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I'll Follow You Down (2013)
Haley Joel Osment could become an A-List adult actor.
"I'll Follow You Down" is that wonderful, inexpensive film you hope to see now and then which surprises the viewer with an explosion of talent from both sides of the camera. I am not going to go into the plot at all except to say that it involves the strong emotional relationships and motivations of people propelled into an off-center drama inspired by a science fiction story element.
The writer/director is Richie Mehta, who shows tremendous depth and common sense in his plotting and his characters' dialog, as well as in his non-gimmicky, straight-forward choice of how to use his camera to let the actors shine as they carry the story through to the last frame. I send kudos to Gillian Anderson, Rufus Sewell and Victor Garber for their "generosity towards up-and-coming film makers," in that they supplied wonderfully tuned supporting performances for what was likely very little income. Haley Joel Osment, who was a terrific child actor ("The Sixth Sense" and "A.I.") gives a rock-steady performance here as a multi-layered adult in his young twenties. If he gets the right future film choices, directed by people who correctly make use of his talent, he could become an A-List adult actor by his early thirties. In the meantime, try to catch this little gem of a movie whenever it is available as a theatrical, DVD and/or cable release.
The Big Bang (2010)
A whole lot of fun if you just pay attention
Some very good acting (especially from Sam Elliot), an unusual script filled with sometimes strangely funny references to cosmological and particle physics, and a jazzy style of direction lead to an inexpensive, yet engaging "private detective" story. Antonio Banderas' Latin, fish-out-of-water accent (the detective) initially seems odd for such an iconic American role, but in short order, it just blends-in with the many other off-center characters and events that populate the film.
It's flaws are irrelevant and understandable considering its limited budget and shooting schedule; it's a refreshing hour and a half of entertaining stuff that smartly never takes itself too seriously.
Stuff Stephanie in the Incinerator (1989)
Interesting for an inexpensive, independent film
This movie was made for a very small budget ($100,000 at a time when the average movie cost $15 million). It was meant to appear to be a psychological thriller, yet, ultimately, it's something else; the kind of "now you see it -- now you don't" that normally doesn't happen in inexpensive, quickly made movies. The film suffered from distribution problems, eventually being bought by TROMA, which purposely made it look, as in all previous TROMA films, like a trashy horror film, which it is NOT, renaming it from IN DEADLY HEAT to STUFF STEPHANIE IN THE INCINERATOR. The potential viewer then expects to see a campy grossout, but that is not what happens at all. So,if you run into this film, give it a chance. It's not great, but it does have a clever spark that is unusual for a supercheap indy.
About Schmidt (2002)
A masterpiece of writing, directing, and acting.
The last close up of Jack Nicholson is simultaneously an example of great screen acting and an always to-be- remembered moment in the history of cinema.
Gladiator (2000)
Scott's fast editing is artistically valid.
Ridley Scott broke away from the 50's and 60's style of watching the gladiators' battles within the arena by-way-of a relatively static widescreen POV. His rapid paced editing of mostly more intimate widescreen POV shots brought something new to the Ancient World Epic genre. Some have likened this to pandering to the MTV-watching crowd, but I reject that notion. Fast editing for no apparent reason (as in ARMEGEDDON, for example) is MTV-like, and quickly results in both confusion and boredom for the viewer; but a fast-cutting style, sparingly used to immerse the audience into the center of a sudden storm of life-and-death violence, is artistically valid and effective in conveying the adrenaline surge, terror, and sense of chaos that such combatants would likely experience.