Virgil Bliss

Every once in a while a gem of a movie pops up out of nowhere. One such movie is Virgil Bliss. I first though, yeah, another low budget stinker but I was dead wrong. Virgil Bliss is a great film. Low on budget, yes. High on writing and talent, yes.

Virgil Bliss is an urban tragedy. Virgil’s chances of success in the outside world appear to be doomed from the onset, from the sarcastic prison guards messing with him before his release, to being fired from his job as a janitor for being an ex-con.

Virgil is released from prison to a halfway house in New York where he meets the confrontational Manny Alvarez, who Virgil eventually befriends. After unsuccessfully trying to pick up women, Manny takes Virgil to the gritty, post-industrial street corner that Ruby works. Virgil makes the tragic mistake of falling in love with her, much to Manny’s protests. Virgil is played by Clint Jordan. Ruby is played by Kirsten Russell. Both performances are truly authentic and convincing.

It looks like Virgil and Ruby may have a chance of a new life, but it doesn’t work out that way. At all.

An added bonus is the soundtrack, nearly perfect for this film.

Virgil Bliss was written and directed by Joe Maggio.

Grade A

The Wall (Die Wand)

The Wall (Die Wand) is a German film about a woman (played by Martina Gedeck) who goes to a hunting lodge with friends and winds up alone, trapped in the mountains by an invisible wall. Sure, you’re thinking, just like Under the Dome. Well, it isn’t. The Wall is a visually stunning movie about the unnamed woman who slowly accepts her situation and eventually harmonizes and integrates with nature.

Every scene in this film is well thought out and incredibly well shot. Based on the novel by Marlen Haushofer, The Wall was written for the screen and directed by Julain Polsler.

The woman spreads out from the hunting lodge, looking for a means to escape and tried to locate other people. She sees a few, in particular an elderly couple that live in a simple cabin, but they appear to be frozen in time.  They and others cannot see her.

Her steady companion is a dog named Lynx. If you like dogs (like I do), this movie also explores the deep, unique and complex relationship between canines and humans.

This is not a plot-driven movie and non-formula to a huge extent. The Wall revolves around overcoming loneliness, self-acceptance, self-reliance and the grit and determination it takes to survive living off the land. Don’t expect a big climax in the third act (if you can tell when it begins- I can’t).  I watched The Wall on Netflix.

You can check out more here: http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-wall-2013

and here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1745686/

The Wall is a movie I look forward to watching again.

Grade: A

 

The Frankenstein Theory

What makes a good low budget movie? Like any other film, story, characters and acting. I was scanning through Netflix and watched The Frankenstein Theory and even though this film received negative reviews it pulled me in from the start. Yes, it could have been about twenty minutes shorter, but all in all it’s a good independent horror film.

The story revolves around Professor Jonathan Venkenheim. One of his ancestors was the real-life Dr. Frankenstein who created the Frankenstein monster as an experiment in longevity. Venkenheim is convinced that the monster is still alive in the Arctic, so he takes a film crew with him to prove it exists. That’s all I’ll say, not to spoil it for you.

The shooting took place in LA and Alaska. According to Wikipedia, the scenes shot in Alaska involved forty five minute walks through the snow and cold to set up scenes. The film is shot in “found footage” format.

The Frankenstein Theory was released in March, 2013 to a few theaters, video on demand and  DVD. If you like well made independent films, t’s worth your time to watch it. Check out the trailer here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2646378/

 

 

Low Budget Successes vs. Big Budget Flops

It’s been a rough summer for Hollywood in terms of big budget losses (the one exception is World War Z, which has made 266 million). Look at The Lone Ranger, After Earth,  R.I.P.D, White House Down and to a lesser degree Pacific Rim. All of these films cost between 100 and 200 million dollars to make. The Lone Ranger alone is estimated to lose 150 to 190 million dollars.

Then comes along The Conjuring, which cost 20 million to make and brought in 41.5  million its first weekend. Compared to R.I.P.D. which brought in only 12.8 million and cost around 130 million to make, The Conjuring is a great success. Why? A compelling story, not built on CGI.

Check out The Conjuring trailer here: http://www.imdb.com/trailers?ref_=nb_mv_6_tr

Heavy CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) isn’t a substitute for a good story. Take a look at John Carter, which from the first trailer had flop written all over it. Same with After Earth. As much as I like Del Toro, I get the same feeling with Pacific Rim.  All of these films are thin on story and thick on CGI. They lack the hooks to draw people to it, in my opinion. That’s where The Conjuring hits the mark. Story is everything.

Check out the trailers here:

The Lone Ranger: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1210819/?ref_=sr_1

After Earth: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1815862/?ref_=sr_1

R.I.P.D: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0790736/?ref_=sr_1

White House Down: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2334879/?ref_=sr_1

Main Art Theatre

We went to the Main Art Theatre today in Royal Oak, Michigan to see Hyde Park on the Hudson with Bill Murray and Laura Linney. It’s about FDR’s affairs with women on the side mixed with a visit from King George and Queen Elizabeth looking for support for England on the eve of World War II. It’s pretty good and here’s a link to the trailer:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1477855/

It’s interesting to compare Samuel West’s performance of King George (Bertie) to Colin Firth’s in The King’s Speech.

I’ve always liked the Main’s old school marquee so I decided to go back and shoot it this evening. Here it is:

The Main Art Theater one of the last few art theaters around and we certainly value and support it.

 

World War Z

The trailer for the Brad Pitt produced World War Z came out last week. I’ve watched it about four times, and I think it’s cool. The movie’s been plagued by production and script problems, even going so far to hire a new screenwriter halfway through production. This delayed the movie from being released in November 2012 to June 2013. That’s a big deal and a ton of money. I like the trailer, really like Mireille Enos and I think Brad Pitt is a cool guy. Here’s a link to the trailer, if you haven’t seen it:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0816711/

So what’s the big problem? Common opinion says it’s not accurately reflecting the book. I did a little research why there were production issues and here’s what I found on some blogs:

1. The script is not close to the novel:

http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/features/world-war-z-trailer-illustrates-all-thats-wrong-in-hollywood-rfure.ph

2. The script is not close to the novel:

http://drezner.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/11/10/why_world_war_z_scares_me_and_not_in_the_good_way

3.  And finally, the script is not close to the novel:

http://screenrant.com/world-war-z-movie-book-differences-discussion-kofi-127543/

All that being said, the book is told in retrospect from different points of view, somewhat similar to Robopocolypse. How do you film something like that and deliver any sense of story continuity in two hours? It’s more suited to a good HBO mini-series. Steven Spielberg is directing Robopocolypse. It will be really interesting to see how both films are handled.

 

Detropia Review

We went to the Main Art Theatre and saw Detropia this afternoon. Detropia is a documentary of Detroit in decline and decay. I was really looking forward to seeing it and came away disappointed, on a lot of levels. Detropia begins at the Detroit Opera House with what looks like all white wealthy patrons listening to an expansive Wagnerian-style opera.  The opera house director then comes on stage and begs for money. Cut from there to what some people call “ruin porn” and introduction of the recurring characters.

First, the good. A lot of the urban landscape shots (ruin porn) are first rate. I’m in the heart of Detroit five days a week and I was surprised by the rawness of some of the images. The dudes salvaging scrap metal and trying to pull down derelict buildings with their pickups trucks were colorful and gritty. That’s about the only good things I can say about Detropia. Detropia descends from there, and quickly.

I found Detropia cliched, self-indulgent and rambling. Frankly, it was boring. Why? The operatic metaphor didn’t work for me, and it’s reoccurrence quickly became tiresome. The film rambled, almost endlessly. The performance artists featured were hugely untalented and the Detroit videographer portrayed was irrepressibly obnoxious and self absorbed. The lengthy soliloquies of the blues bar owner and UAW local president were ill informed and filled with bizarre illogic.

The film, and audience, would be better served if the focus was on the bitter conflict between the Mayor, City Council and city unions. Chronicling the struggle to keep the city on life support versus the preservation of union entitlements and benefits and a dwindling police and fire department working daily twelve hour shifts would have painted a more relevant picture of Detroit. That at least would show viewer what is really going on in Detroit, every single day.

This film does not reflect the real Detroit. Real Detroit is infinitely worse, and infinitely better.

Be your own judge and see it, but wait until it rolls around on Netfilx or Redbox, or even YouTube. That’s what I wish we would have done. In my opinion it’s not worth going to a theatre to see.

Here’s a review that says it better than I do:

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2012/09/26/scene-in-detroit-detropia-fails-in-idealism-irony-and-integrity/

Here it is on imbd:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2125490/

Here’s the Detropia’s website:

http://detropiathefilm.com/

Lame Mainstream, Hot Indies

Just read an article entitled “Worst Weekend Box Office in Years..”  Here’s the link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/09/worst-weekend-box-office_n_1868916.html

So what’s out there now? The Words (a writer steals another person’s work- Dullsville) and The Cold Light of Day (a family is kidnapped and secret agents are looking for a briefcase- Clicheville).

Contrast that to the independent films now showing or will very soon.

First, there’s David Cronenberg’s new film Cosmopolis, an adaptation of Don DeLillo’s novel. Here’s the link to the movie website: http://cosmopolis-movie.com/

Coming September 14th

Detropia is coming soon. Detroit is on the brink of dissolving as a city. Detropia documents the rise, demise, and potential abandonment of Detroit. The story is universal to all decaying cities in America. Here’s the link: http://www.detropiathefilm.com

Coming September 21st.

Paul Thomas Anderson’s new film The Master looks, well, masterful. Philip Seymour Hoffman gets better and better with age, not to mention Joaquin Phoenix. Here’s the link: http://www.themasterfilm.com/

Finally, top that off with September 21st and 22nd midnight showings of Iron Sky. Here’s the link:  http://www.ironsky.net/

There are awesome movies out there, you just have to know where to look- not at a mainstream theater.

Iron Sky comes to Royal Oak

Just saw that Iron Sky is coming to our local art-house theatre, the Main in Royal Oak. It will show at midnight Friday and Saturday, September 21 and 22. I’ve followed this film since mid-production and am really curious to see how it turned out. Here’s a link to the Iron Sky Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/ironskythemovie

Here’s a link to the Main Theatre:

http://www.landmarktheatres.com/Market/Detroit/MainArtTheatre.htm

 

 

 

Trailer Report: Get the Gringo

One Line Synopsis

Mel Gibson gets locked up in a Mexican prison, and starts behaving like Mel Gibson.

Director

Adrian Grunberg

Screenplay

Mel Gibson, Adrian Grunberg

The film looks gritty and Mel looks pretty cool and natural playing the main character, Driver. Grunberg was first assistant director on Apocalypto. It’s interesting that most of the film was shot in and around the Ignacio Allende Prison in Mexico and 300 prisoners had to be temporarily transferred to other jails. Get the Gringo is going straight to video-on-demand via Direct TV in the U.S. and will be theatrically released in Australia, Russia and other possible markets. Check out the trailer here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1567609/

Grade

B-