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darylmitchell
Reviews
The Puffy Chair (2005)
Pointless
I saw this at my city's independent cinema - no surprise, because no mainstream theatre would want its fingerprints on this train wreck.
The camera work is very distracting. The constant shifting, refocusing, and zooms could induce a sensitive person to have motion sickness. It looks more like a film student's project than a serious movie.
Though well-acted, the characters are unlikeable. Josh is devious, always trying to manipulate situations and people to his advantage. Without any context to Emily and Josh's relationship, she comes off as a whiny, insecure girl who's desperate to get married. Rhett is an emotional infant, incapable of understanding the complexities of human interaction. Without any redeeming qualities, I didn't care about what happened to any of them.
Obviously some people liked this movie, as the couple sitting behind me were laughing hysterically. Of course, they could have just making fun of it. I could hardly blame them for it.
Sweet Revenge (2001)
It has a split personality
This is another film produced in Saskatchewan, filmed mostly in Saskatoon. What it has going for it is good cinematography... what it has going against it is a thin and somewhat baffling plot. It was half over before I figured out what was going on.
We eventually learn that the main character, a low-life drug-addled criminal, was once a well-off suburban woman married to a doctor. She's trying to get revenge against her drug-dealing thug of a boyfriend who tried to kill her... but then there's a subplot about her trying to reconnect with her family from her former, happier life. I felt like I was only being told half the story. How did this woman fall from her suburban existence into this seedy underworld? How did she become entangled with this guy in the first place?
The film seems unsure of itself. There are some action sequences with guns firing and cars exploding. But it's also peppered with "talky" scenes where the woman is trying to earn forgiveness and redemption. It can't decide whether it's an action movie or a relationship movie... and ends up being unconvincing as either one.
Murder Seen (2000)
E for effort
Another locally produced film from Saskatchewan, this one filmed almost entirely in Saskatoon. This one has a bit more linear plot and was fairly easy to follow. Very well shot, good cinematography - I got to play my game of "spot the location" again. Overall, not Oscar material... but satisfactory.
Decoy (1995)
Worthless
A pointless movie with nothing but gratuitous violence. The only fun I had was playing "spot the location", as much of it was filmed in my home town of Regina, Saskatchewan. I like to support locally produced films but this one was a major disappointment.