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Showing posts with label candy factory. Show all posts
Showing posts with label candy factory. Show all posts
Friday, August 25, 2017
OXENFREE -- Movie Review by Porfle
Sort of a guy flick with feels, OXENFREE (Candy Factory, 2016) takes the cake for not letting on what kind of movie it's going to be at first and then surprising us with something that resembles a cross between LORD OF THE FLIES and "Kick the Can."
It opens at the secluded family cabin where Aaron (Steven Molony) awaits the arrival of his stepbrothers Roy (Paul Vonasek) and Benjamin (Timothy R. Lane). Aaron clearly suffers from some health difficulty--an oxygen tank is never far from his reach--which he will hide from the others.
We sense a strained relationship between him and both the burly, somewhat overbearing Roy and the more mild-mannered Benjamin stemming from old childhood hurts that have never healed.
Their efforts to overcome them are awkward but earnest as they spend an evening around the campfire, relating old stories, tall tales, and memories of Aaron's biological father who adopted the other two boys before he was born.
But just as it appears as though their differences may be irreconcilable, Aaron sets his master plan into motion: to lure them, via a crumbling old map, across the lake and deep into the forest where they once built a makeshift fort and pretended to be heroic adventure characters.
Roy and Benjamin arrive at the site of Fort Buttkicker, now rebuilt by Aaron and ready for action, and find themselves gradually drawn back into the world of make-believe that once captivated them.
That's when OXENFREE becomes an odd, almost surreal world of super-soakers, slingshots, war paint, imaginary battles, and random cosplay in which these three grown men gradually surrender themselves to a totally immersive childhood fantasy that brings them together, free from the constraints of adulthood and the outside world.
Director Dan Glaser (PINCHING PENNY, PETTY CRIMES) and a lean script by Timothy J. Meyer handle all of this well, without actually getting overly cute or silly with the idea.
And neither do they pile on the maudlin sentiment when the brothers suddenly face the harsh reality behind their wild-child weekend and are forced to come clean with each other about old family grievances and other pressing matters.
Any more I dare not reveal, save to say that I found OXENFREE much more thoughtful, contemplative, and evocative than I originally expected. Which is probably just the way Roy and Benjamin feel after this strangely liberating excursion into childhood abandon which Aaron has in store for them. And us.
Labels:
candy factory,
drama,
movie,
Porfle,
review
Thursday, August 10, 2017
FACE 2 FACE -- Movie Review by Porfle
So, when seriocomic cyber-drama FACE 2 FACE (2016) started out as two childhood friends reuniting online after many years, with the whole thing taking place on their webcams and iPhones and the dialogue all fluffy and cutesy and coy, I thought I was in for an ordeal of unendurable boredom.
Thankfully, however, it gets better as we get to know these initially shallow characters--he, a lonely, friendless gamer nerd named Teel (Daniel Amerman, COLLEGE MUSICAL, "Arrested Development"), and she, an outgoing bundle of teen energy named Madison (Daniela Bobadilla, TEXAS HEART, MOTHERS OF THE BRIDE)--who eventually get to know one another well enough to suss out each other's weak points, insecurities, etc. and try to fix them.
For her, it means getting Teel to admit he's a friendless gamer nerd and do wild things like joining Facebook and auditioning for parts in school plays even though his mom wants him to be a jock. For him, it means helping her appreciate her natural qualities and identifying various behavioral traits and social interactions that are in serious need of a tune-up.
It threatens to be a feature-length meet-cute at first, which much of the early section pretty much is. But little by little, things start to get more serious, and that's when Teel and Madison begin to delve into one another's lives in depth. Not surprisingly, this also makes the story that much more fun and involving for us.
In fact, FACE 2 FACE reaches a point somewhere along the way where we stop noticing the whole "found footage"-esque premise so much and just start following the story.
Director and co-writer (with brother Aaron) Matthew Toronto helps open things up as much as possible by switching to mobile cams now and then to catch outside action such as Teel getting beaten up by school thugs or Madison having way too much "fun" at wild parties to over-compensate for serious troubles in her personal life.
There are a couple of plot twists to spice things up, one of which should come as no surprise to absolutely anyone (except Madison, who obviously isn't as perceptive as we thought), and another which I did find rather startling. Both contribute greatly to giving the story a depth and gravitas that the initial scenes don't hint at, setting us up for the big finish.
Of course, we're left to wonder if Teel and Madison would hit it off romantically if not separated by thousands of miles and limited only to contact in the digital realm. This question, as you probably guessed, will be answered sooner or later, in somewhat predictable but still satisfying fashion.
Performances by the leads are quite good. Then again, they'd have to be in order for these two actors to carry the entire film with nothing but their faces and voices for much of the running time. Mary Gordon Murray shows up a few times as Teel's overbearing mother, and we see various boyfriends and girlfriends here and there, but most of the other characters are fleeting background figures.
FACE 2 FACE restricts itself to an unwieldy format from the start and then does its best to make it engaging and cinematic for us. It succeeds to a pleasing degree, mainly because the lead characters and their stories have a way of growing on us until we actually care what happens to them next.
TECH SPECS:
Type: DVD/Digital HD
Running Time: 88 min.
Rating: N/A
Genre: Drama
Aspect Ratio: 1.85
Audio: 5.1 Surround Sound
Release Date: August 15
FACE 2 FACE -- Movie Review by Porfle
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