bigdan802003 Reviews

Down Time (2001)

Now this is Indie Film Making!

[8/10 · 30 January 2004]

I am a big fan of low budget independent filmmaking and Sean

Wilson (11) Down Time is a maverick achievement. Shot on a

shoe string budget (check the stats), this is no Hollywood action

film, but what you get is from the gut film making. Gritty

performances by WilliamVan Nolan and Sam McBride make this a

stand out film in the low budget arena. Some of the card playing

scenes reminded me of the film Clerks (1994) with lots of off the

wall snappy dialogue. You could also compare it to some the jail

scenes in Jim Jarmusch's Down by law (1986) both films have

lots of long still shots that just kind of hand there and make you

feel the oppressive boredom of prison life. Sure there are some technical problems with this film and some

of the side characters acting is weak but you have to be able to

over look that. Down Time is what independent filmmaking is all

about.

Veteranos (1998)

Berrego bomb

[2/10 · 29 January 2004]

This is the film that Jesse Borrego wants no one to see! After pulling off great performances in films like Follow Me Home (1996) and Bound by Honor (1993) this was a mistake! I am a fan of low budget filmmaking but there is no film here. It seems like they go there homies together and made it up as they went. I give them some props for trying and talking Jesse Borrego into doing it.

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

Best Prison Movie ever made

[10/10 · 29 January 2004]

What can I say this movie is the top of it's class. The Story is great the acting is great . You really care about these characters. Morgan Freeman's performance is the glue that holds the movie together and Tim Robbin's breaks out in this movie showing that he is a great actor. If you like prison films this is the best!

Lockdown (2000)

Lock Out

[4/10 · 28 January 2004]

I am a big fan of prison movies but this movie really did not work for me. The plot was not very interesting with cookie cutter characters on top of that the acting was pretty poor. It rates four beers on my beer/movie rating system.