Change Your Image
clarkemsmith
Moving to the east coast, Clarke formed TimeAxis Media. Larger scoped films followed, including the ambitious 40-minute "Contamination 2" (1998). A huge leap in postproduction technology and visual FX emerged with "Distant Echoes" (1999), a film that changed everything. "The Ethereal Plane" is Clarke's first feature length film, and was accepted into several film festivals, as well as winning an award.
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
Swan Song (2021)
We made this movie already
In 2018, we made a short film called "You Are Me". I don't think I can paste links here, but google it with my name. Its on YouTube. You can find it under my name (Clarke M. Smith) or TimeAxis Media.
It seems awfully coincidental that Swan Song follows our plot almost exactly. I can only assume the writers or producers saw our film at a film festival, as it has won awards in California and Arizona.
Couple things of note:
1) The entire premise of Swan Song is almost identical
2) A terminally ill patient, and a doctor/scientist as the leads
3) The inner conflict of not telling or not telling his wife the truth
4) The secrecy he keeps from his wife, and she unaware of his plight
5) The character even says to his clone "You are NOT me!"
6) He throws ashes into lake; we did that too
Though the 3rd act veers quite a bit in a different direction than ours, the similarities are remarkable. Its flattering and interesting, but acknowledgment would be nice. We shot our film in San Diego on a shoestring budget. Regardless of that, we have some incredible local actors and an impressive lab set which catapulted the film into higher realms than I imagined. Please check out, its only about 18 minutes.
Unhinged (2020)
We have your statement and you're free to go...
Are you kidding me? They both got the living crap kicked out of them and would need all kinds of medical attention. And they are free to go? I can't believe this moment in an already hideously pointless movie. I don't think I have EVER seen a scene of more improbable nonsense. We have your statement and you're free to go... I'm stunned this bit of idiotic writing got past untold amounts of people involved in this film. Wow,
Tentacoli (1977)
This movie seriously anger me
This movie amazes me in how terrible it is. There is truly ZERO talent in the director, writer or anyone involved (sans classic actors). It is simply insulting beyond belief. Just about anyone could have made a better movie. I know for a fact that I could have. The fact that this film cashed in on Jaws and skillfully coaxed (tricked) many of us to go see this damn thing in theaters in 1977 (I did at age 11), is quite frankly disgusting. They should be ashamed of themselves. Yeah I know as this writing, its been 41 long years since it came out, but its still and always will be 2 hours of my young life I can't get back.
This might be the worst bad movie on earth, based upon its budget and cast. The director should apologize for it. He's not going to, because according to its wiki, it made quite a mint worldwide. Its simply a horrible piece of crap, and I despise it more than words can tell. I've been on a kick lately, googling and watching movies from my childhood. I had never seen it since 1977, so I decided to look at it today.
I didn't expect to actually get MAD about it, but I am! It makes me sick how poor it is. How an utter lack of talent went into it. How it tricked movie goers into seeing it, with a stylish (for the time) movie poster. Its such a pile of garbage, my God. I almost feel guilty that I dragged my poor mom and dad to the drive-in, to witness this film. What they must've thought. A few months after Star Wars, and this is what we get from going to the movies?
Damn this director to hell!!!
Distant Echoes (1999)
Review by Michael S. Simms, 2014
Playing out like a somewhat more hopeful version of a classic last-man-on-Earth 'Twilight Zone' or 'Outer Limits' episode is Clarke M. Smith's "Distant Echoes", an early effort by his Time Axis Media production company which showcases the quirky writing talent and flair for orchestrating the best in amateur special effects that Smith would become known for in his later films. I had as much fun looking for people in the background or movement in the windows of various establishments as I did listening to Mark Isham's quite impressive, often ominous soundtrack. While actor Gregorio De La Pagiano does a fine job of looking at first confused, then suitably depressed, he never quite pulls off the terror you would expect such an experience to instill. That said, however, he delivers his stream-of-consciousness-style lines flawlessly and manages to convincingly portray a man who chooses to get lost in alcohol and self-pity before rising to face his unimaginable situation head-on. If there is one weak spot (besides a clichéd vertigo spin sequence) in what is an otherwise thought and emotion stirring script, it may be that there is no real catalyst offered for the character change La Pagiano's omega man experiences near the end of the film. But for an early attempt at the genre, "Distant Echoes" is certainly a passable effort and gets high marks for capturing the morality-tale meets creepy atmosphere feel that a good science fiction short should. I would give it a solid Three out of Five.
S. Michael Simms IAJS Entertainment Division