The name may mean nothing to you, but in the mid 2000s if you were an indie filmmaker down to your last penny, there's a good chance you may have ended up with the Singa website distributing your movie for you, and ultimately getting it seen. For Singa, DVD was king. It was a very convenient format for them, for the filmmaker, and for the buyer. But they didn't only distribute movies - they also produced them, working with their long-term partner Echelon Studios (with whom they had an exclusivity deal) to make ultra low-budget pictures, as well as market them. On the website were hundreds of little-known titles that you would literally never find anywhere else. It was not unoften the case that the only info on the web about a title would be found there. Just the name, a picture, and a brief synopsis. It was basically like buying from a catalog. (They did also sell "normal titles" - but we are of course less interested in them!) The DVDs for sale weren't often produced in mass numbers - so count yourself lucky if you do own one ... as badly designed & printed as it may be. The natural evolution towards VOD would put a premature end to this business model. But for a sizable proportion of people, mid 2000s low-budget independent films are synonymous with Singa. I recommend the following 10 releases as particularly worth watching: Broke (2006) Cubes (2006) Depraved (1996) Drop Box (2006) Futile Attraction (2005) Pool Party (2007) Reality & Stuff (2003) The Socratic Method (2001) To Kill a Mockumentary (2004) Tropix (2004) Broke Four high-schoolers have decided upon a road trip to Canada. It is cut short when their vehicle is damaged severely. Having only barely enough cash to make the trip, the BROKE teenagers come up with various schemes to help pay for their BROKE(N) minivan. While it might not seem fitting to describe the humor as "sharp", there are definitely many inspired moments that show promise. The gags mostly fall flat ... but it's hard not to be charmed by the enthusiastic young crew. The extremely bare-bones nature of the production does also bring its own entertainment - not in a so-bad-it's-good way, but more in a heartening and inspirational DIY way. In this way the cheapo dollar-store improvised effects become an asset to the film. The end result is not a high quality product by any stretch of the imagination, lacking much of the entertainment of its obvious influences. The film's biggest fault is it doesn't feel like there's a very coherent plot thread; the stakes don't progress to a strong climax, and it feels more like a series of events than a beginning-middle-end story. Basically an excuse to shove in as many gags as possible. Not that I felt it to be grating - just contrived. In spite of all this, it's hard not to like the moxie of aspiring young talent. The DVD is pretty cool too, featuring director/cast commentary, a behind-the-scenes feature, and lots of cut material. Cubes Office cubicle workers come and go over a period of time. One of these is Laurie, whose life is turned upside down when her boyfriend - who also works at the same office (for a time) - dumps her. A sweet low-budget indie (in particular the messages of thanks during the credits have plenty of heart and charm). There are clear character archetypes, there are juicy dialogues, there's the minutiae of everyday work-life - with human nature emphasized, and human feelings empathized ... and all never leaving the office environment. Office politics are played out not in a social way, but in a one-to-one (or sexual) way. The setting consists essentially of an office cubicle, focusing on two workers sharing the space. Once their story is done we move forward in time and one of them is now away, and a new worker has arrived. This repeats, and over the course of about a year there are six of these relationships. It is a character-based story, with just a hint of a plot tying the saga together. It'd make a great stage play. You'd only need one set. There's six "scenes" which would split neatly into two acts. The humorous moments would also work better with the actors over-emoting for the audience, and having more intimacy between us and them. As a feature-length film though, it's not funny enough to be a comedy. Nor meaty enough to be a drama. But neither the terms 'comedy-drama' nor 'dramedy' seem fitting. There is definitely an emotional journey, and there is enough amusement to hold interest and to entertain - but it is just hard to classify this film. I liked it though. Depraved Dan and Ophelia have a sex life rich in fantasy. Things change however when he is no longer able to reach orgasm. After a vicious argument, Dan sobers up in the morning only to find Ophelia stabbed in the abdomen. After his brother Jessie offers to help deal with the situation, Monica, a psychiatrist and friend of Ophelia's, also becomes embroiled with Dan's affairs. This has all the cliches of the erotic thriller. Direct-to-video. Made in the '90s. Sax music. A mysterious blonde playing psychologist. If you had told a supercomputer, "Create for me an erotic thriller", Depraved is what it will spit out. It will even have the decency to record it onto VHS and demand you watch it on a CRT in all its 4:3 glory (and in the dark so as to not alert your parents). But this is not to imply that Depraved is overly generic, bland, or devoid of character. Which it is to some extent - but I nevertheless still felt entertained right to the end. The sex scenes are decent. Not too cringe. As tasteful as can be expected. Seidy Lopez is also incredibly sexy. The story isn't particularly gripping, rather it's just allowed to unfold ... with some flashback sequences - but not to a detrimental extent. All in all, it's okay for what it is. Quotes: Ophelia: You tried to make love on your birthday. You got a little hard but then you didn't cum, Dan! I checked the fucking condom, okay?! And there was nothing in there! It was your birthday so I didn't want to argue with you, so there, "Happy Birthday". Dan: Well that's great. That's just dandy! What are you now - the Sperm Police now?! Drop Box Tom, a video store clerk, has a female customer pestering him about the store's Glitter VHS that she desperately needs. Why does she want it so badly? A charming, unassuming little picture. On par with - and perhaps better in certain ways than - Clerks. This has a lot to do with the engaging self-assuredness the lead actor brings to the role. His character is oftentimes unlikable ... yet he manages to remain appealing. I suppose he's comparable to Clerks' Randal Graves but toned down a bit. The supporting main cast are also pretty good for an indie flick. Being set in one place the entire film, it doesn't get suffocating. In part to do with the length (it's at a neat, trim 1 hour 15 mins), but mostly it's because of the writing. There's a laser focus on the two main characters, with their mutual hostility gradually softening over the course of the film. The story is simple but the different key events and goings-on helped keep me invested. If you liked Clerks and want more, then this will fill a hole. If you like Canadian "versions" of American titles, then this will be a cute one to add to your library. And what if you're neither? Then I would still recommend. Futile Attraction Filmed doco style, we follow a crew as they film a reality show about a young man and woman brought together by a dating service. Sharing nothing in common, Germaine, a model, is a new-agey environmental activist, while Randal, a telemarketer, is a nerdy mummy's boy obsessed with phones. Dudley Earnsworth is the smug washed-up host who tries his best to interfere with events to get the footage he needs. It's reasonably well-acted overall, and the script is fairly good. It ain't amazingly funny - but it's funny enough. And it's a real treat to see another film from New Zealand as I've not seen that many. The production is decent and fair. Never are you as the audience punished by the minuscule indie budget. The characters are comical; although playing stereotypical caricatures, the two leads bring their own chemistry and screen presence. Without having very much to their acting credits, they've brought a great deal to enhance the witty, delicate observational humor of the script. Impressive stuff. For the film's unpretentious, modest scale, I found it pleasant, watchable, and full of NZ charm. Pool Party Matt's boss Richard doesn't think much of him. He's given one last reprieve when Richard offers him the responsibility of house-sitting for him while he's away. Matt thinks he'll use the opportunity for quiet study to prepare for his upcoming bar exam. Things however don't go to plan when Richard's son and daughter, forbidden from coming round and using the pool, do precisely that. Zany mindless fun. It's a film that doesn't take itself too seriously - to put it mildly - and never purports to be anything other than a goofy, exploitative, whimsical distraction. The humor is low-brow. The plot is farcical. The boobies are ... there. I had a blast with this piece of debauched buffoonery. I found it fun and enjoyable. It perhaps isn't riotous, but it's amusing and engaging at the very least. There's one or two moments of distractingly bad ADR. And I don't understand why the Laverne & Shirley parody song couldn't have followed the melody better. But the film still works. For me at least. What can I say? Hot chicks and crude humor aren't inherently bad. And if they are? Sue me. Reality & Stuff A bunch of strangers are brought together for a reality TV show. It doesn't go to plan for the show's directors ... who then stir things up in an attempt to get more drama out of the contestants. I don't know how well this reflects reality, but it seems to me that in the mid 2000s so many indie filmmakers were making mockumentaries. They're so cheap and easy; no need to labor over crafting a plot, you can shoot any place, and all the dialogue can be ad-libbed. A good storyteller can entertain no matter the medium ... but I think mockumentaries do in particular invite laziness. This one is fairly well done and put together, and I appreciate the skill that's gone into it. The subject matter may not be that interesting to me, but it's ok I guess. So here, we have an extra layer. A great deal of the film treats us as the audience of the in-universe reality show 'Too Real For TV', with the mockumentary aspect pushed a little into the background. This allows the main bulk of the cast to do their thing - and their improv comedy chops are evident and present. But perhaps the most skill, ease, confidence and chemistry in this area is displayed by the two director/producer characters played by Brian Huskey and Michael Delaney. This is unsurprising, as they are the most seasoned and talented improv comics here, both being notable members of the Upright Citizens Brigade - Delaney having taught UCB in long form improv, and Huskey going on to appear in VEEP (and looking unrecognizable from his character in said series). However the final result doesn't have much in the way of a very complex story - there is more plot in half an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm than there is in this entire improvised film. It's clear the makers were hoping the premise of the set-up would've itself been compelling enough to carry the movie. But it feels sorely missing in something. It's kinda mildly diverting and pretty amusing in places, but the unsophistication of the "plot" really takes away much entertainment value. Having said all this, it still has curiosity value. If re-cut, and tightened up for pacing, with the humorous moments more rapid-fire, we'd end up with a better quality product. Alas what we have here is a rather nonessential offering. Which is frustrating, as I so wanted to like this more. The Socratic Method Terry King, Susan Walsh, and Charles Johnson are three first-year law students. Terry is a college graduate who only applied to law school to prolong having to face the real world. Susan has had aspirations of becoming a lawyer from a very early age, and plans on joining her father's law firm alongside her fiance. Charles knows instinctively that law school doesn't prepare you a job in law, and intends on getting a headstart with some work experience. I have a keen interest in legal terminology and law in general. Well, "keen" is perhaps overstating it. But I probably know a bit more about law than the average layman. Well, this is perhaps overstating it. In any case I find law simultaneously fascinating and inscrutable. A subject I'm glad I never studied in school - as having to read such a dry subject would have been so stultifying as to put me off anything to do with law for the rest of my life. The point of all this is, I'm perhaps not the best person to give an unbiased opinion. This is a law student's film (in the same way Inside Out is a psychology student's film IMHO). Not that it ever gets too heavy or academic for the average joe, but the setting of a law school will probably cater more to audiences with an actual interest in law. You don't have to be non compos mentis to watch this, but it certainly helps. Or be a master of mens rea. ANYWAY... This of course ain't A Few Good Men so it contains none of the great speeches and turnarounds that I would normally wish for in a legal drama. So what does it offer if it's not, per se, a legal drama? Well it's more of a comic-toned drama about (law) students. That said, it's never laugh-out-loud funny or anything, and the stakes are only as low-key as 'I might fail the final' or 'I might work at a firm I don’t want to', but that's not to say it isn't that entertaining. At first glance it may appear episodic, but this is not the case; the three main characters are tightly-knit and their lives interweave as we journey through the year. Their individual stories may be a little pedestrian, but it's still a charming little journey - and film. Definitely I recommend this to law students (after My Cousin Vinny, among others). It may help consolidate learning of such basic first-year stuff as consideration in contracts, torts, and other lingo. For lay people, there is still much entertainment value to be had. It's very well made indeed for an independent picture. Well written. Well acted. Well done! To Kill a Mockumentary A mockumentary following the process of an improvised cop film getting produced. Characters include an at-odds brother-sister duo, a veteran actress with a drug problem, a minimalist production designer, and a pretty-boy actor who's as self-important and cocky as he is vain. I've already talked about this film in a previous post. Let it be said, I am terribly biased when it comes to this movie. I am fond of it. Yet I continue to have mixed feelings. I appreciate the comedy. Yes I know the gags are lame, and their execution not good, and therefore by all measures it ought to fail as a comedy. What I'm saying is ... I am amused enough by the ideas contained within. The jokes don't "fall flat" to me precisely, rather I can see them as technically funny, but maybe not ... in-practice funny. It's like I never feel as though I'm putting up with horrible poorly-conceived jokes that don't land - rather I remain absorbed and stimulated by the goings-on. Mild amusement, I guess you can call it. The dialogue is often unnatural. The acting is patchy - occasionally it's fine, other times it immediately demolishes any illusion of reality. Any illusion of postmodern metadrama, meanwhile, is put to bed by the unsophistication of the writing and the crazy cast of characters. All said, it is a movie that doesn't take itself too seriously, not in the least bit. I actually used to own the DVD. It was a poorly designed thing, looking cheap and nasty. I thought so little of the rare gem that it had gotten lost after a house move. It's likely in a landfill by now. But I have since watched the film online many times and have come to appreciate it in spite of its flaws. It grew on me. Now I'd give anything to own a physical copy again. Tropix After a traumatic car accident, Corinne is now flying to Costa Rica with her husband Guy. Their romantic holiday is cut short when they're kidnapped by a trio of criminals. We quickly discover that the somewhat shady Guy knows who his captors are. Corinne meanwhile is taken to an isolated jungle hut, where she is kept on watch by Nicky. After convincing him to untie her, she attempts to get a message out to Guy - but this does not turn out well... .
The opening act promises a lot of excitement, but the middle act slows things down somewhat. This was however necessary for the softening of captor-captive relationship to be a bit more believable; and in any case, Corinne already escapes by the midpoint of the movie anyway and it swiftly picks up again. The story is gripping, with a guessing game of questionable loyalties and motives - and while romantic developments do stretch credulity a little, I was totally willing to go along with it and enjoy the ride. So it's a fairly decent exotic crime adventure - with a touch of romance (and smidgen of sex) - all delivered with an agreeable black humor. It's hip, it's sexy, it's full of twists and turns, and the tropical environs of Costa Rica are certainly easy on the eye. An incredible achievement for an indie flick shot on a shoestring budget. Featuring no names worthy of much note, the biggest perhaps being Danielle Bisutti (Corinne) a TV bit-part actress now doing videogame voiceovers, Tropix is skillfully made and pretty impressive.
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February 2023
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