schmorla
44 Reviews
Reviews
Parasite
An interesting scenario and easy-to-follow plot. Ticked the boxes, but didn’t really make me feel much.
A Strange Pair
A fun little film. The characters were well-developed and likeable. The Morgan character was defined a liar (and I loved that final little lie reveal at the end!).
Spoken Word
I really, really loved the premise of this film (with the help of a guru, guy has to learn to use words properly to compete in a spoken word competition). There were some really funny moments. Production values were good enough to keep me engaged with the story. I wish at the end we had some indication of how well he did in the competition (audience reaction, etc.).
Mentirosa
Just fun! I really enjoyed watching this. This team has won Wellington Best of the Worst in the past, and it kind of feels like they are going for that again with pointless foreign language, bright wigs, and chastity belts. So I think they probably achieved what they were going for.
Deathday Wishes
I thought it was good looking with a unique atmosphere. But I didn’t quite understand what was going on well enough to enjoy it. The fishbowl in the seatbelt was an audience-pleaser!
Tyrone
This film used stylistically twitchy cut-outs of photos for its animation. I guess the plot was that a guy has a really boring life and ... I don't want to spoil the ending of shock ending movie. It got laughs for being ridiculous. I liked the pigeon scene, especially the extreme close-up of the eyes. It was creepy. I thought it was going somewhere, but no.
Hypnagogia
There were some very cool visuals in this one. And through the 7 minutes, the audience slowly came to understand what was going happening to the lead. But there wasn’t really much development of plot or character.
Gonna Get Rich
This was hilarious. I especially liked the scene of hiding under the car. The writers have a good sense of humour.
A Little Bit of Pluck
A fun story. I enjoyed the acting. And it didn't feel too long like many in the heat did. It was shockingly lacking in morality though!
Signal
Pros: Good attempt at a serious story without cheap jokes. Cons: It was a race against the clock where the protagonists mostly just had to wait, so it wasn't very exciting. The ball seemed irrelevant. The radio voice.
Interference
Pros: Great editing. Great energy. Very engaging. The shirt removals! Cons: I just didn't understand the ending at all. Maybe those cut in shots needed to be a little longer--was I meant to know who that was?
The Awakening
Very slick and tidy and had me engaged the whole time. I didn’t see the ending coming, but when it came, it made good sense, although the very last bit didn’t fit so perfectly. Sadly, I don’t think that mentioning the fact that you need revenge is enough to make it a revenge film.
The Hand You're Dealt
I actually liked the black-and-white poker scene. I didn’t follow very well what was going on in the seperate stories, but around the poker table, ideas seemed somewhat clear. The story I created in my head involved each of those characters having money problems and going to gambling as a last resort. You know one of them is going to end up okay and the others will be even lower, but who will it be? And who deserves it most? But I think that was just the plot in my head, not in the film.
adz4u
Pros: Some fight scene camera angles. The line about "experience in the economy". The ad for Wellington. The quality of the images in the ads. Cons: Nudity was gratuitous (even though the beach scene was cute). The ending was unsatisfying.
Thought you were at work, brah!
Pros: Story! I loved it. Use of line. I liked the ending. Cons: There were a few times I couldn't comprehend dialogue because of sound problems. Use of prop.
Loop Aahhh
This one was done kind of Blair Witch style, and they definitely got a creepiness going. I think the time travel thing may have been that it was a camera that records things out of chronological order. Or maybe not. I wasn’t really sure about that aspect. Cheeky use of the line!
Engaged
Very slick. Great cinematography. Good energy. It got a lot of laughs. The plot was sort of stream of consciousness (sorry, pun not intended). My main complaint would be the handling of the genre. You definitely committed to the musical, but I would have liked more than one song and transition in and out of song mode as well as mouth singing rather than in-the-head. Best credits ever!
Irrevocable
Pros: Some beautiful images: slow motion flowing white dresses, lots of shots with the sun coming into frame and washing out the shot in a dramatic way, and good contrast of the darkness of the real world and lightness of the dream world. Cons: I didn't really like the reinterpretation of the genre label. And I would have liked a bit more story.
Cake
Pros: A fun concept. Good acting. Cons: The ending wasn't strong. The character didn't seem changed by the experience.
Cordless
Pros: The neighbour. Good commitment to the genre (lots of blood and body parts, half naked woman trying to escape). I liked how we never saw the killer's face. The recycled mouth close-ups were funny. Cons: The ending seemed quiet. Perhaps a scream or a hacking sound would have added a bit more drama. And a quicker pace would have made it more exciting.
Hypnagogia
There were some very cool visuals in this one. And through the 7 minutes, the audience slowly came to understand what was going happening to the lead. But there wasn’t really much development of plot or character.
Ringtone Revenge
Good start, good acting. Visually, this film was amazing a lot of the time. Everything inside the house looked great: the walls, the circling piano shot, the preparing for revenge montage... There were some great shots. The sound was bad at times. And ending didn't really do it for me.
Morgan's Match
So this was a rom-com about a teenage girl who is obsessed with tennis and a particular sexy movie, so when a young burglar breaks into her house, she wants to seduce him in a style imitating the movie she loves. Great performances by the young actors. I am not sure who the woman on the internet was, and frankly, her involvement was a bit creepy. I found myself really wanting to watch that hilarious tennis movie!