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So, I finally got a chance to sit down and watch these two flicks. The overall expectations were mostly on par with my final thoughts.
Captivity.
Yeah. I see why this one tanked at the box office…and why it will likely tank on DVD as well. It was awash with overdone genre cliches and trite plot “twists.” I said on one of my Twitter feeds that,
“‘Captivity’ was a paint by numbers flick that even a 3rd grader could have figured out in the 2nd Act.” And I wasn’t just being mean, it was.
At times I would see the opportunity for plot and character redemption, quickly followed by failure to capitalize.
Our lead, played by the beautiful Elisha Cuthbert, was a typical run-of-the-mill female model. Her character arc was more of an embrace of the stereotype of female’s role in a male-driven culture. I’m not a female and I was disgusted with it. To add insult to injury, in one scene, she actually sees how well she was played into the same situations as other random girl upon girl upon girl had played into before her.
Our protagonist(s) were just as lame. I can’t go into much detail on this without giving it away.
But, if you watch 30 minutes of the movie, you’ll figure it out and be just as annoyed with the predictability of it as I was.
You can safely skip this movie and actually do yourself a service.
I Know Who Killed Me
Not nearly as bad as I’d been reading and hearing.
Not all that good, but not remotely as terrible as reviewers lead one to believe.
The main problem I had with it was that the entire story and film hinged itself upon this mythical genealogical phenomenon. It almost comes off as if the story was born out of someone’s discovery and research of the topic. For me, that just translates negatively. I’d much rather see a story born out of character and circumstance then embrace something topical, than what we have with this film.
Visually, I liked the film. For the most part, the acting was at par or slightly over. For the most part, but not without exception. There were definitely times I was shaking my head at what was coming out of an actor’s mouth, or the “motivations” of a character in a scene. But overall, it wasn’t bad.
The second problem, and it’s a big one, is the superficial antagonist of the film. The quote-unquote bad guy. I saw it from a mile away, literally with little to no time in front of the screen, I pegged the killer. But not only that, there was no development of the character. And the whole idea of the killer being ominous is completely shattered in the end. So, without development and a poor attempt at making the killer to be mysterious, results in a cheesy and failed execution of character.
I ranked this film one star above “Captivity” which still puts it lower on my scale of what I consider to be good cinema.
My favorite scenes were the strip club scenes. Hear me out. There’s not really any nudity, and it’s not the rare inclusion of a boob that leads me to like these scenes. I felt these scenes were the most well executed and cinematic. Not to mention that in one scene, Lohan dances to “Freya” by The Sword! But the cinematography was so great in these scenes. And the club owner was the most disturbingly neat character in the whole film.
Rent it only if you dig thriller/mysteries. And don’t complain to me if you don’t like it. It’s completely a middle-of-the-road-teetering-on-the-edge-of-bad film. But, I found it more redemptive and having better character development and less-cliche moments than “Captivity”.
Not sure what’s next on the docket for an upcoming HCHFF, but I’ll keep you posted!
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So over the weekend, I was compelled for some reason to pull out an old issue of Student Filmmakers magazine. By this, I do not mean that I had a particular issue in mind. No, I saw a stack and my bones just moved to select one from the pile.
Immediately my attention went to a headline article about “Three Point Lighting,” which is an almost scientifically proven method of ensuring pleasing lighting results in each shot set up. Lately my mind has really been intrigued with the whole “painting with light” art of cinematography so I turned and began to read.
Great article. Which was followed by another great lighting article in which “Fast Lighting” was discussed. In Independent productions, time is almost always of the essence, and with any production (Hollywood or Indie) lighting is a real time consumer. Cinematographers are almost always under great burden to work fast, cheap and good. Daunting task. Fast lighting is a means by which to plan lighting set ups for a location with multiple scenes in mind. In the case of the example discussed, a kitchen daytime scene and a kitchen nighttime scene.
By placing lighting strategically in advance of the next scene, you greatly reduce the time between scenes, aka the set up time. It was fascinating and exciting…for a nerd like me. Unfortunately, this method isn’t always an option, and attempting to make it an option can be more time consuming than the alternative – multiple set ups.
Two great articles in one small, free, magazine. But it’s not over.
I hit the table of contents to find an article on demo reels. I’m currently prepping my own reel, so this was a great and informative read. And is if that weren’t enough, I turn the page to find a five page article about raising the funds for your first feature film.
It was an interview with (then) first-time feature filmmaker, Pete Chatmon, and the fund raising experience of his film, “Premium.”
Man. Floored. It was almost too much exhilarating information to handle in one morning’s reading. But of all the articles thus far, this one pumped me up. To read about how Chatmon managed to raise (as I recall) half a million dollars within his almost immediate circle of contacts blew me away!! Literally, he says that every dime of the budget came from within two degrees of separation of all the core filmmakers of the project.
Unbelievable.
I love when things like this happen. It really shows me how blessed I am!
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