Chronicle Review

This Saturday I saw the film Chronicle with my girlfriend Ashley and I was very impressed. Going in to the film I was very nervous because of the way it was filmed (in the style of found footage). I was nervous by this because it is very easy for filmmakers to take the easy route with this style that being the typical ending of breaking the camera, footage stopping, wtf, the end. That drives me nuts and I am happy to report this does not happen in the film Chronicle thankfully. What does happen is a pretty fast paced film that seems to make all the right turns in storytelling. Introducing us to the correct characters at the best points and even taking a step out of the found footage realm and into what I think is an amazing first step for this type of filmmaking. In the film not only do we see the footage captured from out protagonist's camera but also the cameras of everyone involved in the story or watching the story unfold. For instance at a party scene a young girl is recording the main character Andrew and we switch between his recording and her recording of the conversation. This is a genius way of getting a two shot in a movie made like this. The most genius moment is towards the end where there is a big showdown so Andrew grabs the phones, ipads, and cameras of everyone recording the big battle and now we see about 8 or 9 different angles of what is going on. This is something many will watch and enjoy but the fact that the filmmakers took advantage of a world where everyone has a camera is quite amazing. This film is clever, funny, dramatic, and inspirational all at once and so far this year it is the best film to go see. If you haven't already you should go out and watch Chronicle!

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Phew...I Am Tired

Well since the New Year I have been really just trying to focus on my needs over the whole video thing at least for a little bit. With my extra free time I have been spending more time with my girlfriend and also hitting the track at lot more. I have been eating less and watching what I eat a ton more. It has been nice to really just put my mind at ease and focus on my own life, I forgot what it meant really to have my own life.

On the other hand I have also been keeping in mind that I wanna start reviewing movies soon too and I hope that by this Friday I will be able to go out and watch one of two films. On one side there is The Devil Inside which looks to be another low budget but creepy horror film in the vein of The Blair Witch Project or The Last Exorcism. On the other hand there is Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy which looks to be a very smart spy film which I have high hopes for. My girlfriend wants to see the horror film but a good friend of mine Joe wants to see the spy one. At this point I am at a crossroads but in the end I might not be able to do either since my computer is currently acting crazy. So we will see.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Love and Sherlock Holmes

So yesterday I spent the majority of the day hanging out with a good friend of mine Joe just running around going to a few places. I got to shoot my first handgun which I sucked at from the start and then after that owned. We went to the Science Center which was awesome when I was a kid but kinda sucked now that I am older (should of expected that). Finally we saw Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows which I felt was better than the original in some regards and in others not so much.

This new film goes much further into the psyche of Holmes and decides to point out more of his quirky methods at time to the extreme for instance when he is drinking embalming fluid but other hits it right on the nose when he hates riding on the horse. I felt like the use of slow motion like in the first to show his thought process was again a very smart trick but when it was used on things such as a gun about to fire a huge explosive device it became a bit overused. The scene in the woods of them running away from the Germans was amazing and this by far was the best use of the slow motion effect in the whole film. The introduction of Moriarty was not overdone at all (as it can be in the Holmes universe) and his character was written in very well to fit the way the books had described him (he is a man who never gets his hands dirty). The ending is nothing short of a very Hollywood style but it still fits within all the workings of a Conan Doyle story. I would recommend a watch either in theaters or at home when it is on DVD. Not worth a rush to the theater really but it is still an enjoyable Sherlock Holmes film.

The other film I watched yesterday was entitled Love which is a very intensely slow drama piece about a man up in space who slowly learns he is going to be up there for a while. It can be assumed that back on Earth man is slowly killing themselves through war. At the same time there are flashbacks to a civil war soldier who is on the quest for a mysterious ship that is near the Mississippi river. Throughout the film we watch this lone mans decent into madness as he has no human interaction aboard the space station. There is no real villain in this film or not secret he really finds. It is just a slow paced strange film which is not terrible but a bit too philosophical for its own good at parts. Sometimes shots get repeated but from different angles which is excusable but the fact that these shots are shown in slow motion several times make it very apparent that we have seen them before. It comes to an end in a less than satisfactory ending and the only real way to have it make sense is if you use the excuse that he must have died. I really love the concept and the majority of the execution considering how indie this film is. I'd say if you can get past the slow pacing and the almost cheesy soundtrack from Angels and Airwaves at times it makes for a very good film. If not though stay away it is not going to pick up the pace at any point really.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

It is Official

So starting January 6th and continuing on every Friday from there I am going to do a weekly movie review where I pick one film opening that week and give it a nice brand spanking new review. I have always wanted to do movie reviews and doing this seems like a perfect fit. I want to start doing a simple video review and then also doing a written review as well here on the blog. So that is two reviews for the price of one. If things pick up and I get a lot of people checking out my stuff I hope to expand and also do dvd reviews every Tuesday in the future. This way I can capture the dvd and new film review market.

I hope this is as exciting to everyone else as it is to me because I can't wait to start reviewing films!

Thank you for your support,
Daniel Hess

Time For Change

I feel as though I have done all I can with locations in this state. I have done plenty of video work here and feel as though now is the time to move out and start bringing you new and exciting places for video work. After this trip to New York I see how a place like that can truly bring out the best in a seemingly non existant story. Having exciting locations is a nice touch to add. I want to try and film more in places like New York, Boston, Toronto, Philadelphia; places that just have a life of their own. At the same time I want to go out west and film in the desert, that is my ultimate goal.

Maybe I am just in a rut right now and I need a change of pace or maybe I just need something exciting, something truly amazing to change the way I see life. I am a dreamer so when things get old I get into a funk where I can dream no more.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess