Believe it when I say that I wanted to love “The Awakening.” Truth be told when I popped in the DVD for Mike Conway’s action science fiction film, I was excited and wanted to see what he could do with a budget of just six thousand dollars. While he manages to pull off some neat tricks with his budget that can barely feed a household for two for a year, “The Awakening” suffers from glaring flaws that bog it down in to dismal heights.
Tag Archives: Indie Film
Superman Classic (2011)
It seems like every single year there is always someone paying tribute to Superman. Last year a slew of animators created an amazing life-like model of Christopher Reeve as Superman taking off in to the sky. This year we have “Superman Classic,” a 2011 treat that’s all too brief, but goes down so well nonetheless. In lieu of the upcoming reboot from Zack Snyder, I think this is an apt variation that presents what could be and not what should be, as most fan boys are prone to insisting upon with their fan films.
Hunter Prey (2010)
Director Sandy Collora is known around the country for being one of the most, if not the most talented fan filmmaker of the modern era. Collora is a skilled artist and a man capable of creating his own visions of a mythos that are nothing short of brilliant and dazzling. Not surprising, Collora eventually took time out to create his own world with his own characters and it happens to be a pure work of science fiction excellence that channels the likes of “Hell in the Pacific” to convey a wide scope of a grander story that is scaled down to the personal battle of two soldiers in the middle of a inter-galactic war. Collora paints the picture of two soldiers stranded on an island during a great war that eventually becomes their own personal battle.
Insecticidal (2005)
“Maggoty cannibal girls don’t get dates!”
Bitchy (but hot) Josi is throwing the party of the week at her sorority house, where booze runs heavy and gorgeous women scamper around. The only sister not having fun is her own. Young Cami is a scientist and geeky (but hot) aspiring entomologist who worships bugs and garners her own bug zoo in her room. On a bitchy tirade, Josi storms in to Cami’s room and kills all of her bugs with spray. Unfortunately the spray has counteracted with the chemicals Cami has fed them and now the bugs are alive, the size of Buick’s and ready to munch on some busty party goers!
The PC Thug: Slamming Sundance
2005’s “Mad Hot Ballroom” was the hit of the year. The Nickelodeon/Paramount owned documentary featured three Public Schools in New York, all of whom were taught the art of ballroom dancing and ultimately experienced a coming of age with their skills that took them in to a major competition by the end of the film. The film grossed a total of over nine million dollars, screening on theaters in the double digits. 2007’s “The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters” about the inadvertent rivalry between two master gamers competing to obtain the world record Donkey Kong made the top ten lists of over a dozen critics in 2007, and garnered immense buzz over the course of the year from news companies alike. 2009’s “Paranormal Activity” was made on a micro budget and filmed in generally one location.
Absentia (2011)
It is a very rare, almost non-existent trait these days in directors who are capable of knowing their limits. Even in indie directors, it’s almost impossible to find a director who knows their limits and can properly test theirs without going over board or not fully realizing their personal boundaries. Director Mike Flanagan’s slow boil and utterly unnerving horror film “Absentia” is a consistent test of limits. Director Flanagan is a man who almost seems aware of what he is capable of doing and what he simply can not do on-screen and it shows in what is a very artistically self-aware indie gem that works as an enduring yet complex character study and a truly harrowing horror film. “Absentia” provides so many layers of subtle characterization, gentle exposition, and gripping back story that affords just enough depth for our protagonists to earn our sympathy without seeming as if we’re being manipulated in to caring for them.
Paranormal Activity 2 (2010)
Like it or not, “Paranormal Activity” was the indie success story of the decade. After the big take off of “The Blair Witch Project,” director Oren Peli proved a valuable successor to the end of the twentieth century sensation by providing a horror film for the digital age where the chronicling of a couple at the mercy of a demon was filmed through HD camcorders and the advent of the then seasoned instrument of the worldwide web. “Paranormal Activity 2” commits what is almost an impossible task. It completely compliments the storyline of the original film while also adding to it.