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chris-shaver
Reviews
Waiting to Die (2012)
Extraordinary Quality for a B-Movie
The Alamo meets Night of The Living Dead. You know how it ends by the title, but damn are you waiting with white-knuckles for the entire movie to see that final scene when the fort gives way and the slaughter occurs. This movie was extraordinary for a variety of reasons, not least being the overall production quality produced on a budget for under $7,000. The plot features two guys holed up in a shack in the middle of a field in a tense post-apocalypse Zombie filled world waiting to die. I won't spoil the scene, but the scene when they capture a Zombie and put him to work is worth the price of admission alone. Really fun movie that is so far ahead of it's class that it deserves a full run in theaters across the country at the midnight showing.
Dakota Skye (2008)
Astonishingly Intelligent and Moving Film
Huge fan. I haven't read any reviews that mention the quality of the lighting and sound. They were all so well done that they put many a large-budget movie to shame. The sound quality in the live-band rock and roll scenes alone was spectacular.
Also - the casting was really well done. In the DVD special features you hear the pains they took to get the casting right (auditioning 1000s). And it shows. There is not a false acting note in the entire movie.
I have tiny quibbles with the turning point at the end of act 2 in the script, where the major setback gets verbalized in a Sex-in-The-City- like internal monologue that felt emotionally and intellectually off key for the main character. But its nothing that impacts the genuine affection I feel for this gem of a movie.
Hollywood Producer Alert. If you are a production company trying to make really high quality movies at low budget, these guys are the real deal - proved commodities.
Having You (2013)
Extraordinary Character-Driven Movie
Beautiful movie. Understated acting, but very expressive - the entire cast. Wonderful sound track. Lighting and sound extremely well done. (My hearing is not great and frequently small-budget movies, especially from the UK are marked by muffled dialogue.)
The story was moving without a wasted scene. In fact, a few of the scenes were so well done, and unveiled the interior life of the character so well, as to rank with the best I've watched in recent memory.
The ending was perhaps my least favorite part of the movie. It kept in tone with the rest, so it was of a piece. But it was unoriginal.
Last, both in the spots where the movie reached for laughs - and a few places where quirky acting hit me unexpectedly, I burst out laughing, which is rare for me. So many movies in this genre are just somber, or unable to hit the right comedic note - just the opposite here.
All told an extremely enjoyable film experience of the first order!