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Reviews
Nipples & Palm Trees (2012)
Offbeat Character Study Will Hook You
This is no ordinary movie.
At its core, Nipples and Palm Trees is more a slice of life than a complete story; it looks at a specific moment in the life of Jackson, an appropriately tortured artist, played by Matthew James. It follows Jackson as he struggles to focus on his work and reconcile his faltering relationship with Harmony, the girlfriend just out of complete reach.
While the situations are at times ludicrous, James holds character throughout. He plays Jackson as a frustrated soul, and to his credit, James seems as real as can be. A nicely nuanced increasing frustration makes one wonder, is Jackson learning a lesson, as he runs around trying to get laid and drinking, or is he de-resonating? Does he yearn for the missing Harmony, or is he haunted by her?
Harmony, played with heart by Sadie Katz, is an orbiting phantom of a girlfriend. There's flashbacks and present moments that lead you to believe she's both the savior and source of Jackson's problems.
If this review gives you the impression that the movie might be a bit of a mess, trust me, it is. As far as narrative filmmaking goes, this one definitely goes off-script, but within that, the amazing thing is, you actually give a darn about the characters. If you can buy into the unlikely premise of Jackson's misadventures, you'll find the situations funny and there's some laughs, and even if you can't , there's something mesmerizing about the tone.
And this movie does something that a lot of films can't; it makes you WANT Jackson and Harmony to be together, rather than assume they will, as so many perfunctory scripts tend to do. The moments between Jackson and Harmony are the meat of the story, though sparse, and an uncomfortable yearning seems to sweeten every look between the two. Credit Director Dylan Reynolds for obviously capitalizing on a natural chemistry between James and Katz, and letting them wander their characters across moments that worked for the film.
All in all, if you like watching actors playing with the finer points of performance, you'll find yourself engaged, and the ending will likely both leave you wanting more, and cause you to think about where it could have gone.
And that's a pretty good movie.
House of Bad (2013)
A new wrinkle to the genre...
Three girls, trapped in a house. Low budget. Predictable...
That's all I thought this movie would amount to at five minutes in... but was I ever wrong!
House of Bad is a tale of three sisters that steal a load of drugs from a respective boyfriend dealer, and seek to hide out in their childhood home while the heat cools down. They haven't been hiding out long when things start to go awry...
What I thought would inevitably break down into a cheap slasher/stalker movie quietly, surprisingly evolved into a well executed practice in good filmmaking. The story involved real characters in believable situations; the dialog was great and well-executed, the use of FX was sparse as to enhance the story, rather than supplant it, and the acting was flat-out good!
The budget was low, but the execution was great. There's a very cinematic feel to the picture, and a very good, timely score that doesn't hit you over the head for effect. You get the impression that this film didn't know it was low budget or independent, so it didn't pull any punches in fit and finish.
Possibly the best part of House of Bad is the surprising turns the story takes. This film really capitalizes on nuances and the behaviors of the human psyche, and goes places most films don't. Good pacing brings you to a great climax and the little touches of plot that sneak in at the end are haunting.
More thriller than horror, better than most, and really satisfying. Well done!