HHM Day 4

Posted on October 7, 2018 by Mark Kelly

Hello, Slicers!

Bay City’s Hells Half Mile Fest wrapped about a week ago and I’m back with some coverage from the final day. The past couple of days I had attended movies that were more tension filled and suspenseful. On the last day I wanted a taste of something different so I ended up attending a comedy and a drama that I found particularly interesting. We’ll start off with “The Go-Getters”.

“The Go-Getters”, directed by Jeremy Lalonde, is one of the most heartfelt, extremely vulgar, and entertaining comedies I have ever watched. The premise is simple, in order to fix up their extremely messed up lives Owen (Aaron Abrams),a drug addict, and Lacie(Tommie-Amber Pirie), a prostitute, must raise 98 dollars in order to buy two bus tickets out of town. Try as they might, this simple task proves to be an extremely impossible, dangerous, harmful and hilarious task in more ways than one. I found this movie immensely enjoyable. Although it isn’t for the easily offended, it was very charming similar to the tv series “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”. The characters are nasty and deplorable, but through good comedic acting, direction, and writing(Aaron Abrams, Brendan Gall) you are rooting for them all the same. Continue reading “HHM Day 4” →

Hell’s Half Mile 2018 – Day 1 – “Funny Story” – Reel Review

Posted on September 29, 2018 by Mark Kelly

Hello, Slicers! Mark Kelly here reporting from the 13th annual Hells Half Mile Film and Music Festival in Bay City, MI. Throughout the weekend I’ll be giving you many, many reviews of the films that I will be watching during the festival. “Funny Story”, a comedy directed by Micheal Gallagher, was the film chosen to kick off the fest on opening night and what a fantastic choice it was.

“Funny Story” has a few amazing plot twists so I feel a very vague synopsis is in order. We meet Walter (Matthew Glave) who is driving Kim (Emily Bett Richards) to a retreat to meet a friend, Walters own daughter Nic (Jana Winternitz). Before I get to what I personally thought of the movie I need to stress that although my synopsis may seem very unexciting it is because YOU DO NOT WANT THIS FILM SPOILED FOR YOU!

“Funny Story” was an amazing movie on all fronts. The writers (Micheal Gallagher, Steve Greene) work together in such a way that you get a comedy that not only has great laughs but laughs that are meaningful in developing the characters. This character development, along with the great acting, make the plot twists and heavy emotional moments later on in the film feel that much more impactful.

I give this film 6 out 6 reels.

The Hells Half Mile Film Fest rolls on and I will continue to provide coverage of the event throughout the weekend. So if you live close by, and want to experience some awesome independent music and cinema, come on over and experience one of the greatest festivals Bay City, MI has to offer.

Tuesday Night Flamingo Fight – Reel Review

Posted on September 18, 2018 by Mark Kelly

The first season of CinemaSlice.coms Indy Film Spotlight is in the books and we end this fantastic series of films with the wildly inventive action comedy “Tuesday Night Flamingo Fight”.

Written and directed by Josiah Wood, “Tuesday Night Flamingo Fight” begins with two young girls telling each other stories of prince and princesses in faraway lands. Well, at least one girl is telling a tale. When the other girl, who seems disinterested and extremely bored, gets a turn to tell her story we find out that she has very different interests then her friend. What we get next is a narrative that is equal parts entertaining, hilarious and disturbing.

This film works well on so many levels.

Continue reading “Tuesday Night Flamingo Fight – Reel Review” →

“Monday” Reel Review

Posted on August 23, 2018August 12, 2018 by Mark Kelly

At some point in everybody’s life we have all experienced an extreme case of the Monday’s. In the comedy film “Monday”, written and directed by Alejandro Montoya Marin, we find out that maybe our “extreme” Monday may not be the worst after all. “Monday” follows the exploits of Jim (Jamie H. Jung) a young man who is more interested in his hobbies (video games, Game of Thrones, smoking weed) than he is with his job or his girlfriend Alice (Bonnie Gayle). He wakes up one Monday and soon finds out that his lackadaisical attitude has gotten him fired from his job and his girlfriend to leave him. Just when he thinks things can’t get any worse, his Monday goes from bad to extraordinary terrible.

“Monday” takes the simple concept of having a bad day and turns it on its head. The mixture of everyday experiences that are relatable, with the over the top moments that a normal person would most likely never experience makes the story very intriguing for the viewer. You connect with the main character Jim in a way that, even though he has gotten himself into this situation by his own bad habits and actions, you feel for him and want to see him succeed in the end. I know that when I’ve had a bad day I sometimes think “How can this day get any worse?” and this movie answers that question in a extremely hilarious fashion.

Continue reading ““Monday” Reel Review” →

“The Poker Table Observations” Reel Review

Posted on August 20, 2018 by Mark Kelly

11 mins

Dramedy by Classy Dog Pictures / Patrick Neff

Just another night playing poker with the boys. This is the setting for CinemaSlice.coms Indy Movie Spotlight film for August “The Poker Table Observations”, written and directed by Patrick Neff. In this comedy short we get to look in on the often hysterical insights and observations of a group of friends playing poker as they explore topics such as their personal lives, the opposite sex, and cliches that they find ridiculous in various movie genres.

Continue reading ““The Poker Table Observations” Reel Review” →

“Pure O” – Reel Review

Posted on August 12, 2018August 12, 2018 by Mark Kelly

FORMAT DETAILS
Short Dramedy
DURATION: 19:28
LOCATION: Dayton,Ohio, United States COMPLETED: July 2018

Purity, the lead singer of the newly signed indy rock band O, wakes up to begin the last day of her bands independence. These are some of the opening moments of “Pure O”, a quirky comedic drama written and directed by W.M. Weikart and BlueBeard Productions. As we follow Purity (Stella Singer) through her daily routines we meet an eclectic cast of family and friends that have differing opinions about Purity’s hobbies, the decisions she makes in her life, and who she is as a person. We also begin to find out that Purity has hidden issues that she is struggling with internally, and that she may have to make some tough choices in dealing with these struggles that will change her life forever.

Continue reading ““Pure O” – Reel Review” →

Schlock du Jour: The Return of Swamp Thing (1989)

Posted on May 25, 2018May 25, 2018 by ReelRat

directed by Jim Wynorski

runtime: 88 glorious mins

MVD Rewind Collection spine #5

DISCLAIMER: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS NERDY AND INAPPROPRIATE SHIT.

From director Jim Wynorski, Heather Locklear’s Boobs AKA The Return of Swamp Thing

I saw Avengers: Infinity War against my better judgement. I knew I was done with the modern superhero yarn and I got absolutely nothing out of it. It was big, it was busy, it was SAME-Y. In other words, it was being stuck in traffic on the way to work on Monday morning. The good vs evil dynamic that seems to drive everything isn’t of much interest to me, and when it comes to superhero films, that angle is obviously amplified. For that reason, you won’t find me reviewing superhero films very often…

Enter The Return of Swamp Thing. Based on characters from the DC comic where Swamp Thing is basically Captain Planet without the kids and rings. there are also things like the Rotworld story-line, wherein Swamp Thing—as an avatar of “The Green”, and Animal Man—as an avatar of “The Red”, are tasked by The Parliament of Trees and The Parliament of Limbs, respectively, to team up to defeat Dr. Anton Arcane and “The Rot”. It’s trippy and nightmarish, Lovecraftian even, as it features animals and humans being turned inside out. It is good. Most importantly it feels more like a horror story than a superhero one.

E276ADC9-09B0-404A-989D-39995449DC3F — But Goddamn, do I ever digress…

Point being, I view Swamp Thing in a different light, as in my experience he’s portrayed as less of a hero and more of a pile of vegetable matter that just happens to be an elemental entity of balance. That entire point is moot however, since we are talking about Wynorski’s The Return of Swamp Thing.

Continue reading “Schlock du Jour: The Return of Swamp Thing (1989)” →

The SliceCast – Tonia Carrier

Posted on February 13, 2018February 20, 2018 by Justin Harlan

Filmmaker Tonia Carrier and Musician Jeff Schrems Kick Off the New and Improved SLICECAST

CinemaSlice.com and The Farsighted Network present… the debut of the new and improved SLICECAST

On this inaugural episode, Justin talks to indie filmmaker Tonia Carrier as part of Women in Horror Month, whose latest feature Bailiwick is a fringe fantasy drama with horror elements. She’s got more horror in the works, too. Fans of other genres will love her offbeat comedy Selling Stupid, as well.

The audio isn’t great, so please bear with us as we figure out some of the logistics on this new endeavor. Tonia is a delight to hear, however… so that should more than make up for it.

See you again later this month with more movie talk and more great tunes!

Listen to the podcast below or listen at The Farsighted and CinemaSlice.com/SliceCast

Continue reading “The SliceCast – Tonia Carrier” →