Yet Another Foray Into Indie Films

Every once in a great while I get the urge to watch one of those painful, awkward, indie comedies - which I always do "in secret" (when none of my roommates are home!) And 99.9% of the time, I hate the movies as much as I thought I would.

Since I don't feel especially qualified to actually write about these experiments, I thought I'd collect them into one, brief post of my random thoughts.

Dan in Real Life

Littered with every awkward, interpersonal interaction possible, yet somehow writer / director (Peter Hedges) felt it believable to end with a happy ending.

Who the hell is he kidding? If you steal your brother's girlfriend (and marry her) you brother won't come to the wedding and be happy.

Absurd, annoying, and utterly ridiculous.

You can watch the trailer here:

Sideways

Oh god - this fucking movie. It's like a train wreck of male mid-life crisis bullshit. I hated every character in this movie.

I'm sure some wise-ass, high-horse riding, hipster, film student douchebag is reading this and saying, "it's adapted from a novel, blah blah..." and you know what, I don't give a crap; that doesn't make the movie any less terrible.

You can watch the trailer here:

Everything Must Go

Perhaps I'm biased by loving Will Ferrell (or by having an appreciation for the source novel's author.) but I didn't hate this movie.

There's also something lovely about the imagery of Will Ferrell, on the lawn, with all his stuff. I also love his stubborn refusal to accept his situation.

You can watch the trailer here:

The Curiosity of Chance

Standard, "gay teen discovers that it is okay for him to be gay" movie.
Characters were fairly likable and the story wasn't too painful.

If you love high school stories, you'll likely enjoy this one, too.

You can watch the trailer here:

Butter

Oh good lord, this movie was hilarious. Oliva Wilde is such a hero; she's beautiful and has great comic timing and her character in this movie is amazing.

I also appreciate how completely surreal and nonsensical the entire story is - it's charmingly absurdist and sort of Python-esque.

I could actually watch this one a second time.
...and marry Oliva Wilde.

You can watch the trailer here:

Young Adult

I hate to admit that I connected with this movie because I have moments where I feel so much like Charlize Theron's character; desperate, lonely, forgettable, and completely out of control.

This was one of those rare indie flicks that really showcased the actor's ranges and acted as a reminder that some people really do go into acting out of a love for the craft.

I loved Patton Oswalt in this really understated, nerdy, socially awkward role. I also loved his chemistry with Charlize; they were this strangely perfect pair, totally playing off one another's snarky-ness. And probably best of all was that their characters hooked up and nothing came of it.
You can watch the trailer here:

Jesus Henry Christ

This movie had a bit of the same comic sensibilities as Strictly Ballroom, But I'm A Cheerleader, and Amelie. The characters were charming and the story amusing. I may go so far as to say that I liked this movie.

I loved Samantha Weinstein's character - she's what you'd get if Lydia (from Beetlejuice) had a baby with Kat (from 10 Things I Hate About You.)

You can watch the trailer here:

Tiny Furniture

Generally, I dislike the manufactured honesty of indie movies however, in this case, I appreciated the "natural" interactions between the characters.

The thing I disliked most about this movie was it's completely stereotypical indie ending, which is to say, "no ending at all." There was no real plot of direction to the movie, it was just a "slice of life". No story arch, no character growth, no wrap up or resolution at the end... just, "roll credits."

You can watch the trailer here:

Sassy Pants

The girl playing the lead was terrific: she was genuine, passionate, and adorable. Also. Bonus points to this movie for starring Haley Jole Osment as a fat, gay bar-tender with a good heart and a desire to shop for cute clothing. Hilarious.

You can watch the trailer here:

And so, a wrap up?
If you're going to torture yourself with indie comedies - choose wisely! Hopefully, this post has been helpful in your mission.

Dark Ride (2006)

Spoilers, typos, and bad grammar ahead. You've been warned. I remember a time when horror was still a relatively underground genre and fans slunk around in the shadows, keeping their fandom to themselves for fear of judgement. Now, it seems everyone and their mother is a horror fan and has something to say about the genre - for better or worse. While this does mean horror movies (and related goodies) are easier for long-time genre fans to get their hands on, it also means an over-saturation of the market (leading to an excess of crap.) It also means tons of great opportunities (like festivals and conventions) have cropped up all over the place. The After Dark Horrorfest (or "8 Films to Die For") was at the forefront of the horror festival circuit and offered directors (and audiences alike) a terrific venue for checkin out new, original horror films. Pros and cons aside, I've often avoided the movies coming out of this festival - not because of the hype and ...

"I live, I love, I slay & I am Content."

Let me tell you a little about myself; something real about the home I grew up in. There were lots of people around all the time. I was the only child. And, thankfully, I wasn't treated as such. Much like today, I was just the shortest member of the household. But what's that really mean? Above and beyond it means that I had many influences growing up. For this entry, my father's influence is the most important. My father loves arms and armor. He loves history and mythology and the art of warfare. And as any good father would, he shared these passions with me as a kid. I remember him making me wooden swords to play with. We played chess together. And I remember him reading me Greek myths and comic books before bed. He also shared his nerdy love of scifi, fantasy, and horror movies with me. For all of this, I am grateful. And I am now passionate about the same things. Spoiler alert: the following statement is not a dick joke. I have a love of swords. And barbarian...

Stage Fright 2014

Stage Fright is a visual cacophony of mismatched genre images. It's an immensely underwhelming directorial debut that reads more like a film school project than an actual feature length film. The Gist: Theatre geeks go away to summer camp to sing their hearts out where no one can make fun of them. They attempt to produce something that looks a lot like The Phantom of the Opera and ends just as well for everyone involved. Knowing they are riffing on Phantom of the Opera doesn't make it feel any less like they are really riffing on Scream or Scary Movie . Capitalizing on the popularity of shitty TV like Glee and the endless slew of High School Musical movies, there is very little to take seriously in this movie due to their immature production. I assumed, just by the production values, that it was an independent thing. I kept being thrown by it having a sort of (washed up) famous cast including Mini Driver . I was surprised to see her in...

i'm kael's ghost

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