Brendon
6 Reviews
Reviews
Hopeful Gardens
This was a very fun film that got several huge laughs from the audience (poor Bethany). Very cheeky use of the mandatory line. It almost slipped by me and I thought 'oh no, they got it wrong!' Took me a moment to realise what they'd done.
The Intervention
I want to talk about this film in two parts. BMC (before Match Cut) and AMC (after Match Cut) BMC: We have a really nicely acted series of character scenes. My prediction during this part was that the twist was something like 'he's got something terminal and he's going to Finland for a euthanasia clinic' (do they even have those? no idea). The whole 'going to Finland' thing seemed a little odd (his decision seemed arbitrary) which was maybe a good and a bad thing as it put me off the scent of the real ending, but also led me to expect that there was some special significance to his decision (maybe there was and I missed it). AMC: Stunning match cut. The change in lighting/ amazing set dressing/ and especially sound that this triggered by the cut was absolutely exhilarating. The newspapers to fill in back story went by so fast I didn't catch any details, but I certainly got the idea of what had happened. A film I am looking forward to seeing again (most likely at the finals).
Detention
A fun, playful film with a sweet ending. Couple of things I really dug: -that shot with the teacher in the foreground and Harper balanced on the roof behind him -sweet soundtrack -Terrifying moustache
HOME
I was talking before the heat to some of the other competitors about how 'shock ending' is an unfair genre because it gives away that there is going to be a shock ending before you even start. I feel like this film suffered because of it's title card even more than the shock ending films, since the genre title very much tipped us to the ending that was coming. A well acted, well shot film, in a lovely choice of location. I think the film will pack a much bigger punch when people can watch it without knowing what genre it is in.