#2wkfilm (aka Royal Baronial Theatre)

"The Broken Hearts Club" Review

The Broken Hearts Club By Angelo Bell - Web Site

Angelo Bell is a genius. His feature film, The Broken Hearts Club, is populated with so many amazing characters that are fully formed, exciting to watch, and who tell such rich stories that I was in awe of his ability to write such depth into so many characters.  The Broken Hearts Club is about a psychiatrist who gets stuck with a group of patients that are going through rough love issues, and Bell utilizes his gift for creating characters to paint a broad, vibrant, and deep palette of humanity and being through a large cast of characters. 

The performances are phenomenal. The patients, and the protagonist's newly divorced boss, all bring truly amazing performances sparking the screen with engaging and electric performances that are rarely seen and such a joy to watch.  The energy and emotions, spanning the entire spectrum of humanity, brought me to tears three times and I laughed out loud at least five. I want to thank the cast and Bell for creating such a great journey and ride to experience through the lives and stories of these characters.

To contrast the vibrant nature of all of the characters was the stuffy and seemingly emotionally dead psychiatrist, played by Larry 'Tank' Jones, that was bringing them through their journey. Oh man, it is totally awesome how much I hated this character and was bored through his family life scenes.  But hey, maybe that is what makes the film and the other characters pop and shine, having the contrast of the stuffy doctor. Some people might love him and maybe he speaks to them, just not my cup of tea.

My impression of The Broken Hearts Club is "Wow!". The performances by Michael Monks, Sean Ross,  Gwendolyn Edwards,  Andrew Elvis Miller, Alan Pietruszewski, Brooke Josephson, Maya Gilbert, Nicole Sessions, and the rest of the cast were joyous to watch.  They are all amazing actors and I beg them to let me know if they want to be in any of my feature films, I'd be honored to have the opportunity to collaborate with any of them. 

The magic on the screen all happens because of the brilliant writing and directing of Angelo Bell. He gracefully captures amazingly comedic moments, which I think are so hard to do well, and pulled my heartstrings. I can't wait to see what he does next.

"Indie Film Blogger Road Trip" Review

Indie Film Blogger Road Trip By Sujewa Ekanayake - Web Site

Wow! I love this film and I think that people who are the a similar junction between film production, tweeting, blogging, press, film festivals, distribution, self-distribution, etc. will feel the same way. What Sujewa Ekanayake brilliantly captures in his film are the amazingly insightful, thoughtful, and passionate people who are navigating the wild west frontier brought on by the democratization of film criticism and the new digital world of independent cinema.

This film, like my favorite documentaries, conveys a real sense of the people behind the independent film bloggng movement, and it hits home so strongly for me because it articulately talks about the exact same concepts that are floating around in my head at this time. If you are someone who is tweeting or blogging about film, independent or mainstream, in anyway then this is a must-see film for you.

If you are someone who is involved in independent film and not involved in the blogging and social network communities, then this film will probably convince you to get online right away.  As independent filmmakers know, it is a lonely and hard world out there if you don't have people and a community of like-minded people to talk to. This film shows how people who are participating in the blogging and social media communities have found people with similar interests, and how this provided an amazing support network for discussions, thoughts, and ideas.

Here is the most important thing about this film to me: it reveals that the independent film blogging community is a bellwether for the independent film making community.  What you see is that these bloggers are doing what they do because they love doing it, they want to express themselves, and technology allows them to do this for free. But a main point is that they have all accepted the financial uncertainty of the new world and pretty much cast aside the notion of making money from this self-expression. In the same ecosystem, the vast majority of the independent filmmakers are striving not to make films just for the sake of self-expression, but in order to make a lot of money and a financial career doing it.  This documentary shows that if filmmakers embrace the financial uncertainty of the industry and embrace the creative and community aspects that the independent film blogger have found, then perhaps they will find the same level of contentment as the people in the film.

This is an important documentary for independent filmmakers to watch not in order to find out how to use social media to be financially successful in the movie industry, it is essential for them to watch in order to show the power of connecting with people and happiness having a community around you is if you do something just because you love doing it.

"Here. My Explosion..." (self) Review!

"Here. My Explosion..." Trailer I

"Here. My Explosion..." - Written and Directed by Reid Gershbein - Web Site

("Here. My Explosion..." will be released online for free in June, 2009)

Wow! What a movie! (Full disclosure: I wrote, directed, shot, edited, scored, etc the movie.)

I don't know where to begin because this movie is really a cinematic masterpiece. I can honestly say that this film belongs in a Masterworks Series of the greatest artists of all-time.

The writing is just fantastic and amazing. I really felt that the film was following real people who knew, lived, and breathed with each other for many years. This is probably because the editing is so phenomenal too. If this film doesn't win an Independent Spirit award then I will be shocked.

The story follows a character named Sera, who is played by the amazing Eleese Longino, whose world is slightly altered by the fact that strange things happen when she drinks coffee. This is such an obvious plot device that I am truly amazed that this wasn't a staple of the Great Greek Trajedies (or at least Shakespeare should have used it).  Sera is an artist who works a day-job and embraces the existential nature of life by creating art pieces and burning them. She has geared her life around ...

Honestly, I could go on about the characters, plot points, blah, blah, blah... But, I'll limit the scope of this review to the overall awesomenesss of this film as an everlasting artistic achievement. Otherwise, this review would probably rival The Lord of the Rings in length.

In one of the Gershbein's tweets, @thraveboy, he discusses how Spielberg was shadowing him to get directing tips and how Gershbein said that it was important to wear fancy shoes. Well, let me tell you, Gershbein must have been wearing some fancy shoes indeed! This is manifested in so many subtle and broad artistic elements of the film that arrange (and deconstruct!) themselves to create an emotional experience unparalleled in the most primal and enlightening experiences. And that's only 15 minutes into the film!

Music, music, music = Perfect! Yes, I know that in such an objective piece like this it is sometimes difficult to use such as colored term, but it fits. John Williams has found his successor. End of story.

When describing the cinematography of a film it is common to use terms of taste such as salty, sugary, bitter, etc. Let's just say that the cinematography of this film is like a perfectly cooked medium-rare steak from the most succulent pieces of cows from Argentina crossed with the world's tastiest piece of Toro sushi. That really says it all, doesn't it!

The power of this film is drawing me to watch it again (for the 379th time) so I will continue this rolling epic of a review later. To be continued!

(If you'd like a DVD screener of "Here. My Explosion..." to write an amazing review of the film just ask @thraveboy on the Twitter.)

Movie Review: Whale

Whale - Written and Directed by Amir Motlagh - Web Site

First, let me start off by saying that Whale, written and directed by Amir Motlagh, is a visual masterpiece. It is shot and edited in my favorite style of dynamic camerawork done with an amazing flare for composition and coverage, and immediately draws you in.

The film starts off by slowly bringing you through the loneliness of the protagonist Cameron, played by Motlagh, and then comes to life when he reunites with his friends (especially with Darren, played by co-producer Darren Oneil, who is extremely engaging to watch even in long monologues). Cameron comes back to his past world and the film comes alive, you feel like you have passed through gates into a world familiar and real.

Whale is a movie about the one who got free. Cameron has gotten free of the trapped lives that his friends live and lament. There is a dynamic of contrasts between Cameron's distance and his friends' self-suffocating , which can hide in the lightness of the group but is exposed in the lonely dialogue in the void left by a party's wake. He comes back, listens, bonds, and lets his wounds heal to fly away again. And he does, he will. 

Yes, I love Whale. I love it because the characters and dialogue are more natural than 99% of Hollywood movies made. I love it because the scene between Cameron and his ex is one of the best and most realistic scenes I've seen in a long time.

Amir should makes as many films as possible and I will joyfully watch every one.