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Another Earth- sp This film grabs you from the beginning and then leads you into a unique premise. Screenwriter and director Mike Cahill in his first feature film is clearly quite talented and achieved a very good-looking film on a shoestring budget. He and co writer Brit Marling, who also starred in the movie have a great imagination and a very subtle touch. They also pulled in excellent photography and great music background to sustain the mood of the film. Veteran actor William Mapother  joins them and he and Marling appear to occupy the screen just about all the time. Flashes of television news reports, talking heads and other clips establish the appearance of “ Another Earth” or “Earth Two “ as it is called.  We also see our twin planet in the sky throughout the film and are introduced to the idea that that such a situation would appear to have everything  including people exactly the same as on our own Earth.  The implication to Marling’s character is quite profound as both  characters are enduring unbearable suffering. In our post film  discussion with Cahill and Marling  it seems that they feel that the human condition leads people to have a  great desire to understand themselves and the possibility of meeting oneself, commiserating and perhaps even altering one’s fate and suffering is a universal fantasy. Perhaps because we are always preoccupied with the idea that self reflection and therapy is the way to go when there is such a need or perhaps we just  couldn’t give up our reality base, the movie didn’t work as well with us as it did with the Sundance crowd who chose it as a festival winner and with Fox Searchlight who picked it up for big time distribution. It will be making the rounds later this month, on this Earth. (2011)

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Skateland sp- Anthony Burns along with Brandon and Heath Freeman wanted to write and make their first movie about East Texas in the early 1980s where they grew up. The tag line of the movie expresses what they were trying to capture, “ It was a time when life was easy …in a place they though would never change.”  Skateland was the town roller rink where the young people gathered and some hung around or returned there even after graduating High School. The film focuses on  a crowd where everyone smoked, drank beer and jockeyed for their boy girl relationships. The two main characters are Brent Burkam  (Health Freeman) slightly older than the rest who unsuccessfully raced motorcycles for a few years and comes back to town to hang around with buddies such as Ritchie Wheeler (Shiloh Fernandez)  who is about to graduate high school. He is the assistant manager of the roller rink and can’t decide what to do with his life. There are shades of  young Ron Howard and Richard Dreyfus, playing characters trying to figure out their lives in American Graffiti with the 1970s take on that decade. Jump forward ten years and we have the constant music beat of the 80s setting the background for the young peoples angst, mixed with drinking, parties, cars and some violence. While the story is about the guys, there is an interesting influence of the women. Ritchie’s younger sister Mary(Haley Romm) and his girl friend Michelle(Ashley Greene) are the strong characters of the movie perhaps reflecting the women’s movement as did the actions of Richies Mom (Melinda McGraw). While the setting and life style may not quite be the early 80s of the northeast where our kids grew up, this young movie team has created an enduring period piece. The photography, setting and the direction is definitely first rate . We may look back on this film and realize that it was a breakout for several of the actors who were excellent.  The movie earned a slot at the Sundance Film Festival which is not an easy accomplishment for an Indie low budget film which was a first time effort for  the Director and writers. It will have distribution and will open in late March- early April in NY and LA. (2011)