Heartland Film Yap: 10 Mountains 10 Years

I feel like a monster for writing this review. Saying anything negative about this film is like talking poorly about puppies, the Holocaust, or babies. Oh wait. 10 Mountains, 10 Years is a great idea for a documentary. It is about a fundraiser for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s research which consists of climbing a different mountain every year for ten years.

It’s inspiring, innovating, and necessary. This is a wonderful organization, but it’s important to separate the group from the movie. After unveiling its premise, the movie feels completely flat. This is the opportunity to really display some of the most personal stories, but everything melds together in this film.

There are scenes that should totally work on paper, but have no pulse on screen. During the climb, the mountaineers are reading aloud letters from those who are sick. With the location and the people and the words, there should be tears but the filmmaking betrays these moments. (Too many of them as well). It’s difficult to focus on the words because the film isn’t providing the pathos and energy.

What does work is the saddening stats about these diseases. Actually seeing the people worked better than any of the interviews (Again too many of them). This is an organization that should be praised and there should be a more effective film to talk about it. This just seems like a DVD extra or something to present to companies. Even with Anne Hathaway narrating, it isn’t lifted towards something cinematic.

2.5 Yaps

http://www.thefilmyap.com/2010/10/17/10-mountains-10-years/

Heartland Film Yap: Black White and Blues

The fun title Black, White, and Blues refers to its main character, a rather upset guy by the name of Jefferson Bailey (Morgan Simpson). Filled with relationship difficulties and alcohol, he is the prime person to sing the blues. Unfortunately he’s plagued with crippling stage freight. He can’t even physically be on the stage for too long.

After a sour bar brawl with Luke Perry, Bailey hops into the ride of a man named Augy (Michael Clarke Duncan). Augy has been pestering Bailey to go back home so he can receive his potion of a will. Both of them are extremely fascinating characters full of depth and mystery.

While watching this film, it’s difficult to realize that it actually is a road trip movie. Sure, there are a few minor detours and there is a clear path but you get too caught up in the narrative of these characters. The screenplay, written by Simpson and George Richards, handles its characters so well. Tales of redemption are difficult because in order for there to be emotional payoff, the film has to instantly establish the character and provide a believable arc. Black, White, and Blues does that with ease.

The most memorable part of the movie is its visual style. Its cool colors and impressive lighting design makes each frame rewarding. Mario Van Peebles further proves himself as one of today’s unsung directors. He was great with his feature Baadasssss! and his work on the TV shows Damages and LOST. He has a clear vision but the real skill is combining the visceral elements without ever neglecting the character arcs.

With a story like this, the ending can be everything. When something is alluded to for over an hour, there is some expectations of what is in the box. Its conclusion does end up being surprisingly satisfying in a more unconventional way. The whole movie is clever and will end up staying with you.

4.5 Yaps

http://www.thefilmyap.com/2010/10/16/black-white-and-blues/

Heartland Film Yap: Among Us

Fantasy only seems like fantasy when it’s juxtaposed against our world. Dragons flying could seem standard until you look out your window. Among Us does an excellent job of creating a cold realism and then slowly introduces in the incredible.

This is a Swedish film starring Michael Nvquist (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo series) and Izabellas Scorupco as Ernst and Cecilia who are suffering. Their child is in the hospital in critical condition. They are both anxious and doubting, but they have no choice but to continue on with their lives.

Then a new man introduces himself into their lives in order to help them. He calls himself Walter (Tchéky Karyo) and Cecilia finds warmth in his presence. Ernst just becomes more frustrated whenever Walter tries to emotionally intervene. Words are never said and accusations are never made, but it’s clear to everyone that Walter is not exactly what he seems.

It seems like I’m giving away too many clues about the movie but writer/director Johan Brisinger does not play the tale out as suspenseful in that regard. Think enough about the title and the mystery is solved. Instead he wisely keeps it focused on the family dynamic and that creates for a better payoff. Nvquist and Scorupco are excellent as the grieving parents who don’t fall back on expected responses.

As with a lot of Scandinavian films, this movie is slow and a bit minimalistic. That approach could leave some audience members cold (pun intended), but in this case it creates a wonderful balance towards the possibly heightened premise. By the end it has this surprisingly emotional reaction. The movie takes risks, but Brisinger pulls them off.

4 Yaps

http://www.thefilmyap.com/2010/10/16/among-us/

Heartland Film Yap: Café

The interconnectedness of lives is a topic that is very familiar with independent films. They are films that live and die depending on the writing, specifically the strength of the characters. Café is not a perfect movie, but is a very fun one because of its characters.

Todd (Daniel Eric Gold) runs a quaint little café in Philadelphia. He has never met the owner of the café, but he returns every day because it’s an easy job and he’s in love with his co-worker, Claire (Jennifer Love Hewitt). Meanwhile, there is also a drug dealer (Jamie Kennedy) who appears to be working now with real estate. Alexa Vega plays a young woman trying to get a job to help someone on a personal level. A married man decided to be spontaneous and asked out a stranger he met in the theatre.

Then there is a man who keeps having a little girl (Madeline Carroll from Flipped) talk to him through his computer trying to convince him that the world is not real, but a computer simulation and she is its creator. Now this is a fascinating plotline because it’s so different from the rest of the movie. The others are strong character studies, but then there is this science fiction story that can either be accurate or the man’s schizophrenia.

Although the theological questions were a bit too easy, this story provided a lot of fun. Writer/director Marc Erlbaum has a fun sense of filmmaking. The camera is always gracefully moving through the lone set. With the avatar/God plotline he is able to show some fantastical imagery that enhances the movie.

The cast is really strong in this, as well. Gold has a leading man presence that makes his character very endearing even though he has the weakest of the set. Kennedy gives his best performance I’ve seen. He is typically very manic, but he’s controlled and very threatening in this.

A lot of people will be talking about the ending and it didn’t need to be that extreme. The movie works because Erlbaum created a world that was a lot of fun to be in for a week. At the end Erlbaum compromises a little bit of that interaction, not exactly with its story but he does end up overshadowing too much.

Beyond that, this is a delightful film that shows a lot of promise for Erlbaum and his future endeavors. IMDb lists his next film, A Buddy Story, which will star the brilliant Mad Men actress Elisabeth Moss. I can’t wait.

4 Yaps

http://www.thefilmyap.com/2010/10/11/cafe/

Heartland Film Yap: Summer Eleven

There is always a considerable amount of bias when watching a film. Your own experiences always have a way of sneaking in. Watching Summer Eleven invoked my current role as a Telecommunications student at Ball State University. When my peers make a feature or a short film, there is usually a large amount of heart and promise hidden in the frames. There are often a ton of problems with the filmmaking and the script, but that’s excused because a student makes it.

That’s how I approached Summer Eleven but then Adam Arkin showed up. Arkin is a familiar actor who was last seen in a Best Picture nominee. Then I realized that the writer/director Joseph Kell is not new to the business, but has been a television actor for several decades. This makes it more difficult to ignore the rough edges of this film.

Having a coming of age film from the point of view of four eleven-year-old girls through the course of one summer is a sweet topic. It’s just handled very bluntly at times. The dialog is awkward and too on-the-nose throughout the summer. It’s difficult to tell if the dialog matches the ages or even if their actions match their ages.

The editing doesn’t feel finished, all of the acting is stale, and the lighting is very standard. But this isn’t a bad film. There is not one ounce of cynicism or condescension in it. It has all the right intentions, but it doesn’t get there…yet. Just like students making their first film, I’m certain Kell knows what he needs to do next time.

If he focuses on fewer characters, I think he can make something special. In Summer Eleven there are too many things going on and in order to move forward he needs to rely on familiar material. There is a subplot with a brother (Steven Gayhm) who goes to Iraq and becomes cynical upon returning home. This is one of the storylines that needed to be fleshed out a little more in order to earn the emotional payoffs.

This is just a lesson in filmmaking. I’m sure Kell will make another film and I hope he does. There are few films that focus on being this sweet. So many family films, like the ones from Dreamworks, are more interested in dropping pop culture references and things that only work for one age group. Kell wants to make something for the entire family and this does that.

2.5 Yaps