Quickie Rant

I’ll tell you what bothered me so much about I Died; the director blaming everything that was wrong with it on his budget.
Let’s face it; no independent director has a plethora of money at his disposal. Some very well known directors don’t even have a large capital to draw from. But just because you can’t afford lighting equipment and better cameras doesn’t mean that your story will suck or that the acting will be second rate. It’s not your pocket book’s fault that the pacing is worthless, and that your leading protagonist acts like a deer caught in headlights.

I Lived

Yes sir, Brock and I had a grand ol' time at the Phoenix Film Festival. As he mentioned, I was a volunteer, which meant I spent most of my time working. It was a great experience, however. We got to "rub elbows" with film makers and celebrities, the likes of Dylan Baker, Rick Schroder and Toni Kalem. I had to check IDs at an after party and someone asked me to keep an eye out for Toni. She was in Private Benjamin and wrote and directed A Slipping Down Life. It starred Guy Pearce, but Brock and I didn't get to see that movie, unfortunately. I completely agree with Brock on his mini-reviews, but I didn't get to see The Falls.

The one movie Brock and I had to painstakingly endure, was I Died. I can't believe some of these movies are on IMDB. Just not done well at all.

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.

New things, new experiences

Holy cow, so much to talk about. I had a good weekend with Gabe at the Phoenix Film Festival. I'll mention more of that later (maybe Gabe will tell you about it before I do). Also, I want to tell you a little bit about the new Blue Album Special Edition.

Much to come,

-Brock