Clima Frio

This film was described by Spin Magazine (in a 3-and-a-half star review) as a mystery that takes its time. I'm all for that. But did it have to take SO MUCH time to resolve a mystery that was UNINVOLVING and BORING? Just another bunch of aimless 30-somethings in the damp upper Northwest who apparently never shave or wash their hair, mumbling their way through life and never doing anything even remotely interesting. Believe me, I've sat through plenty of quirky indie films with little complaint, but I was literally shouting at my TV screen when this DVD ended. An hour and forty minutes of my life utterly wasted. I will avoid this talentless filmmaker like the plague for the rest of my days. SKIP THIS MOVIE!!!!!

Both written and Directed by Aaron Katz (Dance Party USA, Quiet City) Cold Weather tells the story of an underachieving forensics graduate, Doug (Cris Lankenau), who upon moving in with his sister, Gail (Trieste Kelly Dunn), quickly finds himself thrust into a real life who-done-it when his ex-girlfriend suddenly vanishes. Being an admittedly big fan of Sherlock Holmes, Doug, along with his his sister and his new bestie, Carlos (Raul Castillo), set out to play real life detectives in a case that just might be a little over their heads.

The film is described as a thriller, which I though I was going to see. To be honest, the film wasn't that thrilling at all, at least when compared to good thrillers. I mean, it's no Polanski. My first impression upon leaving my seat was actually that of disappointment. It wasn't until I was on the bus heading home when it suddenly hit me.

The point of the movie had little to do with the thriller aspects and everything to do with the brother and sister relationship. It's like one of those 3-D puzzles that were popular in the mid-90's. You know, the ones where in order to see the complete picture you had to let your eyes relax, otherwise all you would see would be squiggly lines and repetitive shapes.

Here the squiggly lines were clearly the missing girlfriend subplot masquerading itself as the film's main design. The full picture however, was Aaron Katz's beautiful portrait of one sibling's bond at a particular moment in time.

I recommend this film to anyone who likes to laugh just as much, if not more than they liked to be thrilled, or just simply anyone who has a lot of love their sibling

Cold Weather (2012)

Indie films with their low budgets can turn a couple of basic directions to distinguish themselves. One is sheer inventiveness or surprise. The other is low key realism making ordinary people seem relatable, and that is where this movie goes. There are dozens of these, often with young casts appealing to the twenty-something generation somewhere between college and career.

So we have a young man, Doug, living with his sister in Portland just as he finds a job in an ice factory. And then his ex-girlfriend arrives in town on business, and they see each other as old friends. The fourth character is a co-worker at the factory who befriends Doug and falls for the ex-girlfriend. And we see the basis of a relationship drama, not quite a romantic movie but not a serious probing drama, either.

But then the movie turns abruptly, and the comic aspects get interwoven with an apparent crime that these amateur Sherlocks can't quite get their finger on. But their efforts make a great game. It's super low key, and any other movie would hype up the facts with guns and scary soundtrack music and real (or cheesy) fear. Not this kind of Indie film. This is about the people, and the "crime" they are pursuing is a just way to learn more about the protagonists.

Which is pretty fun. The acting holds together pretty well, regular people being regular people without affectation. Easier said than done, but also leaving the audience less to really work with or care about than you'd prefer. By the very end, the last few moments, there is a final realization that's rather sweet and rewarding, and the movie turns back to what it's best at.

See it? If you have an open mind for lower budget but reasonably well made modest movies (known as Indie films), you might just find this one clicks. Within its limitations.

It took me a while to like this film, a long while, so much so I nearly gave up as the promised story from the one paragraph outline that MUBI sent mentions a brother and sister duo investigating what may or may not be a crime. In the end I did like it - just, and then suddenly it was over... when the standard Hollywood film would have revealed the payoff.

The film starts out as a slice of mundane life of a young man unsure of what he wants out of life, we get to meet his sister, his parents, and then a co-worker all set in a dreary cold city. At about half way through the story finally engages with the arrival of an ex girlfriend who then disappears. Slowly the protagonist is finally convinced that something isn't right by the co-worker who was getting friendly with the ex-girlfriend, and about the last third of the film is the solving of the mystery surrounding the ex-girlfriend.

I thought the performances were realistic, the mundanity was completely believable, and also bored me, because it was so true to life.

Well shot, so that you are barely aware of the camera, which adds to the slice of life style.

On one hand, a local guy came back to Portland and made a feature film set in the city I live in and love; he made it on a low budget, wrote it and directed it himself, got it made and *released*! (And Portland looks gorgeous in the film.) This is an impressive achievement any filmmaker should be commended for. Many aspiring filmmakers never get their film finished let alone released.

On the other hand, the film is woefully lacking in basics like character development and an interesting story. Many plot points simply don't ring true or seem plausible; even character interactions seem forced and a bit scripted, giving the audience precious little to relate to or care about in these people; we're almost *begging* for something to latch on to as we watch the film, but there's almost nothing. The dialog is usually wooden and forgettable, and it's hard to see how it advances the story much or helps us understand the relationship between the characters (or makes us laugh). And there's rarely any tension between characters (hint: *conflict* in movies is interesting!).

I get that it wasn't supposed to be a thriller but it isn't effective as a "relationship film" either. Too much "reading between the lines" and "willing suspension of disbelief" is required. "Cold Weather" kind of plods along to an unexpected conclusion, making us wonder what kind of movie it *could* have been. Unfortunately, it compares poorly to similar films made on a low budget by young directors.