#DrunksLikeUs (2014)

Directed by David Simpson
Written by Paul Mackie
Starring Luke Griffin, Andrew Regan and Paul Mackie

When Mark's Facebook friend goes missing, he and his two friends go on a rescue mission to find her.

This crude, alcohol fueled, yet somehow charming indie comedy about three friends on an inebriated adventure is the very definition of "independent". It got it's legs after writer, Paul Mackie tweeted out the script and got a following for the project. 

From there, cast and crew members were attached to the script completely through social media. It is the first of what I suspect many films to be independently made by creative people coming together via the internet to do what they love. It is truly a beautiful notion that we live in a world where this can happen.

The writing in this British comedy reminds me of Quentin Tarantino's writing. Filled with fast-paced dialogue that, regardless of it's lack of relevance towards the movement of the plot, is swift and flows naturally. 

Particularly in the opening scene in which they talk about the economy, I was reminded of the first scene in "Reservoir Dogs", in which Mr. Brown talks about Madonna's "Like a Virgin". It had nothing to do with the actual plot, but it provided a realism and character development that is often lost in modern films.

Along with the writing, the performances by the three main actors is impressive. The fast-paced, continuous nature of the dialogue is not an easy thing to pull off, and these three guys nail it. The chemistry between them is undoubted and it is believable that they have been friends for years.

Really, the majority of the problems with this film were budget related. But what the filmmakers were trying to accomplish was clear and given a bigger budget may have disappeared completely. The ambition of everyone involved is the most important thing when it comes to Indies. At least in my mind. And there was plenty of passion behind this project.

As of now, I don't believe "#DrunksLikeUs" is available for public viewing. Once I find out more details, I will let you all know so we can support Independent Filmmakers.

My Rating: 6/10

The Graduate (1967)

Directed by Mike Nichols
Written by Calder Willingham and Buck Henry, based on the novel by Charles Webb
Starring Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft, Katharine Ross and William Daniels

A disillusioned college graduate finds himself torn between his older lover and her daughter.

There is no denying that this comedy from 1967 is a classic. It is filled with memorable scenes, perfect performances and top-notch writing. This film has withstood the test of time and still finds a sense or relevance among younger audiences.

But good God, is it annoying. Filled with stupid, annoying and irrational characters who do stupid, annoying and irrational things. No character has any redeeming qualities and even as a twenty-five year old, I find everyone's actions childish and literally the worst possible thing they can do in the situations they find themselves in.

Starring a definitely-not-twenty-year-old Dustin Hoffman and a not-much-older-than-Dustin-Hoffman Anne Bancroft, I found their characters rather unbelievable. Their affair, however was more believable than the love between Hoffman and the daughter of his lover. 

More time was spent on establishing the affair than was spent on the entire part of the film in which he "fell in love" with the daughter, let alone the 30 seconds it took for him to fall in love with her. Which made the entire plot eye-roll worthy.

All that being said, you're probably expecting my to give this an extremely low rating. Despite all of it's flaws, and there were many, I found that the performances overshadowed them. Yes, they were all stupid, annoying and irrational. But they all had a humor to them that made the experience enjoyable. It's easy to see why this film is a classic.

My Rating: 6/10

Maggie (2015)

Directed by Henry Hobson
Written by John Scott 3
Starring Arnold Schwartzenegger, Abigail Breslin, Joely Richardson and Jodie Moore

A teenage girl in the Midwest becomes infected by an outbreak of a disease that slowly turns the infected into cannibalistic zombies. During her transformation, her loving father stays by her side, refusing to give up hope.

In an unequivocally valiant effort, Arnold Schwartzenegger gives a shot at a straight drama. No over the top action. No ridiculous comedic scenarios. Just straight drama. And as much I was praying that he would showcase some real acting chops, I feel his ambitions were slightly naive.

His performance isn't terrible, mind you. In fact, it's on par with everyone else in the film. The portrayals of people living in a disease infected world are mediocre across the board. No one shows any deep, intense emotions. Live deliveries are weak and unbelievable. And everyone seems to be trying to cry the entire time, without success.

The movie itself isn't bad. The story is interesting. Overplayed, perhaps, but interesting nonetheless. I do feel as though they could have added more development in the beginning. They jump into the plot very quickly and never look back to explain things or enlighten the audience to what has happened beforehand. It's a movie I enjoyed once. But I really think it could have been better with a different cast.

My Rating: 6/10

Welcome to Me (2014)

Directed by Shira Piven
Written by Eliot Laurence
Starring Kristen Wiig, James Marsden, Linda Cardellini, Wes Bentley and Joan Cusack

When Alice Klieg, a woman living with borderline personality disorder, wins the Mega-Millions lottery, she immediately quits her psychiatric medications and buys her own talk show.

I could rant for a good while about how many problems I had with this film. Everything from the technical aspects to how painful it was watching this movie. And not painful in a good way, or an awkward way. While the subject matter was meant to be awkward and induce the same kind of reaction you get while watching Michael Scott on the Office, it's was just poorly made. About as poorly made as the TV show the protagonist of the movie created.

The owners of the TV studio she has help her in creating her passion project have no idea how a TV studio is run. Failing to achieve even the most basic knowledge of film law, such as slander, defamation and animal cruelty, these studio heads leave no mystery as to why their studio is failing. Only it's not portrayed as some grand comedy of errors. It is presented as this big surprise that the audience shouldn't have seen coming.

In a film that seems like it wants to bring an awareness to mental illness, it definitely succeeds in doing that. Only not for the better. It does more harm than it does good in it's portrayal of a woman with borderline personality disorder. She is given no redeemable qualities, not to mention any human qualities. She's seems more like an alien from outer space and even when she is given the chance to redeem herself, she fails miserably with empty gestures and actions that just reflect everything she did wrong prior to her conflicts.

Pictured: The lack of a character arc.

I'll admit, I'm not a huge fan of Kristin Wiig. In fact, the only thing I've liked her in was "The Skeleton Twins". But I had such high hopes for this movie. I went in wanting to love it. I gave it a fair shot. And it just completely disappointed me. It had nothing to say that had any value. This is the first movie I have seen in a long time that I have no idea how it got made.

My Rating: 1/10

The Trouble With Harry (1955)

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Written by John Michael Hayes, based on the novel by Jack Trevor Story
Starring John Forsythe, Shirley MacLaine, Edmund Gwenn and Mildred Natwick

The trouble with Harry is that he's dead, and everyone seems to have a different idea of what needs to be done with his body.

In this rare, dark comedy from the incomparable Alfred Hitchcock, murder is not the punchline, but rather the set up to many ludicrous situations. In 1950s Vermont, the citizens of this small town seem to be more concerned with being proper and polite than they do with a dead body. Perhaps a satire of the unachievable expectations of manners in the 50s. But I was born in 1989, so what the hell do I know?

The film itself isn't filled with jokes or slapstick situations. It is the sheer macabre nature of this story that makes it's own humor. Hitchcock's dark sense of comedy is so apparent that I could just imagine him sitting bend the camera, grinning from ear to ear.

The age of this movie will turn many away and as much as I urge people to give this and any other classic movie a shot, I understand completely. Older films are not always for everyone due to the way films have changed overtime. The evolution of humor alone has created such a gap in what people of different generations find funny.

"The Trouble With Harry" is dry, dark and ridiculous. If anything, I would say that you will most likely never see another film quite like it. It speaks about death so nonchalantly that it's no surprise that the writer of the novel and the director were both British. So painfully British.

My Rating: 7/10

Cold in July (2014)

Directed by Jim Mickle
Written by Nick Damici and Jim Mickle, based on the novel by Joe R. Lansdale
Starring Michael C. Hall, Sam Shepard, Don Johnson and Vinessa Shaw

After a man is forced to kill an intruder in his home, a man finds that he and his family are being stalked by the father of the man he killed. But he soon uncovers secrets that the Sheriff's department are hiding and teams up with the man who has been stalking him to find the truth.

An intense and dark psychological thriller where every discovery twists and turns the plot down a completely different path than it was on. Backed by great performances by the unlikely trio of Michael C. Hall, Sam Sheppard and Don Johnson, this film kept me on the edge of my seat.

The most frustrating thing with films nowadays is predictability. Yes, sometimes you can overlook it and still enjoy a movie. But to me, the best ones keep you questioning exactly what's going on. Throughout this movie, I was unsure of what would happen. Every time I thought it was going to go one way, it went in a completely other direction.

Nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance film festival in 2014, it has been named with the several other greats from that year, including "Whiplash" and "The Skeleton Twins". It is just another example of the great films independent filmmakers can make.

My Rating: 7/10

The D Train (2015)

Written and Directed by Jarrad Paul and Andrew Mogel
Starring Jack Black, James Marsden, Kathryn Hahn and Jeffrey Tambor

The head of a high school reunion committee, Dan Landsman travels to Los Angeles to track down the most popular guy from his graduating class and convince him to go to the reunion. While there, the two develop an unexpected bond that Dan would just like to forget.

I'm sure many will find this movie homophobic, I don't feel that is the case. The foundation of the movie is a man who feels under appreciated and will do anything he can to be noticed and loved by his peers. That is a sentiment we can all relate to at some point in our lives.

Equally awkward and outrageous, this movie fails to land on many of it's jokes and gags. While their are a few giggles, they are separated by minutes upon minutes of shielding your eyes from the uncomfortable nature of the story. I am positive that that is what the filmmakers wanted to accomplish, but it made for an experience that caused me to check my phone constantly.

The scenes, references and jokes that are funny in this movie are really, genuinely funny. But they are too few and far between to make it consistently enjoyable. As a fan of Jack Black, it was good seeing him back on the big screen, regardless of what I was watching. And this is undoubtedly his most outrageous role to date. If that's any consolation.

My Rating: 5/10