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skmills
Reviews
The Calistra Zipper Story (2008)
Warning: Scandal Ahead! Prepare to be delighted.
This is a very engaging and satirical take on our need to be horrified. Done with the straight-faced demon-ism of a master magician. Delightful, scary, laced with the double-vision of Dali. Is it hoax or insight or BOTH? Calman has created a dilemma, a crime which is not against the law--did you know you CAN stuff your kin after death? The brilliant coup of the piece is that you are made to root for the very scam you can't believe. The overall tone and flash is cut from the cloth of "Crime of the Century" scandals of the 30's in Palm Beach or Chicago. Calman makes you think you are a first-hand witness and, like getting wet on a Thunder Mountain ride, you feel thrillingly polluted as this appalling romp clings to your clothing and soul long after the tale is told. I'll tell you this: you can't keep a straight face. It's that good.
Mojave Phone Booth (2006)
Brilliant in concept and execution. A great American film.
I have been going over MPB in my mind on a fairly regular basis since I saw it at the FirstGlance Hollywood Film Fest and I again commend director/writer John Putch for really capturing in such a raw and gentle way the extremes of need and outreach. When I find myself actually believing that the guy is going to get rid of the alien bugs (on that wonderfully created zany, hopelessly neurotic woman), I know the casting and writing are doing their jobs very well. I also thought the "sane" half of the lesbian couple was amazing. Also, the scene where the real estate lie was revealed had such an unexpected punch to it. Every single actor was off the dial. Not one wrong note and hundreds of great choices. Having it on the outskirts of Vegas creates such a symbiosis between 2 emptiness-es, we realize there is nowhere to hide. We are all drowning in the wide open vacuum of our own disconnection, no matter how we try to dress it up. It is really a phenomenal indictment of what happens to the American Dreamer when the roots of the soul have atrophied and only the unnourished surface is left.