For being sold as something of a spoof film, Kasi Brown and Brandon Walter’s Gone Doggy Gone is a surprisingly earnest and, dare I say, deep film about the relationship we have with our pets and the personal insecurities we project onto them.
The film revolves around a young married couple (Brown and Walter), who treat their entirely-too-adorable Yorkie as if it was their own child. They feed it people food at the dinner table; they transport it in either a baby björn or stroller; and they dress it up in ridiculous, but yet again, incredibly adorable clothing.
Based on the graphic novel by Dan Shaffer, The Scribbler is the type of adaptation that just doesn’t work, despite being a faithful transfer of the source material, save for a few items. It tries to be weird and outlandish, bringing surreal imagery into what ultimately amounts to a superhero movie, but the weak script and low-budget feel prevent this from being anything more than a decent try.
It’s movies like The Battery that make me want to stop writing about movies and start making them myself. To see what a small crew with no budget can do is nothing short of astounding, and re-watching this film on the newly released Blu-ray reinforces the fact that indie horror is not the stagnant pool of mediocrity most may think.
Jack Plotnick’s Space Station 76 is a science fiction comedy that takes place in the future as it was imagined back in the ‘70s. This goofy idea lends itself to a bevy of funny gags that poke fun at the time period and how the future was represented. While it mostly acts as a straight comedy, there is a serious undercurrent flowing beneath the mustaches and feathered hairdos. This slightly dark edge makes the film much more rewarding than a straight-up spoof. Basically, Space Station 76 is like the ‘70s sci-fi version of Wet Hot American Summer, which means it’s hilarious, smart and super fun.
In his latest feature-length effort, Don’t Look Back, director William Dickerson sets out to create a De Palma-esque psychological thriller that aims to keep the viewer guessing while exploring the lasting effects of a childhood trauma. While some aspects of the film do work well, mostly the cinematography, the end result is a tired and formulaic retread of things we’ve seen before.
Often times a writer/director can surprise you by making something they are not known for. It can be refreshing, or cringe inducing, to see artists broaden their horizons. Roland Joffe directed Captivity. Barry Levinson directed The Bay. The Coen brothers had True Grit. Renny Harlin made Die Hard 2.
With last year’s wildly popular horror flick You’re Next, and segments in the V/H/S movies and The ABCs of Death, writer Simon Barrett and director Adam Wingard are quickly making a name for themselves as the kings of genre cinema. Their latest collaboration, The Guest, further proves that they are a force to be reckoned with. Part ‘80s action flick, part horror thriller, and pure visceral fun, The Guest honors the classics from yesteryear without feeling like a rip-off. It’s got its own voice, and that voice is loud and ready to smack you in the face.
It’s been ten years since estranged twins Maggie and Milo have spoken to each other. They have established their lives on opposite coasts. Milo is a gay, struggling actor living in Los Angeles, and Maggie seems to be living the ideal life with her husband in upstate New York. There has always been talk of some sort of psychic bond between the twins. For example, one twin may feel pain in an arm that the other may simultaneously feel in the same spot, not necessarily as pain but as a sensation. With that in mind, it is a near-tragic moment that brings the two of them back together. This is how Craig Johnson’s entertaining dra-medy The Skeleton Twins opens, and it only just begins to scratch the surface of just who these people are and what they are going through together.
Leigh Jankiak’s directorial debut, Honeymoon, is an interesting blend of psychological and supernatural horror that provides both intrigue and some incredibly disturbing imagery. As the film moves on, I found myself completely enthralled in what was happening to the main characters, and was continuously guessing what weird horror was about to spring next.
What does it take to change one’s circumstances? Must you make a personal change? Do you need to make a change in environment? Are you fated to take the path you’ve set for yourself or is there more to life than what lies before you? Does your past predetermine just where that path will lead? These are some very philosophical questions that many people have at one point or another have stopped to ask and pondered their answer.
To say Peter Glanz's The Longest Week wears its influences on its sleeve would be a gross understatement as the film promptly thrusts those influences, full-on, in the face of the viewer within the opening sequence of tableau shots consisting of typewriters and alarm clocks while Chet Baker saunters through the air, every frame whispers...Wes Anderson. And, just in case you didn't catch that Wes Anderson influence flag flapping in your face, the typography displaying Larry Pine as narrator turns that whisper into a solemn utterance.
For fans of modern Chinese Wuxia films, Daniel Lee’s 14 Blades will definitely scratch that itch, however those that aren’t into grandiose fight sequences and wirework may find the film somewhat of a cumbersome endeavor. The fight scenes are indeed a joy to watch, and Donnie Yen is fantastic as always, but the plot feels a bit dull and the Blu-ray is seriously lacking.
Although I generally stick to writing reviews on the movies themselves, sometimes I’ll experience a movie-related product and feel the need to write a review about it. That being said, this is my first game review, and I couldn’t be happier to be discussing Legendary Encounters by Upper Deck. This deck-building co-op game happens to be based on one of my all-time favorite film series, Alien. But can a card game capture the tense atmosphere of the movies? In short, yes it can.
David Wnendt’s coming of age comedy Wetlands is not a movie to take your mother to although I would love to hear how it goes for those that do. Wetlands is one of the grossest films I’ve ever seen, and I mean that in the most positive way possible. Through all the bodily fluids and muck, there’s a surprisingly heartwarming story here, propelled by an outstanding performance from the film’s lead Carla Juri. She reminds me of Amelie, if Amelie was obsessed with sticking her hands into her crotch rather than boxes of beans.
Jason Stone’s feature debut, The Calling, boasts an impressive cast with some fantastic performances, however the dreary plot prevents it from being anything more than a slightly above-average procedural. The film hits the ground running, but slowly loses steam as it progresses into what will become a bland murder mystery.
The title of the film refers to the premature transfer of a criminal from juvenile detention to adult prison which is where Starred Up begins its story - the fresh arrival of Eric Love (Jack O'Connell), an aggressive teenager willing to survive by any means necessary. Those means consist, almost exclusively, of violence and obscenity-laden verbal attacks meant to intimidate until a ray of hope presents itself through a therapy group led by Oliver (Rupert Friend). The film is based on first-time screenwriter Jonathan Asser's twelve years of experience as a prison therapist, twelve years brilliantly condensed into one taut, brutal prison drama.
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