MikeEverleth

Member since 8/28/2008, last signed in awhile ago.

"Long Live Underground Film!"

Send a message

Add to contacts

Invite to a group

Personal statement:

Please check out Bad Lit for the latest underground film reviews, film festival listings, outrageous videos and more.

[more]

Interested in:Action, Avant-garde / Experimental, Comedy, Horror, Science Fiction, Thriller

MikeEverleth's movie tags

Talk

Straw Dogs

Nasty little piece of work.
By MikeEverleth in MikeEverleth Blog
Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"No Through Road is an extremely tense little thriller-slash-horror movie that's at turns scary, suspenseful and pretty gory and disturbing. It's kind of like a low-budget Australian update of Straw Dogs.However, this time the nerdy guy who needs to find his inner barbarian is a mousy, reclusive amateur photographer who needs to protect a strange girl hiding in his bedroom closet. She claims she's just been raped, but the three thugs outside who want to have a "chat" with her claim she's involved in a drug plot. Of course, the outside creeps eventually find their way inside for a cat-and-mouse game that involves several sharp objects.The film has a nice script that slowly builds the tension and deftly explains away all of the nagging implausibilities, such as giving the hero a good, solid reason to not automatically call the cops when he finds the girl. But the film really shines with giving us terrific characters to care about, especially in developing the villains who are grounded ... " [More]

Zero Bridge

Modern Neorealism in Kashmir
By MikeEverleth in MikeEverleth Blog
Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"This is a bold and accomplished first feature film by Tariq Tapa, an American of Kashmiri descent. The film is set entirely in Srinagar, Kashmir and follows the story of a teenage pickpocket, Dilawar, who dreams of someday escaping the slum he's grown up in. His dreams of escape become more real when he befriends a pretty shipping clerk, Bani, who also has plans to leave her abusive, overbearing family. Shot in a neorealist style, Tapa doesn't romanticize life in the slums of war-torn Kashmir. The film is shot in an intimate, documentary style and the drama unfolds at a nice realistic, uncontrived page. Featuring a cast of non-professional actors and almost all crew work performed by Tapa himself, Zero Bridge is a remarkable debut. Read my full review at Bad Lit: The Journal of Underground Film. " [More]

Wonderland

Low-key and charming
By MikeEverleth in MikeEverleth Blog
Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"I guess this is a hard-to-see film since it was never released on DVD, which is a real shame because it's a fun, quirky little documentary. Director John O'Hagan does a nice job spotlighting the eccentric characters living in America's first suburb, Levittown, NY, without poking fun at them. The residents proudly discuss their quirky hobbies and obsessions while O'Hagan mixes in nice archival footage of the suburb's ambitious beginnings. We also get to meet a few of Levittown's more famous former residents, like musician Eddie Money and Bill Griffith, the creator of Zippy the Pinhead. It's a real shame more people can't get to see this as this is a very charming documentary. " [More]

Modern Love is Automatic

Low-key but hilarious
By MikeEverleth in MikeEverleth Blog
Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"Melodie Sisk stars as a nurse who is bored by life so she becomes ... a bored dominatrix. However, the film is anything but boring. While the action gets off to a slow start, Zach Clark sets the outrageous sexual situations on a slow simmer that gradually flares up into a hot boil. While Sisk is wonderfully impassive as the passionless dominatrix -- you can really feel her wounded soul -- the film kicks into high gear when Maggie Ross enters the picture as Sisk's loopy roommate. Sisk's ennui is counterbalanced by Ross' unhinged optimism in face of one of the most degrading jobs on the planet. Read my full review at Bad Lit: The Journal of Underground Film. " [More]

Circulation

Road Trip
By MikeEverleth in MikeEverleth Blog
Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"Ryan Harper's debut feature is a nice twist on the desert thriller genre. A young Mexican woman is helped by a crusty, but kind, stranger as she escapes from her abusive ex-husband. While it may look like she's still in the same desert community where she grew up, she eventually realizes she's trapped in a nighmarish mirror world. Her journey is kind of like Dorothy's in The Wizard of Oz, except the Munchkins here are normal-sized and like to vomit bile on and eat people; and instead of a dancing scarecrow, she's accompanied by a cranky bald guy in a rundown truck. Read my full review on Bad Lit. " [More]

The Atlas Moth

How not to be a rock star
By MikeEverleth in MikeEverleth Blog
Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"The Atlas Moth chronicles struggling heavy metal band Dark Horse and their desperate attempt to become rock stars. But these aren't some wide-eyed kids, they're middle-aged guys with families and plenty of other hobbies that keep from making music. The members of Dark Horse -- including Dan Cleveland, Sean Cassidy and Jon Mortenson -- are all extremely interesting guys and they're completely candid and uninhibited in front of director Rolf Belgum's camera. So, in that regard, this makes for fascinating viewing, but it's up to the viewer to figure out what Belgum's trying to say by telling their story. Read my full review at Bad Lit. " [More]

The Strangers

No payoff
By MikeEverleth in MikeEverleth Blog
Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"The mood and character set-up are pretty good here and there are certainly some nice scary parts. However, what I think totally sinks the film is that director Bertino never sets up a good sense of space. About halfway through the film I realized I had no idea where the characters were in relation to the house from one scene to the next. They seemed like they were in this very big house, but we only get to see like two or three rooms in it. Then, a barn is introduced halfway into the film that it's not clear how far it is from the house. I lost track of where Tyler and Speedman were in each scene and thus lost interest in their predicament. But, still didn't totally dislike it. More like a missed opportunity. " [More]

Altamont Now

A punk rockin' good time!
By MikeEverleth in MikeEverleth Blog
Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"This was, hands-down, my favorite movie of 2008. It was the liveliest, most energetic and just plain ol' good time fun film I saw all year. Plus, it has an incredible rockin' original soundtrack and a star-making performance by Daniel Louis Rivas as Richard Havoc, a punk rock phenomenon whose fame gives him delusions of grandeur. With a small band of misfits, Havoc plans on a nuclear armaggedon after which the youth will take over the world. The rest of the cast, including Frankie Shaw, Teddy Eck, Matthew Humphreys and Raphael Nash Thompson, are excellent, too. And director Joshua von Brown actually shot the film in a real decommissioned nuclear missile silo that gives the production an authentic air. Read my full review at Bad Lit. " [More]

Jack Smith & The Destruction of Atlantis

Nice profile of an underground ...
By MikeEverleth in MikeEverleth Blog
Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"This was a pretty thorough profile of underground filmmaker and performance artist Jack Smith. Although most well-known for the groundbreaking film Flaming Creatures, his experience with the film's distribution led him to never complete another film ever again. Instead, he devoted his life to putting on avant-garde plays in his studio loft to bewildered art crowds. Smith spent his life fighting his fame and drove most people who knew him away. So, he's probably the most mysterious of the underground film crowd who came to prominence in the '60s. This documentary finally sheds some light on his life and career. Featuring great archival footage, we get to see Smith's humble small-town beginnings, the successful photography career he abandoned, clips from his never-completed films and some performace video. There's also interviews with Smith's contemporaries and admirers, so it's a good all-around profile. You can read my full review at Bad Lit. " [More]

Monster a Go-Go!

Atrocious, Yet...
By MikeEverleth in MikeEverleth Blog
Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"This movie has about five minutes of pure awesomeness in the form of a go-go party and a make-out session, but the rest of it is completely incoherent and virtually unwatchable. Although, actually I watched the whole thing just to see how this ludicrous mess ended up. So, there's something kind of fascinating about how mind-bogglingly inept this entire production is. However, I am absolutely convinced that the "Dr. Logan" in this film is the same "Logan" from George Romero's Day of the Dead, complete with the same philosophy about trying to train a monster. Also, the non-sequiter car stalling scene is kind of priceless. " [More]

Vacancy

Fairly tense thriller
By MikeEverleth in MikeEverleth Blog
Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"Vacancy starts out kind of sluggishly and uninterestingly. The opening scenes with Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale in the car features fairly pedestrian dialogue and a cliche set-up that eventually leads them to the murder motel. It all feels kind of padded to make the film come up to a feature-length runtime. But once the unhappy couple gets stuck in their room and are hunted by the killers, the action becomes pretty intense. There's not much to get invested in these characters on an emotional level, but at least the cat-and-mouse game becomes fun to watch. Doesn't nearly live up to the premise, but it's not a total wreck of a film either. " [More]

Frank and Cindy

All in the Family
By MikeEverleth in MikeEverleth Blog
Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"G.J. Echternkamp set out to make a documentary to mock his step-dad in Frank & Cindy, but ended up making a touching film that seems to bring his family closer together. The trouble with mocking Frank seems to be that he comes across as such a fun-loving, good-natured guy, it's a little cruel to make fun of him just for his eccentricities and the devastating blow he experienced after attaining a single drop of fame by being in a pop band in the '80s. It's impossible to not root for the guy by the end of the film. The same goes for Cindy. It's heartbreaking when she expresses the regret she feels for being an alcoholic for all of her son's formative years. She's sober now and trying to make up for the lost time. Read my full review at Bad Lit. " [More]