ryan
28 Reviews
Reviews
Stop
The razor thin DSLR focus is becoming a bit of a 48hours cliche along with mocumentary, and people dressed in drag/animal outfits. The movie was technically well made, although when the on location dialogue was faded in the loud ambient noise faded in with it, it was quite jarring at the time - there of course isn't much you can do about it in windy wellington, however you could have added some ambient location sound to make the transition a little nicer. The only mar in an otherwise slick production. Otherwise I thought the story needed a little work, I didn't understand how it was inspirational per se, and the characters motivations to do what he did at the very end (after giving back the wallet) were not clear.
Different Strokes For Different Folks
I thought the whole thing was a little pretentious, and was mainly about a dude celebrating himself. Plenty of people do films as a one man band especially in the animation category - including the overall winner a couple of years back. So the guy should get over himself a little, the self satisfying intro and outro could have gone, the rest of the film was pretty good and had a nice flow to it.
Stop
The razor thin DSLR focus is becoming a bit of a 48hours cliche along with mocumentary, and people dressed in drag/animal outfits. The movie was technically well made, although when the on location dialogue was faded in the loud ambient noise faded in with it, it was quite jarring at the time - there of course isn't much you can do about it in windy wellington, however you could have added some ambient location sound to make the transition a little nicer. The only mar in an otherwise slick production. Otherwise I thought the story needed a little work, I didn't understand how it was inspirational per se, and the characters motivations to do what he did at the very end (after giving back the wallet) were not clear.
Dead Comfy
I dug the couch effects, this film had a really good premise and was shot well but left me feeling a little underwhelmed, I think the whole was unfortunately less than the sum of its parts. A little work and it could have been brilliant. Very well done however, definitely a contender for the top 3.
Daemon
They achieved what they set out to do - which was make a super 8 style 70's exploitation film. Everyone in the cinema felt violated, great stuff.
Boxed Away
Thought this was pretty good - I was really worried that the tea cup scene would stretch on and on and on, but it didn't. Overall I thought it worked quite well, it just felt a little rushed.
S.H.A.R.P.
This film was well done - however the talk to the camera mokumentary thing has become a bit of a 48hour cliche. And feels like its a creative crutch. Nether the less, it was entertaining throughout and technically well done. The villain was perfect. Like the reviewer above said my lasting impression of this film was also flannel shirts - superhero costumes have certainly gone more practical. Next year it would be great to see you guys push yourselves and try and go for a proper narrative short.
Love Arktually
This is just the type of madness that we all love from the 48hours. It will be the one that people will remember from the heat and talk about the most. I got used to the crayon animation quite quickly and could enjoy the thing in all its glory. I picked it as one of my favorites last night. It was a triumph in what it tried to create, however as far as the genre goes I wouldn't exactly call it a romantic comedy - rather just a comedy, or even more specifically a series of jokes. I'll pull back some points because of non compliance to the genre, but overall the sort of stuff that the 48hours is made for. Keep it up.
The Curse of That Damn Cat
I thought this was really solid, good production, good story, good acting, good sound. The whole thing just felt a little flat - maybe its just my natural aversion to people in animal costumes and the 48hours. The best part was the urban legend anonomous meeting at the end, the rest was relatively unmemorable.
Plover
Very good but it was missing something, its hard to jump into a dramatic piece in the 48 hours and if you do you better handle it really well. It felt like it limped its way through the motions which was a shame because the acting and production values were top notch. Definitely a contender for top film in the heat though.
Hacked Off
A pretty neat idea that was executed well, it didn't really play for me but I am the exception as most people who I was with seemed to love it, some of them stating that it was their favorite of the night.
Sketch
Great cinematography and score, acting was also pretty good although I couldn't help but feel that the actors didn't quite fit their roles. The whole thing was a bit on the pretentious side, but as a technical example of what can be achieved in 48hours its hard to beat.
Black Death
As always a highly slick and polished film from Dog, a little down on their normal quality but one of the best in a very competitive heat. I thought that it was slightly confused and didn't explore itself fully - it just seemed like allot of elements tacked together without any sort of cohesive whole. I know that this was likely the point but it didn't work as well as intended and just felt a little messy. Acting was great, sound was great, it was shot well, the gags were great, but as is common it was let down a little by the story.
S.H.A.R.P.
This film was well done - however the talk to the camera mokumentary thing has become a bit of a 48hour cliche. And feels like its a creative crutch. Nether the less, it was entertaining throughout and technically well done. The villain was perfect. Like the reviewer above said my lasting impression of this film was also flannel shirts - superhero costumes have certainly gone more practical. Next year it would be great to see you guys push yourselves and try and go for a proper narrative short.
Digital Flick
I don't know, I'm not a fan of the guy in drag 48hours staple. It's been done before and has been old since the pythons. Saying that this film had some good production values and the two leads played their roles well - the rest of the cast were obviously not comfortable in front of the camera but got the point across. Played for the lowest common denominator and for the most part hit their mark.
Digital Flick
I don't know, I'm not a fan of the guy in drag 48hours staple. It's been done before and has been old since the pythons. Saying that this film had some good production values and the two leads played their roles well - the rest of the cast were obviously not comfortable in front of the camera but got the point across. Played for the lowest common denominator and for the most part hit their mark.
Dead Comfy
I dug the couch effects, this film had a really good premise and was shot well but left me feeling a little underwhelmed, I think the whole was unfortunately less than the sum of its parts. A little work and it could have been brilliant. Very well done however, definitely a contender for the top 3.
The Ballad of Nicky Brick
Good musical, and one of the highlights of the heat. Can't really fault it from memory. Loved the ukulele gag towards the end. The whole story and quest part of it didn't work as well as steelpotato thinks it did. It started off ok but came to an abrupt and unsatisfying end.
The Curse of That Damn Cat
I thought this was really solid, good production, good story, good acting, good sound. The whole thing just felt a little flat - maybe its just my natural aversion to people in animal costumes and the 48hours. The best part was the urban legend anonomous meeting at the end, the rest was relatively unmemorable.
Daemon
They achieved what they set out to do - which was make a super 8 style 70's exploitation film. Everyone in the cinema felt violated, great stuff.
Sketch
Great cinematography and score, acting was also pretty good although I couldn't help but feel that the actors didn't quite fit their roles. The whole thing was a bit on the pretentious side, but as a technical example of what can be achieved in 48hours its hard to beat.
Love Arktually
This is just the type of madness that we all love from the 48hours. It will be the one that people will remember from the heat and talk about the most. I got used to the crayon animation quite quickly and could enjoy the thing in all its glory. I picked it as one of my favorites last night. It was a triumph in what it tried to create, however as far as the genre goes I wouldn't exactly call it a romantic comedy - rather just a comedy, or even more specifically a series of jokes. I'll pull back some points because of non compliance to the genre, but overall the sort of stuff that the 48hours is made for. Keep it up.
Plover
Very good but it was missing something, its hard to jump into a dramatic piece in the 48 hours and if you do you better handle it really well. It felt like it limped its way through the motions which was a shame because the acting and production values were top notch. Definitely a contender for top film in the heat though.