En Passant (2005)

You can’t really find too much in terms of independent short films revolving around a talking head, so I wasn’t really expecting much in “En Passant”, a seven minute short that revolves basically around two talking heads. Two people sit across from one another in a dark room discussing serial killers. They discuss motive and person, the individuals and the methods of murders they engaged in. What’s perplexing about this film is not that these men are discussing these killers as if they’re defending one of their own family, but how they have the ability to commit these heinous crimes. Continue reading

Supercross (2005)

SupercrossIf you needed any verification towards the quality of “Supercross” you need look no further than the first ten minutes. After our character narrates that he and his brother are close, and that just because they’re close doesn’t mean they never compete, and that their father dreamed of having them as Supercross stars, we’re subjected to a nearly ten minute long opening featuring a montage of motocross sequences set to a dramatic scores and flickering credits. Oh joy. And then there’s the actual film after the stunt show. We’re dragged along with pool cleaners whom rely on their jobs and have nothing else in their lives except their job, which they rely on, and their bikes.

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Lords of Dogtown (2005)

Director Katherine Hardwicke’s style affords “Lords of Dogtown” the necessary indie style that will appeal to the target crowd. “Lords of Dogtown” is a lot of fun, and this is due mostly to the energy of the great cast of indie actors like Emile Hirsch, Heath Ledger, Nikki Reed, and America Ferrara to only name a few. Hardwicke inspires entertainment in the teen melodrama and films some truly great skateboarding sequences. Most of all, Ledger is a scene stealer and looks like he’s having a lot of fun as the stoner/slacker/boarder.

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My First Wedding (2004)

1279117456_f0af2e85-0edf-4b57-ac96-acd9726bcc08“My First Wedding” is basically a neo-eighties rom com plus incredible fluff based around quirky mix-ups and goofy situations that basically could have been set in the time of sex crazed comedies. A nymphomaniac arrives at a church one day to repair a confessional, and a seemingly gorgeous girl crashes in to confess her sins while he listens anxiously and decides he’s going to pursue her. Enter hilarious situations including awfully gullible characters. Where’s Mr. Roper? But then, that’s the fun of watching “My First Wedding” because it’s basically two nymphos courting each other, with pretty humorous situations involving a wedding party in which Doughty is forced to improvise about his knowledge of the bible, and it’s rather humorous watching him trying to get his way by pretending to be a priest.

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Voodoo Moon (2005)

voodoomoonbigOutside of Buffy geeks, I really don’t see what reason you could have for liking “Voodoo Moon”. It’s a limp semi-action fantasy that uses the device of Voodoo as an excuse to expose its superhero, said hero is in the form of Eric Mabius who looks like quasi-Brandon Lee circa 1994. He’s dressed like a Goth, but really is a Voodoo shaman who is forced to fight off an evil entity that killed his mom and dad when he was a child. He enlists the help of his sister, played by Charisma Carpenter, who has a penchant for drawing pictures that foretell the future. And that’s really all she’s good for.

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Hard Candy (2005)

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Those upset by the ex-pedophile makes good story of “The Woodsman” may find consolation in “Hard Candy”, which is basically just a film about a pedophile that gets what he had coming to him all this time. While “The Woodsman” is basically about redemption “Hard Candy” is very much a one-sided revenge flick in the vein of “I Spit on Your Grave”, and “Audition”. Incidentally enough, both films with opposite depictions of pedophilia bear the same red riding hood metaphors. “Hard Candy” begins with the glow of a computer screen with two people chatting online and engaging in heavy flirting and finally, after a run around, decides to meet up. The two people in question are a fourteen year old named Hayley, and Jeff, a man in his thirties.

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