Re-watching “Lunch Break” reminded me what a joy it was to watch the first time, experiencing a short mock documentary centered around the working class and their reliance on big corporations to get by and support their family. John W. McKelvey’s short film is about something, and in the midst of a really bad repression where everyone is losing their jobs and working for basically nothing, “Lunch Break” holds a deeper social relevance now than it did five years ago. People are at a point where they’re sacrificing everything from their personal happiness to their dreams just to get a paycheck and survive another day, and “Lunch Break” has a resonance to it that reaches toward the audience or anyone who has ever been in a rut at a dead end job.
Category Archives: A+ Indie
Black Coffee (2009)
Tran Quoc Bao is a very talented filmmaker who I first was introduced to with his short “Bookie” which was a pretty good neo-noir crime thriller. The only reservation I had with this is that Bao has potential to stage a truly exciting feature length thriller here and whether it’s about the budget or the capabilities to do so, I would love to see this eventually made in to a full length mystery that could fully realize the talents of the entire production crew. “Black Coffee” is a film that aspires to take a page from the Hitchcock book of filmmaking.
Panic Attack! (Ataque de pánico!) (2009)
Inspired by the online short film “Geweldenaren van Ver,” director Federico Alvarez’s short film (made under a five hundred dollar budget) is yet another tale of indie success that most independent directors can only dream of. Uruguayan director Alvarez posted this short film on Youtube back in 2009 and after the video was posted on rapper Kanye West’s blog, it garnered an immense fanbase, currently has over five million views on Youtube, and Alvarez experienced surprising success, “I uploaded Panic Attack! on a Thursday and on Monday my inbox was totally full of e-mails from Hollywood studios,” said Alvarez.
Now he’s been given a contract by Sam Raimi’s studio “Ghost House Pictures.”
Alive in Joburg (2006)
The success story behind “Alive in Joburg” is one of the many interesting successes of the indie culture. Director Neill Blomkamp created this short mock documentary film in 2005, gained a cult status, was later expanded into a feature length film becoming “District 9,” gained worldwide praise from critics and genre fans, won many awards and eventually became a contender for best picture in the Oscars. It’s an astounding tale of a humble indie production turning in to a rather fantastic masterpiece.
A Short Film about Letting Go (2009)
Many people have observed this and I think it’s basic fact that often it is much easier to write a bad review for a movie than it is a good one. In my case if a movie is awful, it is incredibly easy to write something negative and livid because sometimes the bad movies can inspire more creativity. When it comes to writing about a good movie, it’s almost impossible because the emotions just swell up and basically can’t translate well in to the proper words. That’s what it was like writing a review for “A Short Film about Letting Go.” Director J. Erik Reese’s film is so effective, so raw, and so beautiful, it’s impossible to describe how much I enjoyed it.
Nice Knowing You (2009)
Director Joe Burke is a man seen around these parts for the last two or three years and he’s a man who has managed to spawn some great reviews from yours truly who has been so far impressed with what his indie shorts have to offer. A man of many genres, Burke best knows how to capture that twenty something sentiment enabling his cast to work within their limits while painting the portraits of cities that are darker than our own and lives that seem to be nothing but heading for a dead end romantically and emotionally. Past efforts like “Coop’s Night In” have proven that he knows how to portray actual characters on screen without any need to exaggerate what we’re seeing.
Season's Greetings (1996)
Back in the late nineties to early millennium there was a series on the Science Fiction channel here in America called “Exposure,” it was a fantastic take on a mini film festival by taking experienced indie directors and showing off some of the best and worst short films they could dole out to the audience. In the meantime we also were able to see early works from legendary filmmakers in Hollywood. “Season’s Greetings” was one of the best I’ve ever seen.