“Pig” can be defined in many ways. A common farm animal, a person inclined to eat too much, a derogatory slang toward law enforcement, or a fitting short hand for a selfish, sexist man who hates every bone in a woman’s body. None of these truly fit within the confines of the film PIG, which can lead an audience astray. The title is most likely derived from the ramblings of the main character in reflection on his own past behavior, but this plays only a supplementary role in this complex science-fiction story of one man’s odyssey to regain his own mind.

Written and directed by Henry Barrial, PIG is as much a psychological thriller as it is science-fiction. This surely has its roots in Barrial’s education in psychology, which comes through in the script. Rudolph Martin plays the nameless main character, who wakes up in the middle of the desert with his hands bound behind his back and a black hood on his head. It’s not looking like a good day ahead. On the brink of death by dehydration, or worse, he passes out.

Flash forward a bit and our mystery man awakes in the home of a woman living alone in the desert. This woman found the man and has cared for him while unconscious. It is at this moment the man realizes he is suffering from a terrible case of amnesia, unaware of who he is or how he has come to be in this bizarre situation. What’s abundantly clear to the audience, however, is that some is not right and bad things are sure to come. The Man, whose only lead in a slip of scrap paper reading “Manny Elder,” begins an arduous struggle to regain some sense of self, to recover his memory, but leads him deeper into the rabbit hole (so to speak) than he ever imagined.

Rudolph Martin is not just convincing as the amnesiac man, but displays a range of tools in his acting utility belt that make the character that much more engaging. PIG can be classified as fitting the same general category science-fiction film as TOTAL RECALL or MINORITY REPORT, but without the action. On his journey, The Man encounters Manny Elder, played by Keith Diamond, a familiar face from several popular television series, and others who lead The Man to slowly piece the puzzle together.

PIG is a film that too easily can be spoiled, but what I can tell you is that nothing is what it seems, including The Man himself. PIG is not a traditionally structured film, presenting the story in a non-linear fashion that dissects time and shuffles the pieces into a complex puzzle, different but in a similar manner as Christopher Nolan’s MEMENTO. PIG not only stands up to multiple viewings, but actually demands a second viewing to capture the story in it’s entirety. I’m not suggesting its an impossibly complicated story to comprehend, but simply that PIG tells a story in such a fresh and entertaining fashion that you’ll want to see it a second time.

Showtimes
Sunday, November 13th at 1:30pm – Tivoli Theatre

Blake Eckard is what you’d call a “micro-budget” filmmaker. This means precisely how it sounds. Movies made on little to no budget, independent fare created by artists driven to have their visions come to fruition, regardless of any financial obstacles that would otherwise restrict such an endeavor. Eckard’s newest film is titled BUBBA MOON FACE, which he wrote and directed. With a title as odd as BUBBA MOON FACE, you may imagine the film being equally strange. On some level, this is certainly true, but its a subtle quirkiness that underlies the entire film, primarily a drama about a drifter named Horton (Tyler Messner) that returns to his rural roots for his mother’s funeral. While back home, his car breaks down and is forced to stay with his brother Stanton (Joe Hammerstone).

Horton is a reserved man, not an entirely happy man, and clearly removed from his past as a country boy given his reluctance and uneasiness around his kin. Certain interactions with his brother suggest he’s been gone for some time. As the story progresses, we’re introduced to Horton’s father Gus (Joe Hanrahan) who really brings out the David Lynch style strangeness of the story. Gus is a multiple divorcee, sexually romantic with a woman at least half his age and clearly heavy into recreational drugs, likely methamphetamine, given the rural setting and his peculiar nature. His presence creates more tension with Horton than is already present Stanton’s newly revealed situation.

Imagine taking BLUE VELVET and and turning it into a low-budget family drama, and you may begin to come close to describing the uniquely absurd and intriguing nature of BUBBA MOON FACE. When a drunken one-night stand named Sabetha (Sylvia Geiger) shows up on Stanton’s doorstep with a newborn baby, Horton finds himself stuck in the middle of a parental spat he wants nothing to do with. From here, the story deepens further into a tangled web of familiar connections and uncomfortable situations, including a casual love triangle between Horton, Stanton and a barmaid named Leslie (Misty Ballew).

BUBBA MOON FACE was shot in rural Northwest Missouri, evident in the many beautifully photographed establishing shots that are peppered throughout the film. On this level, the film feels close to home, as my roots reach into this same general area. While the literal actions and dialogue of the film are exaggerated, for humor and dramatic effect, the core of the relationships and circumstances are based in a foundation of real life. In a less than flattering light, there’s a clear element of what you’d expect to find on The Jerry Springer Show, but the truth is these things do happen. There are people who, for whatever reasons, seem strange and alien to people from other backgrounds, and the same is true in reverse. It seems to me that Eckard is trying to accentuate this.

Blake Eckard now has made four micro-budget feature films in the last decade. Take a moment, consider that statement and you should realize how impressive that is. Major Hollywood studio films with multi-million dollar budgets rarely are completed from script to release in under a year, but Eckard is trending one feature film every 2.5 years. Eckard’s films may not look like Hollywood fare, they may not be as polished as most viewers are accustomed to, but what I see is an independent filmmaker who knows what he’s doing, but chooses not to focus on the money of making movies. Likewise, I’ve certainly seen better written films, whereas Eckard’s dialogue is far from perfect, but the clumsiness (for lack of better words) adds an element of uncomfortable absurdity to this story that makes sense on a somewhat satirical level.

BUBBA MOON FACE screened at the Tivoli Theatre this morning (11/12/2011) as part of the 20th Annual Stella Artois St. Louis International Film Festival, followed by a Q&A with filmmaker Blake Eckard.

BOY WONDER is a psychological thriller about a boy obsessed with finding his mom’s killer. This weekend some of the talent behind the film were at NYCC to promote its upcoming theatrical and DVD release. Below is an interview with writer, director and producer Michael Morrissey.

Here’s the official synopsis of the film:

A young Brooklyn boy witnesses the brutal murder of his mother and grows up obsessed with finding her killer. Thus begins his life as a quiet, straight-A student by day and a self-appointed hero at night. But what is a real hero? And who decides what is right or wrong? As the boundaries blur, Sean’s dual life wears on his psyche and his two worlds careen dangerously close to colliding. Like a graphic novel you can’t put down, Boy Wonder challenges morality, distorting perceptions of what is right and what is justified, as it races to its shocking conclusion.

BOY WONDER will be in limited theaters in NY starting October 21st & Chicago October 28th. BW will be on DVD & VOD November 8th!

Jerry Cavallaro – www.JerryCavallaro.com

The knuckleball is a rare and complicated skill in baseball. Often associated with being the specialty pitch mastered by those determined pitchers without the gift of “heat,” the knuckleball is a tricky beast, but when a pitcher takes control of its reigns, he can be nearly unstoppable. Phil “Knucksie” Niekro proved that by earning himself a place in Cooperstown, the National Baseball Hall of Fame, almost entirely for his unmistakable oneness with the knuckleball.

KUCKLEBALL is a short film that captures the essence of the rare and awkwardly effective pitch as a metaphor, telling a story of a boy and his disjointed relationship with his father. Milo (Alexander Wruck) is a boy about the age of ten. His father (Timothy McKinney), emotionally distant as a result of his wife having recently walked out, is focused on moving what’s left of his family to a new home. Milo’s youthful sights are set upon playing baseball, perhaps in part as a distraction from the pain of his mother leaving, but he fails to receive the support he longs for from his father.

Written and directed by Jordan Kerfeld, KNUCKLEBALL was shot on Super 16 film in Austin, Texas. The result is a richly warm and homey feel, like watching a nostalgic home video that was shot by a professional cameraman. Kerfeld’s eye for descriptive and interesting composition matches his ability to convey his vision within the frame without bluntly beating his audience with excess style. The most consciously visible shot in the film is the final one, which serves as a powerfully visual closing that needs no dialogue.

KNUCKLEBALL gave me the same pleasant feeling I often associate with having religiously watched every episode of Wonder Years as a child Milo’s age. I was able to connect, not just because of my own love of baseball, but because this is a film about a boy with an undying dream and his father who discovers new hope through his son’s unshakeable resilience.

The strongest element of KUCKLEBALL is Milo’s ingenuity and determination. Milo sneaks off with his father’s camcorder after failing to garner his attention, constructing his own tryout video to play in the Major Leagues. For Milo, the problem of his age never crosses his mind as an obstacle, only that he believes he has talent and that playing in the “big show” would produce the money he and his father now need as they enter into a difficult new chapter of life. What Milo’s father does when he discovers the tape is a wonderful moment, having the greatest influence on KNUCKLEBALL being an accomplished and respectable family drama.

“Like” KNUCKLEBALL on Facebook, or Visit the Official Website at kballfilm.com

We all know what happens when aliens show up in the rural backwoods of the Midwest, but why have aliens only been interested in probing Americans? Writer and director Joe Cornish decided that needs to change. ATTACK THE BLOCK presents one idea of what it would be like if aliens arrived in an urban, inner city setting in London, but it’s not the typical fare you might expect.

Cornish, who has recently made his mark as a screenwriter of upcoming films THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN and ANT-MAN, now makes a substantial mark on the science-fiction genre with this little alien film that could… could possibly make you laugh and cheer, that is. ATTACK THE BLOCK has the makings of a cult sensation, a nostalgic good time film to be revisited year after year, like that of THE MONSTER SQUAD or GOONIES.

The story follows a small gang of teenagers in South London as they discover an alien. Quick to react with youthful curiosity and recklessness, the teens beat the floppy-limbed, big-headed alien creature – oddly resembling a disproportionately skewed Muppet – to its inevitable death, dragging it back to their building to show it off. This ultimately proves to be a big mistake.

ATTACK THE BLOCK is a film with multiple layers. The obvious layer, we’ll call this the frosting, is the alien invasion layer, whereas extraterrestrial creatures on Earth terrorize the inhabitants of one apartment building in South London. From this, we get the beginnings of a science-fiction story and the underpinnings of a fun-filled scary movie with plenty of jumps and startles, chases and man versus creature violence. But, just beneath the frosting is the cake, a richly flavored social commentary that is light and palatable.

While the premise of a film tackling the plight of inner city teens, gang culture and race relations may sound too dense to swallow, Cornish manages to construct this in a way that keeps ATTACK THE BLOCK fluffy and refreshing, while still satisfyingly spicy with a combination of terror and humor. The moral message remains hidden in the shadows, lurking around the corners, overshadowed by the intensely black, shadowy alien beasts that are hunting down anyone who came in contact with the less intimidating alien the teens pummeled to death.

The biggest name in the cast of ATTACK THE BLOCK is Nick Frost (SHAUN OF THE DEAD, PAUL) who has a relatively small but enjoyable supporting role as Ron, a somewhat out of place co-inhabitant of the local drug dealer Hi-Hatz’ crib, whom the main character of the film are friendly with. Hi-Hatz, on the other hand, serves primarily as another obstacle in the road for Moses (John Boyega) and his teen gang as they struggle to survive and find a way to defeat the alien creatures. Having two antagonists in the film gives the story more depth.

ATTACK THE BLOCK is unique, but draws on familiarity. For me, the film takes all that made THE MONSTER SQUAD and GOONIES fun and exciting, then combined it with the dark, frightening charm of Jim Henson, a la LABYRINTH. The alien beasts hunting the teens are pitch black, covered in long spiky quill-like hairs and intimidate the viewer with luminescent eyes and massive sharp teeth that glow in the dark. Sounds creepy, right? Add to this the fascination I had with the fact that these creatures were not computer generated, but rather old school guys in monster suits, and you have one very happy genre fan!

Cornish enlists the well-respected movement coach Terry Notary (PLANET OF THE APES, AVATAR) as the creature, making the effects come to life on screen. Its refreshing to see a well-made creature feature, notably influenced by John Carpenter’s THE THING and the ALIEN films, that intentionally avoids CGI. The effect is an entirely more intimate and spine-chilling atmosphere, a better sense of actually being there, in the moment, and a textural void that is filled that the excessive detail of most CGI creature design rarely manages to properly fill.

The language of ATTACK THE BLOCK may seem intimidating on the surface, not from an overuse of profanity, but from the incorporation of actual dialect and slang used in South London, giving the film a bit of authenticity and added cultural relevance. If you find yourself experiencing this difficulty early in the film, stick with it and allow yourself to be fully immersed in the story. Surprisingly, this will pass. Much like watching A CLOCKWORK ORANGE for the first time, while in English, the foreign dialect and slang can be confusing if you try and read too much into it, but ultimately all makes sense. Remember that movies are primarily a visual medium, so when a film is well-made, the dialogue is supported by what we see on screen. Cornish proves that he is clearly aware of this.

ATTACK THE BLOCK has thrills, great old school creature effects and humor, but the character development is possibly the most accomplished aspect of the film. Cornish allows his cast of teen characters to evolve from immature, typical teenagers into responsible, heroic figures. This is not just a genre film for fans of science-fiction and horror, but also a reasonably accessible family film, in the sense that the entire span of the teenage spectrum can relate to and appreciate the story while having a good time in the process.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Who is Francis “Pat” Fitzpatrick? The answer will surely differ greatly, depending on who you ask, but one thing everyone will agree upon is that he’s persistent and passionate. These two character traits are what create the controversy surrounding Pat, an aging man who has spent a significant chunk of his life fighting for the rights of the homeless residents of Gainesville, Florida.

“Why can’t number 131 be fed?” You’ll hear it repeatedly throughout CIVIL INDIGENT, a 55-minute short documentary collaboration from filmmakers Nicholas Corrao, David Hafter and Peter Salomone. The number 131 is significant, because that is the first person each and every day that must be turned away from a free meal at the St. Francis House.

You may ask why this is, which is what Pat does repeatedly, pointing out the absurdity of the ordinance put in place by the Gainesville City Commission. If there is food to be served, and hungry mouths in need of it, why limit the daily distribution of this food to what amounts to a completely random and meaningless number? The battle between Pat and the City Commission goes on, and on, and on, each of them trying to tire the other one into submission, but the heart of CIVIL INDIGENT is not in the outcome of this pursuit, but of the pursuit, and more importantly, the pursuer himself.

In good critical taste, I will refrain from revealing how CIVIL INDIGENT ends. Like any other film, there is still a narrative to good documentary filmmaking and, for the especially accomplished films, there is even suspense. Ever since the dawn of the first ostracized homeless man, the subject has been one of awkward, uncomfortable debate. Those who have usually are not interested in bothering themselves with those who have not, especially when those who have not are perceived as being lazy criminals who are burdens on civilized society.

CIVIL INDIGENT attempts to remain objective on this subject, but Pat is such a lively and sincere character, fighting so diligently, that the audience may have a hard time not siding with him. To be honest, I personally find it difficult to agree with the opposing viewpoints in the film, as minimal and inhumane as they are, but credit must be given to the filmmakers for allowing these voices to be heard. Amongst their concerns are the typical, yet understandable concerns that the homeless residents are potentially dangerous, are unruly and filthy, and are “eyesores” in the community. The problem with this sort of argument is that its an unfair generalization. Is this to suggest only homeless people fit this description?

Pat is a kind of more down-to-Earth, less fame-hungry version of Michael Moore. He is not interested in the spotlight, except as a means to further his cause. On several occasions, Pat has run for office, with no realistic expectations of winning, but as one more avenue for getting his message out to the masses. By the end of CIVIL INDIGENT, I was left feeling both uplifted that someone cares enough to go through what Pat endures, but also exhausted, having experienced just a taste of Pat’s endless efforts.

For more information on CIVIL INDIGENT, visit the website here.

MADELEINE ZABEL is the story of an infamous, Lindsay Lohan-type young celebrity named Maddy Z, and a stressed out reporter named Elliot Snow (Chris Henry Coffey) attempting to capture her in a controversial light. Both characters are far from happy. As we can imagine, Maddy Z (Jenna D’Angelo) is on the verge of a nervous breakdown, juggling too many “projects” from her modeling and music to fashion. Elliot is worn out but determined, potentially risking his own relationship during this brief 10-minute phone interview with Maddy Z.

Written, directed, produced and edited by Chris Shimojima, DP and editor of the acclaimed web-series Downsized, MADELEINE ZABEL tears away the makeup laden exterior of a fictional pop star and exposes the fragile, broken humanity that lies beneath. Jenna D’Angelo portrays the questionably talented, yet equally popular and criticized Maddy Z with a convincing range of emotions. She hides her true feelings until the end, when Elliot finally pulls the to the surface, practically sucker punching her with his questions as she sucker punched a paparazzi.

In the process of Elliot cracking Maddy Z, the two somehow reach a moment when they connect, inadvertently meeting on a path, headed in opposite directions, but ultimately benefit each other in unexpected ways. Coffey depicts the desperate reporter accurately, subtly conveying the gradual transition of his focus away from his own troubles to the troubles Maddy Z has finally come to confess to him on the phone, all while Maddy Z’s publicist Kelly Walters (Janet Laverty) attempts to control the spiraling situation with a military precision.

Cory Dross provides a flashy, glamorous sense of vision as the director of photography. MADELEINE ZABEL begins as a broadcast of a gossip/news style show airs a story about the her violent outburst against the paparazzi, then settles into the more somber isolation of Maddy Z in her luxurious hotel room, with sterile white walls and her publicist barking orders, but insisting she’s her friend and only has her best interests at heart. Elliot’s turn of the camera, however, tends to be more spontaneous, his perspective is more frantic, his world more chaotic.

The score, ranging from a techno-club infused opening to a more percussion-influenced dramatic undertone, comes from composer Thomas Vanoosting, who provided music for the PBS production Lincoln: Prelude to The Presidency. The music serves as an intricate underlay, helping to build the suspense of the phone interview, as Elliot’s questioning unravels into one strategically placed bombshell after another.

MADELEINE ZABEL is a powerfully energetic, neurotic tale of contemporary fame. The film tackles both sides of the monstrous pursuit of fame, the star and the star reporter, revealing that neither is far removed from the other. In the end, it’s all about what how to balance the persons of fame with the real person smothered beneath the artificiality.

Watch MADELEINE ZABEL by visiting the website, and “Like” the film on Facebook.

4 years ago, I attended a screening of SUPERBAD the day it came out. Immediately after that screening, I was inspired. The film was a series of long conversations. The story had been done a million times. But it worked because the dialogue was brilliant and everyone could relate to the characters. I have been a fan of CLERKS. & Kevin Smith for years prior to this but something just clicked. It had gone mainstream. So I started thinking about what the simplest idea for a story could be that would showcase the characters and the dialogue. I immediately came up with the age old idea of people stuck in a room. I began to realize that this was actually something I could do so I started working on the idea. A week later I started writing the script. 6 months later we started shooting. A year and a half after that, we premiered at our first film festival and went home with Audience Choice Comedy. And now, exactly 4 years after the idea was born, the film is now available for free online. Watch it. Enjoy it. And get inspired!

If you like the film and would like to help out, you can make a donation of $1 or more right HERE. As a token of appreciation, everyone who contributes will received access to nearly 10 hours of bonus features including deleted scenes, a feature length making of, behind the scenes videos, a commentary track and more. You can also help out by purchasing a t-shirt from DIRECTOR’S CAMEO. Several of the shirts featured in the film are available on that site, as well many more shirts designed specifically for filmmakers, movie geeks & pop culture junkies.

Now that it is finally available, what did you think of the film?

Jerry Cavallaro – JerryCavallaro.com

Shorts Program 8: Horror Shorts includes 8 individual short films of various styles, for a total running time of 95 minutes. Played consecutively, these films offer a broad and entertaining showcase for independent horror filmmakers in the St. Louis area.

THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO (13 minutes)

Directed by Hugo Fleming, THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO is a tale of revenge, based on the story by Edgar Allen Poe. Two men (Mark Bunch and Billy Benner), with their minds altered by the effects of Budweiser 40s, wander deep into a subterranean realm, whereas only would may ultimately return. The film is more of a operatic ode to Poe, that a traditional narrative film. THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO contains no dialogue, instead told entirely by the very words of Poe himself. Illustrated by a haunting piano and vocal score (Somewhere Under the Rainbow, written and performed by Heather Rice) that draws on the dark heart of Poe’s literary horror. The cinematography (Matthew Pitzer) is eerie, capturing the cavernous early industrial setting, both ancient and chiseled by dead men’s hands. The narration, provided by Anne Williams, recalls a feminine twin of Vincent Price in his Poe era.

THE CONFINED (26 minutes)

Erin Marie Hogan plays Jackie, a young woman who witnesses her boyfriend’s murder. Traumatized by the event, Jackie slips shuts her self in, crippled by an overwhelming state of agoraphobia. Spending the majority of her time alone in her quiet house, Jackie is haunted by her memories. As with any effective horror story, the sound of the film is key. Jackie begins to notice sounds in the walls, and strange evidence of an unknown presence. With so much of horror focused on gore and violence, its nice to see new filmmakers still interested in the psychological realm of horror, infinitely more difficult to pull of, but equally rewarding, as is the case with THE CONFINED. Hogan provides a quality performance, dwelling in a descriptive silence for much of the film. Writer, director and editor Nicholas Acosta made a fine choice of utilizing a meticulously steady camera, much like what Kubrick did in THE SHINING, but juxtaposes ti with the jarring, handheld footage of old home videos. THE CONFINED should sufficiently creep you out as a haunted ghost story should.

THE DOOR (12 minutes)

Written and directed by Brent Madison, THE DOOR begins in complete blackness, challenging the audience by layering multiple pulsating, echoing sounds into a frightening, techno-atmospheric landscape through the titles, cutting immediately into Allison’s (Allison Ochmanek) nightmare. She wakes, only to find her boyfriend Chris (Christopher Howell) taken over by an evil entity shortly after. Stylistically a cross between Carpenter and Candyman, THE DOOR offers a visual intensity and possibly the highest production value of all the horror shorts, complete with special effects and the style of dialogue we’ve come to expect from enjoyable mainstream fright flicks. The woman’s “possessed” boyfriend lures her into a large, old house where she comes face to face with the creature behind THE DOOR. The film’s score (Doug Pearson) penetrates the viewer’s senses, making the biggest impact in film’s visceral assault on the viewer’s fears.

IN THE CARDS (10 minutes)

Jack and Claire (played by Burke Mohan and Brigitte Crumpton) are newly engaged, but already experiencing turbulence in their relationship. When they decide to see a fortuneteller (Terry Hampton) on a whim, they get more than they bargained for. IN THE CARDS begins as a sort of anti-romantic comedy, with heavily cliche’s flowing from the fortuneteller’s mouth. Then the cards begin to fall into fated order on the teller’s table, sending the couple into a dream-like trance, allowing them an enigmatic glimpse into their own future. At first a fairly straight-forward approach, writer and director Zach Smith uses the couple’s initial foray into their fortune as a ledge from which to leap into a much darker, visually captivating story.

OUTPOST 13 (4 minutes)

OUTPOST 13 is more science-fiction than horror, depicting the planet after we’ve already destroyed all it’s life-giving beauty. A scientist (Guy Stephens) works to save the dying planet, tucked away in a tiny laboratory where he spends his down time reliving his once beautiful planet through virtual reality. OUTPOST 13 is fully narrated, with it’s single characters uttering no dialogue on screen. The cinematography (Wyatt Weed) is highly effective and the images of Earth as it was are on a National Geographic scale, but the special effects from Pirate Pictures are what stand out in this film, providing a brutal, desolate landscape and impressive science-fiction touches to the interior and exterior of the outpost laboratory. OUTPOST 13 was written by William Hartzel and directed by Corey Logsdon.

STAIRS (6 minutes)

Further she climbs, spiraling up a seemingly endless flight of stairs, a young woman (Stephanie Sanditz) faces her deepest fears. The staircase, like something from an M.C. Escher drawing, appears to have no beginning and no end, instead pulling her repeating to a door. What lies on the other side of the door? STAIRS, written and directed by Doveed Linder, draws visually on primal human fear, much like Hitchcock’s VERTIGO drew on the fear of heights. Sanditz conveys her fear with great conviction, relying solely on her facial expressions and body language, uttering not a single word. STAIRS is not a literal film, but a cinematic interpretation of a very uncomfortable human emotional experience.

STRUMPET (14 minutes)

This is the story of a lonely traveler (Stephen J. Hefferman) who takes shelter from a ravaging storm within an old hotel, welcomed by a curiously strange innkeeper (Brian McDowell), but haunted by a deadly supernatural seductress (Emily Brown) in his sleep. What I love most abut STRUMPET is how writer and director Wolfgang Lehmkuhl perfectly captures the essence of the early silent era of German expressionist horror. The gorgeous Gothic cinematography (Michael Lowhorn) comes as close as one can reasonably expect to mimicking the visual appeal of the old film cameras of that cinematic age. The score (Kevin MaCleod and Jon Feraro) is splendidly dreadful, representing the looming horror that surely awaits. The look of the film, and even the performances, also remind me of the subtly offbeat undercurrent present in so many of Guy Maddin’s films. Personally, STRUMPET is my favorite pick of the Shorts Program 8, immersing me fully into the abyss of exquisitely frightful sensory rapture.

THE OUTSIDER: 911 – The Pilot (10 minutes)

Unfortunately, this offering from peter Carlos was the only film of this shorts program I missed.

Synopsis: In the middle of the night, something not of this Earth has come for teenager Alex Jackson.

Shorts Program 8, Horror Shorts will screen during the 2011 Stella Artois St. Louis Filmmaker’s Showcase at 9:30PM on Wednesday, August 17th at the Tivoli Theatre.

Shorts Program 6: Comedy Shorts includes 11 individual short films of various comical style, for a total running time of 80 minutes. Played consecutively, these films offer a broad and entertaining showcase for independent comedy filmmakers in the St. Louis area.

FLUFF (4 minutes)

Directed by Anthony Meadows and shot by Tim Bowe, FLUFF is an awesome action-mystery-thriller ode to all the kick ass genres of cinema. The comedy is inherent, as the film is cast entirely with colorful, handmade puppets. The central character, a stuffed bear, meets up with a stuffed horse named Lewis (voiced by Tim Gowan) about a strange black disc (a button). As they flee from danger together through the woods, they run into a freaky shot-out stuffed bear-thing named Martin (voiced by Tyler Meadows), who joins them in a violent fight to the death with two sock monkeys seeking the black disc. Carnage ensues, culminating in an open-ended “what happens next” moment. The marionette-style animation of these puppets lends to the cheesy goodness of unmoving mouths and occasionally visible fishing lines controlling the puppets movements. Those who like TEAM AMERICA, MEET THE FEEBLES, or Triumph the Insult Comic Dog will probably eat FLUFF up with a spoon.

BLOODFEST CLUB: DOWN ON THE FARM (7 minutes)

BLOODFEST CLUB: DOWN ON THE FARM is a short, comedic documentary on the making of the trailer for THE BLOODFEST CLUB, a brilliantly obvious horror-comedy hybrid with a certain John Hughes influence that is planned for production in 2012. Directed by Ken Calcaterra, this behind-the-scenes glimpse sets the mood by opening into a Benny Hill frenzy of high-speed filmmaking antics, set to quick tempo banjo music, which transitions abruptly to a heavy metal title. The film interviews the various cast and crew members, more than willing to share the ever-present abundance of indie-horror production war stories and battle scars. On the flip side, the support given the filmmakers from their community is addressed as well. This is a great opportunity to be entertained, while also learning about the exciting, and sometimes dangerous, lives of local indie filmmakers… and about the dangers of working with gerbils.

BOOM BOOM (8 minutes)

Larry and Terry Ziegelman co-wrote and co-directed BOOM BOOM, a dark comedy short about two friends who bump into each other over coffee. Ahmed (Karthik Srinivasan) sits nervously by himself when the loud and obnoxious Jamal (Behzad Dabu) recognizes him and imposes on his solitary coffee. Once Ahmed finally acknowledges Jamal as a friend, the film slips into absurdity hyper-drive, placing the two characters’ serious business of being Jihad suicide bombers on public display, making no effort to conceal their sinister purpose. The film is a, unapologetic satirical mocking of the rules and culture of Muslim extremists, with Ahmed and Jamal delaying each other as they debate and fantasize about what will be waiting for them on the other side, oblivious to the world around them. BOOM BOOM is either hilarious, or highly offensive, depending on your outlook, but the goal is to make us laugh, a goal at which the film succeeds.

GREENTHUMB (3 minutes)

GREENTHUMB was written and directed by Curtis C. Craig, and shot and edited by Daniel Parris, who also had his feature-length documentary GIVE A DAMN? premiere during this year’s St. Louis Filmmaker’s Showcase. The short film plays mostly as a montage, with a man going through his daily motions of hydrating himself, then hydrating the lawn, inadvertently discovering a novel solution for sustainable gardening. As the viewer, once you get past the baffling question of why this man chooses to do what he does, the film becomes a sort of parable for setting an example for others. I know, it sounds like a stretch, but what I took away from viewing this short film was a light, humorous approach to conveying a rather simple, environmental message.

HELP WANTED (3 minutes)

Another short film written, directed, produced and edited by Ken Calcaterra, HELP WANTED is a silly silent comedy about a stoner dude trying to get a job at an ice cream shop. His hopes of free ice cream are repeatedly dashed when the young female clerk refuses to consider his proposal, but the man persists. One ridiculous attempt after another, from a hand-written resume to the most lavishly lame disguises, the film finally comes to a conclusion. There will be some who undoubtedly enjoy HELP WANTED, but the juvenile humor just isn’t my taste. If this is something you’re into, then by all means enjoy the show!

IT’S A SYMBOL (16 minutes)

A man named Maximus (Steve Gibbons) walks into a grocery store. Queue the lavish orchestral music as Maximus selects a single red rose. IT’S A SYMBOL, directed by Jamie Koogler, follows two actors’ tedious and nerve-racking wait for this rose to finally die. Maximus is an annoying, overly energetic ham. On the other hand, Stacy (Dawn Davis) is the dead serious, pretentious type who demands the rose be dead, as a symbol for her character’s mental state. These two acting partners quibble and bicker back and forth like an episode of The Honeymooners or I Love Lucy, struggling to work together on their scenes. IT’S A SYMBOL plays like a soap opera, if the soap opera was cast by Saturday Night Live hopefuls. As silly as the premise is, silly as in Curb Your Enthusiasm, the film works as a throwback to ’80s era sitcoms. Maybe it’s just my interpretation, but it makes the craziness of the film enjoyable.

LIVE BY THE SWORD (14 minutes)

Written and directed by Stephen Jones, LIVE BY THE SWORD begins with Dale (Matt Wills) sitting at home with a plate of nachos, watching TV when an infomercial for discount swords catches his fancy. Dale is a geek, nothing wrong with that. His t-shirt that reads “Shakespeare Hates Your EMO Poems” tells us he’s not bashful about his geekness. The samurai sword arrives in the mail and thus begins Dale’s creatively destructive adventure. He gets carried away, using the sword in ways it was never intended, and taking it with him to inappropriate places. Like so many stereotypical trigger-happy, gun-loving ’70s era Dirty Harry characters, his sword fills the absense of a female companion in Dale’s life, until he meets Natalie (Kelly Nienaltowski), a woman with similar interests. On a purely technical front, LIVE BY THE SWORD suffers from a number of poorly lit night scenes, making parts of the film difficult to watch properly, otherwise the film is a fun, quirky boy-meets-girl story with a delightful touch of MALLRATS at the end.

MUGGED (5 minutes)

Director Andrew Saunders’ short film MUGGED begins with a creepy through-the-knot-hole shot of someone watching, as a man walks by, busy talking on his cell phone. The man becomes the victim of a mugger, but what becomes excrutiatingly apparent, however, is that the mugger may be the true victom… of a Cable Guy type of unlikely stalker, who follows the mugger everywhere, believing he and the mugger are now friends. The man is an annoying, rude and clueless combination of Jerry Lewis and Kevin James, ultimately leading to a likely and anticlimatic ending. The film is enjoyable, but doesn’t do quite enough to make itself as original as it could have been. MUGGED stars Josh Wibbenmeyer and Jordan Bowlin.

ROBBERS (8 minutes)

Written, directed and edited by Nick Young, ROBBERS screams slapstick right from the start. The two robbers (David Appelbaum and Hubby Clark) exhibit the same level of skill as Harry and Marv from the HOME ALONE films. As it turns out, ROBBERS is very much like the HOME ALONE movies in this sense, except for the hero. Instead of a smart-mouther little kid, the robbers must deal with a drunk man (Devin Penn) whose wife left him for his best friend and has nothing to lose. It’s a nice twist, but not a terribly massive leap from the obvious inspiration. One thing ROBBERS has going for it is a witty, adolescent yet adult sense of humor that comes through in the dialogue. I enjoyed the film for what it is, which is purely meant to be popcorn humor, an adult take on a familiar family comedy.

TIEUR EMBUSQUE (6 minutes)

Alternately titled “Sniper,” this black and white short film starts out peaceful, shot to evoke a serene feeling, complete with relaxing music and cutaway shots of pretty flowers gently swaying in the wind. A man (Jeffrey Glickman) removes a bag from the trunk of his car and takes a stroll through a park full of people enjoying themselves. No one seems to notice that his bag looks suspiciously like a gun case and that he appears to be headed straight for a tower in the center of the park. The music gradually takes a decidedly darker turn as the man ascends the tower stairs, a segment of the film I particularly enjoyed for it’s Hitchcockian visual flair. Even the composition of frames takes on a slight influence of German silent horror as the story reaches its climax. The tension slowly builds until the agonizing, unbearably brutal conclusion assaults the viewer as well as the innocents in the park. Co-directors Jordan Oakes and Hal Scharf take a simple premise and run with it, creating a cinematically strong film that bends the rules of traditional comedy, with an added twist at the end.

THE WORLD CHAMPIONS (7 minutes)

Two slackers with no muscial talent jamming out until one of the slackers’ parents return home. This is how THE WORLD CHAMPIONS begins, with these two daydreaming losers fantasizing about “when they make it big.” All of that changes while surfing the Internet for possible band names when they stumble upon the world champion apple pie eater. Suddenly, their delusions shift from becoming rock stars to setting a world record, believing this will reward them with respect, money and babes. They set out on a series of attempts to break a world record, any record they can, with fame in their eyes. From fastest time running a 100-yard dash, to most spin kicks to a tree in 20 seconds. After going through countless failed attempts, they have a mutual epiphany. THE WORLD CHAMPIONS was directed by and stars Matt Basler and Train Mayer, evoking Justin Long and John Belushi in their appearance and personalities.

Shorts Program 6, Comedy Shorts will screen during the 2011 Stella Artois St. Louis Filmmaker’s Showcase at 9:30PM on Tuesday, August 16th at the Tivoli Theatre.

JOINT BODY is the newest film from indie writer and director Brian Jun, whose 2006 film STEEL CITY earned him the Sundance Channel Emerging Director award at the St. Louis International Film Festival. The film was shot just across the Mississippi River in Illinois, Jun’s home state.

The story takes place over seven days in a small town, following Nick (Mark Pellegrino) as he stumbles through an uncertain future. Having served seven years in prison, Nick is released on parole, with the condition that he relinquishes all rights of custody over his now teenage daughter to his ex-wife. Nick settles into a shabby halfway house and secures a job welding for a fabricator. Nick’s brother Dean (Ryan O’Nan) is now a cop on the vice squad, fresh out of the academy. In an awkward attempt to rekindle some connection that never exists between him and his brother, Dean supplies Nick with a throwaway revolver as protection.

As Nick slowly acclimates to life outside of prison, he meets an exotic dancer named Michelle (Alicia Witt) who lives in his building. With nothing left to lose, Nick proposes he and Michelle get coffee, with about as much confidence as a high school nerd asking the prom queen to dance. As it turns out, Michelle has little more to lose and they form the fragile beginning of a blind relationship, but their relationship is turned on its head shortly after it begins when someone from Michelle’s past returns unexpectedly, resulting in a violent incident putting Michelle and Nick down the wrong path once more.

Brian Jun, in my eyes, is already showing signs of a master storyteller. JOINT BODY is unpretentious, down to Earth and unassuming. The human drama he weaves is like a minimalist tapestry with the finest details. The suspense that builds in JOINT BODY is a slow burning sensation, taking a back seat to Jun’s development of tactile characters the viewer can connect with, only enhanced by performances that should result in a heightened respect for these two lead actors, as well as the director.

Mark Pellegrino, most recognizable for his television work on shows including Dexter and Lost, delivers fully as a misunderstood ex-con who only wants to live what little is left of his life without being noticed, but can’t shake the stigma now attached to his presence. Alicia Witt, best known for her role on the TV series Friday Night Lights and her recent role in PEEP WORLD, gives the audience one more reason to love her, embracing her role as a stripper, but adding so much to the character’s well-written role to lift Michelle out of the stereotype and into the hearts of the audience. Michelle is a good woman, stuck in a dead end situation by an immature decision made as a teenager.

JOINT BODY is shot with a gritty, almost sepia-tinged color palette, giving the story an added sense of decay. Layer the crumbling appearance of the small town on top of this and the film carries with it a subconscious tone of impending tragedy. Whereas the average reaction to such a setup would be for Nick to defy the law and set out to reconnect with his daughter, Jun takes the story in an entirely different direction. Nick makes every effort to do things right, while Michelle inadvertently pulls Nick into a worst-case scenario like a magnet for bad luck, despite her best intentions.

What I love most about JOINT BODY is how Brian Jun makes everything about this story beautiful, not in a storybook perfect sort of way, but in a way that takes all the bad things and unhappy feelings that are inherent in life and shows that even the darker gray shades of the human experience can have a poetically somber beauty. Where Hollywood would inject melodrama, Jun relies marvelously on realism and authenticity. This element of the film is present throughout the film, leading up to a partially open-ended, bittersweet conclusion that is as heartbreaking as it is fittingly appropriate.

I am proclaiming JOINT BODY as one of my favorite films of 2011. Within an hour of first seeing the film, I found myself with an overwhelming urge to revisit it a second time. I wanted to reconnect with Nick and Michelle, almost as if I wanted to make sure they were all right. Few fictional films actually make me feel like I actually care about the characters, but JOINT BODY does this effortlessly, leaving a deep and lasting impression with me that keeps resurfacing in my mind. If this is something you enjoy experiencing in a film, or never have and would like to know what it’s like, go see JOINT BODY and tally this as one more reason why independent film needs and deserves your support!

JOINT BODY will screen during the 2011 Stella Artois St. Louis Filmmaker’s Showcase at 7:00PM on Sunday, August 14th at the Tivoli Theatre.

Filmmaking lives and thrives in St. Louis. The first Shorts Program: Dramatic Shorts plays Sunday, August 14th at Noon at the Tivoli as part of the St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase and while we, as members of the general public, have a tendency to reward predicable entertainment with our ticket money, it’s often these unusual shorts that are the most satisfying. There are twelve shorts in this presentation which runs about 100 minutes. Cinema St. Louis did an outstanding job with their selection of these as not one is less than impressive.

The menu kicks off with 14:28, an 8-minute look at three assassins who travel back in time to plant a bomb in a theater (filmed at the Keller 8!) that will kill a politician 20 years in the future. This plays like a scene from a feature film and, like most time travel stories, leads to more questions than answers. Why didn’t they just go back 40 years and off him when he was a kid, or pull a TERMINATOR and whack his mom? I’m unsure if I would have been able to follow where it was going if I had not read about it, but it’s well-done and aided by a driving score by Steve Barnegren. In Sarah Worner’s brief standout BACK, a teenage Native American girl does a traditional Indian dance at her grandmother’s funeral. Simple, powerful, and moving, it’s a remarkable three minutes. THE COURIER by Steve Matejka and Alex Keel is nothing more than a foot chase around historic St. Charles that ends in a fistfight, murder, and revenge. It’s rather pointless with a lot of shots of men jumping over fences climaxing in a poorly-choreographed fistfight, but it’s tightly-edited, wordless storytelling which again seems like something pulled from a feature. At 15 minutes, Chris Pickup’s HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM is the longest film in this grouping, a full-blooded short story told in flashback by a young boy in a mental ward. It’s ambitious and well-acted if predictable. Tyler DePerro’s 4-minute THE HUNDRED is a fun short about three different people’s reactions to a finding a $100 bill in the street. It’s the most inventive film in the program, extremely well-made and ultimately kinda profound. In LIES WE TELL OURSELVES, a black lesbian (filmmaker Miranda Richardson) mouths off to the camera for 8 minutes about her relationship history. OFF THE AGES is an odd, 8-minute slice of whimsy by Michelle Manott. It presents an old man and a young woman standing in a field for a competition between “traditional” and “digital” (typewriter vs computer, violin vs keyboard, camera vs… uh, camera). Told in pantomime, it’s a clever concept nicely executed. In Mike Roth’s 8-minute PLIGHTS, a recent college graduate tastes the real world for the first time. Joshua Mullin’s POKE is a 13-minute story of an old man annoyed by a precocious little girl he meets at his wife’s funeral when she pokes the dead body with her finger. At the end, he does the same to her dead grandpa. Kinda creepy. SHOWDOWN is the most ambitious film in the program, a grainy B&W Bergmanesque mood piece about a WWII GI’s card game with a German soldier. This compelling contemplation of death and the nature of war from Brant Hadfield is the type of pretentious and symbolism-heavy short they just don’t seem to make anymore. A sunglasses-wearing pulp novelist researches the local bar scene for his next story in SMOKE AND MIRRORS, a predictable mini-noir from Peter Carlos filmed at what has to be the least cinematic watering hole in St. Louis (Mac’s C’Mon Inn !). Hannah Radcliff’s YELLOW ends the program with a story described as ‘Estranged siblings reconnect after the death of their father”. This film wouldn’t play on the disc provided me for review. Sorry. The twelve shorts program makes for an interesting way to spend 100 minutes and see what the St. Louis filmmaking community is up to.

Shorts Program 1: Dramatic Shorts will screen during the 2001 Stella Artois St. Louis Filmmaker’s Showcase at 12:00PM (noon) on Sunday, August 14th at the Tivoli Theatre.

Art house cinemas seem to get a flood of low-budget indie dramas about drifting twenty-somethings every year. Well, here’s one with an interesting twist. ANOTHER EARTH, as it’s title suggests, is indeed about another, parallel, earth. It’s like our planet’s looking into a mirror. This film focuses not on that twin, but on how it’s sudden appearance effects the residents of this earth. And you guessed it- how this effects a woman in her twenties who seem to be adrift.

Said woman is Rhoda Williams, played by the film’s co-writer Brit Marling. We first see her celebrating at a party. Seems the young genius has been accepted by MIT. Driving home she hears on the radio the news of the discovered twin earth. Craning her head out the car window, she causes a horrific accident. We next see Rhoda being released from prison after serving four years. Her Mom, Dad and younger brother pick her up and take her back to the family home. She makes almost no effort to re-connect with them. At her request a job  agency gets her work as a janitor at a high school. Returning home one evening she stops by the scene of that accident fours years ago. She sees a man leaving flowers at the site. She follows him back to his home and decides to clean the run down house of  this composer, John Burroughs (William Mapother). In the time she’s been incarcerated, the twin planet has drifting much closer. A Richard Branson-type is mounting an expedition to this planet. He announces an essay contest that will offer a seat on the spaceship as first place. Will Rhoda enter the contest? Will she reveal the truth to John?

When I learned of the film’s premise I looked forward to an interesting speculation on the arrival of a twin earth. Unfortunately this film stays fairly grounded. We get to see the family watching an attempt at interplanetary communication on live TV and that’s it, aside from people staring up at the approaching planet. Co-writer and director Mike Cahill is very creative with these shots considering his very low budget. I just wished the scenes had some energy. This dreary-looking  film moves at a snail’s pace. The addition of a older Native-American janitor that Rhoda befriends seems a tad pretentious. There’s not much life to Rhoda’s character. She spends most of the film silently trudging through the snow, staring up, cleaning, and gazing at John. I admire that Ms. Marling worked on the script, but wish she would’ve made her character more compelling. I enjoyed seeing Mapother break away from the evil characters he’s played in films (IN THE BEDROOM) and TV (Lost), but this composer often behaves illogically. ANOTHER EARTH has a tantalizing idea, but it’s never very involving.

Overall Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

Everyone has been solicited to purchase girl scout cookies at some point, usually around the same time every year. Some can even claim to have been pressured, coerced or even harassed into buying the tasty little fundraising treats. Hey, a girl’s got to earn her badges, right?

GET OFF MY PORCH (2010) is a fun-filled, darkly twisted tale of a man who finds out just how far two girl scouts will go to ensure everyone enjoys their cookies. Writer and director Patrick Rea (with more than 25 short films to his credit) clearly has a decidedly wicked sense of humor, one that touches on the macabre without actually going there in detail. Rea’s forked-tongue-in-cheek short film winks and nods, but despite all the intensity of the film’s unsettling humor, it remains surprisingly somewhat family friendly. If I were so shallow as to support the ratings code as it currently stands, I would probably give Rea’s film a PG-13, primarily for scenes of “implied violence and satanic worship.”

Of course, I’m not that shallow. Instead, I’ll give GET OFF MY PORCH, a 13-minute short, an “A” for “awesome” because I had a so much fun watching the film. I laughed, but I also felt legitimately spooked, especially once the true evil nature of the girl scouts bares its metaphorical fangs.

*It should also be noted, this review is in no way a direct commentary on the actual Girl Scouts, who do fine work for their communities. That, and, I don’t want them coming after me.

Brad Meehan plays Neil, just an average guy, who finds two cute girl scouts standing on his porch, smiling from ear-to-ear. They present their tasty treats in a rehearsed fashion, but Bert politely refuses, not out of some stroke of meanness, but simply because he had just recently purchased fundraiser goodies from some other kids. Just when Bert believes he has successfully protected his wallet from further thinning, he discovers persistence as he’s never known.

Let’s talk about Mary and Cindy. These are two of the scariest girls you’ll meet on the big screen. They’re adorable, innocent-looking enough, but this is all very deceptive. Mary, played by Katherine McNamara (TV series DROP DEAD DIVA, 30 ROCK), and Cindy, played by Andrea Strickler, are demented psychopaths. Yes, I said it. GET OFF MY PORCH is funny, yes, but it’s primarily a horror story. The things they manage to do to Bert are both imaginative and disturbing, but Bert is driven out of his “good guy” shell as he attempts to fight back.

Visually, GET OFF MY PORCH has a very digital look to the film, shot on the Panasonic HVX-200, but cinematographer Hanuman Brown-Eagle does a marvelous job of keeping the shadows prominent and the colors rich and saturated without taking over the composition of each shot. One of the highlights of the film is Henry Manfredini’s score. A true veteran of horror composers, Manfredini has scored the likes of FRIDAY THE 13TH, SWAMP THING, HOUSE, WISHMASTER, and a personal favorite of mine, CAMERON’S CLOSET.

GET OFF MY PORCH starts out as something you may expect to see on the Disney Channel or Nickelodeon, but quickly warps into a playfully nightmarish experience. I am reminded of films such as 976-EVIL… creepy, but cheeky. GET OFF MY PORCH is, in some respects, a horror film that parents can appreciate… if not fear.

Learn more about GET OFF MY PORCH at the film’s website.

BOILING POINT is not a film with high production value, pretty faces or showy effects. BOILING POINT is at the heart of what the future of great filmmaking is to be, which is exactly the place it has been for some time now… in the hands of passionate indie filmmakers, not held back by a lack of budget or resources. BOILING POINT is an indie film, not without it’s flaws, but rich with unrefined morsels of creative talent just waiting to be polished out from within rigid exterior.

Metronome Productions, a student film company based around Edge Hill University, may not be on the average movie watchers’ map, but the drive with which they are attempting to expose their films to the public is what convinced me to have a look at the film, and ultimately to write this review.

Written by Jack Leigh, who also co-directed the film with Sam Bewick, BOILING POINT is a suspenseful character study that draws on the creepiness of Owen Davis the Private Investigator, played by Christopher Lee Power, a brooding, pushy man with a pale complexion and stress in his face. The younger man being questioned, Paul Connors, is played by Gavin Hodson. The choice of wardrobe, even the casting based on appearances, detract slightly from this characters’ believability. I found the accent, the style of speech and mannerisms intriguing, but had difficulty accepting them as part of the character I saw on screen. I wanted the Paul Connors to appear rougher, or in some way appear potentially dangerous.

The Private Investigator applies his questions slowly, methodically, as we watch the man being questioned slowly unravel. The emphasis on contrast, with the heavy shadows and nearly overblown highlights is standard fair for this sort of story, but what caught my attention in BOILING POINT was the intricate, while not yet perfected, use of the camera. Curious, but understated angles — whereas many students go ridiculously hog wild like a kid with $20 in a candy store — is what keeps the viewer visually connected to the film. There are fluid moving shots and opportune moments, gently revealing character reactions in ways that enhance the characters’ emotions.

As the title suggests, BOILING POINT is interwoven with cutaways of a coffee pot and the like, which not only gives the characters something to do with their hands, but also offers an additional layer of indirect storytelling. In all fairness, the inclusion of the coffee pot element is just slightly heavy-handed, but the edits are well executed and add to the visual dynamics of the film. In fact, the only element of BOILING POINT that distinctly bothers me is a stylistic choice. The flashback scenes are a bit too jarring with the strobe effect, offering nothing to enhance their presence.

About halfway through BOILING POINT, we begin to realize what’s really happening, as the tension increases and the tables begin to turn out of kilter. The film evolves into a revenge story, at moments feeling the slightest bit rushed. We’ve seen this story told before, the suspenseful investigation of a crime that leads down an unexpected path, but BOILING POINT adds a fresh twist to the twist, one that adds merit to the filmmakers choice of popular genre.

If I may indulge myself, I found myself picturing a simmered down Vinnie Jones as the P.I. during a second viewing of BOILING POINT. This is a positive image, but I found myself picturing Seann William Scott as Paul Connors. This, if I were to make assumptions, was not the intent, but that’s merely my impression. In any case, the film works on a fundamental level, it entertains and holds the viewer’s attention, so long as the viewer has an open mind to the truth that all films need not be glamorous Hollywood productions and most worthwhile films are not.

Check out Metronome Productions’ website for more information and other projects.

FAMILIAR is the newest horror short film from writer/director Richard Powell and producer Zach Green. Michael Jari Davidson serves as cinematographer and co-producer. Presented by Fatal Pictures, FAMILIAR stars Robert Nolan, Astrida Auza and Cathryn Hostick as the seemingly idyllic yet ultimately doomed Dodd Family. FAMILIAR is currently in post-production and I’m looking forward to seeing the finished film, from the same team that brought us WORM. It’s difficult to predict what we’ll get from Fatal Pictures, but one thing’s for sure… it’s bound to be dark, disturbing and enjoyable.

Plot Synopsis: Through a series of tragic events a middle aged man grows to suspect the negative impulses plaguing his mind may not be his own.

“Like” FAMILIAR on Facebook.

The golden age of the revenge film has passed, but since the 70’s there’s been a steady resurging trend for more. It’s a popular subgenre, I believe because just about everyone can relate. Who hasn’t, at some point, had something occur in their life when they didn’t secretly desire some form of revenge?

XTRMNTR (2010) joins this growing list of revenge films, a 6½-minute short from writer Phil Jeng Kane, producer Annabelle Fouchard and director Andrew Millner. Shot with a Red One camera over three days in Perth, Australia, the highlight of the film is the production value.

Karl (Vito de Francesco) and Simon (Kazimir Sas) are professional exterminators, on a job setting poisoned gas bombs for a rat infestation. The two characters appear to be average, working-class blokes, but there’s something unspoken between the two men that’s about to reveal itself with devastating consequences. This is where the underlying story begins to develop.

Let’s begin with the end. I won’t ruin the money shot, but I will say that the “big-budget” ending is courtesy of the well-planned use of a house already scheduled for demolition. XTRMNTR is an impressive example of how independent filmmakers can create believably expensive-looking shots and effects without a million-dollar budget.

Cinematographer Rob Castiglione adds to the pleasing production value with his yellow-tinged color palette. There’s a gritty essence woven into the interior shots as Karl and Simon settle an unexpected score. XTRMNTR begins harmless enough, then turns on a dime, revealing the first of two major twists in the otherwise simple story. The depth of story in the film remains rather shallow, but the concise way in which the filmmakers construct the premise makes up for the lack of character development.

XTRMNTR shows potential for high-octane suspenseful cinema. As a feature film, character development could take hold and result in a stronger, longer-lasting impact on the viewer that simply isn’t achieved in 6½ minutes. Regardless, it’s a film that leaves an impression as a calling card for films.

XTRMNTR had its world premiere screening during the Future Shorts One Film Festival in Perth on February 16^th, 2011.

“Like” XTRMNTR on Facebook.

What do you hate? Think carefully before answering. You may find that the very things you think you hate are not quite what they seem. Edoardo L’Astorina’s 6-minute dramatic short film I HATE (2011) dares to propose this question, this reflection of what it is to hate, and does so with a respectable flair.

I HATE is written and directed by L’Astorina, whom also produced and provided the music for the film. Clare Latham plays Gloria, a disturbed young woman with a great deal of hatred in her heart. The story presents itself in an experimental fashion. Gloria stands before darkness, clad in a dark leather jacket, smoking a cigarette. Gloria evokes a sort of Denis Leary essence, without the humor, speaking with conviction about all the different types of women she hates.

The style of the film consists entirely of close-ups, with varying angles and perspectives, sharp color and contrast against the black void Gloria stands before. The editing by Robbie Gibbon is particularly strong, jarring and at a pace that encourages the subtlest release of adrenaline. I HATE makes a point to be in the viewer’s face, forcing them to watch and listen to Gloria’s hatred, her pain, her angst. This is an intimate film, a confession.

Charlie Jones serves as cinematographer, confident but not as definitively strong as I would like to have seen. I HATE is an experimental, emotional piece that deserves a ferociously edgy visual element. This is something sound designer David Pringle has managed to convey with a slightly more profound result. As I experienced the film, I found myself far more compelled by the use of ambient and ethereal soundscapes, which allowed the images to speak with more force.

Clare Latham’s performance carries enough range to sell the varying stereotypical characters, culminating in a twist ending that brings the message of I HATE to fruition. While the film starts out feeling a bit like an artsy public service announcement, in the short 6-minute time frame L’Astorina’s vision evolves into something more like a moodier Levi’s commercial, but benefits from an actual point-of-view and purpose.

Check out DendelionBlu to learn more about the filmmaker.

An alternate trailer has been released for the indie film LAMBENT FUSE. View it below, or check it out at LambentFuse.com

Synopsis: LAMBENT FUSE is a character-driven drama that illustrates human connection and choice. This complex narrative unfolds in a non-chronological time frame as the lives of these six main characters intertwine.

Freddie Goone (Rhett Romsaas) plunges into a detached world full of regret after recent and tragic events that trigger his slide into depression. Allison Swanson’s (Heidi Fellner) kleptomania undermines her ability to hold a job and maintain a relationship with an emotionally detached and swiftly sinking Freddie. Paul Dobbler (Eric Hanson), a mysterious chef, takes it upon himself to meddle in the life of a woman with whom he’s deeply infatuated. Phillip Richter (Matthew Feeney) seeks to overcome allegations that threaten his long sought promotion as police captain. Keith Malone (Nick Hansen) and Vincent Becker (Dan Eckman-Thomas) embark on a series of robberies that land them in a situation that is way over their heads.

As the lives of these characters meld together, the consequences of their seemingly straightforward choices result in unpredictable and dynamic outcomes.

British writer, director and producer Jordan Barrett offers up EXODUS (2011), a new dramatic short film starring James Hedley and Lawson Hind. Barrett, whose previous credits include the short films PER MARE, PER TERRAM (writer/director/producer) and ASH WEDNESDAY (writer/producer), delivers a sharp sliver of a story that has the potential to be an even more intense feature film, with an ending as appropriately abrupt as it’s beginning.

EXODUS opens much like an episode of a J.J. Abrams television series. The audience is thrown into the middle of Jacob’s (James Hedley) current dilemma, as confused and disoriented as the character himself. Jonathan Armandary’s score is powerful and dramatic, building suspense… and then goes silent, only to be broken a moment later by the harsh, jarring static of a mysterious walkie talkie left with Jacob in the small, enclosed room.

Barrett’s story, only 14:33 in length, stops short of providing any significant depth on the surface. EXODUS, instead, strives to propose an ethical question for the audience to answer themselves, moreover than a clearly defined narrative. Could you choose between the life of a stranger (Lawson Hind) and the life of a loved one? Barrett presents a rare, but horrifying glimpse into a mortal choice that any random human being could have forced upon them against their own will.

EXODUS packs a daunting punch of pending doom, a fear for the outcome, regardless of its final nature. Whatever path Jacob chooses, his life will never be the same, forever haunted by guilt and shame. This tone is reinforced by Scott Coulter’s cinematography is clearly a challenge as EXODUS takes place in a single, tightly enclosed space with a complete lack of natural lighting. As a creative team, Coulter and Barrett prove they can excel at thinking outside the box, even when literally confined to working within a concrete box.

EXODUS recently played at the Inspire Film Festival on Sunday, June 12th, 2011.

Check out the official EXODUS website at www.Exodus.com or “Like” EXODUS on Facebook.