Project S.E.R.A. is yet another in a line of short films with feature length possibilities and Ben Howdeshell’s short action horror film has potential to be a small chapter in a larger story that invokes the likes of “Resident Evil” with a hint of “Mission Impossible.” Set in the beginning of a major zombie outbreak, a young girl struggles to face what has happened to her after investigating a top secret government toxin that they’re manufacturing. She’s caught along with her father who happens to be an agent himself, and both are tortured for information and leads. Of course none of them are aware what this enemy holds as they threaten to unleash this toxin on Jill’s father if she doesn’t speak.
Anna (2012)
The cast and crew really bring together what I can only describe as a short and sweet bit of sweet payback cinema that involves a woman who has just about had enough with her life. How many of us have the balls to go out there and take life by the cojones and risk it all to tell people what we really think about them? Once and for all Anna has decided to play by her own rules and after smashing her fist in to a mirror ventures out in to the world staring down a crude construction worker, telling off her boss and putting an end to a would be mugger that inevitably puts her in to the arms of her co-worker she’s infatuated with.
Gut (2012)
It’s very rare that independent horror movies manage to make me turn away from the screen and cringe. Not even Tom Six’s “Human Centipede” accomplished that and those movies were desperate to be considered disturbing. “Gut” and its beauty is in what is not completely put in front of the screen. Director Elias has every chance to be gratuitous, gory, and absolutely grotesque, but “Gut” isn’t for the grue fans, so much as it is for folks who appreciate delving in to the disturbing corners of the mind. The corners that elicit arousal that would be otherwise deemed taboo by civilized human beings. We all have that darkness within our mind that find something somewhat enticing, and the same can be said for character Tom, whose friend and consistent hanger on Dan, shows him a special kind of erotic film that not only embeds itself in to their minds, but haunts Tom until he begins to re-assess his feelings for the film in general.
Bully (2012)
The opening minutes of “Bully” are perhaps the best summary of the bullying dilemma you can imagine. It’s a moment so wrought with accuracy, victims of bullying will nod to themselves thinking “Happens to me all the time!” During one moment after school recess, the local school principal is trying to sort out a fight between two boys who had a fist fight. She demands they both shake hands. One boy sticks his hand out without hesitation and a blank expression, even leaning forward to shake. The other boy refuses, and has a stand off, angrily nodding his head near tears. The principal sends off the first boy, commending him for his kindness, and scolds the angry child for being defiant, chastising him for refusing to settle things. The boy explains that no matter how much he apologizes, he continues being tormented by the other child. The teacher refuses to allow any instance of continuing the conflict resolution and suggests “being friends.” Its small moments like this that continues furthering the idea that bullying as a whole, is a minor issue that really should be dealt with like any other child issue.
5 Choice Indies of 2011
Beating Hearts
Directed by: Matthew Garrett
Written by: Matthew Garrett
Official Website
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Truly one of the most horrifying short films of the year, “Beating Hearts” is a disturbing and absolutely morbid look at a family ticking away to explode in to a hail of violence and carnage. That bombshell is incidentally the youngest daughter of a brood of middle class individuals who one day wakes up atop her mother’s heaving bosom only to mutilate her before her very eyes.
What follows is a suggestive and utterly unsettling look at cross generational love and disgusting symbolism that signals a horrific crime that was a long time coming and an erratic young girl who never quite figured out how to process her uneasy feelings.
Cinema Crazed's Worst 10 of 2011…
It was a lackluster year for the movies. The bad movies were just slightly abysmal, while the good movies failed to be great movies. We couldn’t find a single amazing movie out of the bunch in 2011, but we came close to finding ten really good movies, and ten really bad movies for the year. 2011 was just a lull for everything in pop culture and the media and you’d be hard pressed to find something excellent that stood out among the rest of the muck. 2011 had a varied year of films, but while we did find more than enough great movies to fill our top 10 we didn’t find a masterpiece until the end of the year, and even then we’re having a hard time using the M word. Nevertheless 2011 was a year for new experiences, unique films, and most importantly underdogs. The best films flopped and the worst films excelled at the box office. There were surprises, some neat twists and of course the box office was at its all time lowest. While Congress is working on that censorship thing with SOPA, we appreciate our time delivering these top ten lists for our readers.
Sure they may not be the most agreeable lists on the site, but they arouse conversation and we love to debate with our audience. What with the increasing demand from the indie world we weren’t able to cover all of the year’s films, but we tried to tackle all of our most promising and we compiled lists of 10 great films, and 10 really bad ones. And for the first time ever we compiled five indie films you should look out for. Of course we couldn’t catch many films in time due to our demands on the site (Warhorse, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Take Shelter, The Artist), but we have a nice little mélange of 2011’s banner films that we felt warranted mentioning. So by all means indulge in Cinema Crazed’s official Top 10 and Worst 10 of the year 2011!
The Man With the Iron Fists (2012)
It’s disheartening to see that deep down, composer and hip hop artist RZA is just another filmmaker who wants to be Quentin Tarantino. It’s not a surprise to fuel the funding for “The Man with the Iron Fists,” he teams up with another popular Tarantino wannabe Eli Roth, to make a film that desperately wants to be “Kill Bill.” Tarantino can often border on obnoxious with his films, so for wannabes to keep popping up delivering relentlessly obnoxious throwbacks feels like a waste of time and resources. I assume RZA and writer Eli Roth imagined this being shown in double bills with the “Kill Bill” series or, at least “Grindhouse.” RZA displays all the hallmarks of a man anxious to be considered in the realm of Quentin Tarantino’s wonderful chop socky tribute “Kill Bill.”