A Film Review + Amusing Photos

Today I thought I knew what I wanted to post about.  I had it in my head (and it’s really already written) to post my review of Ted Dekker’s Green.  But for some reason, I’m just not feeling it.  Instead I have a brief post for today.

A few weeks ago I mentioned that fellow blogger Mattson Tomlin was giving away another free DVD to four people.  I’ve been Following Mattson’s blog for quite a few months now, interested in seeing his ideas develop and come to life.  He blogs about various aspects of directing and creating a film, from the perspective of a young SUNY Purchase student, and occasionally posts a finished product.  I recently received and watched the DVD in its entirety, which is composed of three separate short-films: Solomon Grundy, (i), and Until the Sky Falls.

Solomon Grundy is an interpretation of the classic English nursery rhyme, “Solomon Grundy.”  Jimmy is young and nervous and he has a dark side.  He tries to keep it in, but he’s not always successful.  And when it shows itself, bad things tend to happen.  I’ve liked the “Solomon Grundy” rhyme ever since reading Batman: The Long Halloween, so I was eager to see Mattson’s interpretation. 

The film is well shot, the acting is solid, the script is great, and the plot is interesting (if a bit predictable).  I found it refreshing to see this up-and-coming director’s take.  The only problem I had was I felt that the build-up to the climax was a bit too long, but considering the film is only 7:31 in length, I understand.  If you’d like to watch Solomon Grundy, click here to head over to YouTube.

The next film, (i), was a film experimenting with technology.  Mattson wanted to shoot an invisible man piece.  He blogged about his “how to” do this here, which is even more interesting after having watched the film.  (i) was the weakest film of the three, but it was cool seeing the technology used come to life.  The acting was great, though I felt the digitalization was a bit shaky at times (certain backgrounds, etc.)  Overall, though, I liked watching the brief film, and I would likely watch a full film of this feature.

The last film was the longest (around 20 minutes) and best on the DVD.  Until the Sky Falls is a dystopic, post-apocalyptic silent film.  The video style and look of the film was pretty sweet.  I’m not sure if it’s because it was filmed using 16mm film or if there was some type of editing, but I really liked it.  It definitely added to the theme of the movie.  The plot itself was also very interesting, especially since it was told using no words.  The acting was superb and I’d like to see more like this.  You can see more about this film on Mattson’s blog around April-June of 2009.

In the end, I really enjoyed this small DVD.  I’ve liked watching Mattson’s work and progress.  I don’t know him at all outside of the blogosphere, but I think he’ll be going places with what he does.  He’s currently fundraising on Kickstarter to try and film more in the Solomon Grundy world.  If you’d like, throw some support his way.  I’m sure he’d appreciate it.  You can check out his studio website at www.wackeychan.com.

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As some of you know, I’m going on a cruise in May.  We don’t necessarily have to have our passport for the cruise, but it’d be much easier if we did.  So Keisha and I went and had our Passport photos taken.  There were some strict rules to getting those photos.  Ears had to show.  Face had to be just right.  Look natural.  Don’t smile.

Well, after paying $15 for both photos, I was expecting something awesome.  Instead, we wound up with two mug shots.  Neither of us look happy.  “I’m so mad that I’m going on a cruise.”  “I know.  It’s awful.”  Anyway, take a look and see for yourself.  And by all means, DON’T TURN US IN!

By the way, I took a lot of that wording from the actual wanted posters stemming from President Lincoln’s assassination.  Of course, a few things were changed…