Reviews

How in the name of the All Mighty can 26 minutes be so intense? This is one of the best half hours of television I've ever witnessed. May be the absolute finest. Writing, directing, acting, all through the roof amazing. I absolutely love what they did with Gary and how we witnessed his incredible Street smarts. There are numerous twists and turns and as you sit and watch you will feel your stomach begin to tighten. Here and there you will find bursts of comedy, but it's never inappropriate and it's actually quite important in relieving tension. Too much and your head might explode.

Everything culminates in one of the most chilling endings you can experience. My girlfriend was on the edge of her seat and her jaw absolutely dropped.

This is the best episode of the entire series. It's OK that it was never topped. How could they top it?

The fourth season of cobra Kai is a huge disappointment and a serious step down from the third season, which was in itself a step down from the second season. It's basically been diminishing returns but had been good enough to keep you watching. Most of this fourth season was an absolute chore and I struggled to get through many of the episodes which focused on the wrong characters and inconsequential new characters. Things finally picked up in the ninth episode and in the tenth and final episode it all came together and kicked some serious you know what. Obviously we have two big twists at the end, but that final twist was truly remarkable and can hopefully lead us into one heck of a terrific fifth season. The filmmakers really need to learn their lessons. For two seasons in a row logic has been thrown aside and childish nonsense has taken centerstage. Stop it! Just shut that garbage down and go back to what worked in the first two seasons.

The last two episodes saved this season. For whatever reasons episodes 3 through 8 were cornball juvenile nonsense that simply did not work and became a chore to watch. Thank the Maker everything got back on track with this episode. After an out of place musical cameo things get moving and instead of doing it all by the book the writers give its characters true conflict, growth, choices to make and prices to pay. It's also quite thrilling during the tournament matches, even if you can guess some of what's going to happen. And naturally it ends on one hell of a great cliffhanger leading into the 10th episode, easily one of the best episodes of the entire series.

The first season was pure perfection. The second season flawed, but certainly terrific. The third season further flawed, but it did come together in the end. Unfortunately I am growing increasingly worried about this season. The first two episodes had their moments, but this third episode was dull, childish and even moronic at times. Each season the "kids" storyline grows increasingly absurd (by this point they'd all be in jail) as though Netflix execs demanded the writers give little kids something at their intelligence level. Thankfully "Terry Silver" figures into a few scenes and there is no question Thomas Ian Griffith is the biggest and most welcome surprise to this season. His character has renewed depth and Griffith's portrayal is truly layered. I am praying for more of this in coming episodes. Less annoying little twerps. More of Johnny and Daniel. And much more Terry Silver!

The Wind of Al Amal is a deeply affective, sometimes heart breaking documentary that could test the limits of what one is willing to endure while browsing Amazon Prime from their couch. That is how I witnessed it and I must admit, it took two nights to complete. Director Frederic Lean expects his audience to be ready for grim viewing and in many ways, he expects a bit too much of his audience. Most would rather tune into a mindless E! reality shows and therefore never sit for this sort of thing. But if you are reading this review I expect you want to be challenged and therefore, I would recommend you give this film a chance.

The politics are clearly left in leaning, but that does not detract from the to the jugular narrative. This is about real people and the often ignored unintended consequences of war. Whatever your politics may be, the content here is captured with compassion and presented with skill. At times I was unable to breathe. This should not come as a surprise to anyone who has watched Lean's debut short film, FRAGILE, where he pulled a surprisingly strong performances from TV actress Sheree Wilson (Walker, Texas Ranger).

Sometimes when I see what is #1 at the box office I feel sick to my stomach. At this very moment another Transformers is top of the heap, despite its 16% rating at Rottentomatoes. Product is now king. If such news bothers you too, seek out this little documentary. It proves there are still passionate filmmakers out there who deserve to be seen and heard.

As you all know, with PRIMER, Shane Carruth announced himself to the world as a naturally gifted talent, one who could rival the likes of James Cameron. Of course, it never happened as he struggled to get his second film off the ground.

Nine years after PRIMER Shane Carruth's long awaited second film is as dense as expected, with an impossible to understand third act that still manages to intrigue due to its sheer technical mastery. With UPSTREAM COLOR Carruth proves he is not a one-shot wonder. He also proves he is the ultimate NYC and L.A. art-film director incapable of adapting to more mainstream story telling.

Much has been written about the plot so I will not get into the specifics here. What I will say is that I think Carruth purposely holds critical information from his films as a way to challenge viewers and force them to think. This is admirable. But in the end, a bit frustrating because with just a few answers both PRIMER and now UPSTREAM COLOR would be fit for the masses without compromising artistic integrity.

The film made sense to me for about an hour and then it started to slip away. Like with Primer, I just lost my footing and could not gain hold. Amazingly enough, I still enjoyed the experience and was never bored, In fact, at times I was held in genuine suspense.

The third act has been described as 30 minutes without dialog and that simply is not true. There are numerous sequences without dialog and about halfway through we get a major sequence of events told with visuals and music. Then we have some more conventional filmmaking (conventional is really not the right word) followed by what I think might be around 15 minutes of dialog free visuals. The ending makes no sense to me, but I will see the film again and hope to sort it out.

Carruth designed the sound and composed the music and let me tell you, he hit both out of the park. The man could work scoring films and make a great living. The same goes for his sound design.

I watched the film at IFC in New York City and they have a pretty good sound system. What they don't have is a great screen. It might be the proper widescreen aspect ratio, but the images appeared darker in sections and that harmed Carruth's amazing visuals, rumored to have been captured with a hacked $700 Pansonic DSLR (the GH2). The image is akin to a RED or Alexa and throughout Carruth plays with shallow depths of field. This results in some shots missing the sharply focused mark, but for the most part the visuals shine. This film proves you do not need Hollywood style lighting and equipment to make Hollywood level films.

The Blu-Ray will be out in May and I have already put it on order at Amazon. There is no question in my mind that by year's end I will have sat through UPSTREAM COLOR numerous times.

I look forward to Carruth's next film, but with the hope for a little more clarity in his narrative.

For current youth 'Super8' is a movie directed by that guy who gave us LOST and ALIAS. But Super8 is a film format, one that still exists and in some places, thrives, despite the onslaught of the digital world. For the most part it is an amateur format and when used professionally, relegated to music videos or artsy projects. Because of its short shooting time of just two and a half minutes per film cartridge, few have dared to shoot a feature film under such constraints. Almost ten years ago some daredevils succeeded with the psychological piece called SLEEP ALWAYS, but their master was scanned and finished in standard definition.

Writer/Director Scott Di Lalla has pushed the 8mm format into the modern age and delivered a technically impressive feature film debut that also accomplishes something few ultra low budget directors are capable of: delivering a film worth watching.

I had the privilege of seeing I AM ZOZO's first public screening at the NJ Film Festival, which specializes in showcasing shorts, documentaries and feature length films shot on digital video and super8. The evening did not start off on a high note as the short films presented ranged from snooze inducing to embarrassingly bad. My spirits sunk. It didn't help matters that the exhibitor had somehow screwed up the settings on their projector, giving us a slightly squished image (which they never fixed).

Thank the maker that once the feature started, amateur night was over. Beginning with a chilling docu-feel shot of a possession (complete with the 8mm camera sound coming from the speakers), the tone was set for what turned out to be an exceptionally directed little horror film. The ensemble cast of unknowns surprised and rarely veered into obvious acting territory. Their banter seemed fresh and spontaneous and I tended to believe their friendships. Lead actress Kelly McLaren was particularly impressive with a performance that defies her complete lack of acting credits.

The standout sequence is the late at night, ill advised use of a Ouija board and here the filmmakers show more skill than most Hollywood directors. Using long takes, perfect lighting and terrific writing, I AM ZOZO succeeds in forcing you to literally stop breathing as you anticipate what is going to happen and then, with sudden brilliance, feeds you a line that will cause you to laugh out loud and then, moments later, makes you hold your breath yet again. Frankly, I wanted to applaud the filmmakers at the conclusion of that sequence because it was more than I could have hoped for. Low budget films are not supposed to be so good at manipulating their audience.

That is not to say things were perfect. Films have this need to be 90 minutes and I feel that Scott Di Lalla should defy that rule and make some trims. If he were to lose just five or six minutes of extraneous footage I believe he would find the pacing improved and a wider audience available. The ending is also quite obscure and I wonder what a Harvey Weinstein would do with it were he to get his hands on the negative (of course, today they use digital intermediates, but I'll get to that in a minute).

Remember, I give this film an 8 out of 10. I need to mention the flaws, which are limited. Few films are perfect, but let's also understand that few films are this good. How many Hollywood films have you seen in recent years that deserve such high marks?

Technically, the choice of filming in 8mm was certified brilliance. I shoot with super8 all the time and actually own the same camera 'I AM ZOZO' was shot with. The Canon 1014 XL-S is one of the three or four best super8's ever made, but it's flaw is going soft at low light. Major kudos need to go to Scott and his camera crew for somehow using Kodak's lower speed (and therefore, lower grain) Vision3 200T stock and finding the lighting sweet spot to give them maximum sharpness. At times only candles or a flashlight were used for illumination and yet the image retained sharpness and detail. This is due to the incredible improvements in film stocks and also the ability to scan 8mm negatives at High Definition (or even 2k), retaining every single ounce of detail in the image. When Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell shot 'WITHIN THE WOODS' on 8mm, they attempted to blow it up to 16mm and found the grain so obvious, the image was unwatchable. How times and technology has changed. Super8 is now so good that it resembles 16mm stocks of the 60's and 70's.

In a day when DSLR's and their ultra clean look are all the rage, some grainy super8 is here to show you what horror films are supposed to look like. The look of a film establishes a tone and had the filmmakers opted to shoot on a DSLR (and that would have saved them money) I believe 'I AM ZOZO' would be incapable of standing out from the crowd of low budget horror films.

My hope for these guys is they get picked up by a smaller studio or even HDNet. This film deserves to be seen. And super8 deserves a second look by anyone out there hoping to create something special on film.

Who knew that feature films were made on Super8? Certainly not I. Last year I sort of discovered that Super8 was a format being used by some independent filmmakers and hobbyists and I was stunned to learn that some crazy guys had shot an entire feature on the format. Needing to know more I ordered the DVD (yeah, crazy, sight unseen) hoping for the best.

This strange story about a kind-of weird guy obsessed with a babe who is maybe homeless will cause difficulties for those of you not gifted with patience. This is not a DePalma like film with huge set pieces or a Blair Witch wanna be trying to scare you. It's more about the emotions of two people and obsession can alter one's perceptions of reality.

Personally, I feel that with some additional trimming, Sleep Always would appeal to an even broader base of viewers. Who says films need to be nearly 90 minutes long? Even at 81 minutes, there are sequences that just feel padded. Losing 10 minutes of that padding would have greatly improved the strength of the narrative. That being said, I did watch this film twice (the second time paying attention to the technical aspects) and was particularly impressed with Laurie Maher's performance. She really did shine here.

Technically, Super8 is a royal pain to work with. Shooting at 24 frames per second gives you just over two minutes per film cartridge. Just imagine how difficult that would be, constantly being forced to change rolls and never being able to just let a scene play out in a long take. Thankfully the filmmakers handled the limitations with true craft and I am certain most viewers will never even think about how hard it is to shoot on the super8 format.

Today the digital revolution is upon us and so every numb-skull with a few grand thinks he is a filmmaker after buying a Canon T2i and some lenses. Filmmaking takes skill, patience and a game plan. The powers behind this film had all of the above and were willing to go for broke with a format that is risky, but rewarding. The look and feel of super8 is sort of relentlessly uneasy. In fact, another Super8 film was shot recently (I Am ZoZo) and because of recent technical improvements in film scanning, Super8 can now be transferred at 1080p HD or even 2K with striking results. My last short film was shot on Super8 and scanned at 1080p with stunning results.

To me, filmmakers Rick Palidwor and Mitch Perkins were both behind and ahead of their time with Sleep Always. They deserve respect for pulling it off.

By the way, the sound mix on this film is shockingly good, thanks to help given them by an Academy Award winner. Good sound is beyond important.

Just got out of an early screening. Oh good grief, was that bad. It stunk so bad I almost threw up in my own mouth half way through. Three strikes and you are out.

Jerry Blockhammer is on a real roll. Just one turd bomb after another for what, four years now? This is one of the worst big budget films I have ever seen. Devoid of laughs. Devoid of fun. Devoid of originality. Devoid of excitement. Devoid of nipples (mermaids and PG-13 should at least mean a few nip shots, right? Well, I can dream). There is more strategically placed hair and scales than one can possibly imagine. You can make a drinking game out of it.

No Orlando Bloom and Kiera Knightly so they are replaced by two actors we don't know and care not for. Their subplot is sickeningly insulting blatantly AWFUL! Every time they appear you want to grab a sword and slit their bony throats.

Johnny Depp should be shot for following up the crap money-grab THE TOURIST with this blatant money grab. It may open big, but I think it will fall fast. Rob Marshall's career is in trouble. He'd better direct a low budget art-house flick, ASAP, if he wants some respect.

Once again, like with THOR's early screening, I saw this in 2D. Thank God. Had I been forced to endure 3D I might have gone postal.

SAVE YOUR MONEY! You have been warned.