Gunderson’s is a comedy that takes an absurd premise and then plays it completely straight. The result is remarkably funny, primarily because of the strength of the performances – especially those of Max Azulay in the lead role and Timothy J. Cox as the over-friendly and utterly inconsistent school principle.

While the result is not laugh out loud funny, this is a very enjoyable short film that will leave you sporting a wide smile.

Gunderson’s is an isolated storyline from Matt Porter’s Argyle and is well worth checking out.

A trilogy of Neo-Noir films about the things people will do in order to stay alive: A wiseguy willing to do anything to move up in the world must now make the ultimate sacrifice. He must kill his best friend or in turn be killed: Eric is a dead man and he knows it. Death is imminent and he must make amends for his past sins, by killing those who wronged him, no matter the price: An F.B.I.agent turned P.I. is on the trail of a missing girl. In his long search for her he comes face to face with a host of unsavory characters who will lead him to perdition or salvation.

If this synopsis, of any of Di Nunzio’s previous work, floats your boat as much as it does mine head on over to the film’s Indiegogo page and claim a perk.

It’s worth taking a look at. The series certainly kept my attention throughout thanks to some very solid performances – especially from Georgie Daburas in the lead role – and a script that is twisted enough to keep you guessing without losing you completely. It all comes together very well and the team behind this series deserve a lot of credit for delivering a solid and involving crime drama.

But that’s enough from me. Here’s the film.

Hitman 101

Then I watched the film again and, even when you know what is coming, Familiar remains a powerful and unsettling film and one that is genuinely painful to watch.

The film centres on John Dodd (Robert Nolan), a man going through a mid-life crisis. Having hit his forties, his career has gone nowhere and he is utterly dissatisfied with his marriage. While he radiates the sort of quiet contentment that his wife, Charlotte (Astrida Auza) actually feels, his internal dialogue is a raging stream of bitterness and resentment.

The only thing Dodd can be said to be looking forward to is the day that his daughter Jordan (Cathryn Hostick) moves out, which is when he plans to do the same and leave his empty existence behind.

It’s an obviously empty dream but even this is crushed when Charlotte announces that she’s pregnant…

What makes Familiar such a deeply unsettling film is the way in which the central character seamlessly progresses from being sardonically detached to appallingly underhanded, and beyond. Dodd’s character makes this descent in a manner that is frighteningly believable and this believability a reflection of both a very tightly plotted script and a superb performance from Robert Nolan.

All three cast members put in solid performances but it really is the character of John Dodd that dominates this film and Robert Nolan delivers a performance to match. Ably supported by Astrida Auza, Nolan gives us a character whose sardonic, silent frustration is not only easy to believe in but also – chillingly – tempting to sympathise with.

Familiar is a powerfully unnerving film that left me genuinely shaken by the end of it.

According to Kipp:

I had become interested in making low-tech horror movies with special effects made from household objects, in this case condiments. It’s an incredibly simple narrative, meant to provoke something in the viewer. The drool in the movie can stand in for whatever you want: addiction, amniotic fluid, something sexual, something demonic. When you complete a film, it no longer belongs to you; it belongs to the audience.

The film certainly achieves it’s aim and watching it is a very disturbing experience indeed. The wordless narrative is both simple and effective and manages to juxtapose disgust and eroticism in a manner that is profoundly disturbing.

Drool is a film that manages to be both haunting and nightmarish and one that is well worth seeing. Watch it below.

Drool

Things become complicated when Sabetha (Sylvia Geiger) turns up and announces to Stanton that he is the father of her baby. She, and the child, move in to Stanton’s already crowded home and Horton finds himself trapped in the middle of an ongoing domestic dispute. He responds by sliding back into the seediness of his small-town life, primarily by attempting to revive a relationship with Leslie (Misty Ballew), an old flame now working in what appears to be the town’s only bar.

If the circumstances of Horton and Stanton weren’t unpleasant enough already, they are horribly exacerbated by the arrival of their drug-addled father, Gus (Joe Hanrahan). This is a character that achieves the near impossible, not only by making apparent how Horton and Stanton turned out to be such a pair of emotional and psychological failures but also by starting to provoke some sympathy for them.

The atmosphere of Bubba Moon Face is set by the film’s cinematography which has a strangely static feel to it. This felt a little odd initially but, as the narrative develops, proves to be appropriate for the tone of the film. This is a film in which writer/director Blake Eckard peels back the surface of small-town life to reveal an unremittingly bleak view of a section of humanity that is going nowhere and for which there are no happy endings. That he manages to do this in a manner that is utterly gripping is a truly impressive feat.

Much of this is a reflection of the strength of the characterisation. Not only are all of the characters well developed, with a history that ensures their current situation is consistently believable, but they are also brought to life superbly by the cast.

Most of the film’s focus is on Horton and Tyler Messner delivers a remarkably understated performance that slowly reveals the character’s nature while keeping us engaged with the unfolding events. Horton is not a man of action, though, and the essential passivity of his character provides plenty of space for the rest of the cast to fill out the narrative, and this they do exceptionally effectively.

None of these characters could be described as good, or decent people and they are presented in such an unflinching manner that you almost begin to feel some sympathy for Horton. This leads to the rather jarring realisation that they may actually be a sense of decency, albeit fractured and unable to find expression, beruied deep at the core of Horton’s character.

Bubba Moon Face is a unrelentingly harrowing tale that offers no sense of redemption and no happy endings. Indeed, the film’s ending manages to be simultaneously shocking, inevitable, awful and the least bad outcome of all. That this works is a testament to Eckard’s unglamorous approach, which makes for a film that is gripping, moving and very powerful indeed.

The film centres on Harlan (Pascal Yen-Pfister), a photographer who has run out of inspiration. Tired of repeatedly re-shooting the same projects, he has hit the visual equivalent of writers block. That is, until he starts to use his wife (Rhea Sandstrom) as his muse.

The results are both personal and inspired and leave his agent, Frost (Timothy J. Cox) more than a little concerned about Harlan’s state of mind. Frost tries to steer him back towards more mainstream work and, at this point, things start to take a turn for the dark.

What writer/director, Chai Dingari delivers is a stolid story competently executed. There is nothing that I can find fault with but nor can I say the film gripped me as much as I had hoped. I think that the reason for this is primarily due to the film’s length.

This is a short film in which the central character’s obsessive perfectionism begins to destroy his relationship, and his sanity, but we don’t spend enough time with Harlan to really appreciate this. As such, this could have been a much stronger film if it had been a little bit longer.

That said, the film’s ending is very good indeed.

You can see for yourself, though, as the film is available online and embedded below.

The Misogynist

The film centres on Ed Gallo (Fiore Leo). When his wife, Sarah (Leighsa Burgin) returns early from work, Ed becomes convinced that there is something wrong with her eye. Sarah brushes off his concerns but Ed is not convinced and, as time wears on, his concerns about Sarah’s eyes comes to dominate his thoughts.

Disturbed or just paranoid, Ed becomes increasingly obsessed with his wife’s eyes and the idea that she is possessed by the evil therein. Is she evil? Is he insane? Wisely, writer/director, Christopher Di Nunzio avoids answering these questions, but it isn’t difficult to see how things are going to play out. The real strength of this tale, though, is very much in the telling.

The film boasts some strikingly atmospheric cinematography, including a scene that is a near textbook example of how to unnerve an audience with shadows. This, combined with a very effective soundtrack makes for a film that admirably reflects the understated horror for which Poe is rightly remembered..

Where the film really stands out, though, is in the utterly convincing central performance. Fiore Leo superbly captures the increasingly surreal sense of confusion his character is experiencing, while also managing to not give too much away as to the source of this confusion. It is a performance that is gripping, powerful and utterly unnerving.

There have been many adaptations of Poe’s work over the years and Her Heart Still Beats is certainly one of the better ones. The film is a a modern take on Poe’s Gothic themes and one that works well because the filmmakers so clearly understand their source material.

This is a hauntingly morbid tale and one that is well worth seeing.

Sam “Barzan” Malkandi came to the Pacific Northwest in 1999 after fleeing a trail of war and personal tragedy that stretched from Iraq to Iran to Pakistan. But just as he seemed to be realizing the American dream of peace and prosperity, an FBI investigation was opened linking him directly to one of the worlds most nefarious terrorists in the world.

Though Malkandi seems to be a kind, hardworking, family man, the evidence against him is disturbing. Is he an industrious immigrant looking for his piece of the American dream, a dupe caught up in a international terror plot, or an enemy in disguise?

More than a decade after 9/11 attacks, this film takes on the black and white morality that defined the War on Terror and uncovers a darker truth; that at a time of heightened fear, our efforts to protect the American dream may actually do more to destroy it.

The producers of Barzan are currently raising post-production funds for the film and have launched a Kickstarter campaign in support of this. Take a look at the trailer, below, and then head over to the film’s Kickstarter page and pitch in.

The Trailer

In the last moments of World War II, a secret Nazi space program evaded destruction by fleeing to the Dark Side of the Moon. During 70 years of utter secrecy, the Nazis construct a gigantic space fortress with a massive armada of flying saucers.

When American astronaut James Washington puts down his Lunar Lander a bit too close to the secret Nazi base, the Moon Führer decides the glorious moment of retaking the Earth has arrived sooner than expected. Washington claims the mission is just a publicity stunt for the President of the United States, but what else could the man be but a scout for the imminent attack by Earth forces? The Fourth Reich must act!

Two Nazi officers, ruthless Klaus Adler and idealistic Renate Richter, travel to Earth to prepare the invasion. In the end when the Moon Nazi UFO armada darkens the skies, ready to strike at the unprepared Earth, every man, woman and nation alike, must re-evaluate their priorities.

The Trailer

Thanks to Rodja Pavlik of HomeMovieCorner for the heads up.