The only shocking thing here is how this film managed to rack up all those festival awards...until you realize what festivals actually did the giving. Flint Film Festival anyone? Or how about Tiburon? "The most award winning film of 2006" seems more than a little disingenuous.
Perhaps I'm being unfair to Lapica who managed a hat trick when it came to making this film and maybe if it wasn't preceded by all this false buzz (I'm sorry, but I can only assume that all the 10 star user comments on here came from friends or even a marketing team) I wouldn't be so harsh.
However, as it stands "Self-Medicated" just isn't a very good film. Its amateurish and clunky, the cinematography is severely underexposed (being a working D.P. myself, I don't understand why Denis Maloney didn't compensate better for what must have been a lack of lighting due to the budget and I'm tempted to say there were mistakes made in post), and the acting is, well, let's just say at odds with the realism the film is attempting.
I don't think Lapica should hang up his hat when it comes to film-making. It's just that this is clearly a student film that somehow scrapped together a professional budget (albeit a very low one). With hard work he may become a very assured director, but it will take some time.
Overall though this film (and the way it's being marketed) is symptomatic of a larger issue concerning young filmmakers today. When my father was making films (a long time camera op, and yes I went into the family business) directors had a chance to cut their teeth on countless B movies before being picked (or not) to move on to the bigger budget pictures. Nowadays you have to be spectacular right out of the gate. But if your movie's not, you're encouraged to sell it as the greatest thing anyway, eventually some will believe you.
Perhaps I'm being unfair to Lapica who managed a hat trick when it came to making this film and maybe if it wasn't preceded by all this false buzz (I'm sorry, but I can only assume that all the 10 star user comments on here came from friends or even a marketing team) I wouldn't be so harsh.
However, as it stands "Self-Medicated" just isn't a very good film. Its amateurish and clunky, the cinematography is severely underexposed (being a working D.P. myself, I don't understand why Denis Maloney didn't compensate better for what must have been a lack of lighting due to the budget and I'm tempted to say there were mistakes made in post), and the acting is, well, let's just say at odds with the realism the film is attempting.
I don't think Lapica should hang up his hat when it comes to film-making. It's just that this is clearly a student film that somehow scrapped together a professional budget (albeit a very low one). With hard work he may become a very assured director, but it will take some time.
Overall though this film (and the way it's being marketed) is symptomatic of a larger issue concerning young filmmakers today. When my father was making films (a long time camera op, and yes I went into the family business) directors had a chance to cut their teeth on countless B movies before being picked (or not) to move on to the bigger budget pictures. Nowadays you have to be spectacular right out of the gate. But if your movie's not, you're encouraged to sell it as the greatest thing anyway, eventually some will believe you.