If you’re looking for an indie short that’s both utterly disgusting and very disturbing then I have the ticket for you. “The Growth” is almost like a neo-version of “The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill,” where we set our sights on a very lonely mane named Bill who lives a life of solitude and isolation. The man is middle-aged, a bachelor and completely lets his family down at every turn when they attempt to get closer to him. After being set up on a date by a friend, he arrives home completely exhausted and explains to his online friend that in the middle of a date the girl he was with bit him on the shoulder in the heat of passion.
Tag Archives: G
The Girlfriend Experience (2009)
We live in a world where fantasies are manifested in the drop of a dime. We can access our fantasies online, we can purchase them, and with enough money we have the ability to live out our fantasies through any means we deem necessary. “The Girlfriend Experience” is about those fantasies and the lengths we’re willing to go to have them lived out. Soderbergh examines the man of today and what situations would indicate their need for companionship. Chelsea is an escort but not the typical one.
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009)
I’ve had a rocky relationship with the GI Joe franchise from the start. As a kid I loved the action figures but I didn’t care too much for the eighties cartoon. I mean let’s face it, only Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow were really cool. The rest were pretty interchangeable characters. And then the comics came along changing my mind on the property further convincing me to enjoy the mythos with the Devil’s Due Publishing comic series that were mature, tense, and action packed. With Stephen Sommers aboard I obviously didn’t expect an adaptation of the modern series and instead just expected dumb fun. Well, dumb fun is what I got and I was pleased as punch once the end credits began to roll.
Green Lantern: First Flight (2009) (DVD)
While DC Comics may not have the box office power Marvel has (save “The Dark Knight”), or the volume in straight to DVD features, they have the quality that Marvel lacks whenever they decide to churn out a feature film on the home video circuit. DC has it all over Marvel when it comes to home video releases from “The New Frontier” to “Wonder Woman,” they have it all over their rival company. And just as the movie is being cast and brought to the big screen, we’re given a special glimpse in what could be with “Green Lantern: First Flight”! DC has been mostly hit on the Straight to DVD circuit and “First Flight” is proof that they just can’t be beaten when it comes to animated features.
Gothkill (2009) (DVD)
So far I’ve enjoyed the output Wild Eye Releasing has dropped on movie lovers laps. “Blitzkrieg” was a fun and salivating homage to Naziploitation from the grindhouse era and now we have “Gothkill,” another neo-grindhouse bonanza that recalls the satanic thrillers of the seventies with its tongue firmly planted in cheek. At a merciful hour and nine minutes long, Connelly’s satanic horror comedy seems to be here only to present us with the finest and most unique satanic and gothic performance artists of all time from fire breathers, to magicians and fortune tellers, all of whom are included in the film for lip service in a story that is not only much too convoluted to understand at times, but seems too long even at the length of an average television special.
The Greatest Fan Film of All Time (2008)
Jacob Drake is probably one of my favorite independent animators, because while the character models tend to be crude at times, there’s a certain dynamic charm they obtain to where the art slowly evolves in to outstanding models of figures and men that only add to the silliness and inherent great sense of humor engrained in the movie that is “The Greatest Fan Film of All Time.” For a sequel and a fan film the folks now working outside the defunct Bullcrank studios, “The Greatest Fan Film” makes good in its word of being a funny but epic finisher for a small group of independent filmmakers now seeking their own niche in entertainment.
Gutterballs (2008)
Like every bit of film and music today, Ryan Nicholson’s “Gutterballs” is steeped heavily in the eighties with his slasher setting down in the decade while even the score and soundtrack take from it with shameless glee. And while normally that may be enough reason for me to dislike it, I found that his nostalgic placement made sense in the long run and only added to the camp. Nicholson’s slasher wants to be from the time where slashers were common cinematic fare, but sadly it’s just more of a wish than a reality.

