars: Ingrid Bolso Berdal, Rolf Kristian Larsen, Tomas Alf Larsen
MPAA Rating: R
Language: Norwegian with English Subtitles
Running Time: 97 Mins


There are some horror films that really deserve to be shown in a theater, not getting dumped to DVD, like ninety-five percent of the good horror films today, regardless of origin of country. “Cold Prey” at least should have been given a limited theatrical release, like the one that “Let the Right One In” received, because this film is very scary and sets the bar pretty high for all of this year’s slasher films. The film was released back in it’s home country of Norway in 2006, as it took over two years for the film, to make it way here to America.

The film is about five snowboarders who out into the cold mountains for some fun. It was supposed to be a fun day snowboards. The fun ends, when one of them accidentally breaks his leg. Soon the group is forced to take shelter and spend the night, at an abandoned lodge, in the middle of nowhere. That’s when their fun trip starts going down hill, as the group soon discovers that they are not alone, as there is a killer that is hell-bent on making sure that these kids don’t survive the night. Now, the snowboarders must find a way stop this psychopath, before they all ended up, as his latest victims.

“Cold Prey” is truly a brutal and scary slasher film that brings you back to the late seventies and early eighties, where the slasher film was frightening to watch. This is what the horror genre should be and it’s a shame the major studios still don’t get it, as the best horror films are coming from England, which is sad to see, as horror fans today, who has grew up on such slasher classics, as “Halloween”, “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and “Scream” not getting a better product from the American studios.

Director Roar Uthaug, is name you should be on the lookout for, as his direction was very tense and frightening. One of the reasons, for that is that his direction sets the tone, very early. I knew that this film was going to be one of those films that I could talk about, from the opening minutes of the film. Uthaug sets a dark and brutal tone that’s present throughout the film, by using fake news footage and clipping of people disappearing in the those mountain, which the teenagers are snowboarding. It gives you depth to what the film’s main villain is capable of. Another thing that was great about this direction was the fact the film was very dark and tense. This is what makes slasher films, very frightening to watch. The acting here was also very good. Uthaug does a great job making each of the characters performances, very likeable. He does that, by letting his actors bring personalities to their roles, as the characters were acted very well. Uthaug also make them scared, especially in the second half of the film. It made the film more suspenseful and frightening.

The screenplay written by Thomas Moldstad is equally intense, as the direction was. The screenplay does a great job building the suspense, as this is not one of those hack and slash films. One of the reasons why it didn’t feel that way, Moldstad holds the action back, until the second half. By doing that, it allows for character development and some false scare to get you, into the flow of the film. I like how, it makes you become interested in the characters, while it builds up tension to some of the kills. It does two things. It makes the kills more effective and gives you plenty of frightening moments. The film also has a nice interesting twist at the end, which makes the film more effective.

This was truly a scary slasher film. I can’t wait to see, what they have planned, for the film’s sequel, which recently came out in Norway, just this past October. Please I urge you to support films like these, as they truly represent what the horror genre is supposed to be.

Review Rating: Five Stars

Reporter
USA, 2008, 92min., color
Genre: Documentary
Director/Cinematographer/Editor: Eric Daniel Metzger
Executive Producer: Ben Affleck
Producers: Mikaela Beardsley, Steven Cantor
Original Music: Eric Liebman
Sound Recordist: Gautam Choudhury
EIC: Terry Clark
Narrator: Eric Daniel Metzger


Reporter is about Nicholas Kristof, the two-time Pulitzer Prize winning columnist for the New York Times, whose provoking editorial columns have helped move the international media spotlight on humanitarian crisis around the world. The film offers insights into how the celebrated writer connects with readers by searching for individuals, whose intimate stories capture their country’s desperate crisis, thereby mobilizing readers worldwide. His writings on the genocide in Darfur helped propel the humanitarian crisis into the national conversation and here, he hopes to do the same for The Congo—a certifiable disaster area where 5.4 million have died in the last decade as a result of unceasing warfare over territory, resources and tribal hatred. Keenly aware that broad statistics numb his readers’ interest and compassion, Kristoff and two young travelers search for that one transcendent story that will connect with the hearts and minds of people in the world outside. Along the way, the reporter and his crew trek through ravaged villages and displacement camps and make a harrowing visit to Congo’s reigning rebel warlord, General Nkunda, at his jungle hideout.

Eric Daniel Metzgar’s examination of Nicholas Kristof is honest and revealing. Not content to delve deeper into his subject, Metzgar attempts to create a ceaseless, multilayered exploration of journalism, Congo, war, suffering and a world in chaos. Along the way he seems to indulge in the very mistakes that Kristof counsels against, overloading your audience. No less a figure than Alfred Hitchcock has said that if you want to build tension and suspense you have to break it up with comedy in order to prevent your audience from becoming numb. Mr. Metzger must have been absent that day.

Using the short-form field camera style made current again in the opening of Saving Private Ryan (1998) combined with numerous gratuitous fast motion sequences, we are bombarded with images. So much so that we have to expend energy defending against his over indulgent self reflexive style. I have written previously about how film is a derivative art form and collaborative by nature. Here, as in his previous two feature documentaries, Metzger wears four hats. I have not seen his first two, but in Reporter it does not work. At the very least he would have benefited from a separate editor to bring another eye to the material and clean it up a bit. With Ben Affleck as EP, I cannot imagine money was the issue. Still worth while seeing for the material. Three stars.

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Over the Hills and Far Away
USA, 2008, 94min., color
Genre: Documentary
Director: Michel Orion Scott
Producer: Rupert Isaacson
Cinematographer: Jeremy Bailey
Editor: Rita K Sanders
Assistant Editor: Michelle Green
Composers: Lili Haydn, Kim Carroll
Sound Recordist: Justin Hennard
Website: www.overthehillsmovie.com


Over the Hills and Far Away explores one family’s journey as they take their autistic five year old son Rowan to Ulaanbaatar and travel on horseback, searching for the elusive reindeer herders and the most powerful shaman in the country. We meet the Isaacson’s, Rupert a British journalist and human-rights activist and Kristin a psychology professor from suburban California, as their perfect life together begins to fall apart. They try conventional therapies, diets and medication, all to no avail. However, Rupert had witnessed the potency of traditional healing and discovered that his son has a special bond with horses. He researched and found a place that combined horseback riding and shamanic healing—Mongolia.

The film unfolds as a very personal story, at times uncomfortably so, and travelogue of the Isaacson’s travels and travails as regards their son Rowan and his autism. At times you feel like you are watching the Travel Channel, at times a reality styled soap opera. The story unspools with little drama but you watch because it is so personal and painful you would feel guilty to leave. The payoff comes at the end. No, they do not find a cause or a cure for Rowan’s autism, but they do find relief for him of many of the symptoms. Especially those having to do with potty training, fits and socialization. The dramatic difference is remarkable. For those directly or indirectly affected with autism this is a five star must see. For the rest, three stars will do.

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El General
Mexico/USA, 2008, 83min., color
Spanish with English subtitles
Genre: Documentary
Director: Natalia Almada
Producers: Daniel Alatorre, Natalia Almada
Cinematographer: Chuy Chavez
Music: Shahzad Ismaily, John Zorn
Sound Design: Alejandro de Icaza


Five years ago director Natalia Almada was given six hours of audio-tape recordings that her grandmother had made about her life. These were the genesis of El General, titled after her great-grandfather, El General Plutarco Elias Calles, a general in the Mexican revolution who was president from 1924 to 1928. Adored and hated, he was exiled from Mexico in 1936 and came back to die there about ten years later.

This was a great premise for a feature length documentary. Unfortunately for Almada, her grandmother didn’t leave her much that was particularly revealing about her father except on a very personal and subjective level. Therefore she tries to combine these tapes with archival film records, still pictures and articles about Calles to reveal a hypnotic and deeply compassionate portrait of the Mexican people and the forces that have shaped their lives. She is only partially successful. Without giving us background from 1810 when Mexico waged its war of Independence from Spain as well as an understanding of the culture formed by the Conquistadores and native Indian tribes prior to that, we start in the middle of the big story and are expected to know the rest. This is a mistake. I happen to have studied Mexican history but most Americans, most people, and have not. Therefore Almada leaves us with the impression that Mexican culture today has a direct cause and effect related only to the Presidential power struggles and assassinations that occurred in the 1910’s 20’s and 30’s and nothing else.

This is a feature documentary that has lost its way. It is good to see this much archival material tied together in one film, but it feels like window dressing to the story that the director wanted to tell but couldn’t from the tapes that her grandmother left her. Clean, extremely well edited, wonderful music and very good technically with some very interesting interviews, it still isn’t compelling or historical enough. In a description of the film, Director Almada says, “As Mexicans, we remain silent behind our festive masks. We laugh at our irreconcilable contradictions and accept our condition as ‘fate’ or ‘bad luck’, afraid to examine our history too closely. El General moves between my grandmother’s fractured memoires of my father and my meanderings through Mexico City.” Unfortunately this film is a meander too. Two stars.

London Betty
Year: 2009
Director: Thomas Edward Seymour
Stars: Nicole Lewis, Thomas Edward Seymour, Daniel Von Bargen
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Studio: Hale Manor Productions
Running Time: 80 Mins



“London Betty’ is the latest film from one of the co-directors of the “Bikini Bloodbath” series, Thomas Edward Seymour.

The film is about a woman from England, who moves into a small town in America to work for a local newspaper. Not liking the assignments that she’s given, she decides to look for a good story. She begins to find out that the town’s mayor is involved in illegal activity. While investigating the mayor, she becomes involved with Billy, a small time socially dysfunctional thief and his two associates. Soon, the mayor hatches a plan and kidnaps Betty and her pet bunny. Now, it’s up to Billy and his associates to free Betty and stop the mayor’s corruption. This will lead to some fun and debauchery in this hilarious comedy.

“London Betty” is a funny laugh out loud riot. Director Thomas Edward Seymour, who co-directed the two previous “Bikini Bloodbath” films, really does a great job with his direction here, as this is more of a straight forward comedy than those films, which were also good. He’s able to focus more on the story and the timing of the comedic action, which makes his direction very good and funny. He really did a great job with all of the characters, as they came off as funny. It helped keep my interest, as the characters come off as humorous and entertaining. Seymour also does a good job, not overkilling the narration, as that part was perfectly placed and used properly. It wasn’t annoying or the fact that Clint Howard narration wasn’t distracting. Also, another thing that makes this film very good is the acting. Everyone including Seymour, who plays a major part here, seems to be having fun, which made his or her character even funnier from what was written. It just that these characters were very fun to watch. You need to bring personality to these characters if you want your comedy to be entertaining.

Seymour’s screenplay was also very good, as this felt like an old-school comedy. It’s a more mature screenplay than in the “Bikini Bloodbath" series. The jokes and comedic action made this film very fun to watch. One of the things he does to make this story very funny is to have characters that were written well and would make the audience be invested in them. Seymour writes them in a way that every time when they appeared onscreen, you managed to laugh out loud. Whether it's the two main characters, the egotistic mayor, the whinny and wimpy bodyguards, or the karate master, I was able to get a good laugh in. The reason for that was the characters were given personalities that made them enjoyable to watch. The screenplay is more disciplined than in his previous films. He develops subplots like the relationship that his character that he plays in the film has with his two friends and the situation that the title character has to adjust to new country and the changes that come along with it.

“London Betty” is very funny and charming crime caper that guarantees that you’ll have a fun time.

Review Rating: Four Stars

Starring: Matthew Lilliard, Nora Zehetner
Directed By: Drake Doremus
Written By: Lindsay Stidham
Grade: B

Spooner, a comedy about the fear of growing up, premiered at the Slamdance Film Festival this past week. There’s a lot of comedy through the situation that his loving parents are finally kicking him out and essentially making him homeless. However, most of the comedy really comes through the somewhat timid main character, Herman Spooner. He clearly has a lack of confidence and certainly independence, which in many ways has held him back from the experiences in life that should have shaped him.

Herman Spooner (Lilliard) is in a rut. He is nearly 30 and still living with his parents. He has a job, but a dead end job at that. He works at a car dealership and has the worst numbers of any other employee. He is treated horribly by his boss and is not very happy there. He needs a job now more than ever though since his parents are kicking him out. He has to be out of the house by his 30th birthday. It is up to him to find a place and move out by that date. He tries for awhile, but none seem to be the ideal place to him. He finds a picture of a woman modeling a big screen TV and entertainment center. When his parents ask him where he is moving, this is where he claims he will be living once he turns 30.

On his way to a lunch for everybody at work he runs in to Rose (Zehetner), an attractive, stranded girl who he helps out. Her car is broken down and she is already late for a trip she was supposed to make for her going away party back home. Spooner arranges the mechanics at his work to fix Rose’s car up for her. In the mean time, he takes advantage of the opportunity to talk with and try to get to know her a bit more. Later, he manages to find out where she is staying. Unfortunately, his mom has set him up on a date with a women that he has no interest in. Spooner decides to take her to the restaurant at Rose’s hotel in hopes of seeing her. When he does, he manages to get rid of his date who has repulsed him the entire evening. He spends the night with Rose, the girl he really wants to be with. The two talk and get closer to one another throughout the night…and then they spoon, or try to anyway. Spooner has many things that he isn’t happy with in his life that make him feel like a failure, but Rose is his chance for something better. He doesn’t want to let that go and tampers with her vehicle in hopes of keeping her around. Of course this just ends up making things worse though.

The acting was exceptional and clearly added so much likability to the characters and the film as a whole. Matthew Lilliard always does well with comedy and Spooner is no exception. Spooner requires more of a dramatic approach and self-examination of his character than you would think. If Lilliard didn’t have a real understanding of Spooner it could have very easily ruined the film. He brought out the insecurities, fear, and fragility that made up Spooner; still we don’t pity this character. If we did, than we wouldn’t really be able to see the story through his eyes the way we do. We see him as someone who is struggling with life and making it to the next step, but he is still easy to relate to. We can relate to his flaws, because we all have those same feelings to some extent. Flaws are human and luckily, he is portrayed as someone who has his struggles, but has this very innocent likability to him. Spooner is a very interesting character and a great protagonist, but he is a very delicate one, who luckily Lilliard portrayed in just the right manner. My favorite part of Spooner is Nora Zehetner and her character, Rose. She gave an incredible performance, the type that really draws you in to the film more and more with every word that comes out of her mouth. She has this great enchanting quality to her that makes you admire her so much and puts you on the same page as our protagonist who can’t seem to get enough of her either. Where Spooner fears independence, Rose embodies it. She is a very creative person who sees the world her own way and makes no apologies for living life freely. Spooner and Rose seem pretty opposite, but in the end it is their fears that connect them. By seeing in to the other person’s world they give themselves the strength that they doubted they had within them.

Spooner is a lot of things; a life rut story, romantic comedy, and a coming of age film. It also does a great job depicting the almost over-loving family who turns the tables and plays up the tough love. Everything it is on paper though, doesn’t come close to what the film itself really is. There is much more dramatic, emotion, and humanistic qualities that really cause you to connect than the basic plot suggests. As far as the romantic storyline goes, it is really about the characters and how seemingly opposite that they are that lets us examine the depth that make up both of these complex, original, and very likable characters. Also, this isn’t the typical they meet, fall in love, and they live happily ever after type of romance. It is questionable what Rose even feels for Spooner and most likely it isn’t love. The depiction of this attraction/romance is actually extremely realistic and I could very well see this happening in real life, making the film all the more strong and easier to feel connected to it. The writing in the film is great, especially through Rose’s dialogue which was beautifully written as well as delivered. We get this great insight through these words, especially in the scene where Rose is pouring out who she really is one seemingly random word at a time. Spooner is a very funny comedy full of depth, dealing with many fundamental human flaws and emotions.

Film Arcade.net has recently gotten ahold of a couple of featurettes reguarding "Milk", which recently was nominated for 8 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director (Gus Van Sant), Best Actor (Sean Penn) and Best Supporting Actor (Josh Brolin).

The Actors Vignette:



The Filmmakers Vignette:

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Art & Copy
USA, 2008, 89min., color
Genre: Documentary
Director: Doug Pray
Executive Producers: David Baldwin, Gregory Beauchamp, Kirk Souder, Mary Warlick
Producers: Jimmy Greenway, Michael Nadeau
Cinematographer: Peter Nelson
Editor: Philip Owens
EIC: Terry Clark
Music: Jeff Martin
Contact: Michael Nadeau, mnadeau@artindustry.com


Art & Copy reveals the stories behind, and the personal odysseys of, some of the most influential advertising visionaries of our time and their campaigns. Among them were Apple Computer (1984), iPod, Nike (Just Do It!), Clairol’s “me generation”, and the original MTV and Tommy Hilfiger ads.

Directed by Doug Pray, Art & Copy provides a window into the creative energy and passion behind the iconic campaigns that have had a profound impact on American culture. Featuring rare interviews with industry legends, the film seeks to identify the elements that transform a slogan into a popular culture catch phrase. Also shown are the ads themselves. I rare trip back into some of the best television ever produced.

With a BA in Sociology and an MFA in Cinematic Arts, Doug Pray uniquely captures the essence of subcultures as ferociously as Frederick Wiseman; [TITICUT FOLLIES (1967) HIGH SCHOOL (1968)] captures public institutions. More familiar documenting the places of people living on the edges of 9 to 5, mainstream society, Pray visits this time with the creative giants of the advertising business and finds they have more in common with his previous subjects than he or we could have imagined. Focusing on the genesis of that rare 2% of great advertising that moves us and transcends commerce, Pray uses a disciplined artistic approach to answer the questions: Who are these people? What makes them do what they do? Shot over four years, his questions are answered…and then some. Four stars.

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Burma VJ
Denmark, 2008, 85min., color
English and Burmese with English subtitles
Genre: Documentary
Director: Anders Ostergaard
Screenwriters: Anders Ostergaard, Jan Krogsgaard
Executive Producer/Producer: Lise Lense-Moller
Coproducers: Fredrik Gertten, Torstein Nyboe
Cinematographer: Simon Plum
Editors: Janus Billeskov Jansen, Thomas Papapetros
Composer: Conny Malmqvist
Sound Editor: Martin Hennel
Contact: Lise Lense-Moller, llm@magichourfilms.dk
Website: www.burmavj.com


Armed with small handy-cams, undercover Video Journalists in Burma keep up the flow of news from their closed country. Going beyond the occasional news clip from Burma, director Anders Ostergaard brings us closer to the VJ’s who deliver the footage. Though risking torture, life in prison, or death, these courageous young people live the essence of journalism as they insist on keeping up the flow of news form their closed country. Their material is smuggled from the streets of Rangoon, out of the country and broadcast back into Burma via satellite and offered as free usage for international media. The whole world has had the opportunity watched single event clips made by the VJ’s, but for the very first time, their individual images have been carefully assembled and now tell a much bigger story.

Burma VJ offers a unique insight into high-risk journalism and dissidence in a police state, while at the same time providing a through documentation of the historical and dramatic days of September, 2007, when the Buddhist monks stated marching. A riveting and remarkable film. It should be watched by everyone. When we protest in the United States, we rarely worry about torture and death. These young VJ’s worry about it every day. Just to be able to have what we take for granted, democracy and free speech. See it! Five stars.

Public Interest
USA, 2008, 85min., color/black & white
Genre: Mockumentary
Director/Screenwriter: Brad Robinson
Producers: Nicole DeFalco, Michelle Orren, Brad Robinson
Cinematographer: Jeff Preston
Editors: Andrew Ortner, Brad Robinson
Music: Robert Hunt
Contact: Nicole DeFalco
nomadprod@comcast.net
Website: http://www.publicinterestmovie.com/


Public Interest is a send-up of the world’s obsession with reality television. It satirizes not only how outrageous the phenomenon has become but also spoofs how crazy and “real” it could easily get. Borrowing concepts from well crafted narratives like Network (1976) and The Truman Show (1998), first time writer/director Brad Robinson tries to craft a documentary style lampoon of an industry that is itself a lampoon of real life. The result is 85 minutes of talking head interviews with industry and show executives after the show implodes and cuts to ‘flash-back’ scenes of show participants that tried to live together for two years, with electric shock collars on, for a cut of an $8 million dollar prize.

For those who are in awe of the people that appear on these shows and expose themselves for who they really are, or want to be, in front of millions of viewers, Public Interest is amusing, maybe even funny. For the rest…well…imagine watching a one and one half hour episode of Big Brother (2000) or The Surreal Life (2007) without commercials.

The film is technically well done. The actors, both professionals and amateurs, are believable. There is nothing particularly wrong about this $55,000 effort...but. Does it cover new ground? No. Does it raise our consciousness as regards the absolute and total ridiculousness that is reality TV? Not for me. Most importantly, does it provide a showcase for the talent and creativity of this aspiring writer/director? I don’t think so.

Mockumentaries are neither fish nor fowl. If they are not over-the-top funny or outrageous, like Tina Fey doing Sarah Palin or Larry Charles directing Borat (2006), they just sort of sit there on your plate; like an under-cooked chicken breast at a Shiners’ dinner. In an article on phillyburbs.com Director Robinson hopes more feature-length directorial efforts are in his future. In an interview with Jeremy Barker on roxreview.com, Robinson said, “We can send this as a calling card, to show what we can do with very little money.” Unfortunately I don’t believe that is true. If the goal is to direct features, Robinson would have been better off making a horror film or a low budget dramatic thriller like The Killing Room (2009). All he has shown us here is his ability to conduct interviews and to direct a long form reality television show. Two stars.

Starring: Ron Livingston, Thuy Nguyen
Directed By: Guy Moshe
Written By: Guy Jacobson, Guy Moshe
DVD Release: January 27, 2009
Grade: B

Holly is a powerful film that deals with the sex slave trade that is very present all over the world today. There are millions of kids who are subjected to this. A portion of the proceeds of the DVD, will go to RedLight Children, a campaign fighting for the end of all modern-day slavery. Holly centers on the exploitation of young children all over Cambodia, but specifically centers on one 12-year old girl, Holly. It focuses not just what is going on and the effect that it has on the morality code as well as this girl’s mental state, but it’s really about this strange relationship that this girl and an American man form.

Holly (Nguyen) has been brought back to her owner after trying to escape the terrible conditions she is subjected to day after day, which ends up just making things worse. She is treated like an animal, and even referred to as one often. She has to work day in and day out or she will be subjected to further abuse and starvation. As if the thought of this isn’t scary enough she is constantly being threatened with her sister’s life, which subject her to the same life that Holly has. Soon she meets Patrick (Livingston), a card shark and dealer of stolen artifacts who finds himself stranded in Cambodia for a few days while his motorcycle is being repaired. He ends up renting a room where Holly lives and works. Patrick tries to help Holly out, but largely he is just waiting until he can go and leave this place behind. The two begin to connect with each other and Patrick helps make her life a little bit easier while he is there. As they get closer and closer, Holly sees this as her chance to have a better life. She would much rather live with Patrick than those she is living with now. She asks Patrick to buy her, but the thought of buying this little girl scares him.

As Patrick begins to feel more and more for Holly, he just can’t stand the thought of leaving her to live as she has been. He decides to buy her, but when he tries to he is told that she is gone. He is not sure if he believes it or if others are just trying to prevent her from having any type of freedom or happiness. Patrick searches for her, but can’t find her anywhere. After attempted to be seduced by a prostitute that lived with Holly, he finds out where she went. To get out, Holly had to sell nearly everything that she owned, but she couldn’t imagine going back. Once she gets out she is still working bad jobs in very dangerous environments, but at least she has freedom. A Vietnamese officer recognizes that she isn’t from around the area. Holly is hesitant to go with him, but he feeds her and gives her a ride. It turns out that she was right not to trust him as she is sold right back in to slavery as a child prostitute this time living in a brothel. Patrick continues searching for her even if he doesn’t know what he can really do for her.

Ron Livingston gives a very compelling performance as Patrick. He offers the right amount of reservation in the beginning that makes the emotion and care that emerges from him in the end show how his eyes have been opened to the cruelty to children in Cambodia. Thuy Nguyen did very good as well as Holly. There was this immense fear that showed in her eyes, hesitations, and language. She really showed how she was being aliened in nearly every way, clearly breaking her over and over again. Chris Penn, in his last on-camera performance also does well in his supporting role as Freddie, a scornful mob boss who assigns Patrick to smuggle artifacts across the border.

The film is grim and unsettling at times, but I really appreciated that it displayed the tragedy and problems in the slave and child sex trafficking trade without seeming too heavy. It takes awhile to even get in to prostitution. We start out with a sad scene of this girl being treated badly and being forced to work in hopes of surviving. Still, by doing this it slowly takes us in to this environment and focuses on telling the story rather than just trying to make us uncomfortable or shock us. There really isn’t anything very graphic shown, it is much more with the atmosphere and lack of morals that seem to be everywhere around. Even when Patrick decides that he is going to help Holly there is great questioning of how he can even do this since the system is designed to keep these children enslaved so others can profit off of them. If he could come up with the money to buy Holly than he is supporting the trade and would be just increasing the number of children who will be enslaved in the future by showing there is a demand for them. In the area they are in, adopting is illegal and if he tries to smuggle her out of the country than she will most likely be arrested, really hurting Holly more than it would benefit her. Also, even though he is trying to save her, Patrick is now part of a very dark chapter in Holly’s life, which being around him will only remind her of. I really liked how the film also acknowledged how it’s easier to know of the evils around you, but to ignore them and go about your life. It is once you acknowledge the innocence in the victims that are human just like you are that you can’t help but fight these wrongdoings.

One thing that surprised me in the film was how accepting Holly was. Her parents were poor and resorted to selling their young daughter for money. She doesn’t hold any grudges against them though. She understood why they did it and although she hates where it has brought her she is glad that by selling her she was able to help out her family for the time being. The effects of the life she is in really come to surface in some troubling moments. The most immediate of these is just her small frame of understanding. Holly has been trained only to serve and has become closed off and ignorant of everything else. She speaks English, but it is very broken English, clearly from never being able to get an education. She offers to be Patrick’s wife in hopes of getting away from the environment she has been in. She is desperate to do this even when Patrick says she is far too young. Holly doesn’t seem to grasp that there might just be a decent older man wanting to be a father figure to her as opposed to the sexual predators that she is typically around. When Holly is in the brothel, she quickly forgets her life that came before that, even those few moments of happiness that should have been dear to here. She can’t even recognize her salvation when it appears right before her. Holly is a gripping story of very real belittlement and sexploitation, centering itself around a heartwarming relationship, questioning whether faith or hopelessness is more prevalent.

Today we were sent over the press release for the winners of the Sundance Film Festival that took place this year. Kelsey has been posting her reviews the past few days and Mathius's reviews are coming throughout this week. The winners are below, copied and pasted from the press release that was sent.


The 2009 Sundance Film Festival Award Winners:

The Grand Jury Prize: U.S. Documentary was presented to We Live in Public,directed by Ondi Timoner. The film portrays the story of the Internet's revolutionary impact on human interaction as told through the eyes of maverick web pioneer, Josh Harris, and his transgressive art project that shocked New York.

The Grand Jury Prize: U.S. Dramatic was presented to Push: Based on the novel by Sapphire, directed by Lee Daniels and written by Damien Paul. The film tells the redemptive story of Precious Jones, a young girl in Harlem struggling to overcome tremendous obstacles and discover her own voice.


The World Cinema Jury Prize: Documentary was presented to Rough Aunties, directed by Kim Longinotto. Fearless, feisty and unwavering, the 'Rough Aunties' protect and care for the abused, neglected and forgotten children of Durban, South Africa. United Kingdom

The World Cinema Jury Prize: Dramatic was presented to The Maid (La Nana), directed by Sebastián Silva. When her mistress brings on another servant to help with the chores, a bitter and introverted maid wreaks havoc on the household. Chile

The Audience Awards are presented to both a dramatic and documentary film in four Competition categories as voted by Sundance Film Festival audiences. The 2009 Sundance Film Festival Audience Awards are presented by Honda.


The Audience Award presented by Honda: U.S. Documentary was presented to The Cove, directed by Louie Psihoyos. The horrors of a secret cove nestled off a small, coastal village in Japan are revealed by a group of activists.

The Audience Award presented by Honda: U.S. Dramatic was presented to Push: Based on the novel by Sapphire, directed by Lee Daniels and written by Damien Paul. The film tells the redemptive story of Precious Jones, a young girl in Harlem struggling to overcome tremendous obstacles and discover her own voice.

The World Cinema Audience Award: Documentary was presented to Afghan Star, directed by Havana Marking. After 30 years of war and Taliban rule, Pop Idol has come to television in Afghanistan: millions are watching and voting for their favorite singer. Marking's film follows the dramatic stories of four contestants as they risk their lives to sing. Afghanistan/United Kingdom

The World Cinema Audience Award: Dramatic was presented to An Education, directed by Lone Scherfig from a screenplay by Nick Hornby. In the early 60s, a sharp 16-year-old with sights set on Oxford meets a handsome older man whose sophistication enraptures and sidetracks both her and her parents.United Kingdom

Directing Awards recognize excellence in directing for dramatic and documentary features.

The Directing Award: U.S. Documentary was presented to El General and director Natalia Almada. As great-granddaughter of President Plutarco Eliás Calles, one of Mexico's most controversial revolutionary figures, the filmmaker paints an intimate portrait of Mexico.

The Directing Award: U.S. Dramatic was presented to Sin Nombre, written and directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga. Filmmaker Fukunaga's first-hand experiences with Mexican immigrants seeking the promise of the U.S. form the basis of this epic Spanish-language dramatic thriller.

The World Cinema Directing Award: Documentary was presented to Afghan Star, directed by Havana Marking. After 30 years of war and Taliban rule, Pop Idol has come to television in Afghanistan: millions are watching and voting for their favorite singer. Marking's film follows the dramatic stories of four contestants as they risk their lives to sing. Afghanistan/United Kingdom

The World Cinema Directing Award: Dramatic was presented to Five Minutes of Heaven, directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel from a screenplay by Guy Hibbert. Two men from the same town but from different sides of the Irish political divide discover that the past is never dead. United Kingdom/Ireland

The Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award was presented to Nicholas Jasenovec and Charlyne Yi for Paper Heart. Even though performer Charlyne Yi doesn't believe in love, she bravely embarks on a quest to discover its true nature - a journey that takes on surprising urgency when she meets unlikely fellow traveler, actor Michael Cera.

The World Cinema Screenwriting Award was presented to Five Minutes of Heaven, directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel from a screenplay by Guy Hibbert. Two men from the same town but from different sides of the Irish political divide discover that the past is never dead. United Kingdom/Ireland

The U.S. Documentary Editing Award was presented to Sergio. Directed by Greg Barker and edited by Karen Schmeer, the film examines the role of the United Nations and the international community through the life and experiences of Sergio Vieira de Mello, the U.N.'s High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The World Cinema Documentary Editing Award was presented to Burma VJ. Directed by Anders Østergaard and edited by Janus Billeskov Jansen and Thomas Papapetros. The film takes place in September 2007 as Burmese journalists risk life imprisonment to report from inside their sealed-off country. Denmark

The Excellence in Cinematography Awards honor exceptional cinematography in both dramatic and documentary categories.

The Excellence in Cinematography Award: U.S. Documentary was presented to The September Issue. With unprecedented access, director R.J. Cutler, cinematographer Bob Richman and their crew shot for nine months to capture editor-in-chief Anna Wintour and her team preparing the 2007 Vogue September issue, widely accepted as the "fashion bible" for the year's trends.

The Excellence in Cinematography Award: U.S. Dramatic was presented to Sin Nombre, written and directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga. Cinematographer: Adriano Goldman. Filmmaker Fukunaga's first-hand experiences with Mexican immigrants seeking the promise of the U.S. form the basis of this epic Spanish-language dramatic thriller.

The World Cinema Cinematography Award: Documentary was presented to Big River Man, John Maringouin's documentary about at an overweight, wine-swilling Slovenian world-record-holding endurance swimmer who resolves to brave the mighty Amazon in nothing but a Speedo. U.S.A./United Kingdom

The World Cinema Cinematography Award: Dramatic was presented to An Education, directed by Lone Scherfig from a screenplay by Nick Hornby. Cinematographer: John De Borman. In the early 1960s, a sharp 16-year-old girl with sights set on Oxford meets a handsome older man whose sophistication enraptures and sidetracks both her and her parents. United Kingdom

A World Cinema Special Jury Prize for Originality was presented to Louise-Michel, directed by Benoit Delépine and Gustave de Kervern, about a group of disgruntled female French factory workers who, after the factory abruptly closes, pool their paltry compensation money to hire a hit man to knock off the corrupt executive behind the closure. France
A World Cinema Special Jury Prize: Documentary was presented to Tibet in Song directed by Ngawang Choephel. Through the story of Tibetan music, this film depicts the determined efforts of Tibetan people, both in Tibet and in exile, to preserve their unique cultural identity. Choephel served six years of an 18-year prison sentence for filming in Tibet. Tibet
A World Cinema Special Jury Prize for Acting was presented to Catalina Saavedra for her portrayal of a bitter and introverted maid in The Maid (La Nana). Chile
A Special Jury Prize: U.S. Documentary was presented to Good Hair, directed by Jeff Stilson, in which comedian Chris Rock travels the world to examine the culture of African-American hair and hairstyles.

A Special Jury Prize for Spirit of Independence was presented to Humpday, Lynn Shelton's farcical comedy about straight male bonding gone a little too far.

A Special Jury Prize for Acting was presented to Mo'Nique for her portrayal of a mentally ill mother who both emotionally and physically imprisons her daughter in Push: Based on the novel by Sapphire.

The 2009 Jury Prize in U.S. Short Filmmaking was awarded to: Short Term 12, directed by Destin Daniel Cretton. The jury also presented the International Jury Prize in International Short Filmmaking to Lies, directed by Jonas Odell. Honorable Mentions in Short Filmmaking were presented to The Attack of the Robots from Nebula-5, directed by Chema Garcia Ibarra; Protect You + Me, directed by Brady Corbet; Western Spaghetti, directed by PES; Jerrycan, directed by Julius Avery; Love You More, directed by Sam Taylor-Wood, I Live in the Woods, directed by Max Winston, Omelette, directed by Nadejda Koseva; and Treevenge, directed by Jason Eisener.

As announced on Friday, Adam, directed by Max Mayer, is the recipient of this year’s Alfred P. Sloan Prize. The Prize, which carries a $20,000 cash award to the filmmaker provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, is presented to an outstanding feature film focusing on science or technology as a theme, or depicting a scientist, engineer or mathematician as a major character.


Sundance Institute and NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) on Thursday announced the winners of the 2009 Sundance/NHK International Filmmakers Awards honoring and supporting emerging filmmakers–one each from the United States, Japan, Europe and Latin America. The winning filmmakers and projects for 2009 are Diego Lerman, Ciencias Morales (Moral Sciences) from Argentina; David Riker, The Girl, from the United States; Qurata Kenji, Speed Girl from Japan; and Lucile Hadzihalilovic, Evolution from France.

Starring: Mark Duplass, Alycia Delmore, Josh Leonard
Directed By: Lynn Shelton
Grade: B

Humpday is a film that really put the outcome and direction of the movie in the hands of the actors. Director, Lynn Shelton, wrote an outline of the plot of the film and who these characters were, but that is about where the pre-determined writing of the film stopped. The rest of the film was entirely improved. The actors made up their own dialogue as it came to them and even decided what would happen in the end, a pressing question through the entire film.

Ben (Duplass) and Anna (Delmore) are a happily married couple who is trying to have a baby to build a family together. They have a nice house, good jobs, and are ready to move on to the next step of their lives. However, in the wee hours of the night, a blast from Ben’s past, his best friend from his single days, Andrew (Leonard), shows up. Andrew stays with them and brings out the old Ben along the way. When Andrew meets a girl he likes, he invites Ben to meet her and his friends. Anna had planned to make dinner to try to get to know Andrew, but since Andrew wants to stay there, Ben agrees to simply make an appearance then have dinner with his wife.

At first Ben gets a very weird vibe from these people and is not sure how long he wants to be there anyway. As they start drinking and their better judgment goes out the window they start talking. The subject of Humpfest comes up, which is an annual porn film festival. Andrew talks about how he really wants to make a great piece of art through porn and do something very different than has been done before. Through this the idea of two straight guys having sex with each other on camera comes up where Ben jumps at the opportunity to be involved. Ben and Andrew book a hotel room for the next night and promise that they are going to have sex together on tape for the sake of artistic filmmaking. The next day Andrew tries to level with Ben by telling him that he knows that they were drunk and he doesn’t expect him to go through with this. It becomes trying to prove who is the bigger man by not backing out. Ben actually feels like he really needs to do this for himself though. He tries explaining this to Anna, but it doesn’t go over so well. She fears that her husband might be gay and incapable of being part of the family that they have planned together, yet the porn shooting goes on.

The performances in the film were outstanding and clearly there was so much more behind them then just the delivery. The actors came up with the dialogue and are very much responsible with the film that we are given in the end. Mark Duplass really does well as Ben who is constantly going back and forth between his single persona and his happily married persona. We see different people through these transitions and when the more wild side comes out it is very funny and unexpected. Josh Leonard was hilarious as Andrew, who really brought the comedy to the full height. He is the more spontaneous and crazy of the two, but he had a certain subtly to this, coming off as natural rather than over the top. What is really the most entertaining about Humpday is how Duplass and Leonard work together. There is already a certain homosexual connection between how attached these two hetero-sexual males are. The buddy relationship is strengthened by the almost overly loving bond that the two have. There is a certain tension in this that usually is broken through laughter, which is heightened all the more when the two are actually in the hotel room later on in the film.

I didn’t know that the actors improvised their own material until after I saw the film. While I was watching it what really caught my attention the most was just how extremely naturalistic the characters and the dialogue between them seemed. I can’t say that I personally have known anyone who acted like these two characters did. Still, it seemed like I had since they projected this immense feeling of familiarity. They certainly captured my belief that these were very real characters. It was almost like we were just witnessing a part of these people’s lives rather than watching a movie. The pauses were great as it made the language seem more realistic, also adding to the question of where this movie was going to go. When they were shooting there wasn’t even an outcome that they had to get to. It was up to them, whatever felt real in the world of these characters, whatever outcome they would naturally come to if they did exist is what would conclude our film. That really made every moment building up to the end seem very genuine. The last scene where they are in the hotel is among one of the funniest, especially through their verbal and body language. Humpday is funny, engaging, and extremely realistic. It’s an experimentation in improvisation that succeeded in such a naturalistic but interesting loving bond between two heteo-sexual best friends.

Welcome to the 168th Edition of my series. I just had my last performance of A FEW GOOD MEN. The show went very well, I hope I find another show soon. With the Super Bowl coming, all I really want to see is a close game and maybe even a game that goes into overtime. This week I have three people from the Random Myspace Profile selection. I will likely have two for next week but that is always subject to change. Now let's get on with the movies.

Z (1969): Costas-Gavras directed this French film. This is a political film showing the overthrow of a Democratic government in Greece when a leftist politician is killed. After he is killed, the conservatives do everything they can to cover it up and a detective must go through all the red tape to uncover the killing. This is a very interesting movie and something that was probably pretty daring for the time. It is based partly on a true story combined with mystery and suspense.

Se7en (1995): This is part 14 of the Random Myspace Profile selection and for this one I chose Keenie Beans. David Fincher directed this thriller and was his first collaboration with Brad Pitt who would go onto make FIGHT CLUB. This was the start of things where we have two detectives. Morgan Freeman plays a detective named Somerset who is about to retire and Brad Pitt plays David Mills who is the new man on the force looking to make a name for himself. They must learn to co-exist when they come upon a serial killer whose motive is the seven deadly sins. Gwyneth Paltrow plays Mills' wife who has trouble with her husband as a detective. This is not for everyone and has some pretty disturbing imagery. Other actors here include R. Lee Ermey, Richard Roundtree, Kevin Spacey and an uncreditted appearance from Charles S. Dutton.

Guarding Tess (1994): I now pay tribute to producer Ned Tanen who recently left us. Hugh Wilson directed and co-wrote this interesting comedy which stars Nicolas Cage as Secret Service agent Doug Chesnic whose job is to provide security for widowed former first lady Tess Carlisle, played very well by Shirley MacLaine. She requests to keep Doug on security detail and makes his job very difficult leading up to a more dark climax. I thought Cage and MacLaine worked very well together making this comedy worth watching and even some of you that hate Nicolas Cage might like this one.

Bathing Beauty (1944): This is part two of my Esther Williams series and her first starring role. Esther Williams and Red Skelton star as the couple who is getting married but is interrupted by a woman claiming to be Skelton's wife. Williams then leaves and takes her job back at a women's college. To win her back Skelton finds the loophole to get into the school and is subjected to some humiliating moments. He has a great scene where he is imitating the women and there is a great final dance number. At the time of the release this movie was MGM's #3 best seller behind BEN-HUR (1925) and GONE WITH THE WIND. I must admit I am really drawn to Esther Williams when I see her and I will be using one more of her movies next week.

Pony Express Days (1940): This is my short film for the week which features George Reeves as a young Buffalo Bill Cody and his rise to fame. It shows Buffalo Bill wanting to ride for the Pony Express but being too tall. When a worker is shot, he must take the Pony Express route himself. I really don't know the accuracy but it is a story showing how William Cody got his nickname. It is worth watching Reeves in a pre-Superman role.

The Guardian (2006): This is part 15 of the Random Myspace Profile selection and for this one I chose Majin Ray. Andrew Davis directed this homage to the United States Coast Guard. Kevin Costner stars as an aging rescue worker who reluctantly becomes an instructor to new trainees after a very tragic incident. THAT 70s SHOW alum Ashton Kutcher plays a very cocky trainee who seems a little too focused on breaking records. As tension mounts between the two, they come to realize that they are not much different. The cast also includes Sela Ward, Clancy Brown, and Neal McDonough. They worked very closely with the Coast Guard to make this as authentic as possible. This is what happens when Costner chooses a good role.

Stage Mother (1933): I came across this one on TCM. Alice Brady stars as a Vaudeville star named Kitty who must leave her daughter Shirley, played by Maureen O'Sullivan, with her deceased husband's parents who have a lot of morals. Kitty then sees a lot of talent in her daughter and decides to push her into stardom and hopef whoully Broadway. As you might guess, Shirley becomes very overwhelmed and has a hard time keeping a relationship because of her mother. It is a very dark look at stardom, especially when that dream is being lived by the parent and not the child. I will just ask parents to not force their children into things just to live some dream you want to continue. This is something that is very overlooked and it's my job to get it looked at. Worth a look with the strong performances from the leads.

My Blueberry Nights (2007): I came across this one through my friend Sean's profile which listed Natalie Portman as a favorite actress and I needed a movie fairly new so I chose this one which features her in a supporting role. Grammy winning singer Norah Jones stars in this movie as Elizabeth who is coming off a breakup and sets off on a soul-searching journey encountering many interesting people along the way. We have Jude Law, David Straithairn, Rachel Weisz and Natalie Portman. Jude Law is the place where it starts in his cafe and Portman is great as a mistrusting gambler. I also liked Strathairn in his small role and even though he is an Oscar nominee, he still floats under the radar a lot. Kar Wai Wong directed this film where you will not see any extreme violence but when you get into the mood, I believe this is enjoyable with a nice performance from Norah Jones, in the only movie she has done so far.

Harlan County U.S.A. (1976): This is my documentary for the week which I found on IFC. Barbara Kopple directed this brutal look at a strike with a mining company in a small town in Kentucky. A group of miners wanted to join a union but no one would give in which lead to a strike that lasted over a year which had some violent moments. It is a very interesting look at what people are willing to do to get what they need. I am very fortunate that I never had to lead this kind of life of someone who worked very hard but it was not enough. This is one of the best documentaries of all time.

The Scarlet and the Black (1983): This is part 16 of the Random Myspace Profile selection and for this one I chose Lenore aka Jackie. I worked with her in the stage production of MASH that I was in. This was a great tv movie which stars Gregory Peck as the real-life Father Hugh O'Flannery who was a Vatican official in Nazi-era Italy. He hid a lot many people who were Allied escaped POWs to save them from arrest and obviously endagering himself. Christopher Plummer and John Gielgud co-star in this movie. This was a very compelling true story and a good, later performance out of Peck.

Well, that is it for this week. Please tell me what you like and what you hate. Next week will feature Esther Williams, Judy Garland, and Ed Harris.

FUN LITTLE FACTS

Brad Pitt (Se7en) plays legendary outlaw Jesse James in the 2007 film THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD and George Reeves (Pony Express Days) played the uncreditted role in the 1943 film THE KANSAN.

Batman Franchise
-Morgan Freeman (Se7en) plays Lucious Fox, the man who does a lot for the Batman suit, in the Batmans with Christian Bale.
-R. Lee Ermey (Se7en) voices the role of Wildcat in a 2009 episode of BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD
-Clancy Brown (The Guardian) voiced the role of Mr. Freeze in a few episodes of THE BATMAN.

Robin Hood Franchise
-Morgan Freeman (Se7en) plays Azeem, Robin Hood's friend in the 1991 film ROBIN HOOD: PRINCE OF THIEVES.
-Kevin Costner (The Guardian) plays the title role in the same film.
-Basil Rathbone plays Sir Guy of Gisbourne who is the Lieutenant to the Sheriff of Nottingham in the 1938 film THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD.

Gwyneth Paltrow (Se7en) plays the role of Pepper Potts, Tony Stark's personal assistant, in the 2008 film IRON MAN and the 2010 sequal. Nicolas Cage plays Johnny Blaze who becomes the Ghost Rider in the 2007 title film

Superman Franchise
-Kevin Spacey (Se7en) plays Superman's arch-enemy Lex Luthor in the 2006 film SUPERMAN RETURNS

-Nicolas Cage (Guarding Tess) was at one time cast in Tim Burton's Superman project which never got off the ground.

-George Reeves (Pony Express Days) plays Superman in the early tv series in the 50s
-Clancy Brown (The Guardian) does the voice of Lex Luthor in the Superman animated series in the 90s

Nicolas Cage (Guarding Tess) plays the role of Jacob Marley in the 2001 animated film CHRISTMAS CAROL: THE MOVIE. Basil Rathbone (Bathing Beauty) played the role in a 1954 episode of SHOWER OF STARS called A CHRISTMAS CAROL. Rathbone also played Ebenezer Scrooge in a 1958 episode of TALES FRON DICKENS once again titled A CHRISTMAS CAROL.

SHERLOCK HOLMES
-Basil Rathbone (Bathing Beauty) is known by many to be the best actor to portray Sherlock Holmes.
-Jude Law (My Blueberry Nights) will play Holmes trusted friend and partner Dr. John Watson.
My myspace and Facebook friend Sean played his arch-enemy Professor Moriarty in a version at Muncie Civic Theater.

Basil Rathbone (Bathing Beauty) plays Baron Wolf von Frankenstein in the 1938 film SON OF FRANKENSTEIN. Clancy Brown (The Guardian) plays a version of the Creature named Viktor in the 1985 film THE BRIDE.

Rachel Weisz (My Blueberry Nights) cites Shirley MacLaine (Guarding Tess) as one of her idols

Walter Gotell (Scarlet and the Black) was Bond villain Morzeny in the second film of the Connery era which was 1964's FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE. He would later play a recurring role as KGB General Gogal as mostly an ally of Bond in the Roger Moore and Timothy Dalton era.