Resolutions

by Christopher Stipp

I know what I wanted to do weeks ago was to give some extra time to FILMIC ACHIEVEMENT.

However, in the onslaught that was the holidays I did not want my comments to go blindly into the void of my archives. Kevin Kerwin, the director for the small indie picture, sent me a copy of the film after I wrote a review of the trailer a while ago. I was the one who actually asked for it. Sometimes, even to get a trailer from someone who has done a small movie, I never quite know what will happen. Sometimes the trailerís great but the movie isn't and sometimes the trailer is just not worth going through the effort. The latter you never hear about as this space isn't meant to be a bully pulpit against anyone else but studios who could stand to lose a couple of million on a crap film. But, with FILMIC ACHIEVEMENT I did the trailer review but I just had to know how things went from start to finish. I watched it and loved the film, too.

I do realize that love is a harsh word to use to describe something and I barely am able to muster it to my lips to my wife much less a thing like a film (and I never believe any advertisement that tells me they "loved it!" and you shouldn't either. Donít ever trust people like that. Seriously.) It's more important to me to be given a better reason why someone liked something so much and backed it up with plausible evidence, I know this seems a little academic but I respect people so much more, even if I don't agree, when given moments that turned things one way or the other. Now, seeing how you all can't just go out and see his film Iím going to say why this small film was a small piece of inspired greatness. It's easy to sum it all up in one word: the writing.

The film follows a handful of aspiring filmmakers that run the gamut from the too good for anyone else auteur, the artistic feminist, the guy who wants nothing more than to be Quentin Tarantino, and other genre specific idolaters that emulate these recognizable niches. They all converge on a really inadequate film school that is taught by teachers who were no good themselves to begin with and are led by a dean who is about as clueless to making a meaningful movie as Michael Bay.

The film plays out in a symphony of documentary-style antics that show the superficiality of each one of these wannabe directors but there is vulnerability in each one of them that makes this movie so interesting to watch. By the end of the movie you are convinced that these people exist, I am sure they are more prevalent in circles of people who really do want to make a movie in real life, and there is a feeling that you haven't really watched a movie but have experienced the trials and foibles of individuals who all just need to get a clue. They way the script this written to have each one of these people talk about their successes and failures developed my sense of attachment to them. That's just smart moviemaking.

Like I said, it's useless to drone on and on about this film without giving you the chance to see it but it's not often that I get to see something that I wish other people could. For an independent film there are frequent moments of great directing, the acting beats to hell a lot of what I had to endure from the major studios last year, and the pacing is quick enough that by the time the movie is done you haven't once looked at your watch.

I apologize if this impromptu movie review seems out of place but the whole idea of the Trailer Park is not only to expose you to the trailers you may not think to look at, like this week's trailer of the week, GUNNER PALACE, it is also to give some additional exposure and love to films that are worth watching but don't have the kind of PR pushes that you are assaulted by when Tom Cruise or Hanks decide to step in front of the lens.