Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 1 Hour and 22 minutes.
Budget: $900,000.00
I recently saw an independent film with a Christmas theme that turns out to be a remake of a short film based on a short story. The movie is about five people who reach low points in their lives on Christmas eve.
I’m learning by experience that some of the low budget… Independent films are worth the time time to watch. Good films don’t always have to have $50 or $100 million dollar budgets. The dialog and acting in this film are powerful. From what I can tell, this film has absolutely no special effects. The story is riveting and is definitely worth a 4.5 of 5 stars.
Synopsis, Lefty, an alcoholic, recent divorcee reaches a new low point in his life and contemplates suicide. A young mother and her son are stuck with car trouble on Christmas eve a year after the husband/father suffered brain damage in an auto crash. A shut-in older lady contemplates suicide because her family doesn’t visit any more, even on Christmas. A young minister wonders if he’s relevant. A gas station owner stuck in job he hates works on Christmas eve. All of their lives are affected by random acts of kindness and all of their lives are changed forever.
You won’t be let down if you watch this film.
If you have Netflix, check out the Independent section. There are a lot of good films that don’t get as many viewings because they don’t have the support of the larger film distribution channels. If you have access to IFC (Independent Film Channel) you will get to see a lot of good films there as well.
Rating: Unrated by the MPAA, I would rate it “R” For language and adult content.
Running Time: 93 Minutes
Budget: $7,000.00
Decided to watch something different tonight for a change. Some of you know we cut the cord to cable and satellite television back in August and we get all of our television via the Internet. Tonight’s film was Virgil Bliss, an Indie film about an ex-con who gets paroled and wants to change his ways and his life.
Virgil Bliss was written and directed by Joe Maggio, according to the Internet Movie Database (IMDB.com), it was his first film project as a writer, producer or director.
The film shows his release from prison, his time in a halfway house, and after. I give the film 4 out of five stars. In my opinion the film is good simply because of the ability of the director to direct and the actors to act. The films lead, Clint Jordan puts in an outstanding performance as does Kirsten Russell. The people they play are not good but the performances are outstanding. This film brings a culture that we all know exists, but not many of us have seen up-close and personal.
The film was very low budget (< $10,000), relatively unknown, and pulled in a mere $690 on it’s opening weekend on one screen in the entire country. It grossed a whopping $1,465. Still, Netflix digitized it and made it a Watch Instantly title. I believe most who watch, will like it.
Yesterday I received an email from a friend that goes WAAAYYYYY back to 1984 and my broadcast radio days, will see if we can catch up. and see how he’s doing. Apparently he didn’t stay in California either…
Nan and I are planning on doing some Geocaching this weekend.
Saw a really cool MMA movie last night called “Never Back Down”. It’s about a young man who deals with some internal anger about his father’s death. I’d give it a 4 on the Tom scale of 1 to 5 with 1 being really poor and 5 being the absolute movie ever filmed.
To all who monitor this space, I’m sorry for the long hiatis… work has kept me busy and Nan has enough to do with keeping the other site up to date.
Have a great Weekend.