N-37 2011 Title: A Little Closer Score: B Comments: This is the epitome of muskrat love.

I doubt that few people besides me have been to a BYOB dance hall out in the boonies. The actors have limited abilities but are adequate for this film. I like the use of the sound for a conversation going over an action scene. There are a few other tidbits of interest. It is almost exotic for city dwellers, like a foreign film that requires sub-titles. Ive been to Virginia and this was not my experience. So I do appreciate the perspective. Title: Millennium Bug Score: B Comments: I dont indulge in horror films much but as I remember them this is pretty standard. Its standard for Rob Zombie. The casting choices were questionable and their performances were B movie. The make-up and effects were great the miniatures were fantastic the sound was wonderful and the creature was innovative and original. The lighting was good and the full moon was an excellent device, yet the moon wouldnt stay in the same place for four hours. It works for this film because the vulgarity is over the top and so a hawk screeching in the dark seems normal. I thought the sets were perfect for the story. The costumes were classic for a fifties movie; The Femme Fatale Platinum Blonde, Granny, Uncle Joe and Big ole Cousin Whatever. Its done well enough but too silly at the same time to be scary. Title: Morgan Score: A Comments: Great actors, great music and sound, sincerity and sensitivity make a good movie. Its a love story with a twist; Boy meets Boy, Boy looses Boy, Boy admits hes a jerk and boy just happens back into his life. It is what it is; the effort goes into realizing that he really is a jerk to everyone around him. I watched it with a straight man and he didnt

have any difficulty with the ideas or even the lovemaking scenes. He felt that it was alright in the end.

N-39-2011 Title: Confidence Man The Hugh DeNeal Story Score: C Comments: I dont know if this is a documentary of a criminal and now someone (maybe himself) wants to make money off of a movie about his crime or is this a narrative meant to look like a documentary. It begins with 10 minutes of opening credits for a documentary it has better than usual combinations of interviews. The film is well put-together. There is a montage of voice-overs and photographs that are creative and supportive of the climax of the film, which is the downfall of the scam. The sound goes back and forth from good to bad old footage of the band that requires subtitles. It would have been just as easy to use the actual records instead of the bad sound from the hardly visible performances. The film has a believability problem. Someone obsessed with making money would naturally at least by trial and error know that selling something at less then you bought it will not make money. At least one friend admits to saying this to him thus uncovering the scam if only to himself. The whole film is a testimony of innocence by everyone around him and they say he is just crazy. Its also odd that his girlfriend didnt kiss him good bye or watch him pull off as he left for prison. Title: Varla Jean and the Mushroomheads Score: A Comments: Oh my God, Varla Jean, this movie, this movie, Varla Jean, oh my God. I actually laughed out loud this film is

much better quality than I expected. I did not see Varla Jeans stage show, but there are too many details in this film that could not be duplicated in a theater. The sound is perfect, I loved it when Varla Jean cried into the boom mike, it was just hilarious I will have to watch it again to get the jokes they were unrelenting. Some of the other actors could have given better performances. The costumes were insanely good. The wigs were a work of art. There was so much going on and innuendo on every level its almost 3-D. I noticed there were only two writers and I have seen movies with so much less from a stack of writers. Title: Waiting On The Warrior Score: C Comments: This film looks like a summer project. It needs editing and maybe some reshooting. In outdoor scenes the sunlight is like balls of glare off of anything shiny including peoples hair. The sound was off in some places. The actors are not professionals, the scene were the wife visits her mother the women in the kitchen are looking straight into the camera. I dont think it is attractive to many people to see a new pastor living in a quarter of a million dollar house riding around on a $30,000.00 motorcycle. The agenda is questionable we know the Bible belt stance on gays, but when he wants to make children laugh the pastor uses an effeminate voice and puts his hands on his hips. We have a Jewish Sidebar there may be room for an ultra Christian Sidebar.

N-40-2011 Title: Force of Nature Score: B Comments: This is a documentary of Shaker Heights native Ellen Ratner. It is not a full picture, just some positive comments about how great she is. It is an uncomely self promotion that is produced by her brothers. The interviews are mostly family members and a radio personality. The quality of the film is formulaic there is an intro of a bust out hard working journalist, then brushes with greatness and finally the heartwarming, loving, make a house into a home, woman. The quality of the film is great the content is contrived.

Title: Gray Seasons Score: D Comments: This is another documentary so it gives me the impression that people making the films dont know the difference. The camera zooms in and out mid sentence it is very unsteady through out. The background music is three chords over and over. There are endless stats and scores for years with commentary from the coach. It doesnt state that this is a student film project but it would be logical for a student to have access to the players and the coach. And the players that are interviewed are not the whole team. On film we see other players making shots and the coach mentions them by name; Janisha Gearalds and Lauren Woods, the camera only starts filming them after an hour and ten minutes. The preferential treatment makes it less of an accurate accounting of the teams progress. Title: GrowthBusters: Hooked On Growth Score: D Comments: This is another documentary that has fictional scenes and The Colbert Report as source material. The fictional scenes are decorated beautifully. The film consists of a few authors and non-local politicians spewing their opinions and sometimes contradicting themselves. A few of these authors look like survivalists living in remote areas eschewing the population in general. The person who is the subject spouts shallow statements that are not fleshed out into any understandable conclusive ideas. From the beginning of the film he is showing up in unwelcome forums so he can look like he is being silenced or victimized. The premise of the film is that growth is bad and the supporting evidence goes as far as a headline about penile length. The film maker shows the audience his 4000 square foot home with the three car garage and complains about not getting a grant. He tries to be humorous and smugly knowledgeable. In the end he looses an election to city council quite possibly because he insults the voters as not ready to step into the 21st century. A quality film except for the lack of credibility, bad research, gimmicky borrowing from pop culture and too

many belaboring presentations, instead of making a point. This film seems like an expensive lark and an attention seeking stunt. Title: Her Masters Voice Score: A Comments: Im giving this film an A because I cant figure it out. Its only an hour but it is unlike any other film including fiction. It appears to be a documentary about taking a ventriloquists puppet to a museum in Kentucky. The whole time the dialogue is disturbing because it is between another ventriloquist and puppets. She is actually in bed talking to one about celibacy. There are a few interviews with other ventriloquists because they stop at a convention of ventriloquists. Some pieces are very interesting there is fooling the senses types of tricks. It has a warm ending