reviewsbrothers

Black Bear Research in Sagehen Basin

noreply@blogger.com (Jason J. Gullickson) — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 22:37:00 +0000

In the first five minutes of this video I learned four things I never knew about bears. This might not surprise you but having spent countless hours watching nature documentaries as well as spending enough time in the woods to have to worry about bear encounters, it says something about the difference between Black Bear Research in Sagehen Basin and your typical nature video.

One of the most interesting and telling things as to the down-to-business nature of this film is the wardrobe of the main characters. Instead of rustic outback gear or camouflage, the researchers appear in typical university garb, dressed appropriately for the weather but otherwise without extensive outerwear. This gives the film a more realistic, up-close-and-personal feel and removes some of the distance typical of your garden-variety outdoors show.

For the would-be scientist, Black Bear Research in Sagehen Basin provides you with an accurate depiction of the research process which can be described as a constant string of failures topped off with a single success. Few other films depict this as accurately as Black Bear Research in Sagehen Basin because these are the decidedly less-sexy, less marketable aspects of science and doesn't make for "good entertainment" in the traditional sense. However if you have more than a passing interest in the process, or are considering making a career as a research scientist, Black Bear Research in Sagehen Basin is a fascinating look into the daily life of the nature scientist.

I'd also like to point out that the film may find a potentially effective audience with young women. Most mass media depict scientists as either old men or cold, impassionate women. Almost every on-screen character in Black Bear Research in Sagehen Basin is female, and spend most of their on-screen time on the ground, in the dirt and working with their hands.

"Black Bear Research in Sagehen Basin" is currently avaliable for purchase on the web at http://www.createspace.com/234523/.

Flip, Flop & Fly

noreply@blogger.com (Jason J. Gullickson) — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 13:12:00 +0000

Maybe we actually said it at one point but I don't recall off-hand. We've received several emails form folks who were under the impression that we don’t review documentary films, however, this is not the case.

We are definitely interested in screening documentaries. Of course we're looking for films that do not have studio distribution and prefer films of the feature-length persuasion but even most festivals consider a documentary to be feature-length if it exceeds 60 minutes.

So if you have produced a documentary, even if it comes in below that 60 minute mark you are welcome to submit it for consideration. In the next week or so we'll be publishing our first documentary review and we look forward to doing more in the future.

'B' Movie Box Car Blues

noreply@blogger.com (Jason J. Gullickson) — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 05:43:00 +0000

Good news dear readers,

We're excited to announce that we've received a new submission and expect the screening copy to arrive shortly. This film is a bit of a departure from the films we've reviewed in the past and we're excited to offer you some variety.

As always if you are the creator of an independent film or know of a film that you'd like to get the word out about please let us know and we'll be in touch.

Ciao!

Soul Man

noreply@blogger.com (Jason J. Gullickson) — Thu, 31 May 2007 12:52:00 +0000

Well folks the trickle of features we received for review has now dried up. We're off to try and drum up some more submissions but in the meantime you won't see much activity here on the ReviewsBrothers blog. Don't mistake this for abandonment, we're just looking for more work.

While we search for more films to review you can keep yourself busy by checking on the activities of our other projects, including the films of the second society, including a new journal we've started for our upcoming summer documentary.

As always, if you have an independent feature film that you'd like reviewed, contact us and we'll be in touch.

Camjackers

noreply@blogger.com (Jason J. Gullickson) — Thu, 03 May 2007 13:01:00 +0000

Directed by: julian dahl
Written by: Linnea Dahl
Starring: Pheonix Orion, Olinda Fonseca, Shante Reese

The audience that will get the most out of "Camjackers" is also the one most unlikely to see the film. On it's surface this film appears to be a "meta" film, that is a movie about making a movie in the same vein as films such as "American Movie", "The Blair Witch Project" and many more that have circulated the film festival circuit in the last decade. That sort of film typically entertains audiences interested in the filmmaking process or those interested in a voyeur's view of the movie industry and definitely not the types of audience that stand to gain the most by watching Camjackers:

1. Hard-core hip-hop fans
2. People who think they hate hip-hop

As much as it is wrapped in the frame story of two inept filmmakers Camjackers is actually an insiders guide to the true culture of hip-hop. Not the rhinestone-encrusted, Escalade driving, violent, misogynistic din pumped out by the major recording labels but the soul, the heart and the message that hip-hop carries at ground level.

This is why the film's greatest audience is the self-considered hip-hop fan or the hip-hop haters. Any hard-core fan outside of an urban area with a functional underground hip-hop scene is only exposed to the mass-marketed product designed to sell more "iced gear" than provide any of the other, more sincere and important aspects of the music and the culture. Those who stand opposed to rap and hip-hop music site the repetitive messages of sex, drugs and violence and condemn the style as having no socially redeeming value.

What Camjackers does by wrapping raw, "one man, one mouth and an audience" hip-hop into a Trojan Horse of a run-of-the-mill-mocumentary is allow the true culture of underground hip-hop slip past the guards at the cultural gates and deliver an undiluted dose of modern soul to an unsuspecting audience.

At one point I believe it is Medusa who is heard saying "I don't want to say religion, because I don't like to use that kind of terminology…" but as we see hip-hop is indeed a culture, more than just music and rims and subwoofers hip-hop is certainly a religion in the sense that Buddhism or Taoism is a religion, devoid of gods and other magical creatures but full of metaphors for life and experience and providing a path, a "way" for which one can travel to become enlightened to what it is to be a part of something, connected to everything else.

…I bet that's not what you thought the last time you listened to a Snoop Doggy Dog record?

I don't think there is anyone who won't get something out of watching Camjackers, but I believe that it is the people who decide to put the film back on the shelf, or who never find it in the first place that will be missing the largest opportunity to expand their awareness of what hip-hop was, what it is and what it can be for mankind in the future.

I Don't Know

noreply@blogger.com (Jason J. Gullickson) — Wed, 02 May 2007 12:49:00 +0000

Is it really May 2nd?

There's good news and bad news. The bad news is that we didn't have a fresh film review posted for you yesterday. The good news is that the reason for this is that the critic assigned to this review is the proud father of a brand new bouncing baby boy. Since these crazy babies don't understand how to use Google Calendar, you never know exactly when one is going to come bounding into the middle of things.

The second good news is that we'll be posting a review of the film "Camjackers" soon, as in "no-later-than-the-end-of-the-week" soon. We do apologize for the wait, but we hope it will be worth it.

As a consolation prize expect another review of a different type to follow soon after we post the "Camjackers" review.

Until then...

Groove Me

noreply@blogger.com (Jason J. Gullickson) — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 13:45:00 +0000

Good morning dear readers,

As we slowly ramp-up the service we appreciate your feedback and patience. When crafting each review we favor taking the time to write something that provides the most value for both the audience and filmmaker instead of rushing to turn out new content quickly.

Originally we had planned on being able to turn out one review per week. As we learn more about the process, working with filmmakers, viewing the films repeatedly and crafting a quality review of each film we've found that at our current capacity we will be shooting for one review per month until we are able to expand our staff.

If you'd like to see more sooner, you can help us out by referring independent filmmakers to us who would like to have their feature film reviewed. We are also considering reviewing additional types of media as well but at this point our focus is on independent features which have yet to be distributed. As the number of submissions increases we will also be adding to "the band" additional review staff to increase frequency of our review posts. In the meantime feel free to subscribe to our feed and you'll know right away when we have something new for your viewing pleasure.

We'll be posting our next review on May 1st. See you then.

The Gutter Diaries

noreply@blogger.com (Jason J. Gullickson) — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 16:15:00 +0000

Written & Directed by Josh Whittall
Featuring John Dadey, Jody Vaillant, Cheryl Denay and Rachel Eaves

The opening scene of "The Gutter Diaries" does a fantastic job of setting the tone for the rest of the film. Like the overture of an opera, this scene establishes the dark, melancholy stage onto which the films stories will play out.

The films unrelenting darkness invokes the smoky hopelessness of "Requiem for a Dream" while it's multifaceted, non-linear plot echo an homage to "Pulp Fiction" as well as the science fiction of William Gibson's Sprawl Trilogy. As the film progresses we meet several characters in turn whose paths eventually intertwine in sometimes direct and at other times only indirect ways.

Surprisingly the film is able to spend a lot of time developing character (surprising only because there are many of them) and unlike similar films each character is unique enough that it is unlikely that the audience will mix them up.

Of the characters my favorites are "Dallas" (Nathan Dashwood) and "Jiggy Ray Vaughn" (Reese Alexander), and I can't pick one over the other. In fact I would be willing to watch a sequel to this film based solely on these two characters. Additional performances that deserve mention are the Vern played by Chris (Fagin) Woodcock as well as the victim of the films first scene played by Jane Purcell.

The films darkness is unrelenting, and audiences who enjoy a film devoid of a hero (or even anti-hero) will get something out of watching "The Gutter Diaries". The storytelling is direct, and those who enjoy a story uncluttered with refinements and detail will enjoy the straightforwardness of the plot which does not suffer from the confusing nature that is sometimes present in films told in a non-chronological way. The technical qualities of the film are raw and it has an unsteady, always-moving documentary style that will appeal to fans of the unpolished "indie-look".

"The Gutter Diaries" subject matter will interest those who enjoy films about drug culture, small-time street crime, soul-sucking despair and ironic tragedy. There is also a semi-artistic bent to some of the characters that will appeal to fans of juvenile poetry readings and pop-prose. While there are brief moments of comedy, just when you think the ride is about to emerge from a tunnel it takes a turn, only to dip deeper into the darkness.

You can find out how to see this film by visiting the directors myspace page here: http://www.myspace.com/joshwhittall

Shotgun Blues

noreply@blogger.com (Jason J. Gullickson) — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 17:21:00 +0000

Good afternoon friends,

After last week's pessimistic post I'm happy to report we have begin to receive submissions from several filmmakers so we can put off any "plan b" for now.

Thank you to those of you who have offered to submit your film as we anxiously await their arrival and thank you to our loyal readers for your patience as we get this funky old police car out of the barn and over the bridge.

Rubber Biscuit

noreply@blogger.com (Jason J. Gullickson) — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 15:58:00 +0000

The response to our call for films has been overwhelming. We have so much material to sort through that we're not even sure where to begin. At this rate, we'll have a review a week for the next six years before we get through this initial set of DVD's…

Or not.

OK actually we've received exactly zero responses to our request for films to review. Personally I'm shocked by this but perhaps we're being too impatient and we need to work a little harder to get the word out on the street. So far we have tried to limit our recruiting in an effort to cater to a filmmaker audience that we are familiar with but perhaps the time has come to cast a broader net.

In the meantime we're going to turn to something completely unexpected and publish reviews of select films available online. Beginning in April, we will feature (at least) one short film available online. We'll review the film, recommend an audience and post the film here for you to enjoy, should you see yourself as part of the films audience.

This will give us something to start with while we await the shipment of DVDs from all of you aspiring independents.

I Got Everything I Need...Almost

noreply@blogger.com (Jason J. Gullickson) — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 17:21:00 +0000

Welcome friends from Withoutabox!

Some of you undoubtedly are reading this because you saw my post on your blog and think it might be spam or some other less than desirable thing.

I hope not!

We're coming from the perspective of indie filmmakers ourselves with our offer to review your film. We know from personal experience that connecting your film to the audience which desires it can be a dark and mysterious thing, and we put Reviews Brothers together as our humble offering to give back to the filmmaker community.

If we have offended you by extending this offer, then please accept our apology, but we believe strongly that we offer something unique to the independent filmmaker and look forward to hearing from those of you bold enough to work with us.

Messin' With the Kid

noreply@blogger.com (Jason J. Gullickson) — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 20:17:00 +0000

Some of you have asked who is the company behind the Reviews Brothers? Who is paying the bills, or otherwise influencing the reviews via their financial influence. The good news for the filmmakers is that the list is short:

Nobody.

The only third-parties that influence the films we review and the reviews that we write are the filmmakers who submit their work. We write about the films that we receive, so if you think that we are not doing justice (or doing injustice) to a certain style, genre or filmmaker the problem is easily addressed by submitting (or lobbying another to submit) work for us to review.

There is of course the matter of the scope of work we will review (feature length independent films) and in that department we are less flexible, but willing to listen to our audience. While we are strictly focused on delivering reviews of truly independent films, if there is enough demand we would consider working shorts into the mix as well. Our primary reservation to reviewing short films has to do with providing service to movie audiences and is not meant to reflect negatively on the short film form itself.

We hope to review films and provide our readers with audience recommendations with the end goal of directing them toward films that they can then rent or purchase to view themselves. This is why, as a filmmaker when you submit your work to us that you provide a way for our readers to rent or purchase your film, preferably on DVD so the film can be watched properly on a home entertainment system.

Unfortunately, the reality is that many short films are not readily available this way.

Here at Reviews Brothers we're hoping to expose general movie audiences to films that otherwise may have never registered on their radar screen. The value of our service is diminished if there is no easy way for these audiences to acquire these films and watch them as conveniently as the latest Hollywood blockbuster.

There is also the matter of expectation, on the part of the movie audience that a "movie" is 70+ minutes long. Those of us steeped in the world of independent film and festivals have become accustom to the short film format and see them as a form unto their own, however for the general public a short film seems more like a television short than cinema. What's worse, is that upon watching such a film it becomes obvious that it is not a television show as well, so what is it? I think that, like abstract painting and avant-garde jazz everyone can benefit from opening their mind and experiencing new forms of art however our purpose here is to gently lead those who are unfamiliar with real independent cinema to the beginning of the path, and we feel the best way to do that is to ease the transition by providing useful reviews of films and a description of the audience we think will get something out of them without loosing the readers "context" of what a movie is.

However, feel free to prove us wrong.

Hey Bartender

noreply@blogger.com (Jason J. Gullickson) — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 21:01:00 +0000

Where are the reviews already?

We are in the process of collecting and reviewing our first batch of films.

If you are a filmmaker who would like your film reviewed, and you believe it falls into the "Independent Feature" category we've mentioned before, email us at reviewsbrothers@gmail.com and we'll be in touch.

We'll be posting our first review by April 1st, with one a week to follow.

I can't turn you loose

noreply@blogger.com (Jason J. Gullickson) — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 20:02:00 +0000

Meet the Reviews Brothers

We review independent films.

How this works depends on if you are the kind of person who watches movies, or the kind that makes them as well.

For those about to watch:

You come to this site once a week and read a fresh review of an independent film. We'll tell you what it's about, what we liked and what we didn't without giving anything away. Then we'll recommend it to an audience. If you fancy yourself part of that audience, we'll also provide a way for you to watch the film for yourself.

Now, if you are the type that makes movies:

You send us a copy of your independent film. By independent we mean that you made it and are distributing it yourself (yes, this is a deliberately vague description). We prefer feature films (70+ minutes) because that's what our viewers (see the above paragraph) prefer, but having said that, we'll review a short as well if we have a slow week. When in doubt, contact us before sending something or risk it falling into the abyss.

Why?

Let's face it, it's hard to find truly independent films and even harder to find ones that you would actually like to watch. This is not to say that there isn't a lot of great independent cinema, but without a distributor, "name" actors and a huge budget it's hard as hell to get the word out on the streets. This means that while there could be millions of people out there that would enjoy the movie, they may never know about it but for word of mouth, or possibly via a film festival or lucky web search.

So we're going to fill that gap.

The difference between The Bros and other critics is that instead of telling you what to like based on our opinions we're going to recommend an audience for the film and you can then decide if its worth your time.

We know every film has an audience.