Happy Monday everyone! Well, in case you noticed, I haven’t been blogging much lately as I’ve been sick with a stubborn cold for over a week now. One of my coworkers apparently got pneumonia and he has to be off work for a whole week. So just for precaution, I was at urgent care Thursday night for 3.5 hours checking to make sure I don’t have it. Well now I’ve passed on my cold on to my hubby, so we’re both sick during one of the warmest and gorgeous Minnesota Spring 😦
Well suffice to say, I didn’t really get much blogging done, but I did get to rewatch Stardust last night which was more fun than the first time I saw it. Boy the cast is really amazing in that one and they’re all fun to watch. Interesting to see baby-faced Charlie Cox is playing Daredevil and in the beginning of the movie he had a fight with another British cutie Henry Cavill aka Superman 😉
I also saw two sci-fi movies from 2013 this weekend. Here’s a review of one of them:
Strange things begin to happen when a group of friends gather for a dinner party on an evening when a comet is passing overhead.
This movie came highly recommended from my husband’s coworkers and I have to say the premise sounds intriguing. It starts with a woman driving in a car whilst she’s on the phone with who appears to be her boyfriend, then when she hangs up, the phone suddenly cracks. Does the comet passing overhead have something to do with it? Well, that’s the question everyone, both on and off screen, are wondering about.
I wish I could get into the story more but the camera work is so nausea-inducing it’s hard to concentrate on what’s going on where you’re trying not to vomit. In fact I had to close my eyes several times to reduce my headache but the hand-held camera bounces around the entire time, blurring and focusing, zooming in and out, often so close you could practically see the actor’s pores. I don’t know why filmmakers think this found-footage style would add anything to the story.
Now, even if the camera work weren’t an issue, I’m not sure that I’m all that impressed with this film. I’m surprised of the high rating to be honest. I mean yes, the story has potential and there are some really creepy and eerie moments, but overall it’s quite tedious. The strange happenings get weirder and weirder and the entire dinner party were gripped with paranoia and started freaking out. With the right cast, it might’ve been fun and amusing, but I find myself being irritated by most of the rather unlikable characters or trying to figure out where I’ve seen some of the actors before. I might’ve recognized one of them from Buffy but not sure about the rest.
It’s billed as a sci-fi thriller but it’s more of a drama as hardly anything happens, mostly people chatting during a dinner party. The third act is slightly more interesting when one of the characters realized what’s going on and decided to do something about it. The movie is only about an hour and a half long, though it felt slightly longer than that. The finale felt rather anticlimactic but by that point I was glad the film was over. I kind of think that the story might’ve worked better as an episode of Twilight Zone or something like that.
Now, given that this is a low-budget indie film, I don’t want to be too harsh on it as I think the filmmaker have potential and this story could’ve been quite gripping. Interestingly, writer/director James Ward Byrkit was the writer of the animated film Rango which I quite enjoyed. If only this film had a bit more wit and humor, perhaps it might’ve been more palatable.
So what did you see this weekend? If you seen Coherence, curious to hear what you think!
…
FLIXCHATTER FILM BLOG 
Hope you’re feeling better soon Ruth. Excellent post by the way and anytime you want to visit my blog feel free, you’re always welcome.
Hey thanks Vinnie, really hoping this cold would just go away soon. Thanks for the kind invite, likewise, you’re always welcome to stop by here anytime too 😀
Good review. Shows what you can do, even with a small budget. All you need is plenty of inspiration to work with.
Hi Dan! Well, I think there are more compelling sci-fi done w/ a small budget. The camera work kinda ruined it for me and the story isn’t special enough to make up for it.
Hope you feel better! I haven’t either. I’ve been entertaining friends from out of state and haven’t done anything other than clean and play host. 😉
Thanks Cindy! It’s been a rough week, worst part is not being able to sleep 😦 Hey sounds like fun there hosting friends, I’m sure you had a blast!
Hope you’ll feel better soon Ruth.
I’ve never heard of Coherence and from your review I don’t think I want to see it. I still don’t understand why some director would use shaky cam, especially in dialog sequences, it annoy me so much!! Also, I don’t care if it’s small budget or not, if it’s a bad film then it’s bad period. I think some people give these kind of “indie” films a pass just because it’s small budget.
I hope so too Ted, it’s the longest time I’ve been sick. Now Ivan’s sick too because of me 😦
Yeah, it’s really strange why filmmakers like to use shaky cam, it made me so nauseous! This movie came highly recommended by Ivan’s coworker but it really wasn’t all that great.
Hope both of you will feel better soon! I lucked out this winter and didn’t get sick, knock on wood that I won’t get sick at all this year!
I rented Hunger Games: Mockingjay part 1 over the weekend and there were scenes in the movie that just bugged the heck out of me because of the stupid shaky cam sequences. I thought the trend has died down but some directors still in love with that kind of shooting style. I hope there won’t be any shaky cam action sequences when I see The Gunman tonight.
Oh yeah I remember there were a bunch of shaky cam stuff in Hunger Games movies, they annoyed me too! I really think most filmmakers should stay away from ’em as they simply don’t know how to do it properly.
I gotta say I was very pleasantly surprised by Coherence. A devious little indie made for next to nothing. I liked it!
Wish I could say the same thing Mark, I’d agree that it seems to have been made on a shoestring budget but that nauseating camera trickery ruined it for me.
I heard in the news today that the Buffy actor in this movie got arrested again. I didn’t know he was still acting. This is first I’ve heard of Coherence, doesn’t sound like something I’d like. 😀 Hope you get well soon!
Ahah yeah, I read that as I was finishing my review too. I never saw Buffy so didn’t know who he was, just that he looks kinda familiar. If you’re not intrigued by the premise, best to just skip this one.
Sorry to hear you’ve been unwell but hope you have recovered now! Coherence has only just come out in cinemas here and I was hoping to catch it but it hasnt been on near me. I’m not fully put off by your review but maybe I’ll wait for the DVD
Ps at the weekend I watched Dirty Dancing (1st time!) and Ghost In The Shell. Enjoyed the latter a bit more than the first!
Hi Stu, I’m slowly getting better, boy this cold is quite stubborn!
Coherence is still worth a rent, though I definitely won’t pay money to see it. I’m gonna check out your review of Dirty Dancing, I enjoyed it when I first saw it but not sure how I’d feel about it now if I were to see it again.
I’m slightly intrigued by Coherence, but I’m not sure if I’ll ever watch it. Glad you liked Stardust more this time. It’s such a fun film! 🙂
I think there are far more interesting movies to see than Coherence Josh. But yeah, Stardust is quite fun, I didn’t remember how rich the story was, it’s got quite a lot going on. LOVE DeNiro being a cross-dressing captain, ha!
Pingback: Everybody’s Chattin’ + MARCH Viewing Recap |