Coming Soon: Fingerface

When it comes to low-budget films, it's possible that Andrew Dawson managed to break the mold. This filmmaker created a feature-length romantic comedy using only his own fingers and a whole lot of hours of creating scenery, filming and doing everything else a film needs. According to the Fingerface official site, the plot of the film goes like this:

After losing his job, Giles does the only logical thing. He gets very, very drunk. And in the haze of the bar he sees a girl. Not just any girl. Giles is sure that she’s the girl of his dream from the night before. Her name is Stephanie and it turns out that she’s a lot harder to impress in real life than in dreamland. To win Stephanie’s heart, Giles has to travel the world, turn his back on his friends and give up his other dreams of becoming a musician. But is she worth it? And is Giles really in love, or is it just good, old-fashioned lust?

Fingerface will be released as VOD on December 1st, 2015. You can watch  pre-order the film here or watch the trailer below.

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comedy, coming soon, Romance,

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Film Review: Spring (2014)

Copyright: XYZ Films

Spring movie will not work as a horror film, it dawned on me almost from the first moment the main character Evan enters a conversation with his friends in a bar and right after his mother dies.

Immediately, in a very self-aware and awkward way, the script is trying to convey the idea that it is very much in control of its inherent horror tropes and ideas. It will not cater to our expectation as a horror-loving audience, it body proclaims through witty dialogues and by sending its main character to a part exile, part road trip to Italy.

There, Evan meets a mysterious, but beautiful girl with whom he shares a love of being a smart-ass. But, in the distance of their growing relationship, something is amiss and it involves monsters, but also hurt puppy feelings. Here, the focus of the film is much more honest and relevant. As Even tries to get laid, but then not much later, tries to hold onto the woman of his life, the narrative structure of the film is solid.

But then, the whole supernatural-bodily terror vibe of the Spring movie as a horror has to be shown and like parents returning home too soon to find their child making out with the babysitter, it kills the mood. Here, the film feels forced and robbed of all spontaneity which it otherwise wears with pride when it comes to, for example, acting.

I’m almost under the impression that Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, who directed the film, got stuck with the horror genre through some production deal with the devil and had to make it work. The same can be seen in many aerial shots made by a helicopter drone which would be better suited for a medium-budget tourist commercial of the same area.

In the Spring movie, the beautiful shots of the Italian coast just look like they were shot because the directors had to take that damn drone, so they crammed its footage into the film no matter how needed (or completely unneeded) it actually was.

But still, there is a spark of really potent energy in this film. I was most impressed by its quirky and unexpected humor, but also by the general vibe of other films that feature an American lost on the old Continent. Unfortunately, these bright spots were drowned by the unnecessary long ending sequence and the horror angle that just was not there. While films like Housebound and Suburban Gothic use elements of humor and characters that don’t fit into their new surroundings and make them work with the horror and the tension, this one mishandled it all the way through.

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Horror, Romance, Sci-Fi,

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Crowdfunding push: The Fastest, Most Romantic Love Yet

With the title like The Fastest, Most Romantic Love Yet there should be little doubt that this Kickstarter campaign is aiming high when it comes to the plot of the film it was designed to support. Regarding its core narrative, its official page explains the plot like this:

Phoebe has a Tinder date in an hour and a half. Keith has a Tinder date in an hour and a half. Can you guess where we're going with this one? In a cafe, bubbly Ashlee explains to the shy MIT grad student Phoebe the Text Delay Theory and past relationships. At a bar, apparent writer Clay and frat bro Keith discuss the discovery of America and its relation to dating; their favorite porn genres; and the Manic Pixie Dream Girl.

Along the way, others drop in on them: a surly bartender, a rational Neo-Nazi, a couple excited of Beats from out on the road, a hypocritical preacher, an intellectual feminist, a scientifically-illiterate MIT humanities professor, and a barfly philosopher.

Interspersed are interviews with couples who met through the decades of the twentieth century, from exchanging letters during the Korean War to meeting online. All leading up to the Tinder date. This is: "The fastest, most romantic love yet."

The film was imagined by Shane Butler, a young filmmaker who recently made an interesting indie feature-length comedy called Down the Cape. Now, he desires to make something through the influences of people like Kurt Vonnegut and Richard Linklater, while placing the plot (I’m guessing this) in a Seinfeld-like environment. Currently, the film’s crowdfunding campaign passed the 10% mark, and the initial goal is focused on getting the right sound recordist, which is a very smart move by Butler (and a necessity for a film like this to work).

If The Fastest, Most Romantic Love Yet seems interesting to you, check out their official page on Kickstarter and see who you can help it out.

If you're looking for exposure for your film-related project, contact me right here.

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comedy, Crowdfunding, indie, Romance,

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Film Review: Life after Beth

Copyright: A24

There is an emerging trend that offers a new incarnation of the horror comedy genre. Unlike its last versions from the late 80’s, where much focus was placed on slapstick and gore, the new films present a weird social enclosure in which the focus of the characters remains almost untouched by the events of the film, no matter how bloody or strange they become. These films present their own version of the reality where things like complex explanations of trivial occurrences or personal awkwardness remain relevant for the characters even while a horde of zombies bang on their door.

Summer of Blood is a perfect recent example of this notion, while some of it can be seen in films like This is the End and John Dies at the End. But Life after Beth is simply soaking in it, and thanks to it, the film provides a hilarious experience which only intensifies as the plot progresses.

In the film, a young man named Zach is devastated by the accidental death of his beloved girlfriend Beth. He tries to find some consolation with her laid back parents, until he notices that Beth is back at their home. He confronts all three; while Beth seems unaware of her resurrection; both her mother and father are bent on keeping this appearance of their daughter hidden, and demand that Zach plays along. He accepts, realizing that something much bigger and stranger is happening around them. Still, he remains oriented towards his relationship with the decomposing Beth.

There are so many fantastic comedic moments in this film that it is impossible to mention them all. The humor in Life after Beth includes situations of pointless and extremely unpleasant social interaction that look like they came straight from an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm (along with the actress Cheryl Hines who also plays in the film). In other times, the film’s director Jeff Baena just stacks up characters and elements to a scene until it’s so preposterous that you can’t do anything but laugh.

His cast was chosen wisely, which means that everyone was up to the task when it comes to comedy. John C. Reilly is expectedly awesome as Beth’s dad who struggles to maintain some control, but the cast member who completely stole the show was Aubrey Plaza as the main corpse in the film. In the movie, Plaza alternates through many emotional states, often random, but was also ready to mix it up with some screaming and other equally visceral elements.

For a debut, Baena made a great film that really boldly stands on its own. Wisely, he steered clear of zombi apocalypse/romance reimagining plots like one in the film Warm Bodies. To watch Life after Beth is like queuing in line and listening to an older couple arguing in detail about their sex life and hearing how it includes a young Mexican wrestler, some fishing rods and a World of Warcraft gaming session. It might not come close to reality, but it is definitely an immensely fun experience.

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comedy, Horror, Romance,

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