Sammy

I missed the first three films in Heat 9, but Sammy was easily the best of the night out of the rest. They took the One Room genre/limitation/whatever, combined it with Revenge, and took both elements to perfection (or close enough). The power/relationship dynamics of avenger and avengee were definitely not your usual, I'll say that much, but they absolutely sold it. Two great acting performances as well - I really hope Mrs Dickson gets nominated for Best Actress (didn't get the actress's name!). Great shooting, a little claustrophobic (although I was sitting in the front row, so everything looks shit there), but the camerawork told the tale well. Three-dimensional storytelling, very economical, long on allusion and jigsaw pieces, short on clunky exposition, bloody great. Would have been 3 points to them had I seen the whole heat.

Hmm. It was OK. However the intro was fab. Nice.

Example of a serious film done well, great performances particularly from the lead actress. The abrupt ending let it down somewhat.

Intense. Simply and economically shot, this powerful dark drama almost hit all the marks for me. The young actor couldn't always match the intensity the script demanded, but the Mother was very powerful indeed. The danger of falling into the LTNZ tvc vibe is there, but ultimately it's better than the ads themselves, so: win.

This film was in the tough position of being a dramatic film (not playing for laughs) in the 48 hours and it did this pretty well. The story idea was solid and very well suited to being a one-room film. Maybe it's the context it played in, but I can't mark it higher because it was just lacking the fun factor for me as a viewer. Good work though.

Good contender for best actress in Wellington from this film, as a mother who has lost her son brings home the boy who hosted the party where he died. Quite an intense film, the script was engaging and feedback between the two actors was top class. The only thing I felt let it down was the ending, which seemed a bit rushed and didn't have the emotional strength that the vocal exchange did earlier in the film.

This film hit most of the marks for me. It was beautiful (who says one room can't look good), the actors and dialogue were great, and they tried for a serious story which is also hard work in 48 hrs. The ending didn't quite nail it, it felt a little abrupt and I'd have liked to see the mother's reaction at the end more. The Mother was incredible - Hope she gets a best actress nomination. One of the best I've seen so far.

It was visually very well done, the editing and camera work were very good. The 30 sec intro was great and beautifully shot however I think the actual film let that cool intro down. It seemed over acted and there was no story other than a crazy mother killing a ex-bully. I had no emotional attachment to the characters, so it just felt like the actress was trying to get nominated by doing something serious. However Pancake pictures have done great work in the past, I just don't think this one was up to the standard of their usual work.

The actress was great, but the story was a one trick pony. The freeze frame ending was pretty lame, an action shot of the woman stabbing the kid would have been awesome but they opted to ommit the violence for a shot of the sons cake which felt weak. The camera work was also really good.

the stars are for the actress.she did a great job

Mother of a son killed in a teenage bullying/binge drinking incident torments his former bully. Some very good dramatic acting but particularly from the Mrs Dickinson character. Nice use of the single room to build tension, we couldn’t escape facing the issues the film confronted us with.

A great simple one-room story and unfortunately based on the types of stories that have been in the news too much over the last few years. As usual great production values from this team. I think I preferred this film to your last years one and I'd need to compare with your politics one to see which I like more. Or am I blurring teams? Anyway still a great effort regardless. One of these years you're going to win best actress. I have a feeling I might have said that before. But great supporting acting from the young guy as well.

A woman has a 16 year old boy tied up in her room, she is his teacher, and forces him to drink alcohol until he throws up, explaining that it was partially his fault for her son dieing from drinking too much alcohol at a party. She has flashes where she thinks the boy is her son, but quickly comes back to reality. Finnaly she snaps and grabs a knife, presumably killing the boy. Nice tension filled film here, making good use of the one room. I think the actors really carried this one through, it had a nice flow, kept me entertained throughout and didn't slow at any point. The female lead was really convincing, well done. The boy was good too (although he seemed to sober up really fast, and his by his reaction to the vodka you could tell it was water) , showed genuine innocence and confusion about the situation. The flashes between Bobby and Sammy were really well done, flowed nicely and gave us insite into the mind of the teacher. Some nice cinemitography here as well, with effective use of the focus. All round a slick production in every aspect, however if I had any constructive feedback it would be that it lacked that “something” special, it was a good film but not particully memorable or origional. Looking forward to your entry next year hope you really use your skills to think outside the box!

I missed the first three films in Heat 9, but Sammy was easily the best of the night out of the rest. They took the One Room genre/limitation/whatever, combined it with Revenge, and took both elements to perfection (or close enough). The power/relationship dynamics of avenger and avengee were definitely not your usual, I'll say that much, but they absolutely sold it. Two great acting performances as well - I really hope Mrs Dickson gets nominated for Best Actress (didn't get the actress's name!). Great shooting, a little claustrophobic (although I was sitting in the front row, so everything looks shit there), but the camerawork told the tale well. Three-dimensional storytelling, very economical, long on allusion and jigsaw pieces, short on clunky exposition, bloody great. Would have been 3 points to them had I seen the whole heat.

This film was in the tough position of being a dramatic film (not playing for laughs) in the 48 hours and it did this pretty well. The story idea was solid and very well suited to being a one-room film. Maybe it's the context it played in, but I can't mark it higher because it was just lacking the fun factor for me as a viewer. Good work though.

This film hit most of the marks for me. It was beautiful (who says one room can't look good), the actors and dialogue were great, and they tried for a serious story which is also hard work in 48 hrs. The ending didn't quite nail it, it felt a little abrupt and I'd have liked to see the mother's reaction at the end more. The Mother was incredible - Hope she gets a best actress nomination. One of the best I've seen so far.

It was visually very well done, the editing and camera work were very good. The 30 sec intro was great and beautifully shot however I think the actual film let that cool intro down. It seemed over acted and there was no story other than a crazy mother killing a ex-bully. I had no emotional attachment to the characters, so it just felt like the actress was trying to get nominated by doing something serious. However Pancake pictures have done great work in the past, I just don't think this one was up to the standard of their usual work.

A woman has a 16 year old boy tied up in her room, she is his teacher, and forces him to drink alcohol until he throws up, explaining that it was partially his fault for her son dieing from drinking too much alcohol at a party. She has flashes where she thinks the boy is her son, but quickly comes back to reality. Finnaly she snaps and grabs a knife, presumably killing the boy. Nice tension filled film here, making good use of the one room. I think the actors really carried this one through, it had a nice flow, kept me entertained throughout and didn't slow at any point. The female lead was really convincing, well done. The boy was good too (although he seemed to sober up really fast, and his by his reaction to the vodka you could tell it was water) , showed genuine innocence and confusion about the situation. The flashes between Bobby and Sammy were really well done, flowed nicely and gave us insite into the mind of the teacher. Some nice cinemitography here as well, with effective use of the focus. All round a slick production in every aspect, however if I had any constructive feedback it would be that it lacked that “something” special, it was a good film but not particully memorable or origional. Looking forward to your entry next year hope you really use your skills to think outside the box!