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The Gruesome Twosome - Singa Home Entertainment
Oct. 22nd, 2008 | 03:51 pm
mood: 
nervous
In 1963 Herschell Gordon Lewis, an underground filmmaker best known for making midnite movie “nudie-cutie” films, changed the face of American cinema forever when he released “Blood Feast.” Blood Feast is still considered the first ever gore film and while low budget was a tremendous success. Drive-ins were booked out with patrons waiting around the block and the critics reached with disgust- the splatter film was born!
Lewis continued with such other cult classics as ‘2000 Maniacs” and “The Wizard of Gore”, both of which have been recently remade. He also made the controversial film “The Gore Gore Girls”, a film which is still banned in Australia and was recently once again refused classification for release.
The Gruesome Twosome is one of the less successful of Lewis’ gore films but still strange and unusual enough to be of interest.
It seems Mrs. Pringle, her mentally defective son Rodney and her stuffed cat Napoleon run a business selling wings out of an old dilapidated house. The problem is that their business is going rather well and they are running out of product. Mrs. Pringle hits on a way to solve her dilemma, since there are lots of university students in the area so she runs an advert for a room to rent. But she does not aim to give her guests accommodation for long.
When they arrive they do not even get time to settle in before they are locked in a room where her disturbed son disposes of them with some brutality using everything he can find including an electric carving knife.
Of course, one too many students go missing and an investigation begins. Kathy works at the local university and is determined to figure out why her classmates are missing, much to boyfriend Dave’s irritation. When her friend Dawn disappears, Kathy gets close to the truth as she begins investigating “The Gruesome Twosome”.
The Gruesome Twosome is an entertaining cult and gore classic which while clearly a product of its time, it was made in 1967, still packs a punch. It has some quite astounding gore “set pieces” and a rather over the top story lines. Yes, the acting is pretty average and the film seems a bit padded here and there – the opening sequence is a tad ridiculous.
However, as a work of horror cult history is well worth seeing.
Lewis continued with such other cult classics as ‘2000 Maniacs” and “The Wizard of Gore”, both of which have been recently remade. He also made the controversial film “The Gore Gore Girls”, a film which is still banned in Australia and was recently once again refused classification for release.
The Gruesome Twosome is one of the less successful of Lewis’ gore films but still strange and unusual enough to be of interest.
It seems Mrs. Pringle, her mentally defective son Rodney and her stuffed cat Napoleon run a business selling wings out of an old dilapidated house. The problem is that their business is going rather well and they are running out of product. Mrs. Pringle hits on a way to solve her dilemma, since there are lots of university students in the area so she runs an advert for a room to rent. But she does not aim to give her guests accommodation for long.
When they arrive they do not even get time to settle in before they are locked in a room where her disturbed son disposes of them with some brutality using everything he can find including an electric carving knife.
Of course, one too many students go missing and an investigation begins. Kathy works at the local university and is determined to figure out why her classmates are missing, much to boyfriend Dave’s irritation. When her friend Dawn disappears, Kathy gets close to the truth as she begins investigating “The Gruesome Twosome”.
The Gruesome Twosome is an entertaining cult and gore classic which while clearly a product of its time, it was made in 1967, still packs a punch. It has some quite astounding gore “set pieces” and a rather over the top story lines. Yes, the acting is pretty average and the film seems a bit padded here and there – the opening sequence is a tad ridiculous.
However, as a work of horror cult history is well worth seeing.
By Synergy Magazine
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HAUNTED BOAT!!!
Oct. 17th, 2008 | 12:51 pm
mood: 
hyper
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Hells Gate. Written and Directed by John Cecil. By Brian Kirst
Oct. 15th, 2008 | 04:30 pm
mood: 
quixotic
Not so much a horror film as Quentin Tarantino inspired noir, Hells Gate satisfies with competent performances and some surprise twists.
Down on his luck Kevin (a superior Brian Faherty) is convinced by the slimy coke snorting Ben (an amazing Jeremy Cohen) to assist him in kidnapping the activist daughter of a public figure. Arranged by a slick contact, known only as Mr. Nobody, Kevin and Ben soon find themselves pawns in a dangerous scheme with their lives on the line.
Writer-Director John Cecil provides atmosphere that could work almost as well as a stage play. In fact many of character’s monologues, detailing their experiences degrading women, remind one of the writing of famed playwright/filmmaker Neil LaBute. Sometimes Cecil’s influences do show themselves too brightly, though. For instance, the manic Ben’s attachment to pop singers Jewel and Alanis Morrisette, strays too closely to the Reservoir Dogs’ obsession with Madonna. But those looking mainly for a pleasant viewing experience can possibly overlook such comparisons – particularly as this is essentially a solid and enjoyable feature film.
In fact, viewers in mood to take a break from the horrific antics of Jason and Jigsaw might ultimately find much to enjoy in Cecil’s hardboiled, heart filled world of Hells Gate.
By Brian Kirst, Horror Society
Down on his luck Kevin (a superior Brian Faherty) is convinced by the slimy coke snorting Ben (an amazing Jeremy Cohen) to assist him in kidnapping the activist daughter of a public figure. Arranged by a slick contact, known only as Mr. Nobody, Kevin and Ben soon find themselves pawns in a dangerous scheme with their lives on the line.
Writer-Director John Cecil provides atmosphere that could work almost as well as a stage play. In fact many of character’s monologues, detailing their experiences degrading women, remind one of the writing of famed playwright/filmmaker Neil LaBute. Sometimes Cecil’s influences do show themselves too brightly, though. For instance, the manic Ben’s attachment to pop singers Jewel and Alanis Morrisette, strays too closely to the Reservoir Dogs’ obsession with Madonna. But those looking mainly for a pleasant viewing experience can possibly overlook such comparisons – particularly as this is essentially a solid and enjoyable feature film.
In fact, viewers in mood to take a break from the horrific antics of Jason and Jigsaw might ultimately find much to enjoy in Cecil’s hardboiled, heart filled world of Hells Gate.
By Brian Kirst, Horror Society
Buy HELL"S GATE
on Singahe.com
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Five Moments of Infidelity - A Film That's Faithful to the Aches of the Human Heart
Oct. 14th, 2008 | 11:25 am
mood: 
moody
Stories about infidelity come with a certain amount of risk. It’s easy to get caught up in the melodrama of a person cheating on another, to dwell on the sexual and/or emotional betrayal in a way that renders the characters as caricatures drawn in black and white. Hard is resisting the impulse to moralize. Harder is presenting a nuanced psychology. Harder still is examining infidelity as it occurs in multiple sets of interconnected characters.
Yet, writer/director Kate Gorman pulls it off. “Five Moments of Infidelity” is the “Crash” of frail human relationships, although where “Crash” gets it wrong and ends up a blunt, brutish thing that leaves one sullied and bruised, “Five Moments” is perceptive, humane, and fully capable of handling the synchronicity of its ensemble cast. It is remarkably organic, a quality manifested as much in script’s meticulous construction as in the liquid, almost dance-like camerawork that elevates “Five Moments” above similarly-budgeted indie films – although flat, characterless cinematography does the film no favours.
Of course there’s the vanilla straight couple coming to grips with the death of love in their relationship, and the impressionable young woman strummed by a lothario – and stung. But there’s also the gay couple with an open relationship, the family with overworked and sexually stalled parents, and a massively dysfunctional family running on alcohol fumes and despair. For all the universality of most of the scenarios she presents, the one involving the severely dysfunctional family shows that infidelity can often be harder to pin down than expected.
The focus on the rich variety of motivations and vulnerabilities, instead of the coincidental connections between characters, keeps “Five Moments” from self-consciously exposing its structure. And Gorman wisely avoids going for pat answers and white-glove tidiness. As with the situations the various characters find themselves in, convincingly presented by a uniformly superlative cast, the fall-out from those five moment span a spectrum; forgiveness, failure, hope, tragedy, stagnation, renewal. There may not necessarily be great insight, and, inevitably, some of the film’s scenarios hit harder than others, but there is considerable honesty in how it all plays out. The characters, faults and all, are sympathetic in their humanity. To go back to that impulse to moralize; “Five Moments” isn’t interested in preaching about the evils of adultery – nor, conversely, does it glorify a rebellion against social strictures. “Five Moments” is an earnest, lovely film about the human, fracture-prone heart.
Entertainment Value: ** (out of two)
Technical Quality: ** (out of two)
Five Moments of Infidelity.Written and directed by Kate Gorman. 90 minutes. Visit www.echelonstudios.us for distribution and screening information.
Yet, writer/director Kate Gorman pulls it off. “Five Moments of Infidelity” is the “Crash” of frail human relationships, although where “Crash” gets it wrong and ends up a blunt, brutish thing that leaves one sullied and bruised, “Five Moments” is perceptive, humane, and fully capable of handling the synchronicity of its ensemble cast. It is remarkably organic, a quality manifested as much in script’s meticulous construction as in the liquid, almost dance-like camerawork that elevates “Five Moments” above similarly-budgeted indie films – although flat, characterless cinematography does the film no favours.
Of course there’s the vanilla straight couple coming to grips with the death of love in their relationship, and the impressionable young woman strummed by a lothario – and stung. But there’s also the gay couple with an open relationship, the family with overworked and sexually stalled parents, and a massively dysfunctional family running on alcohol fumes and despair. For all the universality of most of the scenarios she presents, the one involving the severely dysfunctional family shows that infidelity can often be harder to pin down than expected.
The focus on the rich variety of motivations and vulnerabilities, instead of the coincidental connections between characters, keeps “Five Moments” from self-consciously exposing its structure. And Gorman wisely avoids going for pat answers and white-glove tidiness. As with the situations the various characters find themselves in, convincingly presented by a uniformly superlative cast, the fall-out from those five moment span a spectrum; forgiveness, failure, hope, tragedy, stagnation, renewal. There may not necessarily be great insight, and, inevitably, some of the film’s scenarios hit harder than others, but there is considerable honesty in how it all plays out. The characters, faults and all, are sympathetic in their humanity. To go back to that impulse to moralize; “Five Moments” isn’t interested in preaching about the evils of adultery – nor, conversely, does it glorify a rebellion against social strictures. “Five Moments” is an earnest, lovely film about the human, fracture-prone heart.
Entertainment Value: ** (out of two)
Technical Quality: ** (out of two)
Five Moments of Infidelity.Written and directed by Kate Gorman. 90 minutes. Visit www.echelonstudios.us for distribution and screening information.
By Frederik Sisa, The Front Page Online and Ink & Ashes
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Hell's Gate DVD Review
Oct. 13th, 2008 | 02:51 pm
mood: 
sore
This low budget, high quality psychological crime thriller displays a back-to-basics emphasis on engaging storytelling, as opposed to the elaborate special effects hollow shell of most attention deficit disorder blockbuster moviemaking today. First time director John Cecil has crafted a tale of mainly realistically and freshly conceived flawed characters rather than human plot devices, caught up in life circumstances which they are challenged to prevail over and resist in unusual ways.
Kevin Kinney is Brian, an ex-con in deep financial debt to the mob, and in desperate need of raising cash and settling his outstanding bill with them sooner than later, or else. So Brian is easily lured against his better instincts, into a kidnapping scheme involving a young party animal heiress (Chelsea Miller), proposed by his old penitentiary chum, Ben (Jeremy Cohen), a wild card potential madman with misogyny issues.
The convoluted plot mastermind, the weakest link in this mostly compelling story, is Mr. Nobody (Teddy Alexandro-Evans) - though he oddly seems to be the character most likely to be a somebody here - an Afro-Brit, more brains than brawn dandy sorta guy. The mysterious gent mostly stays behind the scenes, except to order around the pair like low IQ pawns. He instructs them to lure the swinger socialist away from a club and sequester her in an abandoned warehouse, while he will pester her millionaire dad for the ransom. The seedy locale is over near the title's metaphorical Hell's Gate in Queens, described as a bend in the surrounding river once treacherous to pirates on the loose long ago.
Despite needlessly drawn out stretches of randomly mixed past, present and future time where the two bicker with the captor and each other - digressions which tends to defuse any accumulating tension - there's a finely honed twist at the end. And which makes the wait worthwhile, despite Mr. Nobody's lack of dramatic credibility through no fault of his own. What Hell's Gate does confirm, is that you don't need flashy production values and raucous violence, to concoct a provocative, gritty gangster thriller.
Echelon Studios
Echelonstudios.us
Unrated
3 stars
By Prairie Miller, News Blaze
Kevin Kinney is Brian, an ex-con in deep financial debt to the mob, and in desperate need of raising cash and settling his outstanding bill with them sooner than later, or else. So Brian is easily lured against his better instincts, into a kidnapping scheme involving a young party animal heiress (Chelsea Miller), proposed by his old penitentiary chum, Ben (Jeremy Cohen), a wild card potential madman with misogyny issues.
The convoluted plot mastermind, the weakest link in this mostly compelling story, is Mr. Nobody (Teddy Alexandro-Evans) - though he oddly seems to be the character most likely to be a somebody here - an Afro-Brit, more brains than brawn dandy sorta guy. The mysterious gent mostly stays behind the scenes, except to order around the pair like low IQ pawns. He instructs them to lure the swinger socialist away from a club and sequester her in an abandoned warehouse, while he will pester her millionaire dad for the ransom. The seedy locale is over near the title's metaphorical Hell's Gate in Queens, described as a bend in the surrounding river once treacherous to pirates on the loose long ago.
Despite needlessly drawn out stretches of randomly mixed past, present and future time where the two bicker with the captor and each other - digressions which tends to defuse any accumulating tension - there's a finely honed twist at the end. And which makes the wait worthwhile, despite Mr. Nobody's lack of dramatic credibility through no fault of his own. What Hell's Gate does confirm, is that you don't need flashy production values and raucous violence, to concoct a provocative, gritty gangster thriller.
Echelon Studios
Echelonstudios.us
Unrated
3 stars
By Prairie Miller, News Blaze
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FIVE MOMENTS OF INFIDELITY (2006)
Oct. 10th, 2008 | 03:00 pm
mood: restless
FIVE MOMENTS OF INFIDELITY (2006)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
RATING: Three stars and a half
It is always gratifying to know that all major cities, countries and continents around the world share the same problems with relationships, including the city of Melbourne in Australia. The means by which someone cheats is hinted at in "Five Moments of Infidelity," though the film aims to be more than a parable of infidelity.
In the opening scene, we see Narelle (Sally McDonald) in bed with another man, Billy (Kirk Westwood). Nothing too shocking about that yet our initial impression is that these two are lovebirds, signalling the beginning of a new relationship. We find out that Narelle, a secretary, is indeed in love with the new man in her life, though he
turns out to be a womanizer and "loves" her but is not in love, despite allowing her access to his apartment.
Then there is the gay couple, Danny (Jason Chong) and Mitchel (Joshua Cameron), who love to party and have seemingly agreed to having an "open" relationship. Danny, however, is not keen on it - maybe he loves the idea of pursuing another man but not necessarily to have sex with and destroy what he has (presumably, fidelity also springs from having to live in the same roof).
Jacinta (Holly Sinclair) is the innocent teenager who hates her alcoholic mother (Annie Jones). This conflicted, dysfunctional family unit is something out of an episode of "East Enders," and perhaps the harshest in this string of infidelity episodes. The father (Brett Swain) has the toughest time putting up with a series of shouting matches between mother and daughter so, yes, a psychiatrist is needed
for this family. Paging Dr. Phil!
Hard-working Anthony (Alex Papps) and his long-suffering wife, Vicki (Amanda Douge), have a tougher time making love - he is so stressed and blames work. Vicki has had enough of masturbating in the shower - she pursues a man and actively seeks some human contact. Who can blame her for being simply horny.
Last but not least is the strange dynamic between another hard-working man, Hayden (John Sheedy), and his terminally annoying and annoyed and downright fed-up American girlfriend, Brittney (Charmaine Gorman). She hates when he goes to parties by himself, hates it when he doesn't call or show up at a more convenient time, yet sometimes she doesn't mind and loves him. It is not unreasonable to expect Hayden to seek interests elsewhere since this woman is always having a crying fit and can drive someone quite mad.
First-time writer-director Kate Gorman weaves these infidelity tales with ease. There is almost never a wasted moment - every scene feels true to the characters' dilemnas. Some characters, such as Vicki and Hayden, feel more realistically portrayed than others but generally Gorman does an admirable job of handling this Altmanesque narrative.
In fact, some of the characters' denouements are left open-ended, making one wonder what will happen next in their lives. Though these episodes often smacks of British melodrama, on the order of East Enders, it is at times quite sharply written and directed. And the dysfunctional family unit has its own issues of faith and fidelity to family - it is the most emotionally wrenching tale of them all with the tragic, memorable beauty of the lost soul, Jacinta.
My feeling on "Five Moments of Infidelity" is that it has a groove, and either you are in harmony with it or you are not. The characters have a measure of depth to their personalities and they do grow on you, even the gay couple who are given less screen time than anyone else. Sometimes working hard at your job and bringing flowers for your loved ones or significant others is not enough to repair the emotional work one must put out. "Five Moments of Infidelity" shows how hard it
is have a relationship that works.
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
RATING: Three stars and a half
It is always gratifying to know that all major cities, countries and continents around the world share the same problems with relationships, including the city of Melbourne in Australia. The means by which someone cheats is hinted at in "Five Moments of Infidelity," though the film aims to be more than a parable of infidelity.
In the opening scene, we see Narelle (Sally McDonald) in bed with another man, Billy (Kirk Westwood). Nothing too shocking about that yet our initial impression is that these two are lovebirds, signalling the beginning of a new relationship. We find out that Narelle, a secretary, is indeed in love with the new man in her life, though he
turns out to be a womanizer and "loves" her but is not in love, despite allowing her access to his apartment.
Then there is the gay couple, Danny (Jason Chong) and Mitchel (Joshua Cameron), who love to party and have seemingly agreed to having an "open" relationship. Danny, however, is not keen on it - maybe he loves the idea of pursuing another man but not necessarily to have sex with and destroy what he has (presumably, fidelity also springs from having to live in the same roof).
Jacinta (Holly Sinclair) is the innocent teenager who hates her alcoholic mother (Annie Jones). This conflicted, dysfunctional family unit is something out of an episode of "East Enders," and perhaps the harshest in this string of infidelity episodes. The father (Brett Swain) has the toughest time putting up with a series of shouting matches between mother and daughter so, yes, a psychiatrist is needed
for this family. Paging Dr. Phil!
Hard-working Anthony (Alex Papps) and his long-suffering wife, Vicki (Amanda Douge), have a tougher time making love - he is so stressed and blames work. Vicki has had enough of masturbating in the shower - she pursues a man and actively seeks some human contact. Who can blame her for being simply horny.
Last but not least is the strange dynamic between another hard-working man, Hayden (John Sheedy), and his terminally annoying and annoyed and downright fed-up American girlfriend, Brittney (Charmaine Gorman). She hates when he goes to parties by himself, hates it when he doesn't call or show up at a more convenient time, yet sometimes she doesn't mind and loves him. It is not unreasonable to expect Hayden to seek interests elsewhere since this woman is always having a crying fit and can drive someone quite mad.
First-time writer-director Kate Gorman weaves these infidelity tales with ease. There is almost never a wasted moment - every scene feels true to the characters' dilemnas. Some characters, such as Vicki and Hayden, feel more realistically portrayed than others but generally Gorman does an admirable job of handling this Altmanesque narrative.
In fact, some of the characters' denouements are left open-ended, making one wonder what will happen next in their lives. Though these episodes often smacks of British melodrama, on the order of East Enders, it is at times quite sharply written and directed. And the dysfunctional family unit has its own issues of faith and fidelity to family - it is the most emotionally wrenching tale of them all with the tragic, memorable beauty of the lost soul, Jacinta.
My feeling on "Five Moments of Infidelity" is that it has a groove, and either you are in harmony with it or you are not. The characters have a measure of depth to their personalities and they do grow on you, even the gay couple who are given less screen time than anyone else. Sometimes working hard at your job and bringing flowers for your loved ones or significant others is not enough to repair the emotional work one must put out. "Five Moments of Infidelity" shows how hard it
is have a relationship that works.
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"Hell's Gate' by Darren Provine
Oct. 10th, 2008 | 11:29 am
mood: guilty
The old "Twilight Zone" series has always been notable to me for two things in particular: giving a real sense of the characters in brief introductions, and often telling a good story with only 3 or 4 speaking parts. I've seen movies which have two hours, and yet I don't feel I know the characters very well. I've seen movies with a dozen major roles and yet only half a story.
So I was very pleased to see "Hell's Gate", which had only four significant speaking roles, and which starts out as one guy's troubles pushing him into doing something bad -- only to turn into a puzzle. Something is obviously not right. But what? And how do they protect themselves from whatever their employer is hiding, without knowing what it is?
The kidnappers have obviously never committed this sort of crime before, which makes sense. But it would also appear that they've not really thought it out very carefully, or ever seen a crime movie once in their entire lives, which makes less sense.
One of the two main criminals seems like a stereotype from a dozen other movies, but the other looks believably like someone who's out of his element. He's not particularly tough, he just did a bad thing and went to jail for it. He survived prison, but doesn't seem to want to be the guy his life as an ex-con calls for. He goes along reluctantly; this is not who he wants to be. He wants to be a nice guy, but he can't. They could have filled that in a bit more, but I saw it just fine the way it was.
The guy who hired them -- and whose name is never revealed -- also seems a bit out of his element. He knows he's smart, because he tells himself that every day, and he tells lies about how tough he is to impress the others, but his planning for the crime is superficial, and his botches betray to his employees that at least some of what he's told them isn't true.
Their realisation that they've been lied to, and ours, is what makes the puzzle. The ending wraps up the details -- though I think Mr Nobody gives up his information too easily, it does finish off the events in this story without telling us what's going to happen next. Though there is one unaddressed point I'll mention in the spoiler section.
The movie is a little slow getting started, and it hops around in time too much for no obvious purpose. But those are quibbles; this was an interesting story with some interesting characters. At the end, I was thinking that it reminded me of a stage play -- which, as it turns out, it originally was.
The movie is not rated. Were it rated, it would almost certainly be "R", for language and violence.
One of the characters has left his fingerprints all over a crime scene, having been in and out for more than a week, and yet leaves without so much as taking anything with him or wiping anything down. Isn't he going to be connected to the crime in relatively short order?
Shouldn't he be worried about that?
So I was very pleased to see "Hell's Gate", which had only four significant speaking roles, and which starts out as one guy's troubles pushing him into doing something bad -- only to turn into a puzzle. Something is obviously not right. But what? And how do they protect themselves from whatever their employer is hiding, without knowing what it is?
The kidnappers have obviously never committed this sort of crime before, which makes sense. But it would also appear that they've not really thought it out very carefully, or ever seen a crime movie once in their entire lives, which makes less sense.
One of the two main criminals seems like a stereotype from a dozen other movies, but the other looks believably like someone who's out of his element. He's not particularly tough, he just did a bad thing and went to jail for it. He survived prison, but doesn't seem to want to be the guy his life as an ex-con calls for. He goes along reluctantly; this is not who he wants to be. He wants to be a nice guy, but he can't. They could have filled that in a bit more, but I saw it just fine the way it was.
The guy who hired them -- and whose name is never revealed -- also seems a bit out of his element. He knows he's smart, because he tells himself that every day, and he tells lies about how tough he is to impress the others, but his planning for the crime is superficial, and his botches betray to his employees that at least some of what he's told them isn't true.
Their realisation that they've been lied to, and ours, is what makes the puzzle. The ending wraps up the details -- though I think Mr Nobody gives up his information too easily, it does finish off the events in this story without telling us what's going to happen next. Though there is one unaddressed point I'll mention in the spoiler section.
The movie is a little slow getting started, and it hops around in time too much for no obvious purpose. But those are quibbles; this was an interesting story with some interesting characters. At the end, I was thinking that it reminded me of a stage play -- which, as it turns out, it originally was.
The movie is not rated. Were it rated, it would almost certainly be "R", for language and violence.
One of the characters has left his fingerprints all over a crime scene, having been in and out for more than a week, and yet leaves without so much as taking anything with him or wiping anything down. Isn't he going to be connected to the crime in relatively short order?
Shouldn't he be worried about that?
By Darren Provine
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‘Hell’s Gate’ is More Like Heck’s Gate
Oct. 9th, 2008 | 05:05 pm
mood: 
okay
The railroad bridge in New York called Hell’s Gate got its name, we’re told, on account of lurking above the shipwrecking intersection of two waterways. It’s an ideal place to dispose of inconvenient corpses – divers never find anything dumped there – and a good title for the familiar morality play of a down-on-his-luck felon forced to make difficult choices in a situation that spirals far outside his control.
Familiarity works against the film despite writer/director John Cecil’s strategy to liven things up: fracturing the chronology of events that make up the story of a kidnapping gone awry. Cecil’s gambit works – in conjunction with his stimulating camera work – to the extent it manufactures a structural kind of suspense. Unfortunately, what you see is what you get, even if it’s out of order, and what you get are familiar crime drama genre tropes – the desperate debt-ridden protagonist, the secret-bearing mastermind, the wild card, the damsel in distress – in a plot that gives a workout to the suspension of disbelief. The lack of genuine surprises, of reevaluated first impressions, even carries on to the final revelation of what’s really going on – a humdrum explanation that could have easily been swapped for another humdrum explanation without performing reconstructive surgery on the rest of the film.
Digging Through the Texti-ness
But “Hell’s Gate” is more of a character study than a potboiler, more interested in picking at the characters than thrilling with the plot. Although there’s a spark, here, too, in setting up moral quandaries and character-extracting drama, the results are mixed — fundamentally interesting, but bogged down in that ol’ devil called the details. Talking Heads Syndrome, in which characters blab, without much subtlety, through the plot rather than actually doing anything – puts a huge and unnecessary burden on dialogue to carry the film. Result: Conversations don’t quite ring true, or even plausible, and the film feels more like a radio play than a movie with a full, rich arsenal of non-verbal cues.
It’s a little frustrating, then, to be teased with genuine drama only to see all that intensity dissipate. When the film finally achieves a good momentum – at the point when the kidnapping inevitably begins to unravel – we get some good-to-terrific performances – particularly by Jeremy Cohen, who terrifies with a near-psychotic detonation. The cast can’t fully overcome the texti-ness of the script, but packs enough of a punch to make a few scenes stand well on their own even when they don’t gel as part of a bigger picture. And so there it is, Heck’s Gate rather than Hell’s Gate.
Entertainment Value: * (out of two)
Technical Quality: * (out of two)
Hell's Gate. Echelon Studios presents a film written and directed by John Cecil. Starring Brian Faherty, Ben Dearborn, Teddy Alexandro-Evans and Chelsea Miller. 84 minutes. Visit www.echelonstudios.us for more information.
By Frederik Sisa, The Front Page Online
Familiarity works against the film despite writer/director John Cecil’s strategy to liven things up: fracturing the chronology of events that make up the story of a kidnapping gone awry. Cecil’s gambit works – in conjunction with his stimulating camera work – to the extent it manufactures a structural kind of suspense. Unfortunately, what you see is what you get, even if it’s out of order, and what you get are familiar crime drama genre tropes – the desperate debt-ridden protagonist, the secret-bearing mastermind, the wild card, the damsel in distress – in a plot that gives a workout to the suspension of disbelief. The lack of genuine surprises, of reevaluated first impressions, even carries on to the final revelation of what’s really going on – a humdrum explanation that could have easily been swapped for another humdrum explanation without performing reconstructive surgery on the rest of the film.
Digging Through the Texti-ness
But “Hell’s Gate” is more of a character study than a potboiler, more interested in picking at the characters than thrilling with the plot. Although there’s a spark, here, too, in setting up moral quandaries and character-extracting drama, the results are mixed — fundamentally interesting, but bogged down in that ol’ devil called the details. Talking Heads Syndrome, in which characters blab, without much subtlety, through the plot rather than actually doing anything – puts a huge and unnecessary burden on dialogue to carry the film. Result: Conversations don’t quite ring true, or even plausible, and the film feels more like a radio play than a movie with a full, rich arsenal of non-verbal cues.
It’s a little frustrating, then, to be teased with genuine drama only to see all that intensity dissipate. When the film finally achieves a good momentum – at the point when the kidnapping inevitably begins to unravel – we get some good-to-terrific performances – particularly by Jeremy Cohen, who terrifies with a near-psychotic detonation. The cast can’t fully overcome the texti-ness of the script, but packs enough of a punch to make a few scenes stand well on their own even when they don’t gel as part of a bigger picture. And so there it is, Heck’s Gate rather than Hell’s Gate.
Entertainment Value: * (out of two)
Technical Quality: * (out of two)
Hell's Gate. Echelon Studios presents a film written and directed by John Cecil. Starring Brian Faherty, Ben Dearborn, Teddy Alexandro-Evans and Chelsea Miller. 84 minutes. Visit www.echelonstudios.us for more information.
By Frederik Sisa, The Front Page Online
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NEW CHRISTMAS TITLES!!!
Oct. 9th, 2008 | 11:26 am
mood: 
calm
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Stepdad
Sep. 30th, 2008 | 10:51 am
mood: intimidated
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Hell's Gate by Indie Talk
Sep. 26th, 2008 | 05:34 pm
mood: relieved
There were probably movies about young, urban thugs before Martin Scorsese’s classic 1973 film “Mean Streets” cemented his career as well as those of Robert DeNiro and Harvey Keitel but few have probably had quite the same ripple effect, literally inspiring another generation of filmmakers to take a shot at making the same movie over and over again. From “The Pope Of Greenwich Village” to “Reservoir Dogs” to The Boondock Saints” and countless others since then, the subject matter of doomed young tough guys trying to make it in the city has proven irresistible to dozens of new directors despite the fact that most of them follow Scorsese’s model to such detail that they often feel more derivative than distinctive.
So, it is a pleasant surprise to discover John Cecil’s “Hell’s Gate.” What, at first, appears to be yet another in this long line of “tough, urban thug” movies is, in fact, a tough, urban thug movie that manages to rise above most of the inherent clichés and be surprisingly effective.
Comparisons to other, higher profile entries in the “young urban thug” canon are inevitable, legitimate and almost totally unfair. Sure, “Hell’s Gate” employs very familiar ingredients but it does not deserve to be marginalized as a cut-rate knock off. The film really stands on its own and, in the eyes of at least one film critic, it is as good or better than some of more famous films that appears to emulate.
Inventively put together using solid indie film production strategies, the film is entirely engrossing and while it sometimes teeters on the brink of slipping into melodrama, it should be seen as marking the start of what could be a promising career for writer-director Cecil.
The story, like so many others, focuses on a down and out ex-con, in this case Kevin Kinney (Brian Faherty), a former stock broker who went to jail for aggravated assault, desperately trying to put his life back on track but still in debt to the mob. When his former cell-mate Ben Deardon (Jeremy Cohen) calls him up with a mysterious proposition, the temptation proves too hard to resist. Kevin and Ben soon find themselves meeting with an elegant, well-spoken but unmistakably dangerous Englishman, Mr. Nobody (Teddy Alexandro-Evans) who drafts them into a plot to kidnap a young socialite (Chelsea Miller), that might wind up being more complex than it initially appears.
Of course, tensions rise, tempers flare, allegiances are tested and secrets are revealed but audiences have come to expect this kind of thing in films like this and part of the fun is in seeing exactly how things are going to fall apart – as they inevitably do. Remember the old cliché “Crime doesn’t pay” that, generally, holds water in real life. Add to that tired old adage the reel life caveat: in movies about ex-cons trying to put their lives back together, they usually fail --- which does not necessarily always play out that way in real life. One of the nice things about “Hell’s Gate” is that the question of failure is relative and up for debate.
Cecil clearly knows how to make a low-budget independent film and he deftly avoids many of the pitfalls that can complicate a production strapped for funding. While, of course, locations and characters have to be kept to the bare minimum, Cecil mixes things up well enough that the film never really feels like it is about a couple of characters sitting around in one room which, to a large degree, it actually is. Like many indie films since the dawn of the Tarantino era, Cecil chops up the chronology of the action with flashbacks and while there are the requisite pop culture references, here a recurring analysis concerning the careers of 90’s singers Jewel and Alanis Morrisette, Cecil impressively goes beyond a discussion of musical performers and ultimately raises it to a level where it becomes a metaphorical device.
Unfortunately, the casting is spotty at best. Faherty is decent, with his almost palpable anger at the world and while his performance is incredibly well nuanced, demonstrating an impressive range, he is not always 100% convincing as a hardened ex-con. Cohen does pretty well in a basically cookie cutter loose cannon role but, at times, he really feels more like an actor playing a tough guy, rather than a real tough guy. Whether Miller is good or not is hard to tell because she was either miscast here or the role was badly misconceived since she comes off more like an angry environmental activist and less like the spoiled young Manhattan socialite that that might have given the action a little more energy. Rounding out the cast as the classy, dangerous Mr. Nobody, Alexandro-Evans comes off as stiff and wooden where he probably should have been more reserved and internal – a fine line to be sure but one that would have been handled better by an actor of higher caliber.
Still, flawed in some areas but not in others, “Hell’s Gate” should be commended for putting story first and style, mood and atmosphere second. The script is pretty tight, twisting and turning in unexpected ways and any filmmaker who knows how to get that part right, is really doing his or her job.
By David J. Greenberg
Indie Talk
So, it is a pleasant surprise to discover John Cecil’s “Hell’s Gate.” What, at first, appears to be yet another in this long line of “tough, urban thug” movies is, in fact, a tough, urban thug movie that manages to rise above most of the inherent clichés and be surprisingly effective.
Comparisons to other, higher profile entries in the “young urban thug” canon are inevitable, legitimate and almost totally unfair. Sure, “Hell’s Gate” employs very familiar ingredients but it does not deserve to be marginalized as a cut-rate knock off. The film really stands on its own and, in the eyes of at least one film critic, it is as good or better than some of more famous films that appears to emulate.
Inventively put together using solid indie film production strategies, the film is entirely engrossing and while it sometimes teeters on the brink of slipping into melodrama, it should be seen as marking the start of what could be a promising career for writer-director Cecil.
The story, like so many others, focuses on a down and out ex-con, in this case Kevin Kinney (Brian Faherty), a former stock broker who went to jail for aggravated assault, desperately trying to put his life back on track but still in debt to the mob. When his former cell-mate Ben Deardon (Jeremy Cohen) calls him up with a mysterious proposition, the temptation proves too hard to resist. Kevin and Ben soon find themselves meeting with an elegant, well-spoken but unmistakably dangerous Englishman, Mr. Nobody (Teddy Alexandro-Evans) who drafts them into a plot to kidnap a young socialite (Chelsea Miller), that might wind up being more complex than it initially appears.
Of course, tensions rise, tempers flare, allegiances are tested and secrets are revealed but audiences have come to expect this kind of thing in films like this and part of the fun is in seeing exactly how things are going to fall apart – as they inevitably do. Remember the old cliché “Crime doesn’t pay” that, generally, holds water in real life. Add to that tired old adage the reel life caveat: in movies about ex-cons trying to put their lives back together, they usually fail --- which does not necessarily always play out that way in real life. One of the nice things about “Hell’s Gate” is that the question of failure is relative and up for debate.
Cecil clearly knows how to make a low-budget independent film and he deftly avoids many of the pitfalls that can complicate a production strapped for funding. While, of course, locations and characters have to be kept to the bare minimum, Cecil mixes things up well enough that the film never really feels like it is about a couple of characters sitting around in one room which, to a large degree, it actually is. Like many indie films since the dawn of the Tarantino era, Cecil chops up the chronology of the action with flashbacks and while there are the requisite pop culture references, here a recurring analysis concerning the careers of 90’s singers Jewel and Alanis Morrisette, Cecil impressively goes beyond a discussion of musical performers and ultimately raises it to a level where it becomes a metaphorical device.
Unfortunately, the casting is spotty at best. Faherty is decent, with his almost palpable anger at the world and while his performance is incredibly well nuanced, demonstrating an impressive range, he is not always 100% convincing as a hardened ex-con. Cohen does pretty well in a basically cookie cutter loose cannon role but, at times, he really feels more like an actor playing a tough guy, rather than a real tough guy. Whether Miller is good or not is hard to tell because she was either miscast here or the role was badly misconceived since she comes off more like an angry environmental activist and less like the spoiled young Manhattan socialite that that might have given the action a little more energy. Rounding out the cast as the classy, dangerous Mr. Nobody, Alexandro-Evans comes off as stiff and wooden where he probably should have been more reserved and internal – a fine line to be sure but one that would have been handled better by an actor of higher caliber.
Still, flawed in some areas but not in others, “Hell’s Gate” should be commended for putting story first and style, mood and atmosphere second. The script is pretty tight, twisting and turning in unexpected ways and any filmmaker who knows how to get that part right, is really doing his or her job.
By David J. Greenberg
Indie Talk
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Shorts for Cats by Robert A. Nowotny
Sep. 26th, 2008 | 02:13 pm
mood: morose
Echelon Studios is a dynamic motion picture distribution company with a large and varied slate of films that are available worldwide on DVD. Among these is a compilation of six distinctly unique short films that have been carefully selected to provide “A purrfect time to spend with your cat!”
Ranging from nine minutes to twenty–six minutes in length, these independently produced films have been brought together on the first SHORTS FOR CATS DVD. Be advised, these short films are not about cats in any way. If they have anthing in common, they are all enjoyable to one degree or another and they are all worthy of representing those who devote their energy and their creativity within this overlooked but highly creative sub–genre. Perhaps Morris the Cat says it best, “Who me? Finicky? You betcha!” And the executives at Echelon were certainly that -- finicky -- in their choices.
Not surprisingly, these six offerings are not equal to one another — as the old Sears Catalog would say, here's “The Good,” “The Better” and “The Best.”
Ranging from nine minutes to twenty–six minutes in length, these independently produced films have been brought together on the first SHORTS FOR CATS DVD. Be advised, these short films are not about cats in any way. If they have anthing in common, they are all enjoyable to one degree or another and they are all worthy of representing those who devote their energy and their creativity within this overlooked but highly creative sub–genre. Perhaps Morris the Cat says it best, “Who me? Finicky? You betcha!” And the executives at Echelon were certainly that -- finicky -- in their choices.
Not surprisingly, these six offerings are not equal to one another — as the old Sears Catalog would say, here's “The Good,” “The Better” and “The Best.”
THE GOOD ---
DON'T LEAVE ME is the last of the six films and it's placement is most appropriate. This 15–minute psychological drama Written, Produced and Directed by Lyndon Ives has a twist ending I will not give away. The central theme of whether or not humans (women especially) can totally adapt to domestication is both intriguing and thought–provoking. Animal instincts and predatory desires are within us all, that's for sure, and the character played by Amber Coombs comes close to making a memorable statement. But, unfortunately, DON'T LEAVE ME fails to fully deliver on this ambitious premise. Perhaps with a bit more filmmaking experience Ives can succeed in what he has set out to do, but for now the best that can be said is, “close but no cigar.”
“Dogs have owners. Cats have staff.”
(Anonymous)
The other film that just barely misses the mark is THE FIGHT, by Nicholas T. Coming in at 22 minutes, THE FIGHT starts off with a bang. Cody Jones and Robynn O. Brooks exhibit strong and endearing on–screen chemistry as husband and wife during the first half of the film. Unfortunately, when the actual fight is staged between Jones and a Russian “ringer” (Segel Shisov), the momentum comes to a halt. A “no holds barred” extreme fight plays on screen as nothing short of lame. While the ending is predictable and the fight sequences lack any “punch,” the winning performances of Jones and Brooks make this a short worth watching.
THE BETTER ---
DON'T LEAVE ME is the last of the six films and it's placement is most appropriate. This 15–minute psychological drama Written, Produced and Directed by Lyndon Ives has a twist ending I will not give away. The central theme of whether or not humans (women especially) can totally adapt to domestication is both intriguing and thought–provoking. Animal instincts and predatory desires are within us all, that's for sure, and the character played by Amber Coombs comes close to making a memorable statement. But, unfortunately, DON'T LEAVE ME fails to fully deliver on this ambitious premise. Perhaps with a bit more filmmaking experience Ives can succeed in what he has set out to do, but for now the best that can be said is, “close but no cigar.”
“Dogs have owners. Cats have staff.”
(Anonymous)
The other film that just barely misses the mark is THE FIGHT, by Nicholas T. Coming in at 22 minutes, THE FIGHT starts off with a bang. Cody Jones and Robynn O. Brooks exhibit strong and endearing on–screen chemistry as husband and wife during the first half of the film. Unfortunately, when the actual fight is staged between Jones and a Russian “ringer” (Segel Shisov), the momentum comes to a halt. A “no holds barred” extreme fight plays on screen as nothing short of lame. While the ending is predictable and the fight sequences lack any “punch,” the winning performances of Jones and Brooks make this a short worth watching.
THE BETTER ---
DUEL is an exceptionally well–produced short that has been selected for screening at five divergent film festivals, winning Best Picture at the Hermosa Shorts event. These accolades are well deserved. The lush cinematography adds elegance to this intriguing tale of two killers who find themselves in an isolated tavern that is located in an uncertain time and place. This uncertainty regarding the “where” and the “when” enhances the impact of the eventual duel between Matthew Rimmer and Jonathan Fraser, two actors who play their roles to perfection, and there's no doubt that Director Dominic Antonio Cerniglio has a bright future based on this highly polished, 26–minute, near classic cinematic effort.
“Thousands of years ago, cats were worshipped as gods. They have never forgotten this.”
(Anonymous)
Coming in at a mere 9 minutes, THE BIG BREAK features a toothpick–challenged, inept hitman (Luca Costa) and an aspiring actress (Pia Shah) who find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time. Director Matthew Hals gets the most out of Costa, a natural when it comes to comedic timing and nuance. He literally steals the movie and, maybe, the heart of Shah as he “hits” on the vulnerable actress. Personally, I hope he does.
THE BEST ---
Selected for screening at 28 international film festivals including Moondance, Vail, Edmonton and Crested Butte, and winner of the Gold Award for Best Live Action Film at Worldfest–Houston, NO MENUS PLEASE is sure to please any viewer — human and feline alike. Richard Chang is nothing short of being today's “Great Stone Face.” With a dead–pan expression as stoic and mournful as the great Buster Keaton, Chang engages in a small menu war which quickly escalates to what can only be described as all–out pamphlet rage. Bet you didn't realize such a thing was possible. Writer/Director Edward Shieh keeps the fun moving along with a deft hand resulting in a sly and totally enjoyable comedy.
Perhaps the best of the best, LITTLE WINGS, Written and Directed by Morgan Rhodes, is a certified cinematic gem. With a running time of only 15 minutes, this official selection for the 2007 Cannes Film Festival tackles a subject matter — child abuse — that is considered taboo by many. Not since Chris Rea's “Tell Me There's A Heaven” on THE ROAD TO HELL album have I been so emotionally touched. Joseph Castanon is outstanding as the young boy, while Ron Canada headlines a fabulous cast which includes Kelly Ann Ford and Robert Gantzos. If none of the other films had any merit whatsoever (and they all do), then SHORTS FOR CATS would still be worth every penny. I'm told that Ms. Rhodes is working on a feature–length version of LITTLE WINGS; here's hoping she succeeds.
“Sufferin' succatash!” As you can see, there's clearly something beside the fishbowl for your cat to watch now that SHORTS FOR CATS is available through Echelon Studios and Singa Home Entertainment. To order a DVD go to www.singahe.com. The current price is $9.98.
by Robert A. Nowotny, Need To Vent
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Horror House!!!
Sep. 25th, 2008 | 05:35 pm
mood: high
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Five Moments of Infidelity @ Indie Talk
Sep. 18th, 2008 | 04:00 pm
mood: gloomy
“Five Moments Of Infidelity” is really what this Australian film is about, five vulnerable relationships at a point in which one partner crosses the line, breaks the bonds of trust and forces all of the parties to deal with the consequences. In the case of this film, however, things are complicated, maybe even contrived because, it turns out, all of the characters are loosely linked to one another. Talk about social networking!
So, here, writer-director Kate Gorman spins a very soap-operatic web that includes, among others, a fragile suburban family devastated by tragedy and vulnerable to even more, impending grief, a gay couple that condones an occasional dalliance and a dysfunctional couple whose reasons for remaining together elude even them and a secretary desperately clinging onto the shred of a relationship that was doomed from the start.
Employing this increasingly familiar structural pattern of weaving intersecting plots together, essentially inter-cutting five short films that are relatively unified in space, time and, of course, narrative themes, has been popular of late, as seen in films like “Crash”, “Babel”, “Syrriana” and so on, because, in addition to a hopefully engrossing storyline, there is always the added entertainment of seeing how everything winds up fitting together.
Such is the case in “Five Moments Of Infidelity” which feels less like a film and not exactly like a TV drama but somewhere in between, maybe like a cable TV series. Even if some of the stories begin to get a little tired, familiar and maybe a little trite, it is fun to watch the dots connect.
With it’s handsome but modest production values and generally decent acting (though Gorman’s sister Charmaine struggles with her American character’s accent), “Five Moments Of Infidelity” is nothing that has not been seen before and has nothing really new to say about the ways of the world but fans of this kind of hyper-melodrama should find something to get into.
By Indie Talk
So, here, writer-director Kate Gorman spins a very soap-operatic web that includes, among others, a fragile suburban family devastated by tragedy and vulnerable to even more, impending grief, a gay couple that condones an occasional dalliance and a dysfunctional couple whose reasons for remaining together elude even them and a secretary desperately clinging onto the shred of a relationship that was doomed from the start.
Employing this increasingly familiar structural pattern of weaving intersecting plots together, essentially inter-cutting five short films that are relatively unified in space, time and, of course, narrative themes, has been popular of late, as seen in films like “Crash”, “Babel”, “Syrriana” and so on, because, in addition to a hopefully engrossing storyline, there is always the added entertainment of seeing how everything winds up fitting together.
Such is the case in “Five Moments Of Infidelity” which feels less like a film and not exactly like a TV drama but somewhere in between, maybe like a cable TV series. Even if some of the stories begin to get a little tired, familiar and maybe a little trite, it is fun to watch the dots connect.
With it’s handsome but modest production values and generally decent acting (though Gorman’s sister Charmaine struggles with her American character’s accent), “Five Moments Of Infidelity” is nothing that has not been seen before and has nothing really new to say about the ways of the world but fans of this kind of hyper-melodrama should find something to get into.
By Indie Talk
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Hell's Gate (2008)
Sep. 16th, 2008 | 04:29 pm
mood: thirsty
HELL’S GATE directed by John Cecil is his first film, and a great one.
It's actually adapted from his PLAY of the same title. The ensemble of actors do a great job, in the chiefly one room set, of delivering the elements of tension, mind games and motivations that keep you guessing what's next. The most memorable actors for H2YOU were: Brian Faherty as Kevin Kinney, a cash-strapped ex-con, and Teddy Alexandro-Evans as the cool, chilling mystery man who orchestrates this believable kidnapping/ ransom circumstance.
This film is set in the New York neighborhood of Hell’s Kitchen where John has been living for some time, proving the "write what you know" really works. John had moved to New York City from Florida in 1999 and he’s had a string of successful Off-Off-Broadway plays (Liars, Hell’s Gate, Blackout), as well as two independent films (Liars, Hell’s Gate) and a television pilot (Alphabet City) to his credit.
It's actually adapted from his PLAY of the same title. The ensemble of actors do a great job, in the chiefly one room set, of delivering the elements of tension, mind games and motivations that keep you guessing what's next. The most memorable actors for H2YOU were: Brian Faherty as Kevin Kinney, a cash-strapped ex-con, and Teddy Alexandro-Evans as the cool, chilling mystery man who orchestrates this believable kidnapping/ ransom circumstance.
This film is set in the New York neighborhood of Hell’s Kitchen where John has been living for some time, proving the "write what you know" really works. John had moved to New York City from Florida in 1999 and he’s had a string of successful Off-Off-Broadway plays (Liars, Hell’s Gate, Blackout), as well as two independent films (Liars, Hell’s Gate) and a television pilot (Alphabet City) to his credit.
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THUNDER OVER RENO
Sep. 15th, 2008 | 01:22 pm
mood: full
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Zombie Wars - Horror View
Sep. 10th, 2008 | 04:38 pm
mood: weird
Zombie Wars
(All American Pictures - Advance Screener)
(2008)
review by Catwalk
When writer Alex Garland and director Dan Boyle unleashed “28 Days Later” on the world, their breed of zombies (called “infected”) were more like sharks in a feeding frenzy than mindless drones. Others have jumped on board, re-writing the definition of what a zombie is and why to fear them.
David A. Prior has the same idea for the zombies in “Zombie Wars” (aka “War of the Living Dead”). These bloodsuckers are fast-moving and hungry, but without the digital flash of Boyle’s beasts. Instead, these undead are a lot more reminiscent of Romero’s “Day of the Dead”. The visuals used are close to those in 1985 film. At any point in time, viewers might expect them to break into Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”.
Ok, two paragraphs in and it’s all been zombie talk. Well, that’s the gist of the film. Prior offers some facts via voiceover, but it simply sets the scene (and isn’t necessary (see: “Blade Runner” theatrical cut)). There are millions of zombies, no one knows how they were created, but mankind is now reduced to slaves for food.
The main protagonists are brothers Brian and David. Brian is a little tougher, remembering the stories of man’s dominance more. David, the younger brother, looks like NY Giants QB Eli Manning. I was waiting for him to drill a zombie through the head with a football.
Their enemy is the zombie leader…basically a poor man’s leatherface without the chainsaw. For the most part, there are no masterminds, Bond-esque villains or even a Dr. Phibes, just the guttural general leading the pack.
Zombie Wars is not a campy flick. It doesn’t redefine zombies (even though it gives them a primal society). The writing is decent other than a few character judgment flaws. The zombies have the numbers but the humans have the tactics. It can be interpreted as either a nice analysis of battle strategies, or a bunch of guys who just love pig intestines, red dye and corn syrup.
Other than the matter-of-fact approach by the heroes and the rampant (and very easy) violence, the majority of character behavior and motives make sense. The film is shot very well, with plenty of on-screen beheadings and limb removal. The crew does a good job reusing extras and actors, and the shots vary enough that the film never seems like it was shot in a one-room apartment. The zombies vary in size, shape and style (even if they do all have the same moan). The good guys even have the equivalent of red shirt ensigns.
All American Pictures is a three-way partnership of David A. Prior, Ted Prior and William H. Ferrell. The trio also wrote, directed and produced “Lost at War”, the story of soldiers who undergo a bizarre series of events while on battle missions.
For information on “Zombie Wars” and All American Pictures, see the official site at www.allamericanpictures.net.
(All American Pictures - Advance Screener)
(2008)
review by Catwalk
When writer Alex Garland and director Dan Boyle unleashed “28 Days Later” on the world, their breed of zombies (called “infected”) were more like sharks in a feeding frenzy than mindless drones. Others have jumped on board, re-writing the definition of what a zombie is and why to fear them.
David A. Prior has the same idea for the zombies in “Zombie Wars” (aka “War of the Living Dead”). These bloodsuckers are fast-moving and hungry, but without the digital flash of Boyle’s beasts. Instead, these undead are a lot more reminiscent of Romero’s “Day of the Dead”. The visuals used are close to those in 1985 film. At any point in time, viewers might expect them to break into Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”.
Ok, two paragraphs in and it’s all been zombie talk. Well, that’s the gist of the film. Prior offers some facts via voiceover, but it simply sets the scene (and isn’t necessary (see: “Blade Runner” theatrical cut)). There are millions of zombies, no one knows how they were created, but mankind is now reduced to slaves for food.
The main protagonists are brothers Brian and David. Brian is a little tougher, remembering the stories of man’s dominance more. David, the younger brother, looks like NY Giants QB Eli Manning. I was waiting for him to drill a zombie through the head with a football.
Their enemy is the zombie leader…basically a poor man’s leatherface without the chainsaw. For the most part, there are no masterminds, Bond-esque villains or even a Dr. Phibes, just the guttural general leading the pack.
Zombie Wars is not a campy flick. It doesn’t redefine zombies (even though it gives them a primal society). The writing is decent other than a few character judgment flaws. The zombies have the numbers but the humans have the tactics. It can be interpreted as either a nice analysis of battle strategies, or a bunch of guys who just love pig intestines, red dye and corn syrup.
Other than the matter-of-fact approach by the heroes and the rampant (and very easy) violence, the majority of character behavior and motives make sense. The film is shot very well, with plenty of on-screen beheadings and limb removal. The crew does a good job reusing extras and actors, and the shots vary enough that the film never seems like it was shot in a one-room apartment. The zombies vary in size, shape and style (even if they do all have the same moan). The good guys even have the equivalent of red shirt ensigns.
All American Pictures is a three-way partnership of David A. Prior, Ted Prior and William H. Ferrell. The trio also wrote, directed and produced “Lost at War”, the story of soldiers who undergo a bizarre series of events while on battle missions.
For information on “Zombie Wars” and All American Pictures, see the official site at www.allamericanpictures.net.
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Sex, lies and spies
Sep. 10th, 2008 | 02:22 pm
mood: quixotic
KATE Gorman is prepared for the inevitable question when promoting her award-winning feature film about cheating spouses.
The first-time director admits she has been at both ends and says: ``It's not nice on either side.''
Gorman, 36, wrote and directed Five Moments of Infidelity and financed it herself without any government grants. She combined her own experiences with those of others to create a meaty relationship drama.
Set in Melbourne in winter, the story about five couples dealing with infidelity has already resonated with overseas audiences.
The film won the Apulia Region critics' choice award at the Salento International Film Festival in southern Italy, and last year's inaugural Australian DigiSPAA screen producers' award.
It was nominated for several other awards, including best director at the Idaho Film Festival.
Not bad for a film yet to be seen by Australians.
Gorman has secured a New Zealand distributor, Arkles, and is in talks to secure a local deal.
The timing couldn't be better, with surprise hits such as Kenny heading a resurgence in local films.
Gorman hails from a genuine showbiz family. Father Reg Gorman and mum Judith Roberts are both performers. Her sister, Charmaine, appears in the film.
The sisters have written several screenplays together. Five Moments is Kate's first solo effort.
Passionate about the local film industry, she was determined to finish the project despite a shoestring budget.
She called in a few favours from her own career, which included a two-year stint on Neighbours, persuading old friends Alex Papps and Annie Jones to join the cast.
She also snared London-based AFI award winner Amanda Douge.
Gorman has drawn from her own experience to create the characters, who include suburban, upwardly mobile, young and carefree, frustrated, suburban, and gay couples.
Before filming she volunteered to help experienced TV and film directors.
She wrote and directed the project while looking after baby daughters Olivia and Matilda and spending a year in England with her husband's work.
After such a promising film-festival response, Gorman is keen to release Five Moments soon.
``This has been such a learning curve for me,'' she says. ``I think my strength lies in how I work with my actors.''
Gorman hopes to make more of the films she and Charmaine have written.
``Everyone's passionate about Australian film,'' she says.
``Everyone's frustrated about there not being enough of it.''
The first-time director admits she has been at both ends and says: ``It's not nice on either side.''
Gorman, 36, wrote and directed Five Moments of Infidelity and financed it herself without any government grants. She combined her own experiences with those of others to create a meaty relationship drama.
Set in Melbourne in winter, the story about five couples dealing with infidelity has already resonated with overseas audiences.
The film won the Apulia Region critics' choice award at the Salento International Film Festival in southern Italy, and last year's inaugural Australian DigiSPAA screen producers' award.
It was nominated for several other awards, including best director at the Idaho Film Festival.
Not bad for a film yet to be seen by Australians.
Gorman has secured a New Zealand distributor, Arkles, and is in talks to secure a local deal.
The timing couldn't be better, with surprise hits such as Kenny heading a resurgence in local films.
Gorman hails from a genuine showbiz family. Father Reg Gorman and mum Judith Roberts are both performers. Her sister, Charmaine, appears in the film.
The sisters have written several screenplays together. Five Moments is Kate's first solo effort.
Passionate about the local film industry, she was determined to finish the project despite a shoestring budget.
She called in a few favours from her own career, which included a two-year stint on Neighbours, persuading old friends Alex Papps and Annie Jones to join the cast.
She also snared London-based AFI award winner Amanda Douge.
Gorman has drawn from her own experience to create the characters, who include suburban, upwardly mobile, young and carefree, frustrated, suburban, and gay couples.
Before filming she volunteered to help experienced TV and film directors.
She wrote and directed the project while looking after baby daughters Olivia and Matilda and spending a year in England with her husband's work.
After such a promising film-festival response, Gorman is keen to release Five Moments soon.
``This has been such a learning curve for me,'' she says. ``I think my strength lies in how I work with my actors.''
Gorman hopes to make more of the films she and Charmaine have written.
``Everyone's passionate about Australian film,'' she says.
``Everyone's frustrated about there not being enough of it.''
By Cheryl Critchley, Herald Sun
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The Chaplin Years Vol. I
Sep. 9th, 2008 | 01:59 pm
mood: indifferent
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"False River" by Ed Callaway
Sep. 8th, 2008 | 02:51 pm
mood: calm
Jim Mix, a young, bewildered man battling his own personal demons, has escaped with two other “lunatics” from Science Hill Hospital. His metaphorical journey catapults him into a landscape that is as dehumanized and deathly as any recently seen in cinema.
The slippage of sanity is the judgement of a dark god, and man is always working feverishly to indict himself. The town of False River resonates with a banality and corruption that delineates the individual from his greater self, always lying in wait to destroy such an Everyman as Jim Mix.
False River
Jim is prey. The predatory nature of the environment stalking him is relentless. In this milieu of madness, a vastly entertaining story is splashed across a canvas drawn so tight it nearly vibrates. With originality and wit, FALSE RIVER telescopes the human condition in a way that seizes the viewer with a grip that can still be felt long after the film ends. There is murder here, and deceit, caustic humor and callous regard for that which makes us most human. And there is love.
Jim Mix flits between light and darkness as easily as a butterfly, wary yet unaware, in this surrealistic madhouse of the rural South. For this is home to him, and he comes to realize all too quickly that he has no home. He moves shakily along the precipice that is his destiny. Headache pain wracks him, sledgehammer blows against his brain. Haunted by the tragic memory of his parents' death in a car crash, Jim also holds onto the memory of his love for his girlfriend, Judy Ann Moody. A filament of meaning and hope, something to grip tightly as his fragile mind must cope with a murder for which he has been framed as well as the advances of an enigmatic young local woman who sucks him into yet another inner orbit of this ongoing restructuring of reality, the swirling vortex that is False River.
Inside this funhouse mirror stalks one Dick Crockett, clownish and malignant, the demonic in juxtaposition with the angelic: the Lunatic, Charles.
Charles is a lightning rod of hope, peace, and ultimately, transcendence. A shattered smile creases his face, and his misty dreams spill forth to unwitting ears. He and Jim, together in the mental hospital and now on the outside together, “passing ships” as Charles describes them, area dyad born of love and remembrance. They share the memory of a former life, a sane and safe place that is surely achievable again. Ripped by psychic and emotional pain, Charles knows he has killed. His bonding with Jim, in a desperate attempt to ameliorate his condition at the eleventh hour, serves as a bridge to redemption, an escape from the pain that rips them both.
We meet Jim on the road, briefly accompanied by a dimwit killer named Pokey. Jim's brutal isolation does not bury him, for he still seeks to understand those forces to which he can only react; his struggle is to keep the spirit intact. In this quest he finds, in the lunatic Charles, a scarecrow-thin exposed nerve, a symbolic representation of humanity and salvation. Charles is a highwire artist of the human spirit, at war with despair, and the breaking of his mind has not yet forced him to relinquish his soul. But in the midst of comic evil and the brain-numbing reality of environmental pollution and floor wax and bean dip that comprises an artery of False River, this is a time of suffering for Jim and his spiritual compatriot and guide Charles, an ultimate test of survival forged in blood and madness, and survival is less important than restoration of the heart.
Under its slippery surface, FALSE RIVER is a transformative journey of mythical proportions, ultimately life-affirming. It is played against a backdrop of small-town American reality that is calibrated to stasis and fine-tuned to destruction. The ironic richness of this stark contrast opens possibilities to the viewer that are not readily available in any form, a small gemstone glittering in the sunlight.
The slippage of sanity is the judgement of a dark god, and man is always working feverishly to indict himself. The town of False River resonates with a banality and corruption that delineates the individual from his greater self, always lying in wait to destroy such an Everyman as Jim Mix.
False River
Jim is prey. The predatory nature of the environment stalking him is relentless. In this milieu of madness, a vastly entertaining story is splashed across a canvas drawn so tight it nearly vibrates. With originality and wit, FALSE RIVER telescopes the human condition in a way that seizes the viewer with a grip that can still be felt long after the film ends. There is murder here, and deceit, caustic humor and callous regard for that which makes us most human. And there is love.
Jim Mix flits between light and darkness as easily as a butterfly, wary yet unaware, in this surrealistic madhouse of the rural South. For this is home to him, and he comes to realize all too quickly that he has no home. He moves shakily along the precipice that is his destiny. Headache pain wracks him, sledgehammer blows against his brain. Haunted by the tragic memory of his parents' death in a car crash, Jim also holds onto the memory of his love for his girlfriend, Judy Ann Moody. A filament of meaning and hope, something to grip tightly as his fragile mind must cope with a murder for which he has been framed as well as the advances of an enigmatic young local woman who sucks him into yet another inner orbit of this ongoing restructuring of reality, the swirling vortex that is False River.
Inside this funhouse mirror stalks one Dick Crockett, clownish and malignant, the demonic in juxtaposition with the angelic: the Lunatic, Charles.
Charles is a lightning rod of hope, peace, and ultimately, transcendence. A shattered smile creases his face, and his misty dreams spill forth to unwitting ears. He and Jim, together in the mental hospital and now on the outside together, “passing ships” as Charles describes them, area dyad born of love and remembrance. They share the memory of a former life, a sane and safe place that is surely achievable again. Ripped by psychic and emotional pain, Charles knows he has killed. His bonding with Jim, in a desperate attempt to ameliorate his condition at the eleventh hour, serves as a bridge to redemption, an escape from the pain that rips them both.
We meet Jim on the road, briefly accompanied by a dimwit killer named Pokey. Jim's brutal isolation does not bury him, for he still seeks to understand those forces to which he can only react; his struggle is to keep the spirit intact. In this quest he finds, in the lunatic Charles, a scarecrow-thin exposed nerve, a symbolic representation of humanity and salvation. Charles is a highwire artist of the human spirit, at war with despair, and the breaking of his mind has not yet forced him to relinquish his soul. But in the midst of comic evil and the brain-numbing reality of environmental pollution and floor wax and bean dip that comprises an artery of False River, this is a time of suffering for Jim and his spiritual compatriot and guide Charles, an ultimate test of survival forged in blood and madness, and survival is less important than restoration of the heart.
Under its slippery surface, FALSE RIVER is a transformative journey of mythical proportions, ultimately life-affirming. It is played against a backdrop of small-town American reality that is calibrated to stasis and fine-tuned to destruction. The ironic richness of this stark contrast opens possibilities to the viewer that are not readily available in any form, a small gemstone glittering in the sunlight.
Need to Vent! is pleased to announce the worldwide release of FALSE RIVER, an independently financed motion picture produced by Robert A. Nowotny. Although we were extremely tempted to publish our own comments on behalf of this film we ultimately decided that doing so would not be kosher. Instead, we brought you the kind words from esteemed author and critic Ed Callaway, whose review of FALSE RIVER is the first to be published anywhere…
If you are among the curious and/or the foolhardy you can acquire your very own DVD copy of FALSE RIVER from Singa Home Entertainment. At the amazingly low price of $24.98 you'll find that FALSE RIVER will make a glorious addition to your collection of cinematic classics. In addition, these DVDs also make terrific stocking stuffers, reasonably decent trivets and, because they are nice and shiny, they will entertain your retarded uncle for hours on end. I know from experience…
Need To Vent
BUY "FALSE RIVER" ON SINGA.COM!!!If you are among the curious and/or the foolhardy you can acquire your very own DVD copy of FALSE RIVER from Singa Home Entertainment. At the amazingly low price of $24.98 you'll find that FALSE RIVER will make a glorious addition to your collection of cinematic classics. In addition, these DVDs also make terrific stocking stuffers, reasonably decent trivets and, because they are nice and shiny, they will entertain your retarded uncle for hours on end. I know from experience…
Need To Vent