Gasland

Release Date: December 14th, 2010

Genre: Documentary

Stars: Josh Fox

Synopsis: The filmmaker recieves an offer of thousands of dollars to lease his land for the purpose of drilling for natural gas and his investigation of the possible negative consequences of the process end in shocking and horrifying revelations.

AltAss Ratings (On a scale of 1 to 5 asses)

Plot:                                                

"Gasland" takes on a very interesting subject matter that will undoubtedly be relevant to a world wide audience.

Writing / Production:              

The interviews of the residents affected by natural gas drilling were informative and effective but became very repetitive.  This combined with the monotonous voiceover from the film maker, it became challenging to remain invested.  The last segment of the documentary when an authority figure finally agreed to talk on camera and the footage from the congressional hearing was much better. 

Originality:                                  

Very much in the spirit of a Micheal Moore movie but not quite as entertaining.  "Gasland" is still very original in breaking important information about natural gas drilling to the general public.

Overall:                                         

While I understand the appeal of going for a feature length film, the cause and certainly the value of "Gasland" would have been greatly furthered by cutting it to just under an hour.  Nevertheless, the subject is still very important and if you can't stomach the entire documentary you should at least search for videos of flammable tap water on YouTube.

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Once Fallen

Release Date: November 2nd, 2010

Genre: Drama / Crime

Stars: Brian Presley, Taraji P. Henson, Ed Harris

Synopsis: A man is released from prison after serving five years for drug trafficking with intent to turn his life around but trouble for his best friend and his still imprisoned father threaten to keep him entrenched in a life of crime.

AltAss Ratings (On a scale of 1 to 5 asses)

Plot:                                             

"Once Fallen" follows a very familiar plot line which is a decent one but there are no twists or punches that make it special.

Writing / Production:             

The film was very slow developing and didn't get very intense or interesting until the last twenty or thirty minutes.  The final product felt very amateurish and underfunded.

Acting:                                        

A mixed bag of good, poor, and average performances pervade this picture.  Brian Presley in the lead role is obviously not up to par with the more recognizable talent in this film which detracts greatly from its value.  Ed Harris and Peter Weller provide very fine and entertaining performances and everyone else is mostly average.

Originality:                            

The theme of "Once Fallen" has been revisited many times and there are few if any tweaks on the idea that make the film stand out.

Overall:                                   

It is unfortunate that the talents of Ed Harris and Peter Weller are somewhat wasted on a film that is so poorly constructed and ineffective.  Unfortunately "Once Fallen" is largely unentertaining and feels like something we've all seen before just not as good.

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Showgirls

Release Date: September 22nd, 1995

Genre: Drama

Stars: Elizabeth Berkley, Kyle MacLachlan, Gina Gershon

Synopsis: A woman makes her way to Vegas with dreams of becoming a showgirl but must first resort to dancing as a stripper before clawing her way to the top.

AltAss  Ratings (On a scale of 1 to 5 asses)

Plot:                                           

The overall idea for the movie isn't as awful as the film itself but the main storyline also has far too many subplots that do compound the disaster.

Writing / Production:             

The dialogue is just plain awful and everything else is ridiculously over the top and gratuitous. 

Acting:                                      

Maybe the only thing in the film worse than the dialogue are the performances of everyone responsible for delivering the lines. 

Originality:                                                     

Perhaps this movie deserves credit for coming as close to becoming outright pornography as possible without crossing the line.

Overall:                                       

This movie is the epitomy of bad but I couldn't take my eyes off it.  Perhaps because it was deemed forbidden fruit by the ratings Nazis and maybe because that girl from "Saved By The Bell" I used to watch every Saturday as a child gets naked.  While the rest of the movie is laughable, the raw eroticism was as real as it was gratuitous.

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Barry Munday

Release Date: December 7th, 2010 (DVD)

Genre: Comedy

Stars: Patrick Wilson, Judy Greer, Colin Hanks, Cybill Shepard

Synopsis: A man loses both his testicles after an assault from the angry father of an underaged girl he is chasing and soon finds out he may have impregnated another woman before the mishap occurred.

AltAss Ratings (On a scale of 1 to 5 asses)

Plot:                                                

A great idea for a comedy even if the premise proves to be funnier than the actual film.

Writing / Production:                 

"Barry Munday" does not cash in as much as it should on its comic potential although the film does offer some laughs in spots.  The film does manage to remain relatively interesting throughout and has a lot of heart to its credit.

Acting:                                           

Judy Greer was absolutely perfect in her role as the unconventional female lead but I was not completely sold on Patrick Wilson as the title character even though he was not completely horrific.  The film is helped greatly by an experienced and talented assortment of supporting characters who add quite a bit of entertainment value.

Originality:                                  

Usually a comedy with this kind of storyline is over the top and wears itself out trying to crack the audience up at every turn but "Barry Munday" shakes things up by bringing alot more substance (maybe just a little too much).

Overall:                                         

The worst thing about this movie is that you will not laugh nearly as much as you would expect and the best thing is that you still may find value in the film in spite of that fact.  The problem that "Barry Munday" is bound to run into is that the audience that will appreciate the film most is not likely to be the one that will view it.

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Happy Holidays from AltAss

AltAss is on vacation and will be back to bringing you daily reviews again in a few short days.  In the meantime we would like to wish you Happy Holidays as we press on toward the New Year.

Exit Through the Gift Shop

Release Date: December 14th, 2010 (DVD)

Genre: Documentary / Comedy

Stars: Banksy, Thierry Guetta, Shepard Fairey, Space Invader

Synopsis: Details the story of a man who devotes his life to documenting the underground world of street art and winds up becoming an artist himself.

AltAss Ratings (On a scale of 1 to 5 asses)

Plot:                                              

A very fascinating story that is funny and also says a lot about the condition of our society.

Writing / Production:                 

The one flaw I found with this film is that for the first half it is unclear as to why Thierry Guetta is the main subject of the documentary as opposed to the talented street artists who risk their life and freedom to make a statement that may only be visible for a matter of hours.  Once the twist is unveiled that Guetta used his connections from the hours of recording these artist to leverage his own success as an artist, the beginning makes more sense and it would have been more effective to reveal that fact a bit sooner.

Acting:                                       

While there aren't "actors" in a documentary the subject characters are entertaining and interesting which helps to make the film fun to watch.

Originality:                                  

The exposure to street art combined with this unbelievable tale of a man who gains overnight success in the art community by somewhat questionable methods provide extremely fresh material.

Overall:                                       

"Exit Through the Gift Shop" is a comical expose of a quirky man who loves street art and a serious indictment of how his own art work became worth thousands of dollars.  Hopefully this documentary will not only entertain audiences but also encourage them to value independent thought especially when it comes to viewing and purchasing art. 

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