After a very long hiatus I’m once again glad to say to everyone hello, I’m the Doctor. I’m here to hel… Wait, no, that’s not right.Â
I knew it would take a lot to get me to come out from my self-induced coma of “I’m too busy” to start writing again about the wonders the idiot’s lantern holds. After watching the mid-season finale of The Walking Dead I was finally poked and prodded enough to sit here and put my digital pen to paper.Â
Let me say up front that I’m kind of upset with The Walking Dead for taking seven episodes to come up with an installment that I finally felt was worth my time. Don’t get me wrong, I like the show, however it has been pushing the limits of my patience. There’s been a whole lot of talking this season and a whole lot of walking. There hasn’t been a lot of action, though. A lot of this season had been the equivalent to the fishing scene from last season where Andrea and Amy compare their childhoods. There’s something going on for us to watch but it doesn’t endear me to the characters and it doesn’t move the story along. That’s been almost this entire season for me thus far.
What I consider to be a great example of this show not really going anywhere this season was the episode where Daryl was horse tossed into the river and had delusions of Merle. Somewhere during that spill Daryl went nuts and had his inner Merle tell him he was soft and needed to, in essence, nut up. Having your inner Merle lecture you somehow makes you go crazy and make a zombie ear necklace. So what happens when you heal up? Apparently you just get grumpy and not a whole lot else. So what was the point of it all?
Imagine my surprise and delight when the last episode finally had action, conflict, dilemmas and interesting revelations. Shane started to surface more as the savage survivalist that he’s been coming into. Rick had to acquiesce to Hershel in order to keep his group safe and Dale had to face off against Crazy Shane. This episode was like we had Walking Dead light for six episodes and suddenly we were given Walking Dead concentrate.
Now’s the point where I get really spoiler-y so if you still haven’t caught the episode come back later.Â
Knowing that we were up against a mid-season finale we all knew there was going to be a shocking revelation and the most obvious would be that Sophia was now a zombie. It made perfect sense that she would be because she’s been gone for six episodes and regardless of how scared and lost she may have been it just doesn’t make sense that she would keep wandering further away. If she were a zombie she’d move even slower, right? So where was she?
The obvious answer to that question is that she would be in the barn. I never thought zombie Sophia would be in there because I figured someone would have spoken up about the fact that there was a little girl in there as well as the other town folk they knew so she couldn’t be in there. When she come shuffling out right after the zombie shooting game was played out I screamed, “Bullshit!” and started getting resentful at such non-sensical and blatant audience manipulation.Â
Thankfully I watched The Talking Dead and my anger was quickly cooled because Robert Kirkmann, writer of the comic and show, explained to me the one simple line that I missed. Â Hershel tells Rick that it was Otis, the guy that Shane shot in the leg to make him a zombie buffet, was the one who used to pull the walkers out of the muck. Otis was caught up in the effort of trying to save Carl’s life and made zombie chum before anyone had a chance to talk about missing Sophia. Had Shane worked with Otis to escape rather than offing him then our rag tag group may have had known a lot sooner the truth.Â
The other thing those last ten minutes did was to actually make us sympathetic to the zombies of the show. Rick’s gang had no problem sinking rounds into the heads of the barn walkers when they hadn’t known them when they were alive, but the moment poor innocent ex-Sophia came shuffling out the entire group froze. They couldn’t take action because in that moment they finally saw things from Hershel’s viewpoint. Everyone didn’t see another walker, they saw the little girl they’ve been searching for. In that moment they forced Rick to have to clean up their mess in a bizarre parallel to the opening scene of the first season.
So now we wait until February to find out the ramifications of Shane’s actions. Based on the first half of this season I’m optimistically cautious of the second half of the season. I’m hoping they give us more than five mediocre episodes and one bang up season finale. Who am I kidding, I’ll be watching every single episode regardless.
–Will Wilkins really likes to write about TV and also talks a lot on NetHeads over at SModcast.com
What I still love about Evan Glodell’s BELLFLOWER is that it is ambitious.
Drop what you’re doing right at this moment and get yourself a copy of RARE EXPORTS before you give one to someone else.
You don’t have to be an Errol Morris fan to love his work but with such a wide breadth of topics that the master documentarian has tackled with panache and style it’s hard not to be in awe of what he’ll do next.
What you notice about WINNIE THE POOH’s latest installment is just how good it is.
What more is there to say about Werner Herzog that hasn’t been said already in more voluminous praise?
Regardless of what parents think, sometimes it’s just best to get the opinion of the target demo.
One of the things I abhor more than anything else around the holidays is finding the same old staples replaying like bad radio singles.
About the DVDs:
Did anyone else watch this as much as I did growing up?
I know this show wasn’t around when I was born but through the magic of VHS I was able to see what absolutely is Robert Wagner’s best work.
Director José Padilha has indomitable spirit.
CS: To your filmmaking style, I’m wowed with the way your documentary style bled over to the way you shot this film. I know in previous interviews you talked about the connecting shot ““ you’d rather shoot for schedule than for ““ you want to make due with what you have and want to make the most impactful shot you can. Can you talk a little bit about your filmmaking style and how making a documentary helped you?
So in the first movie I wrote a lot of treatments and I thought I had it maybe it was like the 4th or 5th treatment and then I gave it to Braulio and said I think this is a terrific script, can you make it better? Then he rewrote it and made it much better. The second movie we did it the other way around. Braulio wrote the treatments first and then when he thought it was good he gave it to me and I rewrote it and then we shot it. We don’t actually have a rule. We just trust each other to the point where I can let him write on top of what I write and he will let me write on top of what he writes. That’s the way we do it. We both write the same script. It’s not easy when you are a writer and have someone coming over and rewriting what you just wrote. You need to have a special sort of creative relationship in order to do that and with me and Braulio it works perfectly well.
MY REINCARNATION is the kind of film that doesn’t try to change your faith or sway the way you think about God but it does reaffirm the notion that through deep internal examination there can be enlightenment and it can result in something as simple as a father and son connecting on an emotional level after so many years of trying to define their relationship.
Fox admits that up until that point, “there is no conflict. How do you make a movie without conflict? I’m a narrative filmmaker yet there wasn’t a story to tell.” When she learned that Yeshi was giving up the life of urban professional, who already had a family and a very successful career, that he gave it up in order to become the very thing he had been raging against for most of his life, thirteen years later she filmed on and off until 2009.
As Fox explains about the process of getting the movie to the public, even though the movie’s coming to theaters doesn’t mean she’s done stumping. “I feel a responsibility,” she said, “to make sure it gets out there properly.” To that end, she’s also had to contend with financing issues.
Make no mistake about it, Elizabeth Olsen is unpredictable. She doesn’t telegraph her intentions or give you any idea where she’s going next. It’s exhilarating.
I remember being struck early on by the pictures of people who have come out ““ what they looked like when they came out versus when they went in like their souls were sucked out of them and they physically changed and I was just so fascinated by how that could happen to somebody. Then after that I decided to just focus on ““ the most interesting part was the first couple weeks after someone leaves ““ the complexity and paranoia. I thought that was the best thing ““ the most cinematic element of the process that I wanted to get. And, I wanted an unknown actress to play the role. I thought it was really important to have someone that people hadn’t seen before and we just started auditioning everybody that fit that age range and who fit that description and Lizzie was clearly outstanding for the role. So I went with her.
DURKIN: And that was our approach too ““ never calling it a cult. No one knows they are in a cult when they’re in a cult. And that line of what a cult is is also a fine line. We kept all that stuff out of it and made all the relationships just about friendship and family and how those get manipulated.
OLSEN: The biggest thing for me with identity in relation to this film and to cults in general, is I just feel people have to( and I may be stealing Sean’s words right now) have this desire to belong to something bigger than themselves. And if they don’t find this place where they fit in and they can contribute to a whole, then they feel like there is something missing. So that’s what I relate to ““ this drive to want to belong to something outside yourself that is bigger.
Critics are creeping out of the woodwork with their top ten lists of horror, but I cannot lump myself in with my brethren due to the fact; it’s boring. That my friend is the last thing you want this Halloween season. There is nothing worse than putting on your favorite horror film with a group of fiends and having them not pay attention at all, because they have seen it and know what’s coming around the dark corner. From the killers to the possessed and the haunting, it’s just no fun if the thrill is none.
Trailer Park of Terror: This movie caught me off guard and I did have it on my top ten last year, but I insist on including it again for those who have not been exposed. I was not ready for its wit and visual style. Yes, that’s right ““ I’m associating those words with a movie about a cursed trailer park. Say what you must about the title, but writer Timothy Dolan and director Steven Goldmann deliver manna for horror mavens with a no holds barred trailer trashy fright flick. Hillbilly zombies have never been as grotesque or as much fun. I will warn the faint of heart that the humor does dwindle in the last half hour and the artists do not just go for the jugular, they rip it to shreds. Don’t waste your time with the “R” rated version ““ go straight for the unrated and watch the fun as your audience tries to keep from running out of the living room.
There is a moment in this film where Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon are having one of their many meals together and they’re riffing back and forth doing impressions of famous English comedians. I’ll be honest and say that I hadn’t a clue about who they were goofing on as they vied for supremacy as it pertained to who was more spot-on but, you know what, it didn’t matter to me.
Do I need to say how well this movie is made?
The last Disneynature documentary I sat through was Oceans and, while it was good, the movie was the visual equivalent of a sleeping pill. The information was kind of interesting but the sounds of bubbles just served as a relaxation device than it was informational documentary.
Buy this. Honestly, if you’re any kind of Disney fan you know how important this animated film was to the success of Disney as they pulled out of the tailspin that was their animated department before movies like THE LITTLE MERMAID and ALADDIN reestablished the company’s dominance in animated entertainment.
This is absolutely a man movie.
Cliff Robertson has passed at the age of 88 and anybody under the age of thirty may not be aware of this amazing man who was an aviator first and an actor second. That was by his choice. He pursued what he loved and excelled in what he could do. He was one of the first who rallied against the greed of Hollywood and their creative bookkeeping. In doing so, he would be blackballed from the business for many years. This was Hollywood’s and the audience’s loss.
One of the things that you notice about Meek’s Cutoff, the latest from Kelly Reichard, is that it wants to tell a story.
This month is the ushering in of several wonderful Blu-ray titles for Halloween and none could be more exciting than the brilliantly off-beat “Basket Case”. This definitely makes the “Worth Reviving” cut. BC is one of the early 80s cult films that graced the midnight screens and made its audience dare to watch in horror while laughing at the same time. A dark twisted tale set in one of the nastier areas of New York with an amateur cast that is all the more fun to watch.
I am absolutely delighted to be participating in this giveaway for you.
This is a story that is almost too bizarre to believe. Short of being present, the audio evidence of what would be a viral sensation years before the Internet could make swapping videos of cats playing pianos or monkeys falling out of trees an instant activity, you would never believe that audio tapes of men arguing with one another could make their way across the country and then around the world without so much as a mouse click.
EDDIE: I was thinking there’s two things ““ one, the dialogue is written for quite a bit of the film and the dialogue is darkly comic, disturbing, it’s complex and a strange dynamic between these two guys. That in itself composes a good 40 to 50% of the film. I knew there was enough material there to get a film made out of it. Now, whether it would be good or not is a whole nother thing. We trusted Matt because of the previous things we’ve seen that he’d done and knew he could make something interesting and compelling out of it.
There is no excuse to not have this in your collection.
The name Yuen Woo Ping should strike fear into the hearts of anyone looking to challenge a man more than talented than he is at creating something truly mind blowing when it comes to choreographing fight sequences that have soul, a spirit of their own. Off on his own, then, his latest feature TRUE LEGEND looks to synergize his knowledge of what makes great action, behind the scenes, and puts it all out in open as director of this bonanza of fists and kicks. A movie about two brothers locked in true mortal combat, this is a movie I saw months ago and just loved for its spirit and dedication to simply getting things right when it comes to showcasing true action.
This is one of those films that will not only light up your life if you see it on the big screen but it’s a movie, I am convinced, will have a glorious life when it come out on home video.
GLODELL: I didn’t have to have that conversation with Jessie because I met her as an actress when I first moved into LA and worked on tons of some really short films and crazy things and I think all the weird ones had ideas that went into Bellflower so it was always going to be her to play that role. But then I saw Tyler ““ here’s the story ““ Tyler knew who I was but I didn’t know who Tyler was. So I saw him in a play and said I want that guy for his part.
DAWSON: And I was like, yes. And they said, well what’s going on with that? And I’d just say we’re still making it. I know for me there was a time I wasn’t sure what was going to happen to it and for a brief moment I was well, if nothing else we have made a time capsule of our early 20’s and I thought I’d maybe pull out this movie when I was 70 and show it to my grandkids and that would be the end of it. It would just be a keepsake for us in a way.
This is the long and short of it: BUY THIS MOVIE.
I know, you’re spent. You can’t handle any more coverage of September 11, 20o1.
Eye-opening.
Want to know the key to determining whether this is a movie worth owning? Don’t review the film, let the kids watch it and let them tell you whether they like it or not.
PROM, on the other hand, is about as predictable as things come when dealing with the trials and tribulations of youths looking to make this one of a kind night special. I was hoping for a little drama, a little sass, but I was met with the vanilla coating of a story that essentially went exactly as I expected with bad being punished and good winning out. I found out, though, that this was OK. My oldest girl hasn’t yet reached that age of cynicism like her dad and this kind of story where young people are still idealistic and silly plot devices aren’t yet easily identifiable is still reason enough that when she was watching the movie yet again the next morning I knew that sometimes having predictability is better than uncertainty. If only life, and my own real life prom, were like that.
I can’t believe how much time I spent with this set.
First it was the The Dude’s turn to get the royal treatment, now it’s Tony Montana’s time.
Before talking with Ryan Kwanten, star of Leon Ford’s ode to the postmodern superhero, GRIFF THE INVISIBLE, the man was coming off a Comic-Con appearance that saw the requisite female population shriek in visual ecstasy at the man who has already stolen some hearts and minds with his role on True Blood. This role represents a true departure for the man that people think they know.
CS: I know it’s funny I wrote a review and said essentially in an age when superhero films have been shoved down our throats this year this one is an antidote to that. It’s about something more than just feeling strong. It’s something more personal and certainly your performance speaks to that. I am amazed and the question here is dealing with Leon’s script, he doesn’t have a lot of credits to his name, was there a risk that you knew you were taking when you were thinking “The guy hasn’t done a lot but I see something in the script that I just have to attach myself to”?
KWANTEN: Oh, I’m an ambitious guy, Chris. You want the film to get to as many people as possible. And I think this is the kind of film that has a good positive message. It’s not like its going to scaring people if they see it. I really think there’s something beautiful that comes from being affected by this story. In that respect I hope it gets to as many people and as many theaters as possible.
This is a movie that confounds but delights. The warning label that should wrap this film’s DVD release ought to read: Not for those with a weak sense of humor. Heavy doses of absurdity awaits.
CS: In pre-production, production, and then editing, I have to assume the two of you disagreed on a few things here and there or not?
MINIHAN: For sure the ghetto nature helps sell the reality of it.
This upcoming Tuesday, August 16th, is a very special day for those of us steeped in the lore of The Dude.
FORD: Yes, it’s kind of a renaissance. In the 90’s we had Muriel’s Wedding and Priscilla and Strictly Ballroom and big directors like Baz Luhrmann who weren’t big then coming out and it did go quiet for a while. Even back home there was sort of ““ I don’t know how to put it ““ the films were always getting made but a lot of the films had the same theme and now there seems to be a great variety of films from Australia and maybe that’s why more of them are making it onto the international markets because there is more to choose from. There still are only 25 films being made, full budget, and of them maybe there’s two or three of each genre. A case of more to choose from for distributors.
FORD: We were in production as 3 or 4 of those indie superhero, everyday super guy, wants to be a super hero, but I have not seen any of them. I was certainly familiar with the big ones like Batman because it’s hard not to miss those but, to my relief, we are showing a completely different side to a super hero ““ the romantic and a love story as a new angle and also the question of my reality is mine and who are you to say that’s not real. I really like the idea of where that’s taken. So I’m relieved with this angle.
Even though some of you may have missed it during its theatrical run, PAUL is coming to DVD. A movie that celebrates crude and lewd humor with a foul alien who has more in common with your average comedian than he does with a species looking to do some probing, PAUL was a gem that needs to be seen if you haven’t done so already.
CS: Thank you for taking some time out of a busy day to talk to me. This is just chaos. I literally just ran from one moment taking in the panel for Francis Ford Coppola’s new film, TWIXT and now I’m sitting here talking with you. One guy has a completely gonzo idea of taking a film on the road as a live performance, digitally no less, so he can make sure no film is show the same way twice, and now you two who’ve helped write a movie about some aliens and cowboys.
FERGUS: Especially when you look at the combined resumes, their combined film experiences are staggering. So, it was a real treat for us to walk into a room with Spielberg, Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, just unbelievable, all stars. It was an all star room. Keep your ears open and you learn so much.
CS: And final question..
For those needing some insight into comedian Paul Rodriquez’ newest film, a story about a boy who desperately needs to become a man it would be this: If Chico and the Man met the 40 Year-Old Virgin you would have Paul Rodriquez and Felipe Esparza in one of the more genuinely funny comedies to come out this summer.
Let’s be honest.
I know, this isn’t quite the movie you were expecting to be showcased here.
It’s hard to put GENERAL ORDERS NO. 9 into its proper perspective.
When you see a documentary about China and the manufacturing implications it’s had on the American landscape it’s not hard to feel a sense of overwhelming dread about the power they economically wield but filmmaker Brook Silva-Braga took the time to actually talk to authors and pundits and those who are actually on the ground observing what is happening to a changing landscape where dollars are losing ground to the Chinese Yuan.
Color me surprised at how much I liked this film.
This is a great concert documentary.
I didn’t get a chance to see this in the theaters when it came out and I am looking forward to being able to do so when this comes out this Tuesday, June 21st. The film garnered a more than healthy score on Rotten Tomatoes but this was a film that seemed to come and go before anyone had a chance to really enjoy what it was selling, to follow-up on the number of people who said, “It’s really good.” People I knew who really responded to it talked about the questions it raised and the way the story played out. I’m glad I don’t have to wait much longer to see what the buzz was about and hopefully this film gets a second chance on the home video market.
Before I even get started, I already know the argument that will be placed before me from the emotionally charged set”“ if you think you can do any better, show us. Of course, that is not a requirement on my part. I’m the one going in, like everybody else, paying my hard earned money, hoping to be entertained. Did J.J., Spielberg and company do it? In a way yes, the talent achieved that task. Did they deliver an original piece of entertainment that will rock cinema history or remain in our minds for years to come? In a way no, at least not in the minds of the audience that has already been initiated to the wonders Spielberg thirty year ago.
Over the course of a couple of weeks I made it my mission to go through the entire Kids In The Hall series in this slimmer version of the series that was recently released a few years ago. It’s been a while since I sat down with the modern progenitors of sketch comedy. Yeah, Monty Python blah blah blah I’ve heard it before and I am in complete agreement.
In the battle for stories that deal with coming-of-age issues it’s hard to believe that a tale about a young man who is very tough to love would win out over a film that depends on tapping into the halcyon days of Gen X’ers would be the last man standing.
I am a reality television fiend when it comes to ICE ROAD TRUCKERS.
What an aural experience.
Let’s get this out of the way: yes, it’s a little like Twilight. Yeah, it’s also like many other super hero films out there.
I had my daughter watch this movie and report back what she thought. She, and I quote, thought this film was really fun and that every girl should watch it. Now, that said, dad checked it out too to assess that review and I can say that while it wholesale robs blind the Breakfast Club (blasphemy!) the people at Disney have done a bang up job in making a movie that I could enjoy with my girl. If you’re looking for a battle of the bands, of sorts, that deals with one five member ensemble looking to fight it out on life’s proverbial stage this movie hits the, ahem, right notes.
Let me start off by saying I liked the (not so) original “Pirates of the Caribbean,” even though at the time I was not happy that the powers that be had lifted some great material out of one of my all time favorite novels by Tim Powers, “On Stranger Tides”. The two pompous productions with their flimsy story lines that followed continued to take liberties with this great book. Then I came to find out that Powers, who wrote OST in 1987, had sold the rights to his wondrous novel to Disney. Lo and behold the churning and merging of one of their most popular rides with one of the best fantasy/adventure stories written was to become a franchise. Of course, after three big hits, Disney felt the well might be dry. But like the pirates they are, they continued to pillage and pick whatever meat was left on the bones of their property.
For those of us with ankle biters in the audience it’s that time again when kids’ thoughts turn to summer vacation and their mouths start to belligerently harass their parents for things to do. Be it playing in the park, going out for lunch, or taking them to the library there is an endless stream of events you all will have to plan to satiate your young hooligans.
Writers have to begin somewhere and because I am homogeneously horrible at everything but putting letters next to each other in a way that is entertaining and/or meaningful I thought it would be a good exercise to give my seven year-old a chance to talk about a film. I wasn’t asking her to do anything more than just giving me her opinion on the latest Disney release that sees them spinning off Ashley Tisdale’s character from HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL, Sharpay Evans, and planting her in New York for an adventure filled with wackiness and a lot of estrogen. 
“The Lake Effect” is most notable for its sincerity and light humor at an awkward moment in several lives. Director/writer Tara Miele delivers a story with wit and wisdom and keeps a far distance from the too smart dialogue associated with another pregnant teen movie, “Juno”. There are bound to be comparisons and it can’t be helped in the beginning, but somewhere after the first twenty minutes we are caught up in the lives of these very real people.
“Wild Horse, Wild Ride” provides us with a rare look into 100 wild Mustangs who are given a chance to lead better lives through a contest, “The Extreme Mustang Makeover,” that challenges 100 trainers in 100 days. This is a film for anyone who loves animals and if you are not an animal lover, you may turn into one after this film. Directors, Alex Dawson & Greg Gricus have given us a wondrous ode to the magnificence of these wonderful creatures and their brief yet important relationship with the special people that have dedicated themselves to them for such a short period of time.
“The Dead Inside,” is a curiosity that will probably be cherished by the legion of fans that have given their undying love to films like “REPO: The Genetic Opera”. I sat amused, perplexed and sometimes unsettled while watching this bizarre little film that resembles its lead character with DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder), if that is what she is suffering from. I was never quite sure. Travis Betz’s tour-de-force into the strange is an off-beat and original zombie story told by a writer with issues of terrible writer’s block that may be threatened with an exorcism and involved with a very sick ghost with all encompassing musical numbers. It’s a mixed bag that works at times (for me) and no matter what will keep you watching till the very end.
I had reservations about seeing this documentary on four thespian troupes that were followed to the largest high school theatre competition in the world. Was it possible to rekindle what I had experienced as a Thespian in high school? Could it honestly capture the real feelings of the other young men and women of today’s high school Thespian troupes? How could it get to the core of why a child chooses to take on such an emotional rollercoaster?
Sitting across from the man who created and executive produced Everybody Loves Raymond you get the initial sense that this man could easily snap his fingers and make anything happen. Based on the success of Raymond and how well America responded to a sitcom that destroyed in its first run and is decimating in their reruns with how often people are watching them you ought to be afraid of a man who figured out the secret sauce. But, honestly, there wasn’t anything to be afraid of.
So I kept writing. I wasn’t self-conscious about it. I wasn’t trying to manipulate the truth or anything. Everything you see in the movie is 100% real ““ no fakery and I was just writing the events of the day down. I guess it’s colored by my personality in the writing as it would be when anybody writes and sure enough, when I was going through the 200 hours of footage that I have trying to whittle it down to 85 minutes, these emails became the framework of the film ““ the outline of the movie. I didn’t stick to them exactly but it gave me a direction for the story which every movie has to have whether it’s a documentary or feature. It doesn’t matter. You got to tell a story and stuff has to happen. That in a documentary you have to be lucky, so I was very, very lucky.
CS: Right, and I think it speaks to the same point that culturally we just don’t value it enough and somehow it is a lesser art form that you are able to make someone laugh.
This is has been a good year for Donnie Yen. With IP MAN 2 establishing Donnie as the heir apparent to an absent Jet Li and a broken down, family movie making, Jackie Chan there is a sense of wonder at a man who can flow through a fight with grace and fury but who has not set his sights on a wider market. Be it an indifference to the wants and needs of a global film treasure trove that could await him should he just get his foot in the door stateside or just plain satisfaction in doing the kinds of films he’s happy enough doing overseas, the man is electrifying in this role.
Directors Matt Harlock and Paul Thomas just had to answer one question for me, just one, when it came to the fame and popularity of Bill Hicks when he was still walking back and forth across the stand-up stages: What made him so popular in the UK?
His long form ideas connected because, politically, you have things here in the UK where you have a very oppositional structure where institutions are questioned, regularly. Whereas in America it seems to be about blending into one of two parties and when Bill came over here he was much more well received because we, frankly, are used to questioning those is power.
He was fascinated with his heroes, the Stones, Hendrix, and he could see how they experimented with things to alter their consciousness and he went on a path of wondering what would happen if he did that as well. But, after a while, you could see that it became more like a crutch than it did as something that could tell him something spiritually and you can tell that there was a time when he thought they were useful in exploring who he was and, when they became not so useful, he was lucky enough to know how to stop. He was able to come back from that really dark place and was able to be honest and open about it which just led to the second phase of his career where he became more intimate and more focused than he ever was.
Make no mistake about Fubar: Balls to the Wall, it is hilarious. It is downright funny in a way that Jackass 3 was funny with the exception that the talent of David Lawrence and Paul Spence, who play Terry and Dean, respectively, are comedic actors who are so in tune to these characters that they feel like second skin that’s easily gotten into. They sell their performances by leaning on their abilities and it’s not really the story that’s compelling about this film, it’s them.
CS: Right off the bat, you are really diverse with the way you built your career. You came on the scene with Fubar, moved on to the really wonderful It’s All Gone Pete Tong. Then you did some television and now you’re back to features again. What is it you look for when you are looking for projects to do? Are you just looking for something diverse or do you get into whatever might strike your fancy?
DOWSE: We really compliment each other well. We don’t write any dialogue so we really just work with what looks like a script without dialogue. We all bring our own strengths to the table. I like to think I understand the structure of a film better. And Paul’s fuckin’ hilarious. We all add different things to it and we all compliment each other very well. We come up with an idea and we all laugh at it then we know it’s gold. It’s an interesting relationship for sure but it’s very rare. I’ve worked with a lot of writers where we don’t share the same style of humor and it’s extremely awkward when it’s not the same.
DOWSE: Yes, when you do more films you realize the reality of if you want your film to look good cinematically you’re going to have to deal with the timing and the infrastructure of it. There’s a big upside to that. It’s always a balancing act. Getting your film to look good, and giving your actors time on the floor to make it funny and honest is always a battle for me. Sometimes a more hands on approach works very well where if you want a bigger shoot you just fuck the monitors and go out behind the camera and talk to the people and that’s sometimes the way to go ““ just speeds everybody up. Lighting can be the biggest antithesis towards honesty and performance. It eats up so much time sometimes you’re just left with five minutes to get a performance so you have to make sure all that stuff is balanced and I think great directors do that or they just don’t give a shit and they go into overtime. I’ve got to gross a hundred million before I start doing that.
CS: And this is not anything like false praise but David and Paul, I wish I could see them in more things together. They have this relationship that doesn’t feel like acting. It just feels so natural and so honest it doesn’t ever come across as fake or false or put on. Do the two of them, do they realize they have that kind of chemistry together?
As mentioned before, there were so many good films to choose from at the Phoenix Film Festival, dubbed the friendliest film festival to independent filmmakers, that it was extremely hard to catch them all. There are four specific films I will attempt to get screeners of and give a review later next week. From what I’ve heard, you’ll want to hear about them.
Speaking of praise; a memorable film performance at the festival was Carlos Larkin’s turn as a cold-blooded mobster in David Dilley’s “Suspicion”. Let me start off by saying that director Dilley has come through with a good tight human drama laced with a “Sopranos” vibe and a dash of compassion. The story of an aging ex-mobster dying of cancer who strikes up an unusual relationship with an attractive young law student is engrossing with all its twists and turns. Brad Blaisdell as Darrell Jacobs and Suzanne May as Alicia Foret have a wonderful chemistry and what appears to be a genuine concern for each other. Blaisdell comes across part curmudgeon, sage (in a street sense way), threatening and vulnerable.
Jenna Fischer plays Laura Pehlke, a literal punching bag of low self-esteem who tries very hard to change her meek and often misguided ways. She finds herself controlled by her husband, 11 year-old son, older sister and her domineering mother (played deliciously by Lesley Ann Warren). We continuously root for Fischer’s character, because she is not portrayed as a victim but as someone who is consistently trying to improve herself and her situation. Fischer tackles the role with spunk and verve and makes us laugh and tugs at our heart all the way through.
A film that played to pack houses every night was “The Whistleblower,” starring Rachel Wiesz. This is a powerful true story that does not flinch from the ugly realities of human trafficking and all who were involved in it during post war Bosnia. Rachel Wiesz plays Kathryn Bolkovac a Seattle police officer who after several failed attempts at a transfer to be closer to her son, and after a difficult divorce, opts to transfer as a peace officer in Bosnia for a private company that was hired by the United States. The pay is too good to pass up; $100,000 for six months.
I end this diatribe of highlights with my own personal favorite “Terri” which either had people indifferent or embrace it. The growing pains of puberty with the added problem of a dysfunctional family life and the burden of being overweight are told with a wonderfully deft touch by writers Patrick Dewitt and Azazel Jacobs. Jacobs also directs with a quirky set of humor and a lighthearted way of handling the subject matter.
The best of both worlds and a real treat for film lovers was the combining of two film festivals even though it proved to be a little confusing at times. But what they had to offer was a dynamite line up of talent that may be pegged as the best yet. In fact, there was so much offered I could not possibly see it all, hence breaking this review up. What I did see throughout both festivals was very ambitious or exciting talent that blew away audiences at the screenings.
Iskander’s “Jesus”¦” has a black and white look that I have not seen since the days of David Lynch’s “Elephant Man”. It’s not just the way it’s filmed but the images he conjures are absolutely wonderful. The story of an unexpected guest at an underworld poker game is highly entertaining especially with the cast of uniquely acted characters Iskander has assembled.
There have been comparisons to George Romero’s, “Martin,” but Scott Leberecht’s, “Midnight Son” is way beyond that cherished classic. Leberecht has fashioned a real ghoulish show that we have not experienced in many years. The way he slowly and unnervingly rolls out this macabre tale is a joy to behold for fans of the genre.
“Absentia” is a cross between “Carnival of Souls” and a haunted house ride with a tinge of H.P. Lovecraft thrown in for good measure. But do not mistake it as a grab bag of horrors. This is a carefully crafted tale that easily gets under our skin and leaves us with goosebumps. Director, Mike Flanagan, has delivered a twisted tale of a woman, Tricia, which has mourned the loss of her husband for seven years. He disappeared one morning and never came back. In the interim, she has become pregnant, has possibly found a new beau in a police detective and has decided to have her husband declared “dead in absentia.” But she starts seeing extremely frightening images of him appearing in all sorts of strange places, nearly driving her to a breakdown. Tricia enlists the help of her sister (who has a tainted past) to help her to pack and move on with her life. But soon after Tricia decides to get on with her life, hubby shows up emaciated and wearing the same clothes he disappeared in. He then starts raving about creatures and being trapped inside. Tricia’s sister soon discovers that a nearby tunnel may hold many a mysterious answer. Flanagan plays with our senses and has us jumping at nearly every sound and unsettling us when we enter the dark. The actors are spot on in their portrayals and the special effects, though minimal, are very effective. “Absentia” is an evil funhouse ride that leaves one with the chills.
There isn’t a more appropriate time to watch a movie like this than right now.
Michael Winterbottom, the man behind The Killer Inside Me, has a movie that is filled with a little sentimentality, some romanticism, but has a genuine soul to it that simply should not be overlooked.