Blue Jay

It's the first review I'm writing. Actually, I've never felt the need of writing a review- thought that the score I give is already a good contribution. But Blue Jay is something else. It's the most genuine feeling I've ever felt while watching a movie, in the sense the once I finished it, I didn't feel than it was far from my own reality at all. The way nostalgia was pictured is fascinating. The words that were used were so close to the words that I would have used myself in such a situation that sometimes, I've found myself saying out loud, at the same time, what one of them were saying.

Magical, genuine, sweet, emotional, simple, true. Brilliant.

Sometimes we have the pleasure to watching a film that is simple and complicated and honest. This movie is fantastical in that it allows the viewer to experience wish fulfillment in a way that the "adulting" generation lacks. It is romantic and kind. Mark Duplass writes a simple and powerful script that allows Sarah Paulson to shine. Their chemistry is contagious and mimics the innocence of love in youth and life in adulthood. Filmed in shades of grey, it is an artistic homage to what life was like before it unfolded into adulthood. If anyone has strolled down memory lane and recognized where life experience has created the person they've become... then this film is for you. (All of the perfect 90's references don't hurt either.)

Simple and beautiful, it is worth the watch. 7 days of filming - without colour - puts the blockbuster generation to shame.

So much yes.

Greetings again from the darkness. Mark Duplass is the master of awkward. As a writer he excels in awkward encounters, awkward conversations, awkward situations … and awkward people. He can even create awkward out minimalism – two people in a simple and normal environment.

A bearded Mr. Duplass stars as Jim, a seemingly normal guy who has returned to his small hometown to pack up his mother's house after her passing. While at the local market, he bumps into his old high school sweetheart Amanda, played by Sarah Paulson, who just happens to be in town visiting her expectant sister. Their awkward grocery aisle reunion leads to a very unusual … and yes, awkward … evening.

First time director Alexandre Lehmann uses his extensive experience as a cinematographer, and a black & white motif, to create a beautifully filmed story that is both simple and layered. Only one other actor appears in the movie … one scene with the great Clu Galager ("The Virginian", The Last Picture Show) as a local merchant who provides a link to the past for Amanda and Jim. The bulk of the time is spent in Jim's mother's house – a literal time capsule that allows for reminiscing for the two former lovers.

Amongst the old familiar clothes, photos, letters, books and audio tapes, Jim and Amanda somehow progress to a bizarre form of role playing/play acting as if they had married young and were now celebrating their 20th wedding anniversary. You guessed it … awkward. Dinner, dancing, acting silly, jelly beans, Annie Lennox and cutting loose leads them to an awkward bedroom encounter. This moment finally produces an explosion of emotion which uncovers the long-buried source of their break-up … shutting down their fantasy game of recapturing the past.

It would be pretty easy to compare the film to Richard Linklater's Before Sunrise (1995) or Before Sunset (2004), and though it has more in common with the latter, this one comes across more raw and melancholy than those more celebrated films. We never once doubt this situation could play out, but the only word to describe two former lovers exploring "what could have been" is … awkward. It's a captivating movie to watch and yet another feather in the cap of Duplass Productions.

I didn't even know this film existed until today (thanks to the people mentioning it!). I think it's good. Something about it didn't completely hit me in the way the film wanted to. Sarah Paulson is definitely the best thing about it. She's a revelation, unsurprisingly. She's such a talented actress and I really hope she continues to get more film roles until she eventually wins an Oscar. On the flipside, I do like the writing from Mark Duplass, as I usually do. However, I'm just not too big on him as an actor, as usual (aside from Creep, the only time he impressed me). He's fine, but I feel like a better actor could have given more justice to the role. He's solid, for the most part. His breakdowns and emotional outbursts were not well acted at all and I could see him struggling to convey any deep emotion. I just didn't buy him, he was very surface-level and definitely wasn't in the same league as Paulson. I hope she gains some traction for this.

Wow. Well, I was looking for a movie that would hit me like a ton of bricks, and I found it on accident. I started to go with an old favorite, but this popped out and caught my eye instead. I've been a fan of the Duplass brother's since way back in The Puffy Chair, mumblecore days. They've really managed to do indie movies the right way all this time, and now their films are all grown up.

Mark Duplass not only plays one of the only two characters (across from Sarah Paulson) but he also wrote and produced this film. Paulson herself is the powerhouse she always is, of course. With this film, Mark really continues to prove that he's genuinely a master at not only writing, but acting with, genuine emotion and really pulling you into a thoughtful, heart-wrenching experience.

Blue Jay is one of the most striking indie films I've seen in awhile. It was filmed sequentially over just 7 days. Instead of using a traditional camera set up, it's the first film shot entirely on Canon's high ISO ME2OF-SH, developed for military and security use. It looks like a black cube and is designed to capture HD-quality video in near-darkness. There's no built in power source or built in recording. The low light ability also allowed them the benefit of not having to use stage lights, and some scenes were filmed with as little light as LED's, lamps and other practical lighting, or even Christmas lights. The camera was also capable of inexpensively allowing them to get full framed close ups, without dealing with all the equipment and cost that would normally accompany that.

In my opinion, this camera choice made Blue Jay a very unique stand out, especially compared to other recent indie films that are both louder and busier. It created a very rich, beautiful black and white that's been minimally processed after the fact.

The film is peppered with beautiful shots, and the way Lehmann utilized the camera, you're pulled in close with Paulson and Duplass, it makes it very intimate and keeps you involved. There's not a boring moment, and you consistently feel as if you're right there.

The absolute kicker for me, that completely left me stunned? That was reading after the fact that not only was this movie improvised, but it was Sarah Paulson's first time doing improv. There was no script. They were given a summary of the movie and their characters, and the rest was total improvisation. After reading interviews, many scenes had a few different tales, until they became comfortable enough with what they were going for to convey it the best way possible. In some instances, that meant parsing it down, such as when they're outside looking at the stars and they're saying very little but communicating so much.

All of these things work together to make this film an absolute treasure to watch. I don't like going into the plot, especially because there's major spoilers if I were to do so. But suffice it to say that it's a rollercoaster. At first you're feeling kind of awkward along with the characters. Some time goes by and you feel them sinking into a comfortable space of nostalgia and taking you with them. A bit later and you're grinning ear to ear along as they are. Then suddenly, multiple times, there must have been dust kicked up in the room you're in, cause you're crying. The plot is just a whole ass punch in the gut, for many reasons at different times, but it's such a good hurt.