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Reviews
Among the Willows (2023)
Third (movie) times a charm
Interesting western genre independent movie. Very well made, very well acted. I have seen the last two movies from these guys, Lost Outlaw and Above Snakes, all at their respective premieres and this is by far the best of the three.
It has a good main story, but also has very interesting relationship sub plots. The relationships between Eli Kilpatrick (nicely played by Tyler Tuck) and his father (wonderfully played by Jim Tuck), between Mr. Kilpatrick and his grandson, between John Williams (David Novak) and Everett Stolls (Jeffrey Smith) and even the two saloon girls (Sparkle Soojian and. Akilah M.) are intertwined into the main plot.
Much of the cast has good to very good chemistry with each other but I felt Eli and his father, and Everett and Susie had the best parings. I could feel the tension leap off the screen when Eli and Mr. Kirkpatrick shared the screen. I also felt a true tenderness between Susie and Everett which was unique because there was an obvious age difference between the two actors. Nonetheless they pulled it off and made it believable.
The overall story is slightly predictable but it works in this situation. The music was on point especially at the end where a slight heartbeat can be heard during a touching scene.
It did have some (sometimes not so subtle) references to a higher deity but it's not shoved in your face and I didn't mind it.
Most of the acting was good but the standouts I've already mentioned. Overall it's was an enjoyable hour and a half spent watching a well made and acted independent movie.
Above Snakes (2022)
Solid indie effort
Saw this at its premiere. Nicely done indie movie.
Pros: nice cinematography, music, wardrobe, surprising ending and mid credit scene.
Cons: story slows a little in places, could use a few more action scenes.
Kind of a mystery set in a kind of western setting. The acting, for the most part is pretty solid although there are a few scenes where the acting could have been better. The flash back scenes are good and the baby is adorable. The sheriff and the daughter were both very good, the judge had some good scenes but also a couple that could have been better, same for the bad guy. Had a few light moments that were a nice change up. The ending has a twist but I won't give it away and there's a mid credit scene, that's kind of different for an indie movie. Although it's a good scene, I felt it could have been a little better. Leaves an opening for a sequel though.
Total acting score B
Total story score C+
Total movie score B-
Over all it's pretty good and much of the time you may forget it's an indie movie.
Lost Outlaw (2021)
Not great but not bad. A fine cowboy movie for a rainy day watch.
Some nice work for an Indy western.
Pros - nice cinematography, costumes, story, sets.
Cons- sound, some of the acting, dialogue.
Overall it's a nice watch. Some of the acting is good some not so good. Unfortunately the females all seem to ramble their lines too fast and with little emotion. A couple of the men, the bounty hunter and Lucas are also stiff in their delivery. The dialogue uses a lot of terms that we're not used in the time period, " dad split" is the main one that comes to mind. The costumes look pretty good and the story is easy to follow. The sound seems to come in and out and I swear I heard a car motor start up during the last scene.
But
It's a great effort and for a independent movie and a western to boot ( pun intended ), it's worth a watch.
A solid 6+