It had somethin'

As I already mentioned, Gabe and I attended the Phoenix Film Festival over the weekend, and had a good time. We were there in different capacities though; I was a simple festival attendant and Gabe was one of the festival’s volunteer assistants. Either way, we both saw several films and even got the chance to attend a seminar by Industrial Light and Magic. Regarding the films we saw, most were good, but a few weren’t. Well, it’s more like one wasn’t. But I won’t go into that at the moment. Instead I just want to give you the details on the three films I appreciated the most at the festival:

Black Cloud: An inspiring story about a Native American boxer who has to learn to overcome inner demons in order to pursue his dreams. Beautifully shot for around a million dollars, Black Cloud had some great cinematography and interesting character hubris. But it suffered a tad from some genre clichés and a few of the scenes were a little too sugary sweet for my tastes.

The Falls: Another troubled young man stakes out to rescue a missing former girlfriend and finds himself in a world of crime and corruption. Highly inspired by classic film noir, the Falls also had some good cinematography. Moreover, a few of the film’s smaller performances were borderline great. But the ending was a bit too overreaching and some of the revelations at the end of the film were a bit predictable and formulaic.

You Got Nothin’: Two bookie collectors from Hoboken New Jersey set out to L.A. to collect a large sum of money. Here was a film that enjoyed some genuinely funny moments, but lacked punch. In short, the film, while good, was never great.