MovieChat Forums > Grindstone Road (2008) Discussion > Melanie Orr a director to watch for

Melanie Orr a director to watch for

posted 14 years ago by nitznitch
7 replies | jump to latest

Melanie Orr-ism began with Harm's Way and then in 2008 she made two more - The Devil's Mercy and Grindstone Rd. That the actors are unknowns makes it all the more astonishing that she has drawn such magnificently realistic performances from them all. Maybe the lack of big name actors masks the seeming ordinariness of the unaware viewers' first impression. As for the category of movie, Orr invented her own one. The shortest way to describe it is the novelist Stephen King's saying in his Intro to The Shining that anyone who thinks he does NOT have ghosts, is crazy. This Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, director I hope will continue to make many more great movies. The blackouts between many scenes are for putting in TV ads. For these films are for the extremely discerning viewer who like Melanie Orr can tell that a script is so excellent it must be gone over several times.

[–] Demian Cypher 14 years ago

Are you...

(a) Melanie Orr herself?
(b) a friend or parent?
(c) joking?

Having unfortunately seen 'Grindstone Road', I would say that it's solid evidence to the contrary of all of your exaggerated statements. She 'invented her own' category of film? 'Orr-ism'? What nonsense.

[–] nitznitch 14 years ago

Where have you been living......
1) Greenwich Village NYC?
2) with your older brother in Montreal?
3) with a redheaded actress who considers most roles beneath her talent?

I not only lived for 4 years in Melanie Orr's city - Hamilton, Ontario - I was able to leave there alive.

For another brilliant and unique Hamilton movie, watch Weirdsville. Some scenes were filmed at the Center Mall where my first apartment in Hamilton was in the building beside it. The chief lowlife scumbag of the building's inhabitants advised me to stay in it until it was torn down. The owners rented out apartments to as many lowlife scumbags as they could and then
sold the building.

Like Melanie Orr these people will never go away.

[–] obliv 13 years ago

i haven't seen the film, and as a wanna-be (gotta-be, actually... ) filmmaker, i have the utmost respect for anyone able to get a film made, so props to her for managing to make a career and whatnot. but dude...

your response to the previous post is just... well, does the word (words?) non sequitur mean anything to you? i don't care if you are a friend/relative of ms. orr, or the director herself, but i find the responses to be really odd...

but hey, pops to you for finding this film, and props to her (ms. orr) for making a career for herself. clearly she must have some ability to even get a film off the ground these days, even if its only self promotional ability... or a relative in the biz... or money herself... whatever. i'm glad it worked for you. but i am a little confused about the tangents... but who cares... its late.

and fairuza balk is HOT!

so props to ms. orr for giving us another 90 minutes of screen time to gaze upon

[–] nitznitch 13 years ago

As a gotta-be writer I appreciate being found out employing a non sequitur. As you are a gotta-be film maker, I wish you the best in your work: luck, success.
The truth for this month landed on me like a shortstory anthology. Northrop Frye, our slickest Canadian public critic said literary REALISM ended with the popularity of Tolkein's The Lord of the Rings. As for those 3 books, I can't stand their snotty British tone any more than that of the Harry Potter books. But the movies! - genres mixing fantasy and horror and scifi supernaturalism should be and must be welcomed. Thanks, obliv!

[–] nitznitch 14 years ago

Another excellent Hamilton movie is Real Time (2008).

[–] fasttrack2000 13 years ago

nitznitch wrote:

Melanie Orr-ism began with Harm's Way and then in 2008 she made two more - The Devil's Mercy and Grindstone Rd. That the actors are unknowns makes it all the more astonishing that she has drawn such magnificently realistic performances from them all.

I reply:

I wouldn't by an stretch of the imagination call Fairuza Balk, the star of "Grindstone Road," an "unknown;" her IMDb resume includes such films as "The Craft," "Almost Famous," and "The Waterboy."

As for Orr creating her own film genre, in the "Making Of" bonus feature on the "Grindstone Road" DVD, she concedes that the film has no "deep meaning," and is just "lots of fun," which sounds to me like most Hollywood horror films.

Now playing: Sugarcult, "Los Angeles"

[–] melissa-183 12 years ago

I agree with fasttrack.

I like Fairuza Balk but in this movie her acting is not very good, I blame the scripting cause I've seen her doing a great job in other movies.

Sorry but imo this movie is quite bad, I hope it didn't damage Fairuza.