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Red Rose (2013)
Good short film with room to improve
I honestly don't have a ton of couch time with short films. That said, I would imagine that it's pretty difficult to be able to fit a nice, neat, story line within the allotted timeframe. Red Rose manages to create a simple and effective story...so much so that you do find yourself invested in the main character, if only for 15 or so minutes. I'd never dare tell someone how to craft their art (I'm not a complete terd), but if I didn't provide ANYTHING at all to consider, what benefit are we? Check out a couple things I wondered about: 1) The supporting acting left a little to be desired. I imagine a tight timeline and limited budget may have contributed. That said, Addy was great.
2) Pizza: The girls fixed their plates, but then left. Maybe they could simply be finishing their meal and not starting it? 3) It seemed as if the actor was hesitatnt in the shovel scene, so it came off as almost slow motion, but it was effective nonetheless. Maybe a non-harmful prop for full-on head bashing could be used?
Ax (2013)
Great horror short
As most of you know, I am not one to review many shorts, but I was recently introduced to a film titled Ax written and directed by Michael Coulombe. I had no idea what the premise or plot was for this film, so I went in blind and ended up pleasantly surprised.
Ax is a short film about a man who is questioning his own sanity. "What drives a man to madness?" is the question you hear him asking himself throughout the film. There is not much acting in this film, and the plot is simple
a man is asking himself what is going on in his own mind. I would describe this film as eloquently written, yet somewhat disturbing
which to me is a great combination.
The Devil's Carnival (2012)
Great horror and music combined
Well that was fun, wasn't it?! This week we checked out The Devil's Carnival, written by Terrance Zdunich (rocked the role of Lucifer and also wrote and starred in Repo! The Genetic Opera) and directed by Darren Lynn Bousman (he also directed Saw II, III, IV, and Repo!). I have to say, for all the gore and scare factor that this horror movie really isn't (and purposefully so...it needs not a bit of it), it's replaced and undoubtedly supassed by a ton of literary fun and well executied Rock Opera.
I'll be honest: it's probably the band geek in me that makes me love this feature (as I did with Repo!). In my opinion, it just seems like a step-up in the game to do a horror/musical mixed-genre film. I mean you're essentially getting 2 layers of entertainment; 3 if you cound spotting cameos like Bill Moseley and Dayton Callie (of recent SoA fame).
Citadel (2012)
Not a terrible movie
Have you ever seen the synopsis for a movie and thought to yourself, "Oh yea, this is gonna be great!" only to be let down within the first 30 minutes? Well, this happened to me this week. I checked out a film called Citadel. No, it was not about a college in Charleston, SC for military kids, it is an Irish film written and directed by Ciaran Foy. Citadel is about a father who teams up with what I call an insane priest to save his daughter from a gang of violent, demented kids. Sounds pretty cool, right? Well, here are my thoughts: I will start by saying that I really wanted to like this movie...I did. The first few minutes you get a little action and then you're like "Okay, here we go." I spent the next 15 minutes of boredom only trying to convince myself that the main character was not played by John Mayer because if I didn't find something to keep me interested, I would have fallen asleep. Listen, this movie is not a total poop fest, it isn't. I think the problem is, it just was not MY cup of tea. I have spoken with people who liked it, and I did not immediately want to hurl things at their faces...I understood.
The Taking (2014)
This was a great film
I probably couldn't tell you when or how I heard about this movie, but it definitely piqued my interest. When I saw it show up on NF Instant, I knew what had to be done. With no knowledge or viewing of the film, I can honestly say that all hesitation was still in place. After all, it's a documentary/found footage movie. About a possession. Uh....we've seen this before haven't we? Maybe a hundred times? Nevertheless, the trailer was enough to convince me it was worth a gamble of 90 minutes of my life. Viewage commenced. I was exceedingly pleased, bottom line. I mean at this point, writers and directors are out there spewing the same recycled stuff time and time again.