Calico

While most 13 year olds are playing video games Brandon Watson was writing scripts and learning all about filmmaking. In the eyes of some fillmmakers is this film perfect? No! But films are made for audiences NOT critics. Hold your head up proud Brandon and ignore those who put you down but can never equal your work.

Calico is an impressive and entertaining feature debut from -then- thirteen year-old director Brandon Watson from Calgary Alberta. I had the privilege to watch this movie on its premiere at the Globe Theater downtown Calgary and immensely enjoyed it. The 90 minute running time leaves plenty of room for character and plot development, enthusiastically led by the two (very) young stars, giving it their all and it shows. Between the gorgeous cinematography, sets, landscapes, between romance, drama, action, not to forget just the right touches of humour, Calico is an intriguing, one-of-a-kind film. Unlike any western, comedy, or romantic drama, it has a feel of its own.

You can tell right away this film is low budget. The two main actors had almost zero chemistry. The kissing was terrible. The music fit in some parts, but simply not enough to carry the film. The film is overlong and simply boring. The acting is terrible. The script is very forced and scripted. The story wraps up in the last 10 minutes in the most predictable way I have ever seen in my life. Talk about clichéd. The cinematography is absolutely atrocious. How are you supposed to see the character who's talking if you only see the other persons back? The direction this film had was simply brutal. I don't know what the heck was going through this guys mind. The film was ambitious and some shots were beautiful, but the overacting and lack of humour didn't help at all. I'm not going to lie there was at least 8-12 shots in a bedroom. It was so lame. The bad guys were so clichéd and stupid. This felt like a film from a school English project.

And you wonder why Canadian films get a bad rap most of the time. This is an example.

Hopefully Brandon Watson steps up his game with the next film as this is a film I will not be watching again anytime soon.