SkippyO

When I first saw Still Life at Flickapalooza, I was completely floored. From the opening shot of the ensemble cast (Zak Jeffries, Jamie Sinsz, Natalie Roers, and Michael Caloia) to the closing shot of a broken down car on a highway in the middle of nowhere, I was captivated. This film set a new benchmark for independent film that will be hard to surpass.

The characters in this story were amazingly real and complex - a nice change of pace from the cardboard cutouts that come from Hollywood. Zak Jeffries (as Danny Potter) showed such deep inner turmoil and angst that he nearly broke my heart, and yet he never let his acting become too melodramatic. Someday this kid is going to go far in the world of screen acting.

Another brilliant performance came from Jamie Sinsz playing the role of David Stiles. Many people, including myself, feel that Mr. Sinsz's portrayal of David is brilliant, funny, and tragic. David is a living, breathing individual who's change through the film is astounding, yet the audience can't help but laugh at his sarcastic one-liners which, at times, steals the movie.

Natalie Roers is an incredible and lovely woman who pulls off an amazing performance in Still Life. Her style, charm, and class created a tragic sense of hope in everyone around her, yet her character, Karma, was incapable of ending a bad relationship which threatened her life and sanity.

Apart from the plot, which is completely engrossing, the cinematography was done so well, that at times I would wonder what they actually shot the movie on. It was shot on Digital Video, but the D.P. (The award-winning Nate Stark) managed to make me wonder if what I was seeing wasn't 35mm film.

Someday very soon, the writer/director/editor Mike Flanagan will be recognized by the general public for his talent in the area of film. I expect to see big things from him in the coming years, and can't wait to see his next film (whatever it may be).

If you have the chance, see Still Life while it is still running through the festival circuit. And, if not, go to Baltimore, look Mr. Flanagan up, and pay him to get a look at this jewel of a film. It was worth every dollar I paid to see it.

When I first saw SLC Punk, I was flipping through the channels and happened to see a snippet of it on Starz. After watching it for a few minutes, I was completely hooked.

I normally don't like Matthew Lillard (playing Steve-o). I find that he plays the same character in nearly every movie he does. But I was truly impressed with his acting ability in SLC Punk!. He pulled off the punk attitude of the early to mid eighties perfectly. He was playing a character, rather than a archetype. In the climax of the movie, his acting is truly beautiful.

Lillard also had a brilliant supporting cast backing him up. Christopher McDonald was great as his father, and Michael Gorrjian was excellent as Heroin Bob.

I'd recommend this movie to anyone who wants to see a good and well made film.

I have one thing to say about this film: Germans shouldn't make movies. It was intriguing at first, but the charm quickly faded. By about the tenth iris fade between scenes, I was sick to my stomach. Then using the same technique to do closeups was about as impressive as a student film. I started to hate the movie moments after watching it, for its pretensions style. I'm sorry, I hate expressionism. It may work in painting, but it sure doesn't work for movies. Do you know why no other film looked like Caligari? Because it looked like donk!