Author: Rudie Obias

Single location movies, such as Fall, Buried, Frozen, and Locke, are a hard tightrope to walk. You have to have amazing performances from your actors to move the film along, while also a strong script and director to keep an audience engaged throughout its running time. It’s easy to get bored when there’s only one or two people on the screen and the location hasn’t changed. However, with enough suspense and tension, you might have something really special on your hands.

Written by Sébastien Drouin, James Kermack (Afghanistan, Knuckledust), and Andrew Desmond (The Sonata, Asylum: Twisted Horror and Fantasy Tales), and directed by Sébastien Drouin (Knuckledust, Hi-Lo Joe), Cold Meat is a white-knuckle thriller that’s full of twists, turns, and anxiety-filled tension. It’s a prime example of what you could do with two characters, a car, and a brutal blizzard.

Set just before Christmas, Cold Meat follows David, played by Allen Leech (Downton Abbey: A New Era, Bohemian Rhapsody), a humdrum bookworm-type who saves a waitress named Ana, played by Nina Bergman (Seize the Night, The Beautiful Ones), after her ex-boyfriend Vincent, played by Yan Tual (La Fortaleza, Rifkin’s Festival) violently confronts a Rocky Mountain truck stop diner just before closing.

However, when David leaves the diner, Vincent follows him through the very remote roads in the Rockies. David quickly becomes stranded after he outsmarts the ex, but suddenly finds himself injured and being stalked by a mysterious presence.

French writer/director Drouin has to be applauded for putting together an effective and intense thriller. The film is taught, smart, and relies on pure filmmaking and storytelling to convey a grizzly tale of survival — especially one that’s very sparse with dialogue. Cold Meat is told through action and movement that’s rightfully creepy with an oddball sense of humor injected to keep an audience engaged with the story.

The movie is full of genuine surprises that may be more satisfying with repeat viewing, but at the end of the day, it’s a genre exercise with skillful craftsmanship and a sharp wit. And thanks to its snowy and ice cold settings in the Rocky Mountains, Drouin creates a real sense of atmosphere and places with the mise-en-scène inside and outside of the car. Meanwhile, the performances from Leech and Bergman really make Cold Meat come together, as a story of survival, choices, and regret.

Although the film spins its wheels just a little bit, like a car trying to get out of a snowbank, the tone and construction makes Cold Meat worth watching for genre fans and general audiences alike. There’s a real sense of danger, terror, and mystery surrounding the film, which works very well. However, there are small nitpicks that are pretty minor, which comes towards the end of the film, the overall experience is what’s lasting and worth a recommendation.

In the American tradition, you have to take what you can, while you can to have a better life — even if it means destroying the lives of others. The harsh reality of American life is dog eat dog with no concern for others. However, the people you may victimize might bite back one day and you better be prepared for the consequences. The Stolen Valley examines what it really means to be an American and fight for your home and family, while returning a bit of dignity to yourself — especially as a woman living in a world full of angry men.

Written and directed by Jesse Edwards, in his feature film debut, The Stolen Valley follows Lupe, played by Briza Covarrubias (Gift of Fear, The Son Rises) a Mexican-Navajo mechanic who lives paycheck to paycheck to support her family. But when her mother goes into a coma, she must return to her family’s homeland to confront the father Carl, played by Micah Fitzgerald (Amityville Uprising, Stateside) in a bathing-in-the-river-of-ham performance, she has never met, so she can ask for money for her mother’s experimental treatments.

Along the way, she gets wrapped up in Maddy Monroe, played by Allee Sutton Hethcoat (Triumph, The Perfect Race) a down-on-her-luck bull rider who’s on the run from mobsters — thanks to an overdue payment. The pair’s reluctant team up turns into a friendship that neither of them saw coming.

Although The Stolen Valley is a standard thriller with some style and flair to it, the film has something on its mind that makes the genre exercise worth watching. It comments on the ideas of American Exceptionalism and questions the validity of ownership when it comes to native land for the Navajo People. It’s almost pointed in that critique, especially taking place during Fourth of July weekend, which is a time of celebration for most, but a dark reminder of what was stolen for others.

The movie certainly has the voice and thoughts surrounding its overall theme, but The Stolen Valley itself is a bit slack with its 105-minute runtime. Its themes could’ve been served better if it were tighter and more engaging, while the destination is sharp, its journey is slow to get there. 

However, The Stolen Valley is smart in the sense that it keeps its storytelling authentic with keen dialogue that bounces back and forth in English, Spanish, and Diné Bizaad, the Navajo language. It goes a long way in placing these characters, story, and world for an audience, while showing the beauty of a forgotten and stolen culture.

Marmalade: Review

Telling a good story is key to a good movie. It’s obvious. However, when a good story is paired with good storytelling, then you have something special on your hands — especially when it’s designed to keep an audience engaged, entertained, and subvert expectations. Let’s be honest, most movies are pretty conventional, but a good filmmaker delivers those conventions in a new and unexpected way.

Written and directed by Australian Keir O’Donnell, in his feature film debut, Marmalade is a clever movie that features small town life in the south, a bat-out-of-hell love affair, and a smash-and-grab bank heist. The film follows Baron, played by Joe Keery (Stranger Things, Free Guy), a simple down-on-his-life sad sack, who only lives and works to take care of his dying mother.

But, when the southern-fried pink-haired Marmalade, played by Camila Morrone (Daisy Jones & the Six, Mickey and the Bear) drives into to turn, she, literally, turns his life upside down, while she wants more — namely money. Lots of money.

The film is told after the bank heist as a series of flashbacks, while Baron sits in prison with hopes of escape to reunite with his precious Marmalade. In the meantime, his prison bunkmate Otis, played by Aldis Hodge (Black Adam, Straight Out of Compton) devises a plan to break the both of them out of the joint.

Marmalade has flourishes of cinematic style with a dynamic camera and sharp editing, while its storytelling technique is smart and bright with a specific clarity in writing and structure. These elements are punctuated with keen acting from the film’s main cast of Keery, Morrone, and Hodge. They all have a certain level of pathos and gumption in their performances, most overall Kerry, who seems to be channeling Nicolas Cage during the early half of his career in movies, like in Raising Arizona and Con Air.

One of the most impressive things about Marmalade is Marmalade herself. The character is written in a certain way that is reminiscent of other “manic pixie dream girls” — a term coined by film critic Nathan Rabin — like Natalie Portman’s character Sam in Garden State, Zooey Deschanel’s character Summer in 100 Days of Summer, Kirsten Dunst’s character Claire in Elizabethtown, and others.

Simply put, the character Marmalade is designed to be desirable and a bit off, but only written to kick start the life of the humdrum lead Baron. But with the direction of the film overall, the character is a clever subversion of archetypes and a perceptive way to keep an audience engaged. It’s like Keir O’Donnell pulled a good magic trick with the conventions of modern day movies.

While Marmalade is an impressive debut feature, it has some low points and missteps, as well, like there’s no real antagonist, or driving force. There’s some innuendo and hints that point to larger character motivations, but that’s something to glean afterwards or during repeat viewings. It would’ve been more involved, if those elements were clearer throughout.

However, the overall filmmaking and performances in Marmalade paper-over those gaffes for this viewer, while there’s more to recommend than not with this movie. O’Donnell took something that could’ve been sour and bitter, but turned it into something sweet.

Molli And Max In The Future: Review.

Over the last 25 years or so, the romantic comedy has been dying a slow death. From the highs of Julia Roberts in My Best Friend’s Wedding to the lows of Katherine Heigl in The Ugly Truth. These days most rom-coms can be found going straight to video on Netflix or Hulu, while the rare box office hit, like Anyone but You, can still have long legs in theaters. Although the genre might be dying, it’s certainly not dead, as filmmakers try to revitalize rom-coms with clever mashups.

Written and directed by Michael Lukk Litwak, in his feature film debut, Molli and Max In The Future takes place in the distant future where humanity intermingles with alien life and travel between dimensions is like driving to Target after work on a Tuesday night.

It follows the meetcute of two wandering souls, Molli, played by Zosia Mamet (The Kids Are All Right, Girls), and Max, played by Aristotle Athari (Silicon Valley, Saturday Night Live). They are thirty-somethings who are both looking for acceptance, love, and their place in the greater universe. She’s in an intergalactic sex cult and he builds combat robots for fame and glory. You know, just an average couple.

However, after an initial meeting in space, the two of them come together sporadically over the years until they both decide to be friends and figure out their loneliness together. Think When Harry Met Sally, but in space.

Yes, this is a rom-com, so you know exactly where it’s going to go and how it’s going to end, but the journey from beginning to end is a grand adventure through planets, galaxies, and the universe. Molli and Max In The Future is a refreshing and hilarious film that should be a big hit, but something tells me that it’s going to get lost in the algorithm.

It’s a small film that won’t capture general audiences, especially with its sci-fi setup and backdrop, but man, this film shines, as a breath of fresh air. The movie really goes to show what you can do with a few green screens, miniatures, a wonderful and charming cast, and a smart screenplay and structure.

Filmmaker Michael Lukk Litwak appreciation of romantic comedies and science fiction really shows with keen and sharp ideas, mixed with casual and easy-going storytelling with a bit of biting satire for good measure. Litwak pays homage to classic rom-coms without drawing too much attention to his inspirations, but eagled-eye viewers can spot the influences on sight —  namely with films, like Before Sunrise, Annie Hall, Manhattan, and others.

Molli and Max In The Future is a fantastic movie and really highlights the benefits of blending genres together. It delivers weird and bizarre ideas and imagery with a familiar, yet charming, story. 

Dedicating your life to art isn’t easy, especially when your ambitions outreach your talent. But, there’s something admirable about failing again and again just to fulfill your vision, even though it won’t win you fame, fortune, or your sanity. The new documentary Create or Die takes a look at what it’s like to spend decades truly suffering for your art — all in the pursuit of brief moments of joy. 

Directed by Sarah Massey, in her directorial debut, Create or Die follows David Axe, an independent filmmaker who has accepted the fact that his movies aren’t very good, but he still enjoys making them with his cast of actors and crew of technicians. Told in mostly talking head interviews, Axe talks about his life and his ambition to spend the rest of his life making movies with the goal to make one feature film a year until he actually gets good at making one.

The subject of the documentary is his latest film Acorn, a no-budget B-movie about a director who is dying of cancer and decides to make one last film before she passes away. In a way, Create or Die is structured like an in-depth making-of featurette based on the making of Acorn and a film within a film (within a film) Die Standing Up. And yes, Acorn is a bit on the nose, as a movie about a director who wants to make one long lasting statement, but it rings true to Axe’s sheer passion for cinema and the filmmaking process. It’s commendable.

In that way, Axe is closely tied to other “bad” directors like Ed Wood, Tommy Wiseau, and Neil Breen — filmmakers who don’t have the talent to make a good movie, but the passion to make a movie despite it. While it remains to be seen if Axe is going to live in infamy like those directors, documentarian Sarah Massey, who has worked on other David Axe productions, is certainly positioning his career like it might be.

Create of Die has a heart at its core, as it doesn’t look down or judge its subjects, but rather admires them for sticking to their love for filmmaking. It’s a film about a band of artists working together to create something, even though it won’t be playing at your local cineplex, or win any Academy Awards, or rake in all of the money, it’s something created and made to say the least.

The documentary serves as a love letter to hard work and passion, for everyone involved, despite a life of “embarrassment and failure,” as Axe keenly puts it in the film. After all, life would be pretty boring without passion and love. Moreover, Massey has a knack for bringing that passion and love out in others to tell a story of failure.