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davidwfilmguy
Reviews
Dear Zoe (2022)
See This One For the Acting
Sadie Sink inhabits the character of Tess, a teenaged girl going through a difficult transition in her life. A horrible accident upends her normal existence and shatters her family on the exact same day America experiences the shock and terror of the 9/11 attacks. Theo Rossi ("Emily the Criminal") also does good work as Tess's father in what could have been a cliched role if a lesser actor had played it. Newcomer Kweku Collins is also fine as a very (un)stereotypical boy-next-door and he and Sink display good and interesting chemistry in their scenes together.
A word about the cinematography in this low budget indie and the word is beautiful. Most independent films simply don't look as nice as this one does. There's a great physical sense of Pittsburgh and its surroundings and I like how the enhanced visuals reflect Tess's heightened awareness during this intense time in her life.
Dear Zoe has both heft and heart and it reveals important truths about both grief and guilt, and how we have to come to terms with these feelings in order to move on with our lives.
Heartbreakers (1984)
A Great Time Capsule from the Early 80's--(Minor Spoilers)
Bobby Roth has written and directed a gem of a film and a Los Angeles classic. I totally lived this in the early '80's. I was the Nick Mancuso character; the guy who worked in business, dressed well and had a father who was dying of cancer. My artistic friend Richard was in television and knew all the hip people as well as the right clubs, bars and restaurants to hang out in. In other words, a little like the artist played by Peter Coyote.
"Heartbreakers" is the real deal. D.P. Michael Ballhaus gets the 80's look down to a tee. The woman in this film are all beautiful and are perfectly cast. The music in the film is also totally awesome, to use a hip term from that time. Tangerine Dream and Pat Benatar round out the great soundtrack. I just can't say enough about how good this film is. I love how it captures the precise moment just before AIDS would work itself into the main stream of American culture. We see perfectly how Eli and Blue are perplexed and somewhat scared by Terry Ray and his gay boys at the art gallery. They are still free to sleep around as much they want as AIDS is still a gay disease. But that's about to change very soon.
I was able to enjoy this one on a wide screen, as one day I was playing hooky from work. My expectations were lowered as I was expecting a teenage titillation comedy, because there was a totally misleading and desperate ad campaign misrepresenting this film in the hope of getting more butts in the seats. I was very impressed at how mature and piercing the screenplay was. As I said before, this is both an '80's and a Los Angeles classic.
Sadly, I think this film is getting harder and harder to see, as the VHS tapes are wearing out (my copy is slowly dying) and I don't believe "Heartbreakers" is available on DVD yet. It's certainly time to fix that.
Derby Baby: A Story of Love, Addiction and Rink Rash (2012)
I Hope This Gets Distribution Someday Soon
Kansas City Bomber from 1972 and 2009's Whip It are narrative films about the rarefied world of Roller Derby that unfortunately leave something to be desired. That's too bad, because this sport and its sub-culture really deserves a great fictional cinematic treatment. I really wanted to love Whip It with its first-rate cast, but the film's direction lacks energy and the screenplay falls short.
With Derby Baby, Co-Directors Robin Bond and Dave Wruck deliver a great documentary on the wonderful American invention of Flat Track Roller Derby which has exploded across the globe in the last few years. It turns out that the Girl Power of these Derby Dolls is really contagious. Most viewers won't know many of the nice, interesting and committed people who tell their stories in this film, but they will recognize Whip It's Juliette Lewis who does a generous thing by sitting for the camera while sharing eloquently and humorously about her experiences on that film.
We had a very spirited and well attended screening of Derby Baby at the 2012 Sonoma International Film Festival. The packed audience really enjoyed themselves.
Suffice to say that the gauntlet has been thrown down. Now who's gonna direct the first great narrative Derby film?