Director Travis Betz, if anything, tries for originality and for the most part achieves it. Though “Lo” strives for simplicity and a downbeat nature, it’s a rather spectacular feat to comprise an entire film and story, as well as a horrific world, around one setting and one room only. Comprised very much like a stage play, “Lo” begins as a creepy trip in to the supernatural, and ends as a tragic love tale. “Lo” is about a man who simply can’t let his loved one go, and the trip he takes to ensure that he can re-claim the one he lost a long time ago.
Tag Archives: Fantasy
The Hourglass Figure (2012)
In terms of plot, “The Hourglass Figure” really isn’t anything I haven’t seen before. It feels like a re-iteration of the Twilight Zone story “A Special Kind of Stopwatch” later remade in the eighties with a domestic twist called “A Little Peace and Quiet.” The premises are basically the same in tone and emotion. A busy and over worked house wife finds that she can get the quick fix to peace, quiet, and rejuvenation with a supernatural time stopping device.
Adam and Dog (2011)
Writer and director Minkyu Lee presents a hypothetical and bittersweet animated short about the first dog ever created. Somewhere along the line after the creation of man and woman, God figured he’d create a dog. The dog however had to find its purpose in nature, and “Adam and Dog” garners an interesting story about man and dog eventually became best friends in nature. Upon the creation of man, the dog found his way around the startling and often frightening landscapes of the world, and Lee presents us with vast and fantastic terrain in which the dog travails.
Spellcaster (1988)
Director Rafal Zielinski’s “Spellcaster” is so damn good, I want to hug it, and love it, and cuddle it to pieces. An unabashed childhood favorite, “Spellcaster” originally began life in my household as a VHS purchase from a closing video store in our neighborhood. Soon enough my brother and I enjoyed it so much it became a favorite on VHS, on constant rotation whenever we wanted to have a blast with a goofy eighties horror film. And rest assured, “Spellcaster” is about as goofy an eighties horror film as it gets.
Life of Pi (2012)
Basically, Ang Lee’s “Life of Pi” is a brilliantly directed and incredibly beautiful film, with amazing special effects and just breathtaking visuals. It is also a tedious sermon wrapped up in an agnostic package that will leave viewers clinging to whatever they want to believe. When it comes to confronting the themes of faith and religion, “Life of Pi” seems bold in explaining that they’re all just basically good for the soul and rejuvenating, but in the end the film seems to stick to the notion that there is only one real God and that’s the Catholic/Christian one.
Paperman (2012)
I think anyone could connect with the characters in “Paperman.” Particularly the mal protagonist of the short animated film who may very well have met the girl of his dreams at a train stop, and can do nothing but hope they will meet again. When he sees her in an office parallel to his work high rise, he does everything he can to garner her attention.
A Date with An Angel (2012)
Director Mark Millicent’s “A Date with an Angel” feels almost like a condensed episode of “The Twilight Zone” like “The Hitch-hiker ” or “Time Enough, At Least” where the audience gets a word of warning in the end and really is asked to heed the advice. The short film itself is a very compelling and often spooky short about a young man on the path to destruction and the mysterious little girl trying to keep him from becoming yet another lost individual.