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MacroTiger
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Insectula! (2015)
Another MACROTIGER movie review I Insectula
ANOTHER MACROTIGER MOVIE REVIEW !!!
Insectula (2015) MT Rating: 9/10
Executive Summary
An encyclopedia of sci-fi/horror genre. Joins Macro Tiger's list as one of the top four films ever shot in Minnesota. Some sound problems and perhaps excessive CGI marginally reduce watchability. Altogether, very funny, with tons of obscure genre references and inside jokes. The attention to detail that went into the film must have been humungous. Acting very solid. Some very fine camera set- ups, some less-so. Every indie producer/director/writer/crew should watch this film several times. At least one of the cast, A. Cezanne is a potential star.
Plot:
Giant insect from outer-space plops into White Bear Lake and starts stabbing people to death. Apparently some victims become zombies but that's left a little uncertain. Some psychological stylistic elements are introduced, especially with the two main scientists - one of them good, one of them bad, both troubled. This is in keeping with the genre, back then people had great hopes and faith in psychology. I am just old enough to have watched the films upon which Insectula is based on TV as a kid, and I watched them then without irony. I genuinely was concerned with the stomping of a town by the Man Who Grew 7 Feet a Day or the horrible monster destroying Tokyo. I was NOT old enough to have seen these films in the theater.
Actresses :
Yeah. Now you're talking. Others have mentioned the skimpy attire. Peterson et co instincts are on-the-money here. Trying to be a prude with a sci-fi/horror film? No way. I think I might have pushed this even farther, but all in all, Peterson hit the nail on the head here. All the actresses looked great. Arielle Cezanne was gorgeous as lead female. I would not give her an A+ on acting (yet) but she's got charisma and commands the viewers attention, more than can be said for a lot of Hollywood actors. She is a superb choice for this role. I recall an old girlfriend who would pan any movie if the lead female was not absolutely beautiful. Another angle on this is once you've seen the director is not afraid to have his actresses sexy then you know he is capable of doing anything, and that's when you start thinking you might need another bag of popcorn. Nuff said here. Sarah French (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2720796/) and Hannah Hudson receive a lot of air time and look great on film.
Actors :
Sufficiently eccentric and creepy. Well-developed given the restrictions of the genre. I recognized several of these from my films, the great Edel, Thingvall, Gilmer to name a few. All were effective ... and more fully clothed than the ladies. In my films I have all the men fully nude. Some of us go there for our art. Some of us don't. Acting was solid and engaging.
Cinematography :
A lot to be admired here. A lot of clever angles and lighting. Camera movements nice and in keeping with genre. It is evident crew spent a lot more time on some shots than on others. This is understandable. I have no idea what the budget for this film is but without Hollywood money corners have to be cut. I liked the camera work and will study it for my own films. In particular I liked very much the scene in which Dr. Kempler (Harrison Matthews) plays a piece by Rachmaninoff on his piano and contemplates his career. Also the shot of Gen. Ripper at his desk (John Edel) was beautifully-done. I noticed Jon Springer has made a documentary about the Mekons, a group I've been in touch with about a couple things. Give my regard to Ms. Timms, I love Ghosts of American Astronauts.
Costuming :
Very nice. I think I would have dressed the army men in WW2-style uniforms and given them M1 Garand rifles, in keeping with the spirit of the film. Scientist garb is excellent. John Edel as Gen. Ripper (a la Dr. Strangelove?) and Jeff Gigler as Gen. Erickson are superbly outfitted. Of the actors I didn't know I was especially impressed by Christian Hanson's short screen-time as Dr. Banning, a rival scientist.
Set Decoration :
Superb. The laboratory equipment is first rate. I like the old phones. Ihought perhaps the mobile phones should have been dispensed with. Also would have preferred 1960s cars.
Music and Sound :
The music was spot-on. Only complaint is that, on the version i watched, the dialog is sometimes difficult to hear over the music.
SFX and Editing :
I liked a lot of the special effects. Here budgetry concerns bite hard, but I would have liked more physical modeling and less CGI. Editing: now here I will be a hypocrite given the snail's pace of a film I've been part of - the editing appears solid but I would have liked a faster pace in places. A couple more close-ups here and there could have been an improvement, but Im not complaining. Editing on the original scifi/horror films was often spotty.
Miscellaneous :
I liked very much the dancing girls at the end, although really that's a 1970s thing and violates the genre, but I'm not complaining. I engaged the same ending in Land of Sky Blue Water. I can't help adding one nagging issue, I really wish the film had been shot using actual film, perhaps in b&w 16mm, however I realize I am in a small minority here and there may be cost advantages to digital. In short, thanks for the film, Michael Peterson. I enjoyed it greatly and hope to catch it on the big screen. I hope you make a whole lot more!!!
Danny Johnson Saves the World (2015)
Great indie children's movie
Danny Johnson Saves the World (2015) Rating 8 out of 10 Director: Christopher R. Mihm May 20, 2015, 7:30pm Heights Theatre, 3951 Central Avenue NE, Columbia Heights MN WARNING ... I CAN'T SPELL Successful low-budget children's sci-fi film. Recommended for all low-budget movie moguls watch and collect ideas for their own films. Christopher Mihm's creative efforts have been rewarded with a huge audience at this film's premier.
THE SCENE : The Heights Theatre has a pleasant small-towny feel and is located directly beside a Dairy Queen. As I entered I was amazed to see it at near to full capacity.
PLOT : Young Danny and his friends play in a forest, are surprised by a robot and a small alien puppet and are kidnapped to a flying saucer hovering about the earth. After a line of escapades Danny Johnson dismantles the mind-control devices of the evil aliens thus saving the world from alien mind-control ... leaving this path of endeavor quite open to Barak, Jeb and Hilary.
CAST / ACTING : performances were effective and brought the story to life. The film's non-puppet, non-robot characters were all children, save for Grandpa Danny (effectively played by James Norgard). Some of the children looked a bit over their heads and I think movie audiences forget how much training goes in to the professional child actors we see in Hollywood film and TV. An acting coach on-set might have been useful, but the performances were watchable, charming and sometimes very good. A particular stand out was the very charming and pretty Gabrielle Bilotta as Cassie, Danny Johnson's love interest. Another natural actor was the girl playing Grandpa Danny's granddaughter, I think this was Iola Warneke, and the girl playing Danny's sister, I think this was Alice Mihm.
CAMERA (cinematography) : A lot of the camera set-ups were clever and effective. I believe the forest shots would have benefited from more contrast, perhaps more light on characters, keeping trees dark and mysterious. I kept being afraid that i'd see the people behind the puppets accidentally show themselves. I would have liked this black & white film to have been shot in 16mm b&w. Why the Shaky cam? Why Zoom- ins?
SPECIAL EFFECTS - SFX : The SFX worked. There was a puzzling scene where Danny and his puppet friend are trying to open a locked door which i didn't understand but I guess this is more of an editing comment.
Christopher Mihm et al did the special effects (SFX) effectively and with low budget. The puppets sort of worked - but i couldn't escape the thought that the puppets were, well, puppets. Practical effects make the film more fun to watch. I liked the film's stop-motion efforts.
POST-FILM SCENE : There was well-deserved applause at the end of the film and some Q and A with cast and director. Then was a curious amount formality over some props from the film that were to be auctioned. I never knew exactly what all this was for but it appeared to be something of a buzz-kill and induced some of the audience to leave. All this was quickly forgotten as we filed into the Heights Theatre's foyer and talked convivially with cast and crew. Many of the ladies were splendidly dressed. Christopher Mihm emerged from the theater to give me a huge bear hug (re-positioning several vertabrae that had been out-of-place for years) and introduced me around. A fine group it was. Everyone was convivial and pleased at the film's obvious success.
I had a short but memorable and informative conversation with the beautiful Stephanie - who played the arch villain - and was assured in my guess that the film was a cautionary tale of what could happen under a Hillary administration. Chilling. Chilling. Stephanie was excellent as the "Queen Mother." I recommend this film to any indie film person, it has good ideas and shows what you can do creatively on a low budget with some talented and creative people. The audience liked the film, so did i.
Edmond (2005)
This movie sucked.
this movie sucked. Mamet, as he always does when he's out of ideas, just has people get killed and beat up. no honest symbolism but plenty of phony philosophical nonsense bandied about. Mamet hates you and wants you to know it.
Macy does what he can with the extremely stylized lines he's given. Mamet wants him to live in some kind of dream world while everyone else lives in a more realistic world.
Initially the film has some excellent visuals but becomes something of an unpleasant TV show by the first twenty-five minutes. Macy's character goes from strip club to whore house to strip club to whore house complaining about the prices of the services offered. We can sort of imagine this as a night in the life of Mamet, but not of Macy's character.
This is a common theme of Hollywood, i.e. murders are drawn from white collar populace.
The point of the film is lost except Mamet clearly wants us to not enjoy the film. Sorry Mamet. Tell us why first. But better yet, please defenestrate yourself off the top of the Empire State Building.
August (2008)
almost a classic...captures the dot com downturn perfectly
This movie has some problems but overall captures the moment better than any other movie i've seen...better than the over-rated Wall Street or Boiler Room and ten times better than margin call.
The sub-story w the family didn't work at all and shd have been cut. the whole brother thing was stupid.
The final scene (set in the real-life Pussy Cat Lounge. 96 Greenwich St., New York, NY, 10011) is a work of genius...as the movie closes the news coverage of the plane crash of the almost-star Aaliyah comes on the bar's TV, and this sets the time, the few days before the Sept 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the WTC and Pentagon.
The movie doesn't even mention the terrorist attacks, so the audience has to remember themselves the time for this to be effective...but if they remember it just kills.
btw, my old girlfriend workd on Aliyah's make-up the month before her death and dremt about her returning to her for make-up after her crash...this was spooky as hell.
John Carter (2012)
Green 4-armed things need chopping ... chix need sci-fi bikinis
Come back, come back Frank Frazetta, all is forgiven.
Way way too much cgi, not enough women in skimpy sci-fi bikinis. Not enough green monsters getting their heads chopped off.
This is what happens when a director does everything in his power to make a movie based on group pre-release sessions.
Trailer promised Kashmir, and delivered Wall-E with a sword.
Green 4-armed things shd have been cut-back considerably
Utah chosen to look like Mars...earth to Andrew Stanton...no one REALLY wants to see the real Mars...they want the Edgar Rice Burroughs Mars.
Stanton is a disaster. Rodriguez would have at least delivered something watchable.
These guys shd have watched Flash Gordon (1980-something) before they made this dish-water dud.
Director so cautious to get the beautiful women right.
Flying ships are unspectacular.
Cities are nothing special.
The brief early scenes are very effective, altho the dialog is stupid.