12

In a society full of people eager to pay $9.00 on a Friday night to see a film that has no more depth than the daily routine they live, the movie 12 is a nice break in tradition. We all know how few Auter's their really are in our studio, bottom-line driven, filmmaking system. Personally, I think Larry Bridges and his extremely committed cast and crew came up with an amazing film for such a low budget and stringent resources. The fact that Larry Bridges continues to believe in his film, though he has been turned down by distributors for years, shows what perserverance and faith he has in the story that he is telling. Not to mention the actors' unfailing commitment over at least a 12 year period. One real test to tell whether a film is worth something is whether you like it the second, third, fourth, or tenth time you have seen it. Not only do I like this film after seeing it for the third time, I enjoy it more each time I see it. I recommend this movie to anybody who appreciates the art of filmmaking. Not to mention, you can see it for free any Saturday night in a parking lot, on a wall, somewhere in L.A.. The experience alone is worth trying.

I was fortunate to see this film in 2004 at the Syracuse International Film & Video Festival, and even more fortunate that Larry Bridges himself appeared at the conclusion of the film to answer questions.

The film does not possess a conventional, linear plot. I found the storyline to be rather surreal, but I don't think of this as a criticism. As Bridges remarked, he didn't "storyboard" his film, but left himself open as cinematographer/director/writer to the unplanned and the improvisational. The storyline, which alludes to the capricious relationships of Greek myth and Greek gods, mirrors in a lighthearted way the chaotic events in Los Angeles in the 1990's that are represented in the film. It was a decade of earthquakes, riots, and floods. Apparently Bridges kept filming right through the 1992 riots: foolhardy and inspiring. I do confess that I don't understand the emphasis on Wilde's play, "The Importance of Being Earnest," but never mind - caprice of the gods.

I think this film is a remarkable and unique work of art. The texture that Bridges achieved in editing material acquired over a decade of filming has the richness of life itself. One sees the actual aging of its actresses and actors, who are surprisingly credible in their roles as gods, demigods, and mortals. The physical environment of Southern California is lovingly and widely represented. The images include aerial and wide-angle landscapes of the Channel Islands, local icons such as Mann's Chinese Theater, City Hall, and LAX, to the urban landscape of South Central and Korea Town.

I was engrossed by the film for its entire 124 minutes.

What a sublime movie! Finally time has caught up with this movie!

The comments by the person who saw "12" in a theater had clearly more to do with his state of mind than with the movie, and IF he JUST had sat through to the END and seen the coming together of all the PARTS!

As good as ALTMAN's script of Carver's SHORT CUTS but in the metaphysical mixed with the real of LA, and not just the real LA shown in SHORT CUTS, which happens to be my favorite movie about LA, a city which I love.

Sure some fine tuning could be made like in the time the text is allowed to stay on the screen, which was too short to be possible to read in its entirety for the uninitiated, but that is the only real problem, as it is such an integral part of the movie in the beginning and NEEDS to be understood by the viewer.

Bravo, dAn

This film, the "guerilla drive-in" picture that has had ads in the LA Weekly ever since I moved here, has had its chance. Recently seeing that it was going to be shown in a theatre (the Sunset 5) I gave in to my curiosity and checked it out. I was the only person in the theatre. And I walked out after 1 hour and 20 minutes. I realize that I did not see it under optimal "guerilla drive-in" conditions but I think I got a fair picture of the picture. There is some interesting photography, some nice shots of the character Filmore walking with nicely deepened and textured backgrounds. To be honest a lot of what kept me in my seat was the beauty of Allison Elliot, playing Marie-Noel. But she really can't handle those faux poetic monologues. During most of the film the characters talk at each other instead of to each other in maddeningly pretentious existentia-speech. Then there are exchanges that are set up so they can exchange what are intended as witty ripostes and thought-provoking badinage. It doesn't work. Most important on the "deal-breaker" front: Artemis is the goddess of chastity, why would she be a model? Why would she be more attractive than Aphrodite? Most importantly and really the reason I left was that the character of "Allen" and the actor playing the part were so intensely irritating every moment he was on screen I began to make another move to prepare to leave until I found myself exiting the theatre as a reflex. And I don't walk out on movies. And please why does every film have to have an actor character that is so annoying? Can somebody be courageous and show us an honorable actor and not a piece of s#!t that claims to be an artist to avoid a real job? I know it's hard to imagine out there, but some places in the world don't always have invisible quotes around the word "artist" when referring to actors. this film "12" had a great initial idea: Zeus birthed so many demi-gods, why aren't some of the more recent ones hanging around today, and the old ones too for that matter? That's a pity because now no one else can use it to make a good movie. And what the f%$# did "the importance of being earnest" have to do with the price of fake chicken at panda express? I know it is a radical idea, but maybe the Gods of cinema would have forgiven Mr. Bridges for giving his characters something interesting to do. Even without special effects. Oy. This film is from 1999. Indiana, let it go.

After first seeing 12 at the Guerilla drive in, there was only one word that came to mind, epic. 12 had everything a great movie should have. An interesting plot, character development, and plenty of action.

The movie had some of the most amazing shots of LA and Catalina that I've ever seen. It reminded me of how beautiful Los Angeles is. 12 also touches into LA's eventful past, floods, earth quakes, and riots..

After reading a bit on 12 i learned a few interesting things about the Film maker: Larry Bridges, and the making of the film. It took 12 years to make 12! Talk about dedication and persistence.

I'm a screenwriter and film maker and 12 has definitely influenced me and inspired me about what it means to be a film maker. 12 definitely sets the bar when it comes to independent features.