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My Stretch of Texas Ground

Review by Ale Turdó

RATING: 6/10

Defending America from your own backyard

Erich Kemp’s sophomore feature My Stretch of Texas Ground brings all the drama and tension of terrorism tropes into southern American soil, with a story about a conservative senator who becomes the target of a rogue Islamic cell.

When trained assassin Abdul Latif Hassan (Junes Zahdi) travels halfway across the world and infiltrates into the United States to assassinate Senator Cruthers (Mike Gassaway), small town Sheriff Joe Haladin (Jeff Weber) seems to be the only man fit to do whatever it takes to stop him. Hassan and Haladin are presented as the antithesis of one another, standing on opposite sides of the street. But curiously they share the same drive and determination to become the last man standing.

Facts and fiction clash at multiple levels, partially thanks to a script that combines politics and warfare issues that obsess a great deal of americans since 9/11 and the consecuencial birth of the so call War on Terror. The movie tries its best to portray both sides of the conflict -sometimes stretching it a little- in order to show to the audience that violence is always nonsensical, whether you live the U.S., Yemen or anywhere. The loss of human lives leaves a mark on all of us.

Sheriff Haladin is portrayed as a Robert Forster kind of character, the cold-blooded gentle guy that is always up to the task. The small town sheriff trope works like clockwork here. Hassan, on the other side, is presented as a remorseless killing machine, willing to do everything for the cause. 

Some naive plot twists are clearly there to simply add a little bit more suspense to the mix: for instance turning the terrorist attack into a personal thing by having the sheriff’s son put in harm’s way when going fishing at the worst moment imaginable. Some other secondary conflicts are also there just to beef up the characters and make them more human (like the father and son rivalry).

It all moves towards the grand finale, the final showdown between the sheriff and the terrorist. The story becomes a slow-burning action-drama, leading to a clash between two relentless forces. Budget-wise, it is an absolute shame that the final confrontation was shot in such dark conditions, most of it becomes really hard to appreciate, delivering a somehow underwhelming conclusion.

Willingly or unwillingly, the movie ends up being a curious depiction of the current state of affairs that includes Trumpesque politics, the Republican foreign agenda and the never ending collateral damage caused by the middle east warfare. In some occasions, the low budget limitations gets on the way of this themes. But taking a closer look and giving a pass to the camp-like feeling, you might see most of it is still there somewhere.

My Stretch of Texas Ground is available on Amazon Prime.

Foto Ale TN_2018 Ale Turdó —Based in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Alejandro is a film critic and movie enthusiast that has been writing about movies for the past 7 years, covering everything from blockbusters to indie gems and all in between. He majored in Sound Design and Cinematography in college and is a full time digital content producer. He’s the kind of guy that thinks that even the worst movie can have something interesting to write about. Additionally, he writes for Escribiendo Cine and A Sala Llena. Twitter: @aleturdo and IG: @hoysalecine

Posted Film Reviews

Burning Dog

Review by Ale Turdó

RATING: 6/10

FPM (First Person Movie)

Trey Batchelor’s directorial debut with Burning Dog (2020) mixes a wide array of genres and subgenres such as action, comedy, buddy cop movies, criminal heist and double crossing scenarios with their matching tropes, resulting in quite a particular and unorthodox blend on screen.

Combining first person shooter aesthetic with fast paced action, Burning Dog tells the story of a man simply introduced as Five, a video game designer unlucky enough to be standing in the wrong place at the wrong time. An unstoppable chain of events starts to unfold after two shady cops wrongfully suspect Five is involved in a blackmail scheme. As the plot unfolds, Five will try everything to escape from the situation, only to get deeper and deeper into a conspiracy involving internal affairs officers, the russian mob and dark web hackers among other colourful subjects of the criminal underworld.

 

As an audience, we experience the entire movie in first person, navigating the wild and shadiest corners of Los Angeles through the eyes of Five: every chase, every fight and every shooting feels like a constant rush of pure adrenaline. Needless to say, pulling off this kind of movie is definitively no walk in the park, it requires a level of craftsmanship we do not get to see that often in a director’s first feature.

Speaking about first-time directing, the technical nature of the film itself (the non-stop character’s point of view) sometimes results in minor mishaps such as an unintentional sloppy continuity between takes, which breaks the first person illusion. Even though the pacing is accurate, the often frantic rhythm threatens to get a little bit tiresome.

The non-linear narrative approach keeps us intrigued as long as it takes, in order to watch our main character go through all the hoops. The story line keeps going back and forth, slowly putting all the pieces of the puzzle together. Some might say that the storyline and its subsequent plots are constantly on the edge of becoming sort of convoluted, with too many twist and turns, dangerously trying too hard to keeps us entertained.

There is a sort of Scorsese feel flowing in the air, like an After Hours vibe attached to this titular character who is always on the run but getting nowhere, trapped in a surreal and nightmarish environment. In true video game fashion, Burning Dog feels like a never ending level, a ride that never stops. There’s always somewhere to run to, a non player character to
unwillingly follow into certain trouble… and the undying debate about the thin fuzzy line that divides the real world from the simulation realm.

Foto Ale TN_2018 Ale Turdó —Based in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Alejandro is a film critic and movie enthusiast that has been writing about movies for the past 7 years, covering everything from blockbusters to indie gems and all in between. He majored in Sound Design and Cinematography in college and is a full time digital content producer. He’s the kind of guy that thinks that even the worst movie can have something interesting to write about. Additionally, he writes for Escribiendo Cine and A Sala Llena. Twitter: @aleturdo and IG: @hoysalecine

Posted Film Reviews

Chameleon

Review by Ale Turdó

Rating: 8/10

Long road to redemption

Patrick (Joel Hogan) is a fresh out of jail ex-con trying to make a rightful living in the always struggling Los Angeles. When his former associate, Dolph (Donald Prabatah), is released from prison, Patrick is seduced once again by the sleazy crime life. The duo comes up with a supposedly easy con: Patrick seduces trophy wives and Dolph kidnaps them, asking their wealthy and neglectful husbands for some juicy ransom money.

But everything collapses when they come across a target that might turn into something more than just another con for the kind-hearted Patrick. And just like that, everything about Chameleon gets turned upside down, delivering an intriguing genre-bending that mutates into something way more complex and deeper than previously anticipated.

Marcus Mizelle’s second feature film takes you for a trip deep down L.A.’s shady reality hidden in plain sight and broad daylight, filled with misogynistic millionaires and their often-mischievous wives. Adding an unorthodox antihero to the mix, debating himself between one last big score and a solid chance to turn his life around.

As the plot thickens, layer after layer of paranoia and suspense are thrown into the mix. Chameleon’s non-linear narrative and slow-paced rhythm turns a small crime story into a thought-provoking piece that earns unexpected rewatchablity value.

Foto Ale TN_2018 Ale Turdó —Based in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Alejandro is a film critic and movie enthusiast that has been writing about movies for the past 7 years, covering everything from blockbusters to indie gems and all in between. He majored in Sound Design and Cinematography in college and is a full time digital content producer. He’s the kind of guy that thinks that even the worst movie can have something interesting to write about. Additionally, he writes for Escribiendo Cine and A Sala Llena. Twitter: @aleturdo and IG: @hoysalecine

Posted 1 Comment on The Bellmen Film Reviews

The Bellmen

Review by Ale Turdó

RATING: 6/10

Comedy tip

The Bellmen is writer/director Cameron Fife’s second feature film. A comedy that takes us deep into deadpan territory, involving the most curious and unlikely ensemble of employees —mainly the titular bellmen— working at the King Saguaro Hotel, a popular resort located in Tucson, Arizona.

Steve (Adam Ray) is the captain of the bellmen —a position whose veracity I will not dig into just for the sake of keeping this review running smoothly— and tries to impress his crush Kelly (Kelen Coleman) by lying about a promotion as hotel assistant manager coming his way. Right in the middle of this sort of rom-com scenario we have bellman trainee Josh (Josh Zuckerman), hotel owner Sid (Richard Kind), new-age schemer fraud Gunther Gochamonet (Thomas Lennon) and a vast assortment of wacky characters hopelessly getting into all kinds of trouble while trying to get some work done inside the facility. This includes puppets and anthropomorphous working cactus, which forces me to stress the actual meaning of vast assortment.

Meta humor and self-referential puns are key elements in The Bellmen. The absurd-o-meter —something as made up as “bellmen captain”— is definitively peaking at this one. It is fair to say that some may consider its comedic approach unsatisfying or downright unfunny. If you are not a fan of this type of comedy, it can be a hard pill to swallow.

But the goofiness and good-hearted nature of the main characters is worthy of at least some appreciation. Even at times when the main plot dislodges and takes the back seat for a while, you can rely on random funny moments from peripheral characters.

Richard Kind is probably the most well-known player at this joint, and in spite of having a shorter screen time, you can immediately notice just how natural this particular type of comedy flows thru him.

The directing style suggests that a great deal of what happens on every scene is improvised (something that we can verify thanks to the outtakes included in the end credits). It requires a special kind of skill to be up to the task of improvising and keeping the humor fresh at the tip of the tongue whenever a scene needs it.

Aesthetically, it may not be the shiniest or best-looking feature. One can tell where their limited budget was aimed at and in what non-critical areas they tried to save as much money as possible. Performance is the most important component here: if something is funny enough to keep the audience engaged, they don’t mind how pretty the background looks or think that the photography could have done a better job.

Some say comedy is the hardest genre. It takes craftsmanship to make someone laugh. So even if The Bellmen may not be everybody’s cup of tea, it can definitively grant a few chuckles if you are in the mood for silliness.

 

Foto Ale TN_2018 Ale Turdó —Based in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Alejandro is a film critic and movie enthusiast that has been writing about movies for the past 7 years, covering everything from blockbusters to indie gems and all in between. He majored in Sound Design and Cinematography in college and is a full time digital content producer. He’s the kind of guy that thinks that even the worst movie can have something interesting to write about. Additionally, he writes for Escribiendo Cine and A Sala Llena. Twitter: @aleturdo and IG: @hoysalecine

Posted Film Reviews

Love is Not Love

Review by Ale Turdó

RATING: 7/10

Something wants us together.

Writer, actor, producer and first-time director Stephen Keep Mills takes us on a surreal and thought-provoking journey through the ups and downs of contemporary relationships, its roots and meanings in Love is Not Love.

Frank (Mills) is an elderly man trapped in what seems to be a crumbling relationship with his increasingly estranged wife, Paula. In the midst of a never ending break up, Frank meets Reyna, an interesting fling that seems to understand him and connect in a way he hasn’t with anyone in ages… but is this meant to last? Is love, in any of its many forms, meant to last at all?

Love is Not Love tries to answer this everlasting conundrum with a particular mix of Woody Allen’s vibe and a stripped flare for the theatrics, over a solemn black and white palette that concentrates all of our attention on the human drama in order to keep us from getting distracted with any other vain and superfluous stimulus.

The introductory New York scenario works as a first course that tries to set the rules for things to come. Different characters chatting, giving insights about what their take is on love and relationships. In spite of its short time on screen, the urban landscape instinctively becomes an extra player and not just plain and simple background for a parade of multicultural characters. People looking for love and affection, every day people lost in the labyrinth of their own traumas, fetishes and neurosis.

Once the timing is right, these multiple approaches clear the stage for Frank’s tribulations. The chronological order of the story challenges us as an audience, and sometimes it is simply up to us to determine what happens after what, or before. The non-linear structure favors the enigma behind Frank’s romantic misadventures. There is some wry humor scattered around, especially near the beginning and the end of the film which , if sustained evenly all across the story, might have given the whole thing a more dynamic and fresher outcome.

There is an interesting combination of techniques and visual motifs: theatrical interludes, ethereal recreations and intimate moments happening in daily spaces. Such spaces keep the surreal imagery from taking absolute control. They balance it all.

Most of the scenes work pretty much as a stage play, with two characters confronting in a minimalistic surrounding, with a hard light upon them, almost soliloquizing about their feelings and their take on the whole situation. It is as if Mills is trying his best to make amends between man’s and women’s psyche.

Saying that Love is Not Love plays like an essay on such feeling would be the ultimate understatement. It takes us on a metaphorical journey and makes a worthy effort trying to deeply understand, and express on film, human desires, temptations and its sometimes self-destructive nature.

Foto Ale TN_2018 Ale Turdó —Based in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Alejandro is a film critic and movie enthusiast that has been writing about movies for the past 7 years, covering everything from blockbusters to indie gems and all in between. He majored in Sound Design and Cinematography in college and is a full time digital content producer. He’s the kind of guy that thinks that even the worst movie can have something interesting to write about. Additionally, he writes for Escribiendo Cine and A Sala Llena. Twitter: @aleturdo and IG: @hoysalecine

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