What Wydeven possesses in “The Medium” is a keen eye for visuals that compliment the story he’s attempting to tell within the space of only twenty-two minutes. “The Medium” is a rather interesting tale that starts off with much less of an impact than we’d ever suspect, and Wydeven takes what could have been a boring film, and adds an eye for detail, even with the apparently limited scenery. What the real appeal is of “The Medium,” is the detail.
Tag Archives: Indie Film
Bad Reputation (2005)
Jim Hemphill’s immaculately directed “Bad Reputation” is half “Carrie” and half “I Spit on Your Grave,” it’s a teen thriller that I can finally get behind, and one that never swims in the kiddy pool. This is a hardcore revenge film, and I enjoyed it from the very beginning. It’s also one of the few rape revenge flicks that have come around in years, with an utterly compelling series of events that leads to unthinkable carnage, after an utterly disturbing rape sequence renders a young insecure girl a merciless monster. Hemphill definitely has his ducks in a row with a film that really brings the best of the revenge genre to the screen, without ever watering the atmosphere down to appeal to a younger audience.
Director Larry Longstreth is full of "Bullcrank"
I always say, if you want to know what filmmaking is like, ask an actual fucking filmmaker. Any filmmaker will do. But probably the best tool is a filmmaker recounting what their experience has been like. Whether through the hilarious “Dirty Condoms, Anxiety Attacks, Road Trips, and Reality Shows: Filmmaking 101.” or basically stalking a random filmmaker, you can learn a lot from the indie filmmakers. Larry Longstreth is one in a group of sheer madmen that lurk over at Bullcrank.com. Bullcrank is the comedy group that creates critically acclaimed and rather popular short comedies that range from animated homages to the video game age, to a musical about zombies.
Longstreth and co. have been featured on many websites including Ifilm, their films have ranked high in popularity in both sites, and currently Longstreth recently entered in “The Lot” contest. We here at Cinema Crazed, love the group at Bullcrank after watching “Zombies in my Neighborhood” over a year ago, but we’re only one of many folks that follow the exploits of the Bullcrank crew and their productions. Their website has something for every comedy lover, and you’ll find at least one thing that you’ll be laughing about for days.
Longstreth along with his equally talented brother Aaron, both pop culture and comic book junkies, have managed to build much clout in the independent circuit, and so far they’re making immense progress building a cult following. We decided after a few years of jabbering with the hilarious, odd, and frank head Bullcranker Larry Longstreth, that we’d sit down and get him to spill his beans about his productions, and life. We know that after sampling a few of the short films, and reading this interview, a few new Bullcrankers will be born.
Mime (2005)
I guess you could say that this is based on a true story, but then it’s so absurd I truly had a hard time believing. So, I’ll take Balinski’s word for it, in the end. Based on a true story, a young man who poses as a mime goes walking in the park one night, and proceeds to mime killing a passerby. He’s then chased, beaten and put on trial for murder. I can imagine the original proceedings (if there were any) didn’t really go this way, but “Mime” seems as more a lampooning of the proceedings with a clown as one of the jurors, and our lawyers insisting that the victim not speak since he’s technically dead.
Foxxy Madonna vs the Black Death (2007)
Why did I even long for a Grind House revival, when it was happening right under my nose? You may be surprised to hear this, but I can be a bit slow witted at times. Right now, there are about a hundred young directors creating movies, all of whom are just clamoring to re-invent the Grind House and exploitation genre, and they just don’t get enough of the credit that they deserve for accomplishing what Hollywood has tried so desperately to do. The proof in the pudding is this utterly fantastic production short from Cinephreak Pictures that aces every feeling and novelty you get from a Grind House film, with a touch of Blaxploitation for good measure.
An Interview with Actress Sarah Hall
Three words come to mind when I think of Sarah Hall: Yow, Yum, and Wow. Now, you endure my girl crazy antics day in and day out, but Sarah Hall isn’t all looks. It’s not a secret the folks at Asylum and I aren’t on the best of terms, and “The Hitchhiker” is one of the primary films from the video label that has managed to draw the line in the sand (long story), but one of the only highlights of the film is the performance, and arguably, the debut of Sarah Hall to B movie fans. Hall is one of the many rotating cast of actors in the Asylum fold that appears in almost every film title.
Hall has the potential to break out from the horror genre, and can kick the film world up its ass. As a person she’s friendly, and outgoing, and knows how to humor folks, and on-screen she’s unique, charismatic, and manages to steal the show quite often. For proof, turn to “The Hitchhiker,” which almost becomes a display for Hall’s rather alarming sex appeal, and she continues her Asylum affairs with the upcoming–ahem–mock buster “Transmorphers.”
We grabbed a hold of Hall and interviewed her, and yes, even flirted a bit, but Hall was kind enough not to put out a restraining order and obliged. Here’s the hap with Hall.
Dead@17 (2007)
Based on the comic book by Josh Howard, Mark Steensland’s adaptation of “Dead@17” is a great short that really registered, even if I’ve never read the comic before. I know, it’s a shocker considering I try to grab every horror comic out there, but “Dead@17” is a series I’ve heard about in passing, but never actively sought it out. And thanks to Steensland, that’s all about to change. Steensland depicts a rather interesting world on film, with a short that signals the start of something much bigger afoot.