I see the good ratings for this film, I must be in the wrong demographic for this. To me it was silly and not in the least bit believable. At least the actors looked like real people but that wasn't enough to make me care about them.
shareWhat exactly was unbelievable? From my understanding the film closely mirrors the lives of the relationship of the filmmakers (Arin & Susan). It's a simple story, but universal. The desire for love and the monster it creates. The movie says a lot to me. I enjoyed it quite a bit.
Would the Owner of an Ounce of Dignity Please Contact the Mall Security?
this movie is a true story, it is a film of what happened to the two main filmmakers. It is completely true.
shareWhether or not a story is "true" has nothing to do with how believable it is. One of the easiest defenses of a bad screenplay is to say "but it actually happened!" Life truth does not equal artistic truth.
shareit's a true story, towards the end of the fil it shows him getting a call from sundance or slam dance, can't remember who the call was from, in reference to the film.
shareI actually think the podcast is far more interesting. And possibly a better analysis of love/relationships and how that affects people. The film isn't bad. Visually it's really strong, but the story just isn't there, perhaps because it's unfinished, and we all naturally crave some sort of resolution.
shareTotally agree. This movie sucked ass. Go watch a Marnau film. That's how you make a movie.
shareThe movie was a little stupid but i'd still say it was good for a indie film with the cash in their pocket
shareoh, please, don't tell me you just compare indie with expressionism. they have nothing to do with each other, those movements are completely different. murnau had one perception from reality and susan & arin have another; murnau would never make a film about apathic young lovers, because it wasn't in his reality.
it's like comparing marcel duchamp with bocaccio. or chairs with apples.
and by the way, for their first movie ever, it's really really good. good photography, good script, good soundtrack, good scenes, good message.
why don't YOU try and make one?
well i think the majority of you dont understand indiependent filmmaking or art, i think you all are too mainstreamed to really think deep into this film and its meaning. This was a fantastic film made by your average joe filmmakers just trying to get by. Its a perfect example of indie filmmaking and love/relationships.
shareA personal assessment of a film has nothing to do whether it's independent or not. Just because a film is made independently doesn't warrant a response such as yours. To "think deep" or to assess its "meaning" solely has to do with the substance of the story, and that should come through whether the film budget was millions of dollars or thousands. Independent filmmaking simply means an avenue for artists to make films without boundaries set by factors they have no authority over - it has nothing to do with how "deep" or "meaningful" the film is. I'm sick of these pretentious statements about how hollywood/mainstream films cannot be as artistically valued as independent films as a defense; it's a weak justification.
shareA personal assessment of a film has nothing to do whether it's independent or not. Just because a film is made independently doesn't warrant a response such as yours. To "think deep" or to assess its "meaning" solely has to do with the substance of the story, and that should come through whether the film budget was millions of dollars or thousands. Independent filmmaking simply means an avenue for artists to make films without boundaries set by factors they have no authority over - it has nothing to do with how "deep" or "meaningful" the film is. I'm sick of these pretentious statements about how hollywood/mainstream films cannot be as artistically valued as independent films as a defense; it's a weak justification.
Actually it's great in the sense that it shows how a work can reflect the artist who creates it. The movie is vapid, pretentious and self indulgent... and so are the people who made it.
share[deleted]
[deleted]
I watched this movie the other day. I thought the visually it was great. The cinematography was plenty competent and I applaud it for it's level of professionalism. However, I thought the movie could have been 2/3 shorter by cutting down all those trendy sequences of girls dancing in subways and such. It was well done, there were just a lot of them and they seemed to me to last far to long. Each scene should at least attempt to move the plot forward.
Regarding the plot and characters, FEM is probably the more indulgent things I have seen in a while. The writers (I may be exaggerating, but I feel I'm close) apparently just made a movie about themselves and thought that it was interesting enough to let everyone know about it. It was pretentious.
I applaud the effort but pan the movie.
edit:
OK I just watched the youtube video put together by the creators of FEM. It's a mashup of the reactions to their movie. I can't help but say that they seem to masturbate their ego as often and to an extent I find embarrassing as often as possible. It's hard to ignore how narcissistic they appear to be.
I quickly became hooked on the podcast; Four Eyed Monsters appeared to be breaking the mold in terms of independent filmmaking and self-distribution. As a filmmaker myself I was excited by the idea of a significant change in the way films could be produced and financed. The video podcast was brilliantly put together, so when the movie came out on DVD I expected it to be of the same groundbreaking caliber.
I was disappointed.
In my eyes, the movie failed because the story simply wasn't strong enough. Technically and visually it was successful, but by the end of the film I was not emotionally connected to either Arin or Susan. It was too overblown and was teetering on the edge of low-budget ostentatious rot. The podcast had much more to say about love as the hurdles that Arin and Susan's relationship had to overcome were real, as were their reactions to them.
It is a great shame the story wasn't stronger, because it would have shown that the average struggling filmmaker could potentially create an original film on credit.