MovieChat Forums > Die and Let Live (2006) Discussion > My Review for Die + Let Live

My Review for Die + Let Live

posted 17 years ago by elijamesgriffith
5 replies | jump to latest

DIE & LET LIVE
A REVIEW BY ELI JAMES GRIFFITH

After seeing IWC Films first feature film Raising the Stakes, I was excited to see anything else they would come up with. A few months later I purchased the film Faces of Schlock VOL.2 at the horror convention Cinema Wasteland near Cleveland, Ohio. Included in this film was a short film made by IWC called A Fetal Mistake. Then, I heard of the film Die & Let Live. I was excited to see it, but was dissapointed I would have to wait for such a long time. So last week I finally got a chance to see the epic film intitled Die & Let Live. I popped it in my dvd player the night I got it. The first scene I had scene on youtube a handfull of times, but it still impresses me everytime I watch it. It sets you up for what you are about to witness over the next hour and ten minutes. The first scene is very proffesionally done I must say. Its a very impressive scene that I could see appreaing in any hollywood zombie film. Except, I would watch this over any crappy zombie hollywood blockbuster. The next scene is a very comic relief from the straight horror movie vibe of the opening scene. We get introduced to our main characters Scotty Smalls and Benny Rodriguez (named after the main characters of another epic *beep* film THE SANDLOT, which the film is someone based off of.) They have a good discussion about sexual diviant stories. The acting in the film has increased since Raising the Stakes. I was expecting Josh Lively and Zane "I'd rather die than be a stick" Crosby to do the same schtick from RTS. Which I enjoyed but I think the film would have lagged somewhat if it was basically the same characters, different movie. Cause we would know what to expect of them and the kind of comedy coming. But they switched it up and played tottally different styled characters. I was suprised highly at the increase of acting in the film. Then we are introduced to the main female Stephanie. Her boyfriend Andrew Kegan is a known cheater and everyone is expecting him to do it again. Benny is waiting for Andrew to do it too. He is crazy about Stephanie and wants to catch her on the rebound. Altough. Benny has a girl, Liz, that is crazy about him also. Benny ignores Liz knowing she is crazy about him. Later in the night, Andrew gets caught cheating. Stephinie is depressed about it and tells Benny she wishes she could get out this weekend. So Benny tells her he is having a party, even though he isnt. They plan it out at Smalls summer place hoping that Benny will finally hook up with Stephinie.

Later on in the night Benny and Smalls are hanging out at Benny's place when their friends Squints (based off a character from Sandlot) and Adam stop over. Adam played by Henrique Couto and Squints being played by Jordan Hess, did excellent *beep* jobs on the film. They have a discussion about how Benny is heading in the wrong direction. When Liz stops by and Squints accidently tells her about the party.

The party starts later on in the film. Todd Hamiliton, the drunken douchebag shows up. I am pretty sure that Hamilton is based of Ham from the Sandlot. The party starts and Liz shows up in a very ironic coincidence. Eventaully, Stephinie shows up and her and Benny seem to be hitting off well. Then the pizza guy from BAMBINOZ PIZZA shows up. Which happens to be Andrew. Andrew is fighting with Zane Crosby in a very hilarious conversation about propositions. Eventaully, the zombies come and attack Andrew.......

I dont want to give you the whole movie so here is what you need to know from now on.

*NAM FLASHBACK*
*FREINDSHIP SCENE IN THE PARK FROM EVERY IWC FILM*
*NIPS ASS*
*MATT COFFMAN*
*beep* I KNEW YOU GUYS WHERE FAGITS* BEST LINE EVER
*FANNY PACKS*

CHRIST JUST GO SEE THE *beep* MOVIE ITS *beep* AMAZING. I LOVED EVERY SECOND. I HAVE WATCHED IT EVERYDAY THIS WEEK. THATS HOW MUCH I LOVED IT. I WANT TO MARRY NIPS AND MAKE SWEET CHILDREN WITH HIM.

10/10

ONE OF THE BEST LOW BUDGET FILMS EVERY

[–] tobias666 16 years ago

You are an idiot. An idiot that obviously was involved in this garbage on some level. This movie is garbage and no matter how hard you try to make it sound amazing at the end of the day it is still garbage.

[–] orloprat 16 years ago

I tend to think that you, mefortuna7 , has some beef with the production, or work for a rival company, or something.
If you are going to call a film that is generally well reviewed "garbage", then you are obligated to give your reasons. Otherwise, your opinion, which you are of course entitled to, remains on the level of "this sucks" or "teh movie is awesomeness!!", and other such juvenile tripe.

[–] dudeamis 16 years ago

wow dude, feel the hate. I just streamed it off Google and I was impressed. Very good for a B grade indy film. With a budget and some acting classes this could be polished to a very fine product in a couple years, a al Evil Dead II.

[–] justinc79 16 years ago

Hi there, my name is Justin Channell and I directed, co-wrote, edited, and co-produced DIE AND LET LIVE.

Just wanted to let everyone know that I have no clue who either person on this board is and whoever wrote the prior review was not involved in the production. Though I am surprised that he has apparently seen our other microbudget stuff, at least enough to know what gags we repeated, cast members, etc.

Two more things... personally, I really don't mind any bad reviews. With a film like DIE AND LET LIVE, you're going to find people that just don't get the humor, want to make comparisons, and can't get past our technical shortcomings, which are plenty.

But regardless of how you feel, I hope the folks reviewing the film understand that we made it on a microscopic budget ($1000, not counting the cost of our camera) and most of the cast had just turned 18 at the time of production.

You can point your finger at every mistake we made (literally - they're all over the place) or the quality of our work, but the simple fact remains that it's amazing we actually were able to FINISH a feature length film under those circumstances, let alone get it released. Even if you downright hate the film, I hope you can at least appreciate our hard work.

Also, if you're streaming the film on Google or downloading it off of torrent sites, that doesn't really bother me that much either. Even if it did, it's pointless to fight it, because we'd just be attacking our fans. At least that means people want to see it.

Though if you enjoy the flick, I hope you at least have enough the decency to pick up a copy of the DVD. Sales can make or break indie filmmakers, especially with their first title. Plus (I may be biased here...), Heretic did an awesome job on the DVD packaging and there's a good deal of supplemental material.

All of the extras were edited with me sitting on my uncomfortable apartment floor, since my landlord hadn't finished furnishing the place and I had deadlines to meet. So buy a DVD to help with my future chiropractor bill.

- Justin Channell

[–] dark_mullet 16 years ago

THe thing with Bitorrents is that the only people downloading it for free are people that wouldn't be buying it anyway, so you aren't losing any money.

But those people might then BUY the DVD for the full video quality and Extras.

File sharing is a good thing in my eyes.

www.vgspoofs.com
www.darkmulletcinema.net