The Film Chronicles

The Price of Pleasure: Pornography, Sexuality & Relationships

The Price of Pleasure: Pornography, Sexuality & Relationships, 2008, Documentary

Plot: A documentary about the effects of pornography on our society and within our relationships.

Thoughts: An interesting look at the way porn is portrayed, but it is one of those “heard it before” kind of documentaries. I was intrigued by the personal testimonials, but the entire time I felt like this should be shown in some right-wing religious center. Good information and honestly you should be careful about the time, energy, and finances that you put into porn. Be safe, kids.

2.6/5

Bill Cunningham New York

MST3K: Soultaker

MST3K: Soultaker, 1990, Comedy (originally: Sci-Fi/Horror)

Plot: A group of kids are marked by the “Soultaker” to die and we follow them as they try to survive.

Thoughts: This was the Mystery Science Theater 3000 version of the movie, which made it much more bearable. Martin Sheen’s weirdo brother and his “catcher’s mitt for a face” partner are probably the least intimidating villains of all time. The jokes were spot on in this one, which shouldn’t have been too arduous a task, seeing how bad this movie was. You should definitely check this one out (the MST3K version, of course)

Original movie cover.

4.3/5

Apocalypse How

Apocalypse How, 2008, Documentary

Plot: Scientists talk about the various ways that they believe the world will end.

Thoughts: This type of documentary has been done several times over and there was nothing special about this one. The graphics were better than other documentaries of this type, but aside from that everything was pretty blah. I don’t know how talking about apocalypses could be turned into something boring…but they did it here.

2.1/5

A Single Man

A Single Man, 2009, Drama
Plot: A college professor struggles with loneliness in his life after losing his partner of 16 years.

Thoughts: This film comprised of about 50% of the time in silence. There was an awful amount of pure emotion from Firth whose performance in this mirrored his performance in The King’s Speech. The story was a bit surreal and the film was, as Sami said, “too artistic”. The director wasn’t subtle enough in his artistic expression but was very apt in the directing of characters. Decent film, I just wish there had been more story than filler.

2.9/5

Hunter Prey

Hunter Prey, 2010, Sci-Fi
Plot: An alien-ship holding a dangerous prisoner crash lands on a planet and is forced to track down the prisoner before it destroys their home planet.

Thoughts: This was an extremely professional-looking independent film and that is what I’m about. It was a minimalist film, in that there were only 3 characters with more than 5 minutes of screen time. I really enjoyed the visuals and the look of the film, which was filmed in Mexico. The make-up was gorgeously gross and the acting was decent. The action/ stunts weren’t that good but overall it was a beautiful film.

3.4/5

Still Waiting

Still Waiting, 2009, Comedy
Plot: A manager of a failing restaurant (due to next-door competition) must figure out a way to make $9000 in one day in order to save the restaurant and the jobs of his employees.

Thoughts: This started off as another one of those late-night, tacky movies and …continued that trend until the end. It was a little sad that they had a fleet of entertaining actors but a script that seemed like it was written by a 19 year-old frat boy. The themes addressed were somewhat dated and the overt sexism/ racism was also a bit of a turn off. The quality of the film, however, seemed professional. I really wish that the director and writers would have gone another way with this script.

1.8/5

P.S. This was a sequel so some references and characters were lost on me.

Pelada

Pelada, 2009, Documentary

Plot: A soccer-playing couple travel the globe to see how the sport is played in other countries, from the slums to recreational leagues.

Thoughts: GREAT documentary. Two people did basically what I want to do in my life: travel the globe EVERYWHERE. I didn’t care for the two of the, but the stories and people they encountered made them bearable. It was interesting to see how a basic sport has a different flavor in each country, let alone city. This is a good documentary to watch if you enjoy stunning visuals, political commentary, or just love soccer. I had never watched the sport regularly until the FIFA 2010 World Cup (though I’m an American Football player, I really wish that soccer was a sport that we Americans really played).

Watch it.

4.4/5

The Bill Collector

The Bill Collector, 2010, Comedy
Plot: A debt collector is forced to find a way to pay back debts of his own within 2 weeks or he will be killed.

Thoughts: This movie sucked. The acting was terrible, the writing was half done, and the directing was downright questionable. The story was the only part of the movie that was redeemable. Some parts of the film bordered on racist and it was sad that many just played into it. Even Danny Trejo was disappointing in this “comedy”. I don’t recommend this to anyone.

1.2/5

Them!

Them, 1954, Horror
Plot: A group of giant, killer ants begin to take over the United States.

Thoughts: This movie was dated, but still very effective. I really enjoyed the use of sound in the film and will definitely use similar tactics in my films. The roles were very archetypal and it was refreshing to see a film that didn’t rely on jumpy scenes to keep you at the edge of your seat. Sometimes it helps going back to older films to see pure and honest film making.

3.2/5