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Tuesday, March 16, 2010 - 5:00 PM - Tampa Indie Film Log for Filmmaker C. A. Passinault
Experiment 7 And Sunscreen Film Festival Screening Coverage.
Well, at the last
minute, I decided to drive to Channelside and see Experiment 7 at the
Sunscreen Film
Festival. The drive over was uneventful, and I arrived at Channelside
just before 8:30 PM.
That’s when my adventure begins.
Without turning this into a full review, I’ll gloss over the reviews
here.
First off, there were two major things going on which did not bode well.
The Channelside parking garage was undergoing some sort of construction
project, and there was a Lightning Game going on at the forum. I was not
aware of either development, and would have, frankly, stayed at home if
I had been. It was chaos, and not fun at all.
Our coverage of the Sunscreen Film Festival screening of Experiment 7
will come in three parts (and, at the rate that this is going, it may
be tomorrow before everything is up. Like everything else that I work
on, I’m not rushing this). I will be doing the following, and here
is what I will be writing, in synopsis form.
Links to the reviews will go active one the reviews are up.
Experiment
7 Review published on
Tampa Film Review, a Tampa Bay Film
site.
In my opinion, Experiment 7 was the worst Tampa indie film that I have
seen. It had some good points, and even had a title sequence which was
awesome, but after the film began, it began a disintegrating plummet into
one of the worst films that I’ve had to endure.
High Points? The title sequence, some of the music, most of the acting
(particularly the great performances from actors Rod Grant and Jack Amos),
the awesome poster, some of the special effects (Rod’s “Scroll”
PDA was brilliant, and the rocket launcher and burning city effects were
well done!), and some of the camera work.
Low points? The script. No exposition. Weak characterization. Boring story
with a few bland plot points and lots of repetitive action sequences.
Washed-out film footage. Glitches in the sound. Joe Davison and his “acting”.
Lots of confusing story elements. Aco hitting on Joe Davison’s character
in what seemed to be a dream sequence, because it broke character and
came out of nowhere, only to be revealed to be reality, which confused
a lot of people (kind of like the lack of chemistry and the murky definition
of the relationship between the two lead characters in 100 Tears, another
indie film which Joe Davison wrote). Rod Grant’s character slapping
Aco, and moments later, Aco and Rod’s characters behaving like best
friends. The old-lady doctor and the blonde girl in their “who knows,
and who cares what is going on” side story; a side plot which seemed
to be more of a rip-off of “I am legend” than relevant to
the main story. Made-up science and scientific gibberish which had no
basis in reality, and which served to insult the intelligence of the audience.
Zombies in the wake of a nuclear war. Ridiculous premise. Lack of explanation
for relevant plot developments (again, poor script!). Characters breaking
character. Interjection of comedic “buddy movie” elements
in a story which should have focused on drama and horror (once again,
poor script!). Paul Guzzo asking stupid questions during the Q&A segment,
a segment which Joe Davison skipped out on (yes, Paul, you were one of
the few who bought the made-up crap in the film, and one of the few for
which the film’s B.S. was indeed “over your head”. Experiment
7: best enjoyed by morons? Perhaps!). A big rule in writing is to write
what you know. If a writer does not know the subject, then they have to
take their time and research it. This looks to be, in my opinion, another
poorly researched, rushed script by Joe Davison, and it crippled the film!
Did the screenwriter even know what he was writing about? Why did we leave
with more questions about the characters, and their actions, than answers?
Why were the characters, and what happened to them, so hard to care about?
Why was the Aco character (Tits, pits, and slits... who writes, or talks,
like this? Certainly no one educated, or who I would like to know!) written
so trashy that she was no longer attractive, despite what she looked like?
Sunscreen Film Festival Screening
Review published on Tampa Film Review,
a Tampa Bay Film site.
Another bad experience. I’ve been to, and have reviewed, a lot of
Tampa film festivals, and this one was a mess. One of the worst Tampa
film festivals that I’ve been to, and it made the Tampa Film Review
look like it was well-organized.
The high points: Good venue for viewing films (the theater was top-notch),
Derrick Miner was cool to talk to, the film festival staff (when they
could be found), were nice, too.
The low points: Parking. Lack of easy parking validation (if it was possible
at all). Conflicts with the Lightning Game, which made parking hard to
obtain (several people who I talked to could not find parking, and did
not attend). No Sunscreen branding or signs. The table where you bought
tickets was off to the side and not obvious. Cheap carnival tickets dispensed
at full movie prices; tickets which could not be used for parking validation.
Poor organization. Bad schedule (Experiment 7 started an hour late, and
I had to find out by heresay from other confused people at the specified
time of the screening, which made all of us wonder if we had been directed
to the correct theater), and confusing directions to the screening theater.
High ticket prices ($10.00 for the film, and $10.00 for parking made for
a $20.00 price tag, which was a rip-off, in my opinion- I could have seen
Avatar at AMC Regency Brandon, or at AMC Veterans, with a date, for less;
a good movie, with the same good venue set-up! I left pretty pissed off
when I left, with the theater was already closed due to the late start
of the film, the late start being the film festival’s fault, and
no one could be found to validate my parking.). Overall, a confusing film
festival, which became lost in the clutter of normal cinema business.
Is this what happens when you spread a film festival too thin over a variety
of film venues and days- lack of focus and direction?
Channelside Venue Review
on Tampa Film Review, a Tampa Bay
Film site.
Ah, then there was Channelside. Who in the hell thought that it was a
good idea to screen an indie film at a film festival with all of the construction,
parking issues, and other venue conflicts? The Lightning Game made attending
very difficult.
The high points: AMC theater is a nice venue. Best quality theater for
film viewing, with stadium seating.
The low points: Parking. Construction. Conflicts such as the Lightning
Game. Too crowded. No easy way to validate parking, if it was possible,
at all, with the Lightning Game going on (God, I hate sports!), idiot
AMC employees who can’t tell you where a film is being screened
(I had to check, twice, with the same person. A thought: With the gross
incompetence that I experienced, it wouldn’t take much to take one
of those cheap carnival tickets that Sunscreen gave out, use it to get
past the overwhelmed ticket checker, and see any films that they wanted
to see).
Read this, AMC: I will never, ever go to Channelside to watch a movie
at AMC ever again. Your parking sucks! This B.S. is a BIG reason that
I will never use AMC Channelside for one of my film festivals, or film
premiers, too!
All reviews, which include anecdotes, will be referenced from Tampa Bay Film, and Tampa Film Festivals.
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