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Reviews
The Vicious Kind (2009)
Elegant characterisation
An elegant study in character and the use of subtle good vs evil interplay in the presentation of a character to an audience. Caleb, the character in question, is the true focus of the movie, though the camera dwells lovingly on the beautiful Emma ("a dark angel, does your sister dye her hair black like that? It's very flattering") for obvious reasons.
Our feelings for Caleb shift constantly from bemusement, to loathing, to admiration to astonishment, but the balance is always cleverly maintained in his favour (juxtaposed by a less than flattering portrayal of his brother as the prudish 'republican') and with the climax of the film, despite his often atrocious behaviour, Caleb is the lovable anti-hero. We find ourselves, against our better judgement, rooting for him.
Kreiger has created one of the most memorable personalities in a modern film - a true train wreck of a character and one you will not forget in a hurry - and a masterclass in independent film making. Forget Paranormal Activity. Here is a budget movie worthy of the indie tag and your attention.
The Man from Earth (2007)
Awesome to see the art of characterisation hasn't deserted Hollywood
Let's make no bones about this, Man Who Fell To Earth is about character. It's a close up, one scene study of personality and the story is simply there to keep you glued to the emerging developments on character. So many film makers could learn so much from this movie.
Highlights are John Billingsley (best known for playing Dr Phlox in Enterprise) whose portrayal of the incurable comedian Harry steals the show, Ellen Crawford's religious but three dimensional prude Edith and Tony Todd (best known for his creepy depiction of Candyman and as far removed from that monster here as Jekyll was from Hyde) as the open minded professor who wants more than anything to believe his friend's incredible story.
This is also a risky venture from director Richard Schenkman and writer Jerome Bixby, because really, this is a play, best suited to a stage, in a theatre, in some London back road watched by an audience of long suffering bohemians who worship playwrights like Harold Pinter and think the rest of us plebs are worthless because we quite like watching TV and going to the movies once in a while.
It's modern Alan Bennet for the masses, if you like (and without the Yorkshire accent). And boy does it deliver the goods.
The is-he-isn't-he gameplay is sublime, keeping the viewer guessing right to the end. And therein is the only down point. The end. It gives away too much while leaving the story on a lingering point of failed resolution. The audience deserve something better I think, and I personally would have been happier had the final revelation occurred in front of all the characters so we could see their reactions and enjoy that ultimate conclusion to their harrowing journey. A bit of a cop out by the writer, methinks, but not a fatal one. Elsewhere the film still pushes all the right buttons at all the right times.
A stunning piece of screenplay and worthy of an Oscar if you ask me, more so than most of the so-called award winning dirge on offer these days. Watch it and see the best our modern writing talent has to offer.
Flatland (2007)
A bit flat
The premise had me gripped, as did the opening five minutes. But execution is disappointing and I can't help feel that here is a film of potential genius wasted by bad voice talent, bad script editing and a lack of proper characterisation.
Flatland, let's be brutally honest, is a film for geeks by geeks. The idea just appeals to nerds and if you're a nerd, chances are you'll love this film. The whole mathematical purity will just hit the right buttons and you'll enjoy telling your friends all about the innovative 'angles' (excuse the pun) and clever 'parallels' with modern philosophy. But truth is, nerds don't write good scripts because they forget that behind every great story idea is a driving engine called character. And in Flatland, it ain't just the graphics that are two dimensional.
There are other reasons you can tell there are nerds at the steering levers. The producers just don't know what to do about women. Nerds see. Women are dangerous, incomprehensible, flat lines with no substance. When they get in the way of the plot, the women eat themselves. When the men in the movie display chauvinism its dismissed with a knowing wink and a few lines of humour.
Then there's the plot. Politics, oppression and war wrapped up with a Messiah prophecy. It's not exactly ground breaking.
Visually the film is interesting. But there's just too many dimensions missing to make this as good as the other reviews suggest.
As a cheap, badly voiced, badly directed indy attempt its good for a look-see. But you'll go away wondering if, out there somewhere in a parallel universe, there's another version of you enjoying a much better, more 'rounded' film where women actually have active roles, the characters have personalities instead of plots to further and there's a bit more to the whole thing than just 'oh wow, lets have fun with dimensional space'.
A missed opportunity. But possibly worth a look simply because it's so... different.