Indie cinema sometimes gets a bad rep because anyone with a video camera now thinks they are Steven Spielberg or Stanley Kubrick, I even say this about myself as I am an indie filmmaker as well.
I have a huge love for zombie films. Those and Vampire flicks are about the only horror movies I enjoy and sometimes they can go very wrong when not treated with respect. I recently rented feeding the masses of blockbuster online and it arrived Yesterday in the mail so I popped it in the DVD player.
I almost immediately turned this off when I watched the opening scene of a piece of meat being cut, and it had the "Video Look". I hate when people make indie films and are to cheap to fork up for at 24 fps Progressive Camera or at least use software to de-interlace the image. Thankful I waited it out and was glad to see a majority of the film was shot as I expected it would be (de-interlaced - no video look).
Feeding The Masses suffers from a few problems...
1. Budget - This could be argued for any indie film made for under $100,000, but this film had a pretty huge scope and I think they pulled it off pretty nicely with what little money they had, but you could tell the budget affected a lot of things in the film.
2. Visual FX... I don't mind the occasional CG muzzle flash or bullet hit, but for the sake of all that is holy never try to create a huge explosion or fire with CG programs on a zero budget it comes off hokey, but I will say the CG work on the guns was very nice... the fire and explosions really made the film feel corny at times.
3. Corny Commericals... The Party bus and reburial commercials were just plain stupid and really served no purpose, and really hurt the momentum of the film. When the film started getting really good these annoying commercials would come on and totally mess with the films feel. Bad choice.
4. Acting - I only had an issue with the blonde female reporter, no one else.
Feeding the Masses is a fun ride at times because it spoofs how the Gov't does one thing while completely doing another. I really felt it did nail some of the feel of how the current administration dealt with Iraq and how they would use subterfuge(sp?) to keep the public un-informed it was a great touch to the film.
The story is a god story, it made me keep wanting to watch to see how it ended, and aside from the distractions listed above this film is pretty entertaining at times. If you do consider the film keep a few things in mind: A. This is down in the dirt low budget indie cinema.
B. Don't look for any really outstanding performances or great film techniques.
C. It is made for a zombie fan, and you have to have a true love for the genre to appreciate the work in the film.
This is not a horrible film, nor is it a great film. It is a film shot on the digital video standard and at times has the Video look, and at times has a film look... however what it is is a decent way to blow 90 mins when you're really bored, and the nice part you won't walk away feeling cheated... I walked away feeling entertained.
I give it a 6 out of 10 because of the issues I listed above, other than that It was good.
I have a huge love for zombie films. Those and Vampire flicks are about the only horror movies I enjoy and sometimes they can go very wrong when not treated with respect. I recently rented feeding the masses of blockbuster online and it arrived Yesterday in the mail so I popped it in the DVD player.
I almost immediately turned this off when I watched the opening scene of a piece of meat being cut, and it had the "Video Look". I hate when people make indie films and are to cheap to fork up for at 24 fps Progressive Camera or at least use software to de-interlace the image. Thankful I waited it out and was glad to see a majority of the film was shot as I expected it would be (de-interlaced - no video look).
Feeding The Masses suffers from a few problems...
1. Budget - This could be argued for any indie film made for under $100,000, but this film had a pretty huge scope and I think they pulled it off pretty nicely with what little money they had, but you could tell the budget affected a lot of things in the film.
2. Visual FX... I don't mind the occasional CG muzzle flash or bullet hit, but for the sake of all that is holy never try to create a huge explosion or fire with CG programs on a zero budget it comes off hokey, but I will say the CG work on the guns was very nice... the fire and explosions really made the film feel corny at times.
3. Corny Commericals... The Party bus and reburial commercials were just plain stupid and really served no purpose, and really hurt the momentum of the film. When the film started getting really good these annoying commercials would come on and totally mess with the films feel. Bad choice.
4. Acting - I only had an issue with the blonde female reporter, no one else.
Feeding the Masses is a fun ride at times because it spoofs how the Gov't does one thing while completely doing another. I really felt it did nail some of the feel of how the current administration dealt with Iraq and how they would use subterfuge(sp?) to keep the public un-informed it was a great touch to the film.
The story is a god story, it made me keep wanting to watch to see how it ended, and aside from the distractions listed above this film is pretty entertaining at times. If you do consider the film keep a few things in mind: A. This is down in the dirt low budget indie cinema.
B. Don't look for any really outstanding performances or great film techniques.
C. It is made for a zombie fan, and you have to have a true love for the genre to appreciate the work in the film.
This is not a horrible film, nor is it a great film. It is a film shot on the digital video standard and at times has the Video look, and at times has a film look... however what it is is a decent way to blow 90 mins when you're really bored, and the nice part you won't walk away feeling cheated... I walked away feeling entertained.
I give it a 6 out of 10 because of the issues I listed above, other than that It was good.