Spiral
Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2007 8:47 pm
Possibly just being bloody-minded (or perhaps over-bloodied during the course of the weekend) this was my number one favourite film of the weekend (It's a very close contest).
Pretty much a two-hander between Joel David Moore (Mason) and Amber Tamblyn (Amber), with back up from Zachary Levi as Mason's best friend, confidante and safety net.
Director Adam Green introduced this as a film about what happens when geeky loners have girlfriends.
Mason is a nervy, geeky chap whose best friend looks after him at work and tries to give him advice about women (they come from opposite ends of the spectrum of "handy with the ladies") and the film opens with a panic-attacked Mason being talked around after he phones Berkeley in the middle of the night saying "I think I killed someone".
We soon learn that Mason is prone to such attacks and his mate is both tolerant to his quirks and keen to have him around. But Mason is a talented artist and soon meets Amber at work. She's fun, bubbly and obviously likes him. Gradually bringing him out of his shell as he sketches her and paints her.
Mason's odd obsession with his art ("no one sees them until they are finished") becomes too much for Amber's curisosity and she expresses doubts about their relationship. This causes a series of breakdowns in Mason's life, and brings us back to a very similar scene to that we saw at the start.
But Berkeley's response puts a completely different spin on the matter ...
Very different from Green's "Hatchet" (also with Joel David Moore, who chose his friend to direct when he realised he would be too much involved in the central role.
A great addition to ANY film festival. If you are involved in a film festival, get this film signed up now. Hatchet has taken two years since its frightfest to get distribution, Spiral should put its two main men onto the next level.
Oh, two things from the Q&A, yes the pop song should be consigned to the credits and replaced with a moody jazz tune for the cemetery scene, and EVERYONE should buy the Hatchet DVD - for the film but additionally for the Dee Snider anecdote.
Pretty much a two-hander between Joel David Moore (Mason) and Amber Tamblyn (Amber), with back up from Zachary Levi as Mason's best friend, confidante and safety net.
Director Adam Green introduced this as a film about what happens when geeky loners have girlfriends.
Mason is a nervy, geeky chap whose best friend looks after him at work and tries to give him advice about women (they come from opposite ends of the spectrum of "handy with the ladies") and the film opens with a panic-attacked Mason being talked around after he phones Berkeley in the middle of the night saying "I think I killed someone".
We soon learn that Mason is prone to such attacks and his mate is both tolerant to his quirks and keen to have him around. But Mason is a talented artist and soon meets Amber at work. She's fun, bubbly and obviously likes him. Gradually bringing him out of his shell as he sketches her and paints her.
Mason's odd obsession with his art ("no one sees them until they are finished") becomes too much for Amber's curisosity and she expresses doubts about their relationship. This causes a series of breakdowns in Mason's life, and brings us back to a very similar scene to that we saw at the start.
But Berkeley's response puts a completely different spin on the matter ...
Very different from Green's "Hatchet" (also with Joel David Moore, who chose his friend to direct when he realised he would be too much involved in the central role.
A great addition to ANY film festival. If you are involved in a film festival, get this film signed up now. Hatchet has taken two years since its frightfest to get distribution, Spiral should put its two main men onto the next level.
Oh, two things from the Q&A, yes the pop song should be consigned to the credits and replaced with a moody jazz tune for the cemetery scene, and EVERYONE should buy the Hatchet DVD - for the film but additionally for the Dee Snider anecdote.