As a film lover and someone who loves to keep his ear to the ground to hear about films that people are talking about, I found “The Strange Thing about the Johnsons” to be a film everyone was buzzing about since 2011. Premiering at Slamdance, director Ari Aster’s short film has made waves across the board amassing a following of film lovers. The aspect about Ari Aster’s short film is that it’s built a foundation of movie lovers that have seen the film and either love it or absolutely despise it. Checking the buzz on the net, I’ve seen so many viewers who detest it from head to toe and just bash it endlessly, while others appreciate and adore its guts. One commenter of the film claims this is a part of the Jewish agenda to tarnish the African American image.
Category Archives: A+ Indie
Girl Model (2012)
The world featured in the newest documentary “Girl Model” features an entire world of people who have decided a model’s life. Except for the actual models themselves. When we first view the casting agents for the Switch agency, they’re lining up groups of incredibly beautiful prepubescent girls with potential to be international models and judging them incredibly harshly. They’re called fat, pigs, and told to go on major diets in spite of the fact most of these young girls could be knocked over with a gust of strong wind at any moment. “Girl Model” explores a world that doesn’t just appreciate youth. It lusts for it.
Screaming in High Heels: The Rise & Fall of the Scream Queen Era (2012)
Like pretty much any documentary involving the video age and golden age of horror “Screaming in High Heels” is a love letter to the genre, and a requiem for a period of horror and filmmaking that is dead and buried. Granted there is the occasional Danielle Harris and Diora Baird, but the facet of the scream queen is defunct, thanks to a new wave of horror directors who feel they’re above such elements. Scream Queens were once upon a time a big lure for potential horror audiences to a new title. Director Jason Paul Collum sets the spotlight on three of the most beautiful women to ever rule the horror world, and examines the highs and lows of being a scream queen.
Dirty Laundry (2012)
I love 2004’s iteration of “The Punisher” starring Thomas Jane as Frank Castle also known as The Punisher. It’s a slow boiled crime thriller that eventually transforms in to a chaotic bloodbath with seemingly no limits on its cruelty. And it also has an admirable demented sense of humor. After 2004’s film, Thomas Jane dropped out of the role after a brouhaha with the studios and their direction toward the sequel that was apparently so bad and or radical that Jane just couldn’t abide by it. But since then many fans have argued that Thomas Jane’s performance of Frank Castle is the definitive cinematic performance of the character and his turn as Castle was admirable. It was layered, tragic, searing, bold, and genuine.
Rhino (2012)
“Rhino” is an immense departure from director Patrick Rea’s norms in the film world. Typically Rea is more prone to delivering more darkly comic or horrific films that are often quite excellent. So it’s rather jarring to see Mr. Rea tackle what is possibly one of the best crime dramas I’ve seen in recent memory.
88:88 (2011)
Many directors think that in order to lure in audiences, they have to have a pay off that reveals their menacing villain in their film. Whether it’s a short or a feature length film, they’re not often concerned with leaving things up to the imagination. The fact that “88:88” was filmed around a very small budget with only two set pieces, benefits the overall creative work to display a film and a premise that’s both terrifying and awe inspiring. Thankfully “88:88” doesn’t crowd the film with a lot of dialogue, nor does it need to explain everything that’s happened.
The Gate (2011)
Director Matt Westrup is the latest indie success story as his 2011 directed short film “The Gate” is being turned in to a feature length film by Wayfare studios. As a short film it’s a product of a premise that definitely could benefit from a feature length treatment, because Westrup inadvertently serves up so much story for us and throws so many questions in the air, that eleven minutes just isn’t enough to keep us satisfied.