Fantastic Short Film Friday - The Raven

And we are back with another weekly installment in our Fantastic Short Film Friday series, as we look to showcase films released in the "lesser" known form of cinema- the short film. Sometimes you can come across a short that's so well made it forces you to stand up and take notice as you scratch the back of your head going, "Damn!!" This is one of those shorts. Beautifully shot and skillfully edited, The Raven is written and directed by Ricardo de Montreuil with music composed by Angelo Milli. Sure there's nothing new here, but its a wonderful feat of technology nonetheless.

Here's the synopsis: Chris Black possesses a power that could lead to the destruction of the current regime, and they will stop at nothing to destroy him. The chase is on as Chris runs for his life in this sci-fi thriller set in an alternate and futuristic Los Angeles.

It seems like the shorts at the cutting edge these days are all science fiction films. As technology becomes more adaptable and accessible, filmmakers with a lot of drive and ingenuity are able to create such vast and beautiful worlds that leave the viewer going, "how did they do that. How much did that cost?" Answer: shot with a Red Camera and completed for $5,000. Wow. Neil Blomkamp's District 9 was born of a short film called Alive in Joburg and Carl Erik Rinsch's short The Gift is causing all kinds of waves and bidding wars in Hollywood (I'll be featuring that short next week). So yeah, its a good time to be a geek and a lover of short films.

So sit back with that coffee as you tap tap tap over your keyboard and let the world of The Raven take you over. Enjoy.

What I Think Of: In a Day (2006)

Here is look at the 2006 indie romantic drama, In a Day. Written and directed by Evan Richards, the film stars
Lorraine Pilkington as Ashley, a sandwich shop worker who experiences an unpredictable yet wonderful day with a stranger named Michael (Finlay Robertson). What are Michael's motives in showing Ashley a good time and is he as altruistic as he seems? Here are some of my thoughts concerning In a Day:

• This is a very different kind of indie romantic drama than I thought it would be. Sure it has all the trappings of an indie film- low-budget, bland set locations, quirky characters and story, but there's always a hint of dread, like your waiting for the character of Michael to show his true colors, like he can't be this perfect. You think these things because this isn't a mainstream film, so they don't need to end with happy endings. There's just these looks, these stares from Michael that led me to ponder while watching the film, please don't make this another Audition. I don't think I could handle that.
  
• As much as this is a romantic drama it is also a meditation on the effects that childhood relationships (i.e. bullying) have on people even into their adult lives. It's that meditation, that study, that brings so much more to the film.
• The acting is fantastic. Finlay Robertson as Michael has this stalker kind of cool charm that he amazingly somehow pulls off and makes endearing. But the one who steals the show is Lorraine Pilkington as Ashley. She's fantastic, bringing about the sad lonely women who is also both gifted and strong. Looking at her filmography she has done a lifetime's worth of television show's, but after seeing her in this, I'll have to make sure to keep a look out for her in the future. She's just that good.
  
• Seriously though, this is incredibly low budget, I mean amazingly so. If a director is really good, he can hide the imperfections that a low shooting budget can bring, and while first time feature length director Evan Richards does an admirable job, it's his direction that I feel really made the film feel cheaper and brought down some of my enjoyment.
  
• I couldn't tell until the end if In a Day was going to be a romantic drama or a horror film, and perhaps that's why the film feels so uniquely enjoyable. The story and dialogue all feel familiar and traditional, but its the music and the acting that leave the taste of prevailing dread in your mouth as it seeps through every frame of the film. Kudos to the actors for that.

So there you have it. If you like indie romantic dramas like I do (this is a very poor man's Before Sunrise/Before Sunset) and are looking for something a bit different, then give In a Day a try. I can't say it's for everyone and I can see many people disliking it, because damn if it doesn't have pacing issues, but if you're patient and stick with it, I do feel that the viewer will be rewarded with a unique spin on a tried and tired genre.

Movie Talkback - The Complete Metropolis!!!

In a world of a mythical and terrible apocalypse, if only one movie survived, if only one movie could be watched over and over, I would hope it would be Fritz Lang's 1927 silent German experimentalist sci-fi classic, Metropolis. I could write a whole dissertation on the film (and sadly I have) so I won't belabor the fact. But if you like Blade Runner, the Matrix films, Star Wars, Lost, the films of Tim Burton, Tron, Robocop, my personal favorite The Fifth Element or nearly every single sci-fi fantasy film/tv show, you owe a huge debt of gratitude to this film as they are all heavily influenced by this monumental and orgasmic creation.

If you've never seen the film or have only seen the truncated "missing" version of the film like everyone else, it's time to rejoice and thank the heavens. Back in 2008 a nearly complete copy of Metropolis was found at the Buenes Aires Museo del Cine (the film museum of Buenes Aires). The found copy contained an additional 25 minutes of lost footage which comprises a fifth of the films original running time. It took nearly a lifetime to find this 147-minute version, so I feel confident in saying that this may be the most complete version of the film that will ever be found.

All this comes to a head at the end of 2010, as Kino releases the dvd and blu-ray version of the newly-restored Metropolis. Not just that, but in celebration of the re-release, Metropolis is hitting theaters in all major markets in the US and Canada. If you live in NY like I do, the film is hitting my favorite spot in NY, The Film Forum starting May 7th. If you live in other cities or want to find out more information about the film and it's re-release check out Kino's site: here.

So as film lovers around the world let out a collective gasp in awe at their good fortune here's a newly released trailer that showcases what we can all expect starting May 7th. If you don't have a smile at the end of the 2-minute trailer, well, there's no saving you. Enjoy.

Book Review - The Dark Storm by Kris Greene (fiction)

Publication Date: 2010

Synopsis:

Gabriel is a New York City college kid who loves to bury his nose in books, looking up stories of long-dead cultures, lost languages, and forgotten legends. He never imagined one of those legends would come looking for him—until a tough-talking girl named De Mona Sanchez thrusts an ancient weapon into his hands...and recruits Gabriel in a dark epic war he was born to fight.

Banished centuries ago by warrior knights, a demonic army is storming through a dimensional rift into our world. Stalkers are prowling the streets. Corpses are rising up to fight. And Gabriel—a descendant of one of the original warriors—has no choice but to drop his textbooks and start kicking demon butt alongside his new friend De Mona…who has a few secrets of her own. If Gabriel fails, humanity loses. If war is hell, this is hell on earth…

Joshua's take - 2/5☆

Why did I pick up this book? - because the cover caught my eye and I'm always interested in urban-fantasy novels where the main protagonist is male (since that's very rare), especially one from a female author. So that really peaked my interest.

The Dark Storm is the first book in a new urban-fantasy series from author Kris Greene and while it does have some decent writing, it is amazingly generic. It's almost like what if you took a bunch of stuff from other books- a world of demons, agents of light, vampires, goblins, knights, werewolves and mystical weapons of power, blended them all together and weaved the story around the template on "how-to" write an urban-fantasy novel. If this was any more by-the-numbers I would have sworn I'd read it already.

The main problem I had with this book is it's characterization, or lack there of. There's just way to many characters crammed into this slim work (the story constantly shifts through multiple POV's), that I felt like I was missing half the novel, like it was incomplete. There's a sequel to The Dark Storm as there generally is with this sub-genre, but that's no excuse to have such a flimsy table setter. I mean you want readers to come back for the rest of the series right? Also, the two "main" characters of the book, Gabriel Redfeather and De Mona Sanchez (and yes that's her real name!!) are so poorly formed as characters that they feel like they're cursory characters in the background, rather then the one's the whole series is based around. And they both whined and whined so much, especially Gabriel, that I had to re-read the earlier pages and remind myself that he wasn't a freshman in highschool, but already in college!!!

However, I did like the magic system with the witches, warlocks and mages all having different functions in the world, and how there are numerous classes and castes within each magical house. I also liked the back story of how there was a holy war centuries ago between the forces of light and the denizens of hell, and how the ancestors of both sides are fighting over the souls again years later. But man, the most important aspect of the story, the very foundation the world is based around, the magical weapons, felt the weakest in the entire story. Their characteristics and attributes are never fully thought out and explained, their powers appearing more as poor imagination rather than weapons that can control the very fabric of the world.

It's all just so generic that in 2 weeks I probably won't remember the story anymore and sadly I won't be coming back for the upcoming sequel Demon Hunt.

Fantastic Short Film Friday - Invasions (animated)

And we are back with another weekly installment in our Fantastic Short Film Friday series, as we look to showcase films released in the "lesser" known form of cinema- the short film. This week we have the fantastic animated short, Invasions, directed, animated and composed by Clement Morin. This is a wonderful story about a little alien who visits our planet and the extraordinary lengths he goes through for romance. It's all kinds of cute and at the end I couldn't help but smile and let out an audible, "awwww."

I couldn't find out much information about the animator Clement Morin, beyond that he's a Frenchman. If you wish to see more of his shorts you can visit his website here.

So there you have it. We hope you enjoy Invasions and we'll be back again next week as we try to spotlight more films of the cinematic short order.

What I Think Of: Bandslam (2009)

So Bandslam, yeah. Believe it or not, I've actually been eagerly waiting to watch this movie. Sure it looked perhaps a little to High School Musical for my tastes, but Vanessa Hudgens is hot and there are worst ways to spend the day than watching a non-threatening teenage rom-com. However, Bandslam shattered all my expectations. Thing is, this is not the fluffy coming-of-age story I was expecting, but rather an emotional drama with finely thought out characters. Sure it does deal with teenage love, but it feels real, rather then sugarcoated, touching without being preachy.

Basically the film is about introverted geek Will Burton (Gaelan Connell) who when not writing e-mails do David Bowie (who of course never responds), spends his days listening to "hipster" music and being an outcast because of his tastes. One day he meets and befriends Charlotte (Aly Michalka), a once popular girl who creates a band with some social misfits. Will soon becomes the bands manager, using all his music knowledge to propel the band forward with their sound, as they seek to enter the annual battle of the bands, Bandslam. Along the way Will befriends a weird loner named Sam (Vanessa Hudgens). Is love in the air for Will and does Sam have hidden talents that she is hiding? Here are some of my thoughts concerning Bandslam:

• Seriously, this movie is nothing like I was expecting. It's actually really good and I think if they marketed it with the more indie styling that it has, the hipster heart that it beats, it would have done a lot better. Think a much more refined and honest look at young love than Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. It's just a shame the movie didn't even make its budget back.
  
• Vanessa Hudgens is cute as all hell and she puts out quite the performance in this film which has made me look at her in a totally different light. She's more than just a cute face.
• On that note: in what world is Vanessa Hudgens an outcast? Her character doesn't even dress differently like Rachel Leigh Cook in She's All That to hide her hotness. She dresses exactly like Hudgens always dresses. Oh my god she likes books and she used to stutter as a kid. Who cares!!! Look at her!! Come on. Why is the geekiest male outcast the only one interested her? I know this film is not real life but shes dating Zach Efron. She doesn't look different here. Where's the next movie where Megan Fox is the science geek that no one wants to date? Bandslam 2.
• I love the fact that the main character Will is obsessed with David Bowie. Who can blame him. Even better, David Bowie does make an appearance in the film.
• The music is quite good although I will say that the final song that the band performs at Bandslam was a bit week, especially after all the build up. But it was a great performance.
• Lisa Kudrow as Will's mom also puts forth a great showing but she's like her fellow Friends actor Matthew Perry, always acting the same.
• Lastly, I don't want to oversell this movie, but Bandslam is really much more than you think it's going to be. Great performances, Gaelan Connell is going to be a star, it's really a moving coming-of-age story that won't leave the viewer feeling old. In a great way, it just wasn't what I was expecting.

So there you have it. Check out Bandslam on dvd. I really think the film and Vanessa Hudgens will surprise you.

Here's my favorite scene from the movie.

Leftovers - District 9's Sharlto Copley reprises his role for Funny or Die

Readers of the blog know that I'm a big fan of the online celebrity comedic sketch site Funny or Die. Well looks like they've done it again, this time with Sharlto Copley (of District 9 and the upcoming A-Team fame) reprising his role as Wikus, the bumbling manager of MNU Alien affairs from Neil Blomkamp's sci-fi thriller. Turns out, Wikus is real and District 9 was more documentary than fiction, and Wikus being Wikus, he thinks he's an up and coming movie star. So he sets out to find fellow South African actress Charlize Theron in order to ask her to co-present an award with him at the South African Music Awards. You can imagine how it turns out.

I'm a big fan of District 9 and it's great to see Sharlto Copley playing Wikus again as we wait hopefully for a District 9 sequel. So enjoy the 4 minute sketch Wikus and Charlize courtesy of Funny or Die. Oh and it also turns out it's directed by Sharlto as well. Who knew?

Wikus and Charlize - watch more funny videos