This Is Not a Film (2003)

notafilmNadia: The lines are stupid!
Michael Connor: No – they happened!
Nadia: Which makes them stupid twice.

“This is not a Film” is something completely different which I love. I’m always looking for movies different from the usual Hollywood dung piles of sequels, high budget actioners, and tired cliché romantic comedies, so “This is not a Film” was obviously something different and original, and I couldn’t have asked for a better entertaining time. This is obviously an odd movie with a weird premise that’s scattered all over the place. Michael (Michael Leydon Campbell) is a man whose girlfriend Grace left him, so, in an attempt to discover where she now lives, he is making a documentary about his search for her, and tries to plead his case to her hoping someone she knows will see it and tell her relying on the rule of Six degrees of separation. So, he asks his friend Nadia (Nadia Dajani), an actress for help in making the documentary and staging some sequences that dictate where his relationship went wrong.

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Don't Ask, Don't Tell (2002)

I’m among the legions of fans who grew up on cable television watching the geniuses at “Mystery Science Theater 3000” (Don’t know it? Look it up), or as we people in the know call it “MST3K” spoof films like “The Mole People” and “The Horror at Party Beach”. Yeah, it’s official I’m a nerd. Anyway, I spent many a long day watching Servo, Crow, and Mike watch bad movies only to trash them with their witty one-liners which often made me laugh, so when I was chosen to view the newest gag film “Don’t ask Don’t Tell”, I was more than willing to discover what lay ahead of me. “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” is a spoof, but it also becomes its own entity in the process as a film within a film. The people at “Refried Flicks” take the 1954 junk heap “Killer’s from Space”, an old schlock science fiction film directed by legendary director Billy Wilder’s younger brother W. Lee Wilder which starred Peter Graves and re-dub it, add new comedic scenes and masterfully edit this old piece of junk.

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The Good Girl (2002)

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I was rather intrigued by watching this movie, because it received a ton of critical acclaim and rave. Jennifer Aniston is the title character in this independent movie and this is possibly her best film out of her entire career. Jennifer manages to stray from her corky persona that made her career into a more complex and interesting individual. Throughout the entire movie, we feel her misery as her go-nowhere life is deteriorating her spirit so rapidly it’s painful. Jennifer is excellent in this movie expressing great sympathy from her audience and giving off much depth. I loved this character out of the entire movie and even in scenes that make her unlikable, you can’t help but feel for her.

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Tape (2001)

Tape2001One of my favorite, and possibly one of the most under rated directors of our time Richard Linklater continues to top himself. There’s not many directors these days that show they have both style (ala Dazed and Confused, School of Rock), and substance (Waking Life) at their disposal. Linklater can dispense both these traits in either film he chooses and often times it successful. He released this right off of the tail coats of “Waking Life” which was equally as brilliant. Based on the play by Stephen Belber, the film instantly begins with a very authentic and realistic disposition. The film and story relies heavily, and almost completely on human characteristics and mannerisms.

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Secretary (2002)

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Lee Holloway (Maggie Gyllenhaal) just got out of a mental institution for cutting her self due to stress, and now comes home to even more stress including her overprotective mother (Leslie Anne Warren) and resorts back to her old habits. She soon decides to get a job in typing and instantly becomes skilled, looking for a job. She stumbles upon a small law firm run by a militant E. Edward Grey (James Spader) who is mostly professional and soon develops an odd fascination with her. They soon find they each have a fancy for the sadomasochistic. The aspect that makes this movie so unique is that both characters are so pathetic at times, and somehow become drawn to each other. Grey is a lawyer in a quiet and boring firm who quivers in his office, and Holloway is a nimble and meek girl who tends to hide behind her desk; self inflicted torture is what draws them together emotionally and sexually.

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13 Seconds (2003)

zI8st8GThere isn’t much original material you can inject into horror movies these days, so when I was sent this film, I was pretty skeptical. Though, reading upon it’s merits and numerous awards, I decided to confront this film with an open-mind. Jeff Thomas’ directing is the highlight of the film, it’s not hard to get past the low-budget and realize the film is very well directed. He manages to set the mood and atmosphere down just right enough to keep the audience in suspense and at the edge of their seat. Often, I was left very tense as the characters found themselves trapped in a dark room and confined to the horrifying grim settings of the mansion.

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Thirteen Conversations About One Thing (2002)

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This is an interesting and profound drama, because this movie has one underlying theme that is relatable and universal: happiness. This movie has four separate characters whose life and tale seems to interconnect in some odd way. Matthew Mc Conaughey plays Troy, a hotshot lawyer with a triumphant swagger whose luck can’t seem to stop after putting a suspect in jail, and he has everything going for him, until he accidentally hits someone with his car and drives off to leave them to die. Slowly within the movie he descents into madness as his guilt has him take a mental plunge.

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