Galen
104 Reviews
Reviews
The Passenger
Out of what I've seen so far of the 2019 efforts this would be the first thing I'd recommend to black comedy lovers. I thought the whole thing was quite brilliant, even before it got to the twist ending which added yet another dimension. Brilliant all-round job, guys.
a nipple in time
This film was unafraid to go totally bonkers and the results were pretty spectacular. Nice use of time travel method and enjoyed the fact that you managed to go so many places in the time limit, future scenes were random af but that just adds to the overall enjoyment. Never got the impression of it being filmed on an iPhone and wouldn't have guessed if you hadn't announced it. Clearly this film was purely intended for laughs in a Bill and Ted sort of way and it delivered big time. AJs review was interesting, he clearly loves some of what you've done before but not this one, must check out the earlier ones. He's clearly been doing this forever but I reckon most people would dig this film a lot more than they would dig most of the films in this competition.
Degree of Difficulty
Struggled to really engage with the story, was a bit much of a chick flick for my tastes although I could sense a better film trying to break out. Good on you for attempting Ultra, but noticed it wasn't all split screen.
Sims 3 Generation Expansion Pack
This looks suspiciously like y'all jumped on here and gave your film perfect scores (4 perfect reviews with very brief comment and only one sensible review). I have to admit I loved the wedding scene and the end bit with the blind dog, but the rest was a mess. It was cringeworthy (the genre requirement) but not in a good or entertaining way. Didn't feel like the opening question was properly answered. And I can appreciate that you only had phones to film on but I don't think it had to be that shaky. EDIT: I had a nosey at the review history of all 4 perfect scores. One of them looked like a veteran, been a member for 5 years so I can appreciate they were probably legit. The other three confirmed my suspicions, all just joined up and haven't reviewed any other films. I could bump my rating down to 1 to play your immature game but ratings here mean fuck all, you're not going to get any awards because you have the highest rating, judges don't take scores on here into account. So I'll just leave you with my honest assesment and score that I think you deserve.
A Brush With Commitment
A film of about 4.5 star quality so I had to pick and thought just enough there to go high. A fairly inventive take on the genre and an elaborate set up for the time restrictions. Could have fitted within the mistaken identity genre of a few years ago and also this years cringe comedy. The whole awkward speech was moderately amusing but the call from the bride made the film.
Hybrid
An odd, not completely satisfying film, don't really think this sort of premise can be adequately done in the time period, leaves the question of what her motivations were and what she wants to do with his identity. Brave to do a dialogue free film but such a film needs to have an artistic reason behind this strange choice. Definitely one of the more risqué films in this competition, the type that could cause a heat to be R13.
SURE AS SHIP
Working through all 2019 films in the screening room, haven't seen most of them but will be stunned if there are any solo efforts as good as this one. This came across as a short film hybrid version of Her, Moon and Buried. I assume as a one man team you must have done the female operating system voice as well. The references to time left showed a grasp of the real time concept. This is my 21st review and 3rd 6 star (no 7 stars yet) again a remarkable solo effort and a tremendously entertaining film overall.
The Last Cuppa
I often tend to think when these films go significantly under 5 minutes there's a bit of a missed opportunity, more stuff that could be included. I enjoyed what there was though, amusingly awkward dialogue amidst the overdone end of the world backdrop. I think you could have added enough in the extra 2 minutes to get up to 5 star quality
Hell's Pizza
Loved this film and was a bit surprised to see other reviews thinking it was average. It's always fun to add another genre to your assigned one and time travel is like bacon in that everything is better with it. Enjoyed the intentionally cheesy dialogue and the wrong place, wrong time aspect (bit of a staple for the time travel when you go back to fix something and it doesn't work out how you planned). I think you guys have the talent to move on to bigger things if you're interested.
Four's A Bunch
I loved the multiple layers in this film. Kind of expected the bad language based on your team name. As for the film itself, I was initially thinking that period sitcom was a very interesting way to go, complete with the laugh track. Then it flipped on its head with the revealing that it was a sitcom within a film when the teenage boy gets rebellious about acting in the show. Plus the old lady scene at the end was great. Top job all round.
Yes Mother
This didn't exactly make any sense but it was a cool, fun little film with the costumes being a highlight along with the teleportation device. Seemed like a creative way of making do with what didn't look like a lot, some teams have a lot more resources. I think technically it may be a "bad" film but I think if I was giving an award for the most entertaining bad film from what I've seen so far this would be neck and neck with Do Mandroids Dream of Electric Beads? though it may be edged by that one due to the lunacy in the latter's title.
Audition(s)
Love seeing creative uses of genre like this. As others have said there was the friendship aspect which was a bit underdeveloped but it's hard to do a lot in the time limit. Potential for a great longer film here, didn't see the ending coming at all.
13 going on 14
Obviously the work of inexperienced film makers but you clearly had fun and I'm sure you'll be able to do better things in the future. Some awkward laughs although sometimes it felt like straight cringe more than cringe comedy. Like another review said, I didn't get the bit about the annoying other kid bothering the girl because it didn't come across as his story, maybe there was another cringe comedy to be made about that situation.
The Happy Man
I found this film to be a big mess of incoherent ideas and poorly filmed, looks like on a phone and you were unable to get the picture straight, the top of the guys head was frequently cut off. Aside from that you seem to completely misunderstand the groundhog day concept-the proper way it goes is that the same day happens over and over again and the central character is the only one who knows, everyone else is just carrying on from the previous day. Then the conclusion looked like he was the subject of an experiment, not a bad idea when there's time to reveal such a mystery but it just stopped there leaving no answers. I'm doing a lot of reviews and find that 1 ratings are extremely rare, everyone seems to want to give a 2 star minimum as in "good on you for having a go." So I'm guessing if many others come by to review you'll get a lot of 2 star ratings. Sorry for tearing you to shreds, I suspect you probably realise you didn't cover yourself in glory here. I still admire anyone who enters into this, clearly things went wrong here (noticed the disqualification) but keep having a go, you can only get better.
P.A.N
Good to see that others loved this film as well. Great mockumentary/conspiracy theorist satire and I'm surprised it's not a city finalist. In addition to the general hilarity the technical aspects were very well done. It's not exactly "nature run amok" though, more "paranoid weirdos think nature is running amok" but creative interpretations of genre are always welcome. Subtitles were a bit distracting.
In Jest
I'm really confused with the way some people rate films. Everyone here seems to be saying they love the film yet they're only giving it 4/7 which is completely average when there is no 0 option. Maybe all these people are used to rating out of 5 and don't adjust. Anyway I also loved this effort and I'm giving it the score I think it deserves. Not sure why more films don't use the whole creepy clown stereotype. I think it would have been sufficient to finish it off with the whole scary clowns just being the mums pretending which is what I thought was happening, until the real evil clown then appears, then I recalled where the film had started. It was a good finish to leave what happens next to the audience's imagination, just makes it more tense. A nice balance of horror and comedy here.
Tuatail Day
I was quite excited when I saw this was a mockumentary but it turned out to be a misfire in my view, being a bit weird doesn't automatically equate to being good. The whole thing seemed to be trying to hard to be quirky. And then it turned out to be based around a weird religious tradition which added to the awkwardness. Fun was obviously had making it but not much of a viewing experience.
Thirteen
Didn't actually think of Get Out while watching this film but when seeing mention of it in other reviews it's pretty obvious with the pretending to be sedated and then making the escape. A competent all round effort however, as others have mentioned there wasn't really enough time to develop the concept as much as it deserved, it looked like it could be a trailer for a real film.
Girl with Fig
Mildly interesting, decently thought out scenario but just fell apart at the end, couldn't figure out what had happened, think he needed to kill them or they needed to be shown escaping.
Circle Circuit
I didn't like the style of most of the film with the brief shots with one person in them and the whole idea of building a time machine and going back too far didn't seem particularly original but then the final twist of it not happening at all was really good and bumped you from 3 to 4 star. Although given that there was no time travel did it really nail the genre? Creative subversion though.
Movie 48
Title is a bit random except I'm aware of a film called Movie 43 (which I haven't seen) that is a combination of several mini films with no explanation for the number in the title so it looks like you were inspired by the format which is a brave move when you've barely got the run time for one skit. Didn't see where this was going at first, I thought the Mexican film was supposed to be the agreed idea and the whole film was going to be that, it was idiotic, stereotypical and racist but then you acknowledged the crappiness of the idea in a clever wink to the audience, followed by more of the same with the other two ideas. Then the references to "opposites" and "attract" were a brilliant way to make the film fit into the assigned genre. I'm also inpressed with how many places you managed to get to in the 48 hours. The guys you were portraying clearly had no idea how to make a movie but that's not the case with your real selves, job well done. My biggest issue is that it will likely make less sense to outsiders (i.e. those who haven't experienced the 48 hour process) the whole thing is very much an in-joke.
Trophy Hunting
One of the more baffling films I've seen from 2019 so far, struggled to connect the dots. It all felt pretty incoherent with disjointed scenes. I think there may have been something there that could have been developed for a longer film but there wasn't enough time here to build any real story. Was it some sort of anti-hunting cautionary tale? It seemed a big wtf to me.
Closure
I think I feel almost the exact way as AJ. The way the story was headed was a natural fit with the genre, seemed like the guy who had got out of prison was looking for a measure of redemption and there seemed to be a level of bonding after the victim was predictably hostile at first. Then the final twist changed everything, turning it into a revenge drama and making it dubious at best as an opposites attract movie although it's possible you had taken the story so far and couldn't think of a way to satisfactorily wrap it up. As a touching redemption story it would have been 5 star but the ending shot it in my opinion.
Return
Like others have said, there were a couple of issues here: How is this sci-fi and where's the rest of the story? The animation was exquisite and I'm aware of how time consuming this is which explains why there wasn't time to do much of it and come up with a story that matched the top visuals. If this was a live action film and you couldn't come up with anything better than this it would easily be a 1 star film. But the quality of the animation and my awareness of the level of effort that this requires boosts the score. I would be interested to see if you can come up with any good stories to match your artistic talents if you were to have a go at it without the deadline pressure.
Big Mane Joe
I just signed up and I'm on a mission to see and review all the 2019 films that end up in the screening room. Like seeing how others have reviewed but as there are no others for this one yet I'll have to get the ball rolling. Intriguing set up, wasn't expecting the arrival of the actual genie, and I love the thinking outside the box in terms of the assigned genre. Plus it was crackup, clearly had a lot of fun making it and it came through on the screen. It was also enjoyable to see a team with such a generation gap.
Clone Swappers
This film didn't connect with me on any level, seemed a fairly ill-conceived idea that delivered no laughs. I see other people enjoyed it so it's probably just me so no need to give up making films, just not that into turning a woman into a man with a painted on beard. But not going to get stuck into anyone who loved it, just giving my honest opinion. I am in the process of reviewing all 2019 films in the screening room. Maybe you were just unfortunate to catch me at a bad moment and another time I might have loved it.
Boogie Buddies
I loved this when I saw it in the heat, now revisiting it as part of an endeavour to review every 2019 film in the screening room. It's interesting that some of the other reviews here seem a bit mismatched with their scores in a way that actually hurts your overall rating (as in if I just saw the reviews and had to guess what star rating the reviewers had given it I would guess higher than what was the case). Optional musicals are generally interesting and ballsy and it was definitely the case here, I get the feeling you wanted to do a musical with whatever genre you landed. Really inventive premise and subversive take on the buddy genre. Kind of reminds me of one of the segments in Woody Allen's Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex But Were Afraid To Ask. The characters are sperm who are trying to avoid being ejaculated out. I think it's unlikely you have seen this film so it's probably a coincidental similarity. Not sure how AJ managed to miss the point, it was pretty clear to me. A minor quibble is that I find subtitles distracting when I can clearly understand what's being said (or sung in this case). Another thing you did really well was to cram enough into the minimal running time. Often when films are this short there's not enough time to develop anything but you managed to include plenty here.
Magnet Club
This looks like the work of a team that really didn't like the genre they were given so they went rogue. The standard "opposites attract" genre has nothing to do with anything that happens here but they based the film off another meaning of the phrase. Not a bad thing, it's basically exploiting a loophole which is fine when the final product is reasonably entertaining on its own terms. It's a fun little geek film, think if someone in real life had an interest as socially awkward as magnets they wouldn't be able to find anyone to share it with. Didn't like the fact that I didn't catch the magnet joke of the day after going back a couple of times (maybe that was intentional, otherwise it's the sort of detail that needs a bit more care).
Ripped Off
Phrases such as "thinking outside the box" are overused but this was an excellent example. Who would have thought you could flesh out car stickers into actual animated characters? It was a great use of animation/live action hybrid and also a rare 48 hour film that could be rated G and I'm not normally the type to go for that sort of thing but the charms won me over.
flatpack
This seems to be a short film version of one of the arty type films where nothing really happens, maybe it would be appreciated by that audience. Nothing I was really able to get into, was waiting for a point of interest or twist which seemed lacking. Granted it's a tricky genre to be given.
Free As The Wind
A highly original and entertaining take on the genre. Brilliant that you could come up with that makeup for wind in 48 hours and kudos for the guy that fell of his bike, hope that didn't take many shots to get right. Probably nailed the required wind element better than any film this year by making it the whole theme. Nice little moral as well, guy wants to stay a kid, no responsibilities then he sees how good he's already got it. Must check out some of your past jobs after I finish going through everything from 2019.
Natural Selection
I'm guessing you probably don't have the technical ability to show nature running amok, no worries, our team would have struggled with that to, but still made it clear that was happening off screen. Moderately entertaining overall although nothing spectacular.
Cheernobyl: A Holiday Meltdown
I watched this in the heat and really enjoyed it then but somehow got confused about the bit about holidays disappearing. Now I'm revisiting it as part of reviewing all 2019 films in the screening room and I got it this time round. This was as close to a Tim Burton film as any I've seen in this competition with its quirky, macabre premise and visual style. Got to check out some of your past work. I noticed that there are 3 reviews here that are only 3 stars but 2 of them see to be really positive comments, which is strange in my view.
Cheers Dad
I'm not sure a sibling bonding movie falls into the "buddy" category. There were some things you did well, a couple of good jokes, the BFF opening credits and the use of wind was one of the best I've seen for this year. But I thought this movie was overall a bit cringe and the level of humour you tried to generate didn't seem particularly appropriate for the theme.
Good Grief
A bit of an odd combination that didn't really do it for me, the funeral bit was touching but the interaction with the guy with the dog was confusing, why did the old man call him an idiot and why did the kid steal the dog? I get that the guy being there was the genre part but don't think it was a great concept overall.
Some Family Business
I enjoyed the randomness of the various superpowers and the use of effects, particularly the fire out of the hand. Overall I felt there needed to be a bit more care in joining some of the dots however.
Pain in The Neck
This isn't the only film with this title this year, the other one is from Dunedin and from the one review I can tell that it's also a vampire movie, it's not up in the screening room yet but don't think it's too much of a coincidence as "pain in the neck" is one of the more obvious ideas for a vampire film title, if there were two vampire films with the same, less obvious title I'd have to suspect something. Enjoyable on a modest, flawed level, kind of a not so secret identity movie as the flatmate's actions make it quite obvious the cat's out of the bag. The use of wind at the end was the absolute highlight.
The Clock Is Ticking
As others have implied there was something solid here that you didn't really know where to go with. Definitely nailed the genre, I've seen some attempts at this one that are questionable in terms of fitting the requirement. The ending was slightly surprising, I was expecting a cliché defuse the bomb in the last second. The secondary characters were a bit of a mess, particularly the gender bending one who was every stereotype in the book for this type of person. The comment underneath the film in the screening room saw something of David Lynch in here, don't see it myself and given the youth of the cast it's quite likely they don't even know who David Lynch is (but could be wrong, would be surprising if there was any inspiration from Lynch in any case).
Bullies, Nerds and a Weirdo
This is one of the more inventive and enjoyable school team efforts that I've seen. Nice plot device to bring the genre into play and pure quirky fun. Use of V is obviously a 48 hr in joke but you were given it so why not make the most of it? Keep developing your skills, there's potential for greatness here.
Popsicle Man
For a premise that's basically ripped from Austin Powers minus the spy elements it's actually pretty good. I noticed the first review wanting to see more on the differences between the times which I think would have been fun but it's not something which I thought of while watching the film. SPOILER I thought the ending when he's discovered by the aliens further into the future was the best bit.
All Fur Nothing
If there was a "be careful what you wish for" genre, this would have fit nicely in there. Didn't dig it as much as the other two reviewers, I thought it was a clever idea but at just 3 minutes it was quite insubstantial, it left me wanting more, there was potential for more to be developed with this. I'm guessing timing was the issue as I can't see why this would be disqualified apart from getting it in late. The wind shot seemed just there because it was a required element, it didn't seem to add anything interesting.
Do Mandroids Dream of Electric Beads
One big wtf movie in every sense, including the title. Clockwork Orange style outfits were a nice touch. And I'd have to call this the Citizen Kane of Uranus joke movies (you're welcome to steal that quote). Sci-fi is a hard genre to make look convincing in 48 hrs but great job overall in a Z-movie sense.
Jumbo
I'm on a mission to see and review all 2019 films that get to the screening film but this is going to be a pretty laborious challenge if there are more films like this. I appreciate that animation comes with its own challenges and on top of that you combined it with live action but if you're going to be that ambitious you've got to be able to come up with more like this. Giant comes out of the see, causes havoc with a few planes and eats one, doesn't really get me going at all. Looks like it's just me if the two other reviews are anything to go by but I'd be interested to see how this was received by a larger sample of people.
Valentino's Day
Bit of a guilty pleasure in a dad joke kind of way. As the other reviewer said it was effective use of location, guessing one of you must own the pub to be able to use it like that. Level of giggling was a bit over the top although I acknowledge laughter was a necessary element this year while the fight scenes were pure nuttiness. Bit worried about the genre requirement, we acknowledge Valentine's day in a calendar sense and couples often go out to a nice meal or chick flick but it's not a holiday. Although there was the reference to holidaying in Italy.
Opposite side of the track
As others have said the lack of explanation for the woman's motivations was a crippling logical issue but there was some promise here and committed performances. The use of wind was a bit awkward in the sense of just being there because it was a required element, you didn't manage to use it in a way that added anything. It's at about the 3.5 star level but I have to choose between 3 and 4.
Party Box
I think films largely based on conversation can work but the conversation has to be engaging. I didn't feel anything for either of the characters and wasn't drawn into their world and cutting to the bed scene at the end seemed random.
Holiday Air
I think this was a 5.5 star film that was just slightly closer to the 5 when I was forced to pick between 5 and 6. It definitely had frequent chuckles although it seemed a stretch that the blind man would be that gullible, the ending solved this issue nicely. Nice little black comedy overall with an inventive premise that could be developed for a longer film.
Scratched
Nicely atmospheric and had some promise in terms of theme but my overall feeling was that of being a bit short changed. The story needed to be fleshed out, obviously there was the time limit so perhaps this wasn't the best thing to tackle for a 5 minute film. That said it had the best use of the double take I've seen in ay 2019 film so far (normally I don't even notice them).
Good Binary
This was a fine solo effort. You're clearly too old for the coming of age movie but you made that part of the joke by playing a man-child. And the robot was definitely creative, did you already have him as he would have taken a fair chunk of the 48 hrs to construct (plus the intro was gold). This film might inspire others to have a go solo as it shows what can be done with a little imagination though I'll stick with my team for now.
END
I can be a bit slow at times, didn't click that this was supposed to be some sort of end of the world scenario until seeing the references from other reviewers, then the final wind and the title made a bit more sense. Was a bit too subtle for me in tis regard, could have used some clues from the dialogue or shown on the screen. Real time is a tricky genre, it is a bit of a creative constraint and as a result it wasn't the most entertaining film (but it wasn't bad by any means, both performers put their soul into it and the jenga roulette was a nice touch). Definitely an art movie 48 hour equivalent.
Sardines
When I was watching this I was trying to figure out his motivation for his homicidal actions. Then when I came here to review I read that the first death was accidental which made it all make more sense, however I then watched the start again and it still didn't appear to clearly be an accident because the actual death wasn't shown. Still this minor detail aside it was a most enjoyable effort and an interesting story to squeeze into the difficult real time genre but pulled off just fine. Loved the nod to the competition sponsors with the V drink.
Monday
I would call this film a partial success on the intentionally bad level. Plenty of Z movie energy and commitment, using a ruler against a blade and ultimately taking down the bad guys with a stapler, really? Bit iffy on the genre requirements as well. But hey, you're clearly not top award contenders so why not go all out to be the worst? You had a lot of fun and that's the main thing.
Pass the Parcel
I appreciate you were trying to do something a bit different from most of the teams with a straight drama but I think the whole combination of the score instead of dialogue and the gift continually being returned to sender with no explanation until the end didn't really do anything for me, was a bit like an ad showing the importance of being there for your kids and that gifts can't substitute for that which would be fine if it was being made for that purpose but as a film it's a miss for me.
Cabin Fever
This was a mostly annoying film that I was just waiting to end, found it mostly unfunny and no real tension as a possible apocalypse movie. It was the end that made it kind of worthwhile, it was definitely going to get 2 stars before that.
Vagenie
Joke is kind of given away by the title but still solidly funny, particularly the Candyman parody aspect. What I'm left wondering is how this didn't get an R16 rating and therefore disqualified, I know there's no actual nudity but have seen films get R16 for explicitly sexual themes even if they don't have nudity. Great use of SFX with the genie appearance, guessing the tied up lady at the end was meant to be the mum?
Bump In the Night
Had the sort of build up which suggested he would run into some horror movie scenario then turned out unexpected without the danger that was suggested. Entertaining although not brilliant, not sure how much I liked the sudden ending and then cutting straight to the credits. But a solid effort for two people.
Blackheath Station
I applaud your spirit for getting involved in this competition, presence of older females provides a welcome diversity. However it was very slight and no real hint of a story. There was the line of dialogue at the end which I didn't catch despite revisiting it about four or five times. That might have somehow tied everything together. You clearly had a blast making it but that doesn't really translate into a good time for the audience, it's more head scratching. Also double take appeared to be quadruple or quintuple. I was kind of on the fence between 2 and 3 stars, decided to go high (see first sentence for the reason).
The Drop
I'm going through all the 2019 films in the screening room, this is my 22nd review and although it's the 4th one I've awarded 6 stars it's the only one of those I was tempted to give 7 stars to (hovering close to 6.5). The mission was second fiddle to the hilarious conversation with the wife he couldn't brush off. Wish I could do animation, it frees you to be able to do any story that pops to mind regardless of weather it could be filmed in real life. I reckon you have the talent to work on real animated films.
#ourplanet
I think for such a young team you clearly have great technical ability, that said I found the story a bit lacking in terms of any real entertainment value. You know the fancy tricks, now you need to work on the more mundane aspects of storytelling.
The Unfortunate Mr Whiskers
I appreciate the difficult, time consuming elements of animation and it's something I wish I could do. That said I didn't really get anything out of the story, it was too brief and simplistic, the minimal length left little scope for developing anything. Cute cat poster might attract some cat lovers who might be shocked by the gory deaths.
Mind The Gap
I see there are mixed reviews here, some 5 star, some 3 star and interestingly no 4 star. I agree with the former group, it was a fun little effort and I hope you keep making films. It was a great way to turn the genre on its head and I love the way you did the disappearances at the end. This is what the competition is about, please don't cross over. EDIT: I also noted that one of the reviewers complained that it was a bit unrealistic to be set in a school without other kids around. Chill dude, it's shot over the weekend, how many other kids are going to be hanging around, they got to make do with what they have.
A Weekend With Gazza
Nice fantasy spin on the genre, I like the way you think. Nailed several good laughs there. A bit unrealistic (not expecting realism in the sense of a dead guy coming back to life as a vacuum cleaner) however it seemed odd that the other guys didn't fight back or the mum didn't tell him he was on his own after he started talking about what a big man he was. Then again these things were probably part of the overall joke, it was a clever concept well executed.
Lasting Moments
It looks like people involved with this film are voting it up or maybe creating multiple accounts. I noticed 6 out the other 7 reviews are from people who joined up 3 weeks and 1 day ago, and there seems to be an effort to try and hide what you're doing with some of these accounts having 1 or 2 other reviews to their name and some of them giving high but not perfect scores (also the dodgy review that says something in Chinese and then says don't speak English). Anyway because you're not going to win a prize for a high user score I'll be honest with 3 stars rather than punishing you for upvoting with a 1 star review. Some of the conversation and relationship had potential here but it was underdeveloped and the death with no explanation left a lot to be desired. Overall this film needed more time than what you had available to draw enough out of the scenario.
Brown Eyed Girl
This film reminded me a lot of the film my team made this year (Promotion Road-Foreign Objects) in how you really played up the gross. I would suggest anyone who liked this film to check out our one as well. You also remind me of our team in that you don't have the resources of some of the real contenders in the competition but you really put everything in to it. This is also something of a comedy of errors. For anyone who digs gross this one is four minutes well worth putting aside.
Bird & Bee
I'm on a mission to see and review every 2019 film that ends up in the screening room but this was tough on a couple of levels, primarily because leaving a review requires giving a star rating. I appreciate that animation and being on a one man team is hard work and was why the runtime was so meagre. What I loved was the animation, it was superb, but I'm trying to primarily rate based on the story and there wasn't enough time to take it anywhere particularly interesting. Still I definitely see potential here and I would be excited to see what you could make in a much longer time frame or with other contributors. Perhaps you could even work on making this about 10 minutes long, I'm sure you could add much more interest.
ASYMMETRICAL
What appears on the surface to be rather simplistic is elevated by the charming performances and an overall winning blend of humour and poignancy. It's a fine two person effort and a refreshing realist effort in a competition which is more about everyone trying to outdo each other in weirdness (don't get me wrong, there's a lot of good weird in the competition) when often a simple story well told can be just as effective.
Son of a beach.
This is one of the more out there takes on an assigned genre this year though may be too far outside the box, sand and sea are different but calling them opposites is a stretch. Still the personification was creative even if there were oddities such as references to parents. Ultimately it was also an anti-rom com, a solid effort and as has been said, obvious commitment in what would have been chilly weather. Awesome title as well!
No Bromo
Loved the voiced feelings of each guy when they've each come to the conclusion that their mate wants to go beyond bromance which leads to the hilarious conclusion. Creates a lot of cringeworthy tension, a really original idea executed to a T. Good to see that it's been one of the more successful films in terms of other ratings.
soulmates
This story needs more time than you had available to develop, the romance needs to build up gradually, all felt rather abrupt though it was visually appealing.
Burgled on high
It doesn't appear that you were thrilled to get the musical genre but a reasonable crack. Not sure the use of the split-screen was particularly inspired but as you were required to do it, it is what it is. Story was quite enjoyable. I think it would have been better if it wasn't a musical but that wasn't an option. I think there's a template here to make something similar in another year if you get a suitable genre such as crime.
Clutha Matters
What I think this looks like is a longer film created and then you had to cut out a lot of it to fit in the allotted time and you randomly chose what to cut as we're left with some mismatched pieces (not saying I think that happened but that's the effect of what we have). The reference to the school holidays is the only thing that makes the film "holiday." That said it wasn't all bad and the guy in charge was a hoot. It just wasn't very smooth overall. There was a clever in-joke with "Executive Producers Charlie Flowers and Harper Harrison." For those who don't know, until 2016 there was always a required element of a character name and these were the names of the last two years in which it was like this. But it will be lost on casual viewers, people who joined the comp more recently plus a lot of people probably don't play close attention to credits.
Subterfuge
This is reasonably entertaining suspect deliberately bad film. Everything is so over the top that it makes me wonder what you were smoking but in spite of that it works on a modest level due to sheer inventiveness without making any sense whatsoever. I've heard of some films that deliberately go for bad film awards and somehow I get the vibe that's what this is about.
Viral by Nature
Not really enough story to engage me here, eats worms then dissolves into worms. Cautionary tale against imitating influential celebs? Needs to be a bit more fleshed out, seems more like a puff of smoke to me.
Poncho and the Priest
As has been seen before the credits were easily the best thing, looked like they belonged in a real film. The rest of it was a bit hit and miss, although definitely some potential there. Clever generation gap reference, otherwise it's a bit borderline in terms of genre.
Sampson
A bizarre combination of the mundane and the grotesque which didn't really do it for me. I see how strong the other reviews are but when enough people see something there's always going to be that contrary reviewer. Good use of genre apart from the last bit as AJ said. At the start of the film the way she was going on I thought she was being kidnapped. As a single guy I'm not sure if the depiction of all the pandemonium when a woman is about to give birth was realistic or over the top, didn't make for a particularly enjoyable film though. And with the husband going on about sticking to the plan I was "wtf dude?!" I guess this was intended but it wasn't my cup of tea. Not sure what the bloodied thing was in the final birth scene but that was the best part for me.
FU Finding Unicorns
Had great difficulty deciding between 3 and 4 stars for this film. It had a certain level of inexperience charm and made great use of the location with a couple of solid laughs. However the switch between the hunting and the little girl scene seemed to throw it off course somewhat. Missed some of what the little girl said and apart from the shit eating the film lacked any gross or cringe factor. But there was potential here. I would recommend if you want to carry on making films that you start by perfecting this one, there's a great comedy idea here that just needs a few tweaks.
Trial #37
I'm making my way through all the 2019 films in the screening room but this one is missing a title in the review database, had to search for the team name. Anyway David Lynch is on my mind at the moment because I saw a comment on another film in the screening room which compared it to his work. I could not sense any similarities which that particular film but this is much more like a Lynch film in terms of being an art house mind bender. We wonder wtf is going on and the ending doesn't give full closure. Still it was enjoyably suspenseful and there's definitely more development possible for this idea.
Safety On The Hand Job
I love how some people's minds think about films and embrace challenges like this whole heartedly. This could have used a bit of a back story to explain the tension between the hand masters and non hand masters but I appreciate there wasn't time for this and it was still fun and wacky. Intro was the highlight of the whole experience.
The Voiceless
Definitely the most gruesome thing I've seen from 48 hours 2019 which isn't a criticism. Good singing and suitably creepy villain, maybe a bit dark for some tastes but a red hot go at the genre.
Vitamin Z
Great use of humour in a genre where it's not necessarily natural. Veges creating zombies, that's a good one. I enjoyed the device at the end where it turns into a little boy spinning a tall tale to try and avoid eating his broccoli. Good goofy fun, keep making films.
Wonko
No real semblance of a story here, seems from the other reviews that people are drawing various conclusions on what you were attempting to convey. I found it just depressing with an ending that didn't fit with the rest of the story. I think there's a lot of intrinsic potential when making a clown movie but this was a mish mash. There was an excellent clown film in Christchurch this year "In Jest" by Rocket Boy Films although the clown was the only thing these films had in common.
Chasing Planksy
Definitely points for originality and giggles but it seemed a stretch that anyone would find the enigmatic Planksy so fascinating. Also planking was a big deal a few years ago but it's been a while since I've heard anything about it, maybe pick a more current fad as a theme next time.
Sleeper
Like others I wasn't convinced that the film was a fit with the genre requirements. I see "Nature run amok" as "supernatural disaster that leaves the world (or local area) in peril." Otherwise it wasn't bad, particularly for a two person effort and you're both obviously youthful and can hopefully move on to bigger and better. I do try and rate films on how much entertainment they have compared to other films even when the other films have advantages such as bigger crew, budget, experience and desirable genre and this wasn't up with the best for overall entertainment value.
Written In Time
I feel you probably had some idea of what you wanted to get across but it was too subtle. Some dialogue would have helped. Basically I saw the kid clicking the pen to go back in time, try and fix things and then the situation at the end I didn't understand at all. Not sure what anyone else saw but it's definitely possible to have a vision that doesn't translate into anything that makes sense.
Laundry Time
The actual time machine was the highlight here. Story was a bit of a jumble, more dialogue explaining things could have helped. Also the ending made me want to see him bang into his past self, guessing you don't have an identical twin brother or doppelganger.
Everything wrong with the world in five minutes
This is a partially successful experiment of a film. Black and White is certainly a way to differentiate your film although it's unlikely to be many people's cup of tea. I generally don't like English being subtitled but it may have helped keep up with the rambling nature of the film in this instance. The points were certainly interesting although there seemed to be a bit of a blurry line between what was straight paranoia and what was possibly legitimate. The whole yard clean up as a backdrop to the narration seemed a bit of a disconnect but what it did do was ensure that the film fitted into its assigned genre which as real time was a tricky one, maybe the subject matter might have best fit into another genre where it would have been possible to show images of what was being described. The best part in my opinion was the rest of the film from when the narration stopped and the debt collector came in. I can definitely see how this could be a favourite with some people who are inclined to what may be described as art films.
The Curse of the Satanists
An inventive, ballsy effort with cool effects and music during the Satanist scene and then the run of bad luck afterwards was nicely done. I'm going to recommend a film to you if you haven't seen it as I reckon it would be to your tastes: Drag Me to Hell.
A helping hand
A bit of an odd mishmash, get from the other reviews you had a few complications so it is what it is I guess. Some intrigue there but I kind of like my questions answered. What was the story with the severed limbs? Also that discovery made the arm and leg joke earlier quite random. I see there is a better film trapped inside this, maybe you could work on it without the time pressures of the 48 hr weekend.
The Art of the Deal
I get the feeling you understood the story you were trying to tell but it was somehow lost in delivery. I know that the title is the same as a book by Donald Trump but I'm not familiar with the book, with the whole business angle I'm wondering if that was some sort of deliberate tie in but it's all a bit of a mindfuck to me and I see from other comments that I'm not alone, what I was left with was the two girls trying to get away from the creepy guy and then him snaring one of them. Then we ended with the phone flicking through whatever social media platform (I'm a Facebook only social media dinosaur) and my guess is the disqualification happened because the judges were unconvinced that all those posts could happen in real time.
Tinder 2.0
I noticed the other reviews were kind of average but this is my 50th review and first perfect score. I'm not even familiar with Tinder having never used it but this was crack-up throughout. It started out looking like a normal date and I wondered how it was sci-fi but then when the mum called out and he was shown on the computer that aspect became apparent, bit like Ready Player One in terms of the whole virtual world although it was lower level sci-fi in terms of the virtual world resembling real life. Loved how he was sabotaged by the little brother and although the whole joke about the virtual chick being some dude wasn't exactly original I still wasn't expecting it and it was the perfect ending to the wackiness. Yeah I know some films will be technically better and have been made with more effort but this hit the nail perfectly in terms of comedy for me hence the perfect score. Disclaimer: I am not part of this team and looking to bump up the score. My film is Promotion Road by Foreign Objects and I don't know anyone involved with this one. It was just a blast of pure fun and ain't that what the comp is about?
The Prepper
I kind of expected the actual zombie apocalypse which came but it was a nice surprise to see what the shrink had really managed to do. Would have liked to have maybe seen a little zombie fighting action but overall it was a clever and funny little film.
The Run-In
Smart use of genre and funny in an awkward way (would have also fit well into the gross-out/cringe comedy as the latter). Nothing I'll remember but an OK way to spend a few minutes. Was tossing up between 4 and 5 stars, couldn't quite bring myself to give it 5 (4.5 would have been perfect), final twist was gold however.
May I Suggest
A slight, but passable diversion with nice use of locations and credit for dressing summery on the beach, doubt it would have been that warm even though you are in Auckland. Idea of drug induced virtual holiday was interesting as was the scenario of being held captive although I think more could have been done with the concept. Also I wasn't clear on the ending, had she OD'd or was she going to wake up?
Lady & The Goth
I'm working my way through all the films that end up in the screening room, this was one of the weaker ones. The beginning was promising enough, snooty popular girl has to sit next to outsider goth chick. This had the potential for some interesting clashes highlighting their differences before working through it all to form an unlikely friendship except you didn't go down this route. You took the easy option of having them become best buds straight away and then the rest of the movie is just a montage of them having fun with a score in the background that prevents potential interesting discussions and the chance of showing them evolving as people. I see this as a pretty lazy writing effort and a real missed opportunity.
Monarch
Didn't quite manage to piece everything together but definitely found it suspenseful with great effects. Always a tricky option to do a film with no humour but pulled it off well enough (although the intro was funny).
Along for the Ride
Buddy movie is interesting when it's two characters of the opposite sex and you had me a bit worried that it would turn into a romance but it worked out fine. A nice, touching story. Couple of minor details were slight issues. An Uber driver would not require an L plate in real life but if the guy is actually a learner I can see why you need it, can't be breaking the law while participating in the competition but if the L plate was due to the car being used by another driver who was a learner it should have been removed. Also it seemed a bit of a waste to throw out the wine bottle at the end. I know it was meant for the jerk boyfriend who she dumps but still could have kept it for herself or offered it to the driver after he turned down payment.
transit
I saw your comment under the film in the screening room that you ran out of time with the script. That's good to know, it explains some of the issues, it was lacking somewhat in logical flow and I can appreciate there were things you wanted to fix. There's a somewhat interesting concept here that could have been quite good if you'd had time to iron it out.
Losing My Edge
Interesting horror/comedy combination, shades of the mentions of being in horror movies in the Scream series. Killer seeking counselling because he's not scary any more is cool, also points to the level of cliché in horror movies since Halloween where everything becomes predictable and makes it part of the joke. Ending was clever although a bit of a jolt, definitely some ideas that could be developed into awesome here, really solid for the moment though.
Flush
It's definitely a weird story although there's good weird, bad weird and in between weird, think this falls into the last category. Looks like there was something there that could have been developed into something great with a bit more time. Although you seem to be aware of your limitations and embrace them which I enjoy seeing, it's a bit like our team (Foreign Objects, Christchurch). The ending seemed to leave it open for a possible sequel (not sure if that was the intention) you may or may not get a suitable genre to make the sequel next time so I'd suggest you just make a sequel outside the competition if that's the way you're thinking.
My Flatmate is a Monster
Was decently absorbed throughout but ending turned it somewhat on its head (didn't see it coming. Funny with creative use of what you had available. Wondering if it's technically a "secret identity" movie when she thinks she's got her flatmate figured but it turns out wrong. Anyway solid effort all round.
Unforgettable Date
I typically find that entrants that have this sort of runtime don't manage to do enough, more time is normally needed to fully develop something. This wasn't the case here, it was a top job all round. Twist on the genre, no one actually time travels but they just send pen pal letters through time via the magic teapot or whatever it was and nearly everything was hilarious. It was also clever to use 1985 as the year of Back to the Future. Time travel is probably one of the genres that's easier with large crews but you made it work nicely. And the ending was priceless. I think if everyone got to see and vote on competition films this would be one of the favourites, it's got general appeal rather than just being aimed at film geeks.