Holy shit! That basically sums up my reaction to this excellent American documentary.

Remember Tiffany, the ’80s pop star? Well, Jeff and Kelly sure do. In fact they are crazo-level obsessed with her. Stalkers basically, although Kelly resists the label and Jeff thinks… well, something to do with government conspiracy.

The concept sounds hilarious and there were moments of amusement but they were balanced by moments of deep sadness which turned to horror. My emotions ran the gamut with this one and I literally laughed and cried, and then almost quivered with fear.

Apparently there has been some controversy and some people think the subjects in this film are being exploited but I disagree. Sean Donnelly, the director was there for a Q&A and he defended his position and revealed that he is actually friends with these individuals. The whole idea for the movie came about because he thought his friend Jeff was a worthy subject for a documentary. He genuinely seemed to care about these people and they have seen the movie and approve of it. Kelly just wants to know when she’s getting paid but as of yet, Donnelly has only lost money on the project.

I encourage you to see this film and help him out. I really enjoyed it and found these individuals to be a worthy subject of examination. The film is told from their point of view and the idea is not to analyze them but to let them speak for themselves and express their affection for Tiffany. Poor, hardworking, kind-hearted Tiffany, whose manager refuses to let her see the film because he doesn’t want her to get scared. Wise choice.

4 1/2 niqueheads [rating:45]

6 comments

This is not a film for everyone. It is gloomy, slow, stark and minimalistic in setting, characterization, dialogue and imagery. But it is also stylish, moody and aesthetically innovative. Apparently John Bergin made this animated movie on his home computer, using images from his graphic novel of the same name. It shows. But I don’t say that in a negative way. It does have something of a DIY feel to it but that can be a welcome relief after seeing one too many overdone mainstream cartoons, like all the Disney shit out there.

I’m often bothered by American movies that suffer from All Style No Substance. In this case I would argue that the style of the film IS its substance and it succeeds quite well in that way. (Which is not to imply that there is no narrative, just that it is quiet and secondary to the art). But I can’t really recommend this film unless you are a particular type of person. If you are patient, mellow, and just want to soak up something atmospheric and dystopian you may well enjoy this rather hopeless ride but if you are, say, into action movies or physical comedies and think kittens and shit are cute, then maybe it’s not for you.

[rating:35]

2 comments

This one is difficult for me to review because I can look at it objectively and say it was good but also admit that it didn’t do much for me. Part of the reason is that I’m sort of over the whole hand-held-camera-POV genre and while sometimes I feel it works incredible well (such as with REC) sometimes I find it unecessary. Christopher Denham, the writer/director of “Home Movie” was present for the screening I attended and he admitted that he partially chose to make this movie in the camera-POV style because it’s so cheap but he also felt that it might add to the narrative and to the creepy factor for this horror film. The thing is I can’t even disagree. Once again, I can objectively say that it works and most of the viewers in the audience seemed really into it. My viewing companion liked it quite a bit. But for some reason I didn’t really get on board with “Home Movie”.

It could be that I’ve simply become too jaded and desensitized for Horror Movies. Exceptional ones like “REC” can still thrill me but slightly less exceptional ones just leave me feeling “meh”. “Home Movie” is about two creepy, psychotic kids and the average joe is guaranteed to be disturbed by creepy, killer kids but since I grew up torturing frogs and performing satanic rituals I guess the concept doesn’t scare me. But the narrative was quite good and the dialogue allowed the plot to unfold in a natural way, revealing important information in well-paced increments. I was certainly never bored and I won’t hesitate to see more work from Mr. Denham.

I appreaciated the Q&A with the director and his revelation that the film is inspired by a killer kid he grew up with makes it more interesting and I agree with his point that children tend to be deified, especially in the suburbs, while they really shouldn’t be, because they’re just people, but still. My reaction remains mostly meh.

Subjective review 3 niqueheads but maybe 4 as an objective review.
I’ll split the difference and give it 3 1/2 [rating:35]

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Finally some science-fiction! “The Chasing World” explores the concept of parallel dimensions, which is a sci-fi cliche that somehow hasn’t been overused.

This Japanese film was nothing special but it had a few good ideas and a few genuine surprises. Well, one genuine surprise. It had some nice moments and as far as my inevitable nitpicking could tell, it held up within its own internal consistency. In the end, it’s kind of a teen movie so it was a bit more saccharine than my cynical self would have liked but it was still basically ok. I’ll probably see the sequel (which I can only assume is in the works since the ending felt like the setup for part 2) but that’s mostly because I’m desperate to watch anything sci-fi. What can I say? Sci-fi owns me.

I dunno, 3 niqueheads [rating:30]

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