Charlie Zone (2013)

Amanda Crew stars as crackhouse beauty Jan in Charlie Zone (2013).

At a glance:

I've read many glowin reviews about this little Canadian crime caper that managed a very limited theatrical release a while back. Michael Melski's under-supported Charlie Zone (2013) is about a disgraced First Nations boxer and ex-con (native actor Glen Gould) who resorts to streetfightin for YouTube videos to make ends meet, before fatefully takin up a job to retrieve a young heroin addict (Amanda Crew) from a crackhouse in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Title is in reference to a rough part of town, I understand.

Jan (Amanda Crew) gets nicked by Avery (Glen Gould).

Bad news on the doorstep:

It's a little too long and it tends to wanna cover too much. Also it overdoes the unpolished, grainy feel. Is this how the East Coast underworld is really like, I wonder? I've never been. Modest little Canadian crime flick with borin camerawork and lethargic editin but it does feature some decent lead performances, especially the gritty Gould. The movie is most interestin when he's on the move and weakest when people talk too much. Two or three more rewrites would've landed more solid punches.

Perennial wonderment:

How come pushers and junkies are always so unconvincin in under-budgeted movies? I believe that sometimes, all that an actor needs to get so much better for such roles is to spend some time on the streets.

No safety.

Reminds me of:

Always liked Amanda Crew since I watched her in Sex Drive (2008). She reminds me of Kristen Stewart, only with talent. Wished her role could've been sexier here, though it'll probably serve as a distraction from the proceedings. Still, could've gone for a more lascivious edge, in all that doom and gloom.

Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?

I enjoyed all the personal little touches and also the attempt for a certain level of intimacy but I think the heart of the story is underwritten. Norman Milner notes: "It’s cheaply made and a little on the long side, with maybe one speech too many about the rich taking advantage of the poor. But strong performances by Gould and Crew – clearly relishing the opportunity to go beyond the frowny-pretty roles she’s usually given – compensate for the production’s ragged edges, and director Melski, who co-wrote the script with Joseph LeClair, shows promise as a meat-and-potatoes storyteller. Give these guys a little more money and a bit more prep time and the results could be really impressive." Check out the official website and Facebook fan page for more info.★★1/2

American Maniacs (2010)

Ashlynn Yennie: From human centipede to meth-head stripper.

Curtis Smith as retard Archie Crider,
the worst performance in the movie.

At a glance:

American Maniacs (originally titled Fetch) is described by the producers as a Kansas-set horror flick involvin sadistic ex-cons, corrupt cops, meth-addicted strippers and psychotic killers who keep flesh-eatin dogs. Please don't bother with the synopsis you may find on sites like IMDb because they're all misleadin marketin speak that makes the movie out to be a thriller of a horror. It has no such urgency! Anyway, when I read that it's written by Trent Haaga (Deadgirl) and stars Ashlynn Yennie (the most disadvantageous midsection of The Human Centipede) as a meth-head stripper teasingly named Starlene Arbuckle, I was kinda hopin it'll at least serve up some trashy R-rated fun.

Bad news on the doorstep:

Shawn G. Smith as Punch.
Should've developed this villain.

Lousy screenplay, lousier script. No reward, no tension, no real reason to follow these characters at all, never mind their actin. Although the story is for the most part coherent, there are severely distractin flaws at every turn.

Perennial wonderment:

Can't understand why Trent Haaga movies like Deadgirl (2008),  Jessicka Rabid (2010), Someone's Knocking At The Door (2009) and Chop (2011) never feature a sympathetic character we can at least identify with, if not root for. To forgo one, you'd really have to make up for it with somethin wildly original.

I can't remember if I cried:

"Suck or I'll shoot!"

When I read the rant of a disgruntled extra on IMDb. Apparently, he drove a great distance to volunteer to stand in the snow until midnight but got told that the hot food is only for paid actors only. How petty can you get!

Watch out for:

John Redmond plays Sheriff Marcus Lewis, a dirty old man who likes to get sucked off by whores while his wheelchair-bound wife watches and gives pointers. For better or worse, this character also provides the sickest and only memorable moment of the film. It's a bizarre, life-endin act of sexual perversion that I can't wait to be repeated in a more competent movie.

Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?

Fetch was changed to the much more marketable American Maniac.

Awful timewaster but do give a listen to New Life by Gemma Ray. It plays at the end of the movie and turned out to be the only thing I'm takin away from this messy movie.★1/2
Bonus material:

Slim siren Ashlynn Yennie rocking the barely legal, titless look.

So much effort.

Small Pond (2011)

Hari Leigh plays Kirsten, a painfully mediocre young woman.

Amy Seimetz:
"Do not fuck with my portobello mushrooms!"
Copyright 2011 Tenhoursaweek, LLC.
Photo credit: Karen Johnson

At a glance:

Longtime Hollywood crewman Josh Slates has written and directed his first feature film - the overwhelmingly indie but quietly original Small Pond (2011), a movie he describes as "both a love letter to Columbia, Missouri as well as a satirical comedy about the lives of leisure that are led by its youthful inhabitants". Congratulations are in order, as they've managed to shop it. When you watch the movie, you'd understand why the movie deserves to be seen by more people. It's a coming-of-age caper about a sloppy pizzeria worker (Hari Leigh) whose annoyin aimlessness in life is strainin every relationship she has with people around her. She wants no part in job promotions, health insurance or even basic grocery shoppin because she lives her life from one week to the next. Like all decent coming-of-age movies, things are about to change for our irresponsible ne'er-do-well. It's a neat little Midwestern portrait of a college town with some rather basic components but the story is sound and the characters never overstay their welcome, resultin in an pleasantly disarmin narrative.

Bad news on the doorstep:

Susan Burke and Hari Leigh
Copyright 2011 Tenhoursaweek, LLC. Photo credit: Karen Johnson

Some complain that the female lead is not likeable enough to invest in but perhaps our mixed feelings for her are precisely what makes a good character arc. More would grow restless with the static and muted drama throughout the proceedings, though this is again, fully intended. A bigger budget would've jazzed things up a notch or two but I guess that would've made it a different movie.

Ann Magnuson
Copyright 2011 Tenhoursaweek, LLC.
Photo credit: Karen Johnson

Reminds me of:

The story draws heavily from the set location and some parts were filmed in St Louis. I had a friend there but no longer.

Watch out for:

Hari Leigh carries the movie and she's quite an enchantin character by the sounds of her blog, on which she describes herself as "an exuberant blast of indie kookiness". There's no nudity in the movie, though followers of this blog might notice the size of her bosom. Her character seems to have gone out of the way to appear totally desexed, after a suggestive introduction in the openin scene. Oh well.

Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?

Short and sincere, devoid of cheap melodrama. 76 minutes of time well spent, I'd say. Go check out the Facebook fan page and official website for updates, if only to read the delightfully-penned director's statement. Very interested to see what Josh Slates can do in a bigger pond.★★★
Bonus material:

Hari Leigh
Copyright 2011 Tenhoursaweek, LLC. Photo credit: Karen Johnson