Drama/Family, 117 Minutes, 2012
I’ve unfortunately lost track of anime in the last few years. I’d keep up with the latest releases from Studio Ghibli and the odd TV show, but overall I just didn’t maintain my interest as I once had. Dipping my toe back in, I looked for recommendations and this kept getting mentioned.
I’m so glad it was.
“Love & Teleportation” on IMDB
Romance/Sci-Fi, 92 Minutes, 2013
[Disclosure: This was screened at the request of the filmmakers. No other considerations were made.]
Why hello there sir, a moment of your time – a mere moment! Now sir, what if I told you that there’s a no budget movie – yes, no budget at all – that’s actually good? Even really good? Yes sir, you’d call me crazy!
As fans know, the Marvel cinematic universe is split across multiple production companies; the result of a coordinated sell-off to stave off bankruptcy years ago. This is why you won’t see an X-Man helping out an Avenger or Spider-man chatting with The Fantastic Four even though they live a few blocks from one another. It’s worked out well enough for all involved, but it does create some friction.
Drama, 85 Minutes, 2010
This is exactly the kind of simple, quiet indie drama that causes film festival attendees to drool. Unfortunately it’s also the kind that send most other people running to see more ‘splosions and superstars. Yes, a move like this is a lot of work, but given the chance it can pay off.
I was 11 years old in 1982 when “Poltergeist” came out. Not only does that make me very old now, but it also means that that the MPAA hadn’t gone quite as monkey-slapping-crazy as they are now and gave this movie a PG rating. Tobe Hooper [IMDB] and Stephen Spielberg [IMDB] could have easily gone for a hard “R” (studios still hadn’t decided to be horribly afraid of it). Instead they tossed out one of the hands-down scariest experiences of my childhood and still brought it in with a PG.
Horror/Thriller, 114 Minutes, 2013
[Disclosure: I previewed an online, pre-release screener of this at the request of the filmmakers. The film was recently picked up for distribution, something you can read more about on their Facebook page. The version reviewed may be different slightly from the release.]
“The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies” on IMDB
Fantasy/Adventure/Action, 144 Minutes, 2014
So, we’ve successfully slogged through “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” [My Review] and “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” [My Review] and we’re finally now ready to wrap things up in the shortest entry in the series at only 144 minutes. So, for those keeping track at home, that’s just a shade under eight hours to adapt a book you can read in under 10.
Horror, 81 Minutes, 2012
A plane is taking off. It’s the last plane being allowed to leave England headed to New York before a massive tropical storm hits. Instead of being absolutely packed to the brim with people bumped from later flights, it’s nearly empty. Only a handful of people are on board. This is, by far, the most fantastic thing that happens in this movie.
Documentary, 90 Minutes, 2013
Back in the early 1970’s director Alejandro Jodorowsky [IMDB] decided that he was going to adapt Frank Herbert’s watershed 1965 sci-fi novel Dune into a movie. By all accounts, an utterly bat-shit insane movie. This documentary is the story of how that movie was never made.
Documentary, 78 Minutes, 2014
This is the latest in Disney’s “True Life Adventure” series of nature documentaries. This time we follow an Alaskan Grizzly bear and her two cubs through their first year of life. It’s very tempting to say “if you seen one, then you’ve seen them all” here. Mostly because it’s basically true.
