Ballast (2008)

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All reviews for Ballast

Does Ballast Really Deserve a B ...
by Karina in Karina on SpoutBlog

hasn't rated it.

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"Funny how, in the indie film world, falls from grace tend to begin before you’ve even hit the top. Yesterday, Lance Hammer’s Ballast was nominated for four Gotham Independent Film Awards — the most of any single film — including Breakthrough Director and Best Picture. Meanwhile, the critical darling is, for maybe the first time since its Sundance premiere, provoking sour responses. Armond White wrote a scathing review of the film attacking it as evidence that “African-American life is imprisoned by the art fallacies of Indie filmmaking, controlled by white liberal condescension” — but he’s Armond White, so that was somewhat expected. Somewhat less expected was this Hollywood Elsewhere post, where Jeff Wells pounces on White’s review like it’s the smoking yellow cake that makes the case that Ballast is overrated. After quoting liberally from White’s review, Wells offers a snide, unverified bit of gossip as confirmation of the other critic’s thesis, and then essentially wishes the f ... " [More]

Does Ballast Really Deserve a B ...
by SpoutBlog in SpoutBlog on spout.com

hasn't rated it.

FilmCouch #54
by SpoutBlog in SpoutBlog on spout.com

hasn't rated it.

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"This FilmCouch is just a glancing blow at everything we want to say about Sundance 2008, so check out all our coverage here. A few categories really stood out for different reasons like: The Unexpected Surprise (Bigger, Stronger, Faster), The Unexpected Let Down (The Art Star and the Sudanese Twins), The Came From Nowhere Critics’ Pick (Ballast) and The Agree to Disagree (Be Kind Rewind). FilmCouch 54 Bigger, Stronger, Faster The Art Star and the Sudanese Twins Ballast Be Kind Rewind

Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]

"This FilmCouch is just a glancing blow at everything we want to say about Sundance 2008, so check out all our coverage here. A few categories really stood out for different reasons like: The Unexpected Surprise (Bigger, Stronger, Faster), The Unexpected Let Down (The Art Star and the Sudanese Twins), The Came From Nowhere Critics’ Pick (Ballast) and The Agree to Disagree (Be Kind Rewind). FilmCouch 54 Bigger, Stronger, Faster The Art Star and the Sudanese Twins Ballast Be Kind Rewind

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"People may be going home and some may have already filed their festival recaps, but Sundance isn’t over yet. I’ve pretty much run out of real trailers to look at, though. There are technically some out there that I haven’t reviewed, but they’re for movies I really haven’t felt that inclined to highlight. So, on my last day of writing about the (disappointing) marketing of Sundance films, I’m taking a look at two of Sundance Channel’s “Meet the Filmmaker” videos, which kind of serve as unofficial trailers to the two films I’ve become most excited about. The first (above) is for Ballast, which Karina has reviewed. I don’t know if it is her favorite dramatic film of the fest, but she and others have written favorably enough about it that I’m hoping to somehow see it in the “real world”. The little bit of footage doesn’t give us much and director Lance Hammer’s description is also not the best sell, but it hardly matters. This is one fi " [More]

Sundance 2008: BALLAST interview
by SpoutBlog in SpoutBlog on spout.com

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"Lance Hammer’s debut feature Ballast is garnering positive feedback here at Sundance (see Karina’s full review here). The film is a carefully paced drama about suicide, youth, and the emotional successes and failures that bind people together. Hammer’s influence was his setting, the Mississippi Delta. He cast only local actors, most of them with no professional experience. In this interview Hammer and stars Micheal Smith, Tarra Riggs and Johnny McPhail talk about working without a script, the bonds formed on set, and why throwing away the script is the first step toward truth in film. Ballast interviews Originally posted on:SpoutBlog " [More]