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Reviews
You Are Me (2018)
Everything a Short Indie Film Should Be
"You Are Me" is engaging from the start, with some of the best acting yet seen in a TimeAxisMedia (TAM) production. The chemistry between the protagonist, veteran Indie actor Randy Davison, and his spouse, the lovely and multi-talented Annie Willett, is more than believable; and Larry Poole's turn as a brooding doctor is almost harbinger-like in its stoicism. The only thing missing perhaps is a slightly more comprehensive soundtrack which could have put the more tender scenes over the top. Elsewhere, however, incidental music conducted by long-time TAM collaborator Reber Clark is quite effective, and overall the score does its job well, particularly during transitions and over an excellent "dying memories" scene.
Dialog like, "This one had three fingers," is both creepy and amusing, showing that the writer knew how to balance their material. Android Greyson is a real treat from the get-go and further testament to lead actor Davison's craft, which carries the film through several layers of emotion. The almost fatherly warning from his creator for the automaton to avoid magnets and saliva is somewhat called into question by the idea that once the protagonist's consciousness transfers to the android, it will know everything its human version did, thus making such warnings unnessesary; this brief suspension of disbelief, however, is soon rewarded by the satisfying surprise turn of events leading to the finale which is just vague enough to give the audience pause to ask all the right questions, ultimately concluding that love is love, no matter the hardware in which its data resides. Another fine genre short from TAM producer and seasoned Indie film director Clarke M. Smith, whose work gets almost exponentially better with each production. Continued masterful implementation of lessons learned from a veritable library of independent films under TimeAxis' belt definitley shows.
Stover Hill (2015)
An Excellent Short
Just watched this short for the first time, and I still have that little uneasy feeling you get after you expose yourself to terrifying subject matter. "Stover Hill" proves that you can still make a very scary short film on a very low budget with the right elements in play.
Reber Clark's score is almost a character unto itself, showing remarkable restraint and maturity you wouldn't expect in a microbudgeted feature. After setting the mood in the very nicely produced opening sequence (kudos to their graphics people), it provides just the right amount of tension throughout.
Hats off to the director, Clarke M. Smith, as well for his attention to detail and adaptation of the material co-written and produced with Jason Lethert and Sergio Kopolev.
Although he doesn't make his usual cameo in this one, there is a brief nod to his 2002 New York Big Mini-DV Festival Award winning Sci-Fi opus, "The Etheral Plane". Though this short features none of that film's intrigue or high action, it is just as effective at doing a lot with a little.
Without giving too much away, the plot is a bit of an homage to such Sci-Fi horror classics as the 70's remake of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" and the 80's remake of "Invaders from Mars".
Everything seems normal at first— the movie opens with a little girl (cutie-pie Elizabeth Popovich) being awakened by a small social gathering in the typical middle class household of her parents, thirtysomething Rich (Randy Davison), who may have had a few too many as evidenced by his perpetual chortling and use of words like "squatch", and his lovely wife Robin (the captivating Raquel Elizabeth Ames).
Robin has invited her friend Trish (veteran short film actress Yvette Angelo) and her new boyfriend over for drinks. It's not long before said boyfriend introduces us to the strange and amusing (a well-timed performance by actor Mike Brayden—you'll giggle at "I know nothing about that.") which quickly transitions to the tense and terrifying.
Davison nearly steals the show with his natural and believable performance, but it's Ames (whose beauty alone is worth checking out the film) who carries the piece to its frightening conclusion (aided by some truly horrific sound effects).
If the above-average special effects don't get you, the one perfectly-timed jump scare or the uber-creepy ending definitely will. The aforementioned scare really highlights the masterful camera work which more than makes up for a few somewhat long sequences.
On the down side, some of the fine acting feels stunted in places as a result of a few editing issues, and there are spots of dialog that could have used some tweaking ("We'll do it together tomorrow night." "But I have karate class tomorrow." "We'll do it together tomorrow night then."), but the errors are few and far between, and overall the performances are solid and the chills are there.
I've always believed that if art makes you feel something, anything, it has succeeded. TimeAxis Entertainment continues that success with "Stover Hill", and its San Diego Film Consortium 2nd Place award for Best Horror/SciFi/Thriller/Action short was well deserved. My fifteen minutes was well spent— I'd give this spooky little Sci-Fi chiller a B+.
S. Michael Simms
IAJS Entertainment Division
Shutting Down (2008)
Smart and Fun
Clarke M. Smith's 'Shutting Down' is a film at the end of the world; a micro-budgeted homage to all the great politically charged sci-fi films of the past like 'Logan's Run', 'Blade Runner', and 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers' but in a short format akin to those television horror and sci-fi anthologies of yesteryear like "The Twilight Zone", "Monsters", and "Tales from the Darkside" (an art form sadly missing from today's TV line-ups). With wry humor, poignant social commentary, and an interesting plot that moves along at an excellent pace, 'Shutting Down' is well worth watching.
The attractive Kimberly F. Villanueva stars as Kay Otto, a jaded housewife trapped in a world of middle class mediocrity sometime in the not-quite-near future. When the news reports coming from her futuristic 3-D television (with which she is markedly unimpressed) start warning of the possibility of a mysteriously unstable sun wreaking havoc, she hardly bats an eye. There's plumbing to be fixed, dishes to be done, fish to be fed, and breakfast to be consumed (from a flying saucer-shaped bowl, no less). The impending doom is more of an annoyance than something to worry about. After all, the newscaster tells us, "It could be up to three weeks before the sun burns out!" And speaking of flying saucers, they're here! "The influx of UFO sightings continues..." warns the Skynews TV announcer (who appears to be broadcasting from the living room in true 3-D fashion). But is Kay concerned? Pffft! Yesterday's news. It's just another humdrum day in middle-class paradise. By the time Don the Repairman (who independent sci-fi fans may recognize from one of Smith's earlier opuses, 'The Ethereal Plane') arrives to fix her "antique" sink, Kay seems almost hungry for something to break up the monotony...too bad for her the monotony is about to get worse- much worse.
In a quirky twist, everything Kay thinks she knows gets turned upside-down. Suddenly, she wants to hang on to the simple life— but with solar flares, flying saucers and the earth freezing over taking a backseat to a horrifying, unexplainable new problem, it may be too late for her, her husband, her neighbors, perhaps even the entire middle class population which does all the work and even the mysterious "upper echelon" who seem to reap all the benefits in their far-off, high-tech mansions.
As with most dark stories in the genre, don't expect the happiest ending- Smith doesn't sugar-coat his "out with a whimper just prior to a bang" vision of the future (there's an excellent creepy soundtrack to emphasize this), but you can expect to get the same uneasy feeling exploited by Fritz Lang's 'Metropolis'- the feeling that the masses are not truly in control of their own destiny- that an automaton is the perfect symbol for their plight- and that although we all want to be individuals, real and special, not just pawns, there is always someone (or something) ready to exploit us.
Crazy Joe (2013)
Award-Quality
What sets 'Crazy Joe' apart from other short films of the genre is its heart. At its core, 'Crazy Joe' is a tender story about coping with grief and the lengths to which people will go in order to make their lives "normal", whether it's the protagonist (played in an agonizingly human manner by James Steinberg) obsessing over his deceased wife and trying to rub out his problems with alcohol, or the bully at the local bar (Brian Buckley Smith at his scowling, crinkle-browed best) intent on ridding his haunt of "freaks" like Joe who's been spotted around town talking to himself and acting genuinely weird; what we learn is that "normal" is not only relative, it can sometimes be turned around on us in unexpected ways or altogether shattered in one horrifying moment. In addition to a clever script and a brilliant score, one of the film's strengths is young Hannah Frantz who plays the title character's teenage daughter, Lizzie. Like many kids of single parent families in crisis, Lizzie must step up and show wisdom beyond her years, often caring for, even parenting her grief-stricken father as much as he does her. The range of emotion put forth by this up-and-comer helps bring a level of sophistication to the film that puts it a cut above other low-budget fare and bodes well for her future career. Also putting in a fine turn of acting is a supporting cast of both newcomers and veterans of independent cinema, including Timothy Carr and Rhoads Osborne. 'Crazy Joe' is at once a heartwarming drama and a dark reminder of the forces at work behind the karma we create, for good or ill. At its best, the movie hearkens back to the irony and grimness of shows like "Tales from the Darkside", but because of the excellent pacing, believable performances, and the undercurrent of serious issues, it becomes something more, something entertaining and thought-provoking that will leave an impression on its audience long after the second viewing- and trust me, you will want to watch it more than once. - S. Michael Simms, IAJS Entertainment Division