Who payed the critics

Crappy film

Better Late Then Never

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

Saw the trailer and explored the website a long while back...looked very, very cool. Then saw several mentions of "over XX visual effects shots!!" repeated over and over in various comments and descriptions. Got a bit suspicious...Saw the whole film this weekend. DVD menu: looks awesome! Credit sequence: looks awesome, builds excitement and expectation! The actual film: not good. Very disappointing. So many missteps and "tin ear" moments that it was one of the biggest, "What were they thinking?!?" moments at the whole film festival.The story is convoluted and barely served by the acting and editing (though actress Polay does a good job with the very,very little she is given). The Duncan character (main villain) is straight out of the overwrought "look at me! I'm a craaazzyyy bad, bad man!" style of writing and acting.Above all, the film shows a very immature, shallow sensibility informing most of the major decisions. The ending is just plain camp - so much like the end of the "Thriller" video that I expected to hear Vincent Price laughing in the background.That said - - the "on message" buzz presented on review sites speaks volumes about how well these indie filmmakers have promoted their stuff. They clearly got the most they could out of their budget (whether or not it really was $8,000) and are riding this horse as far as it will take them. And, as I said, they do create a pretty cool look in many places.As a fellow indie filmmaker, I understand and respect the work and determination that goes into that. However, if they truly have been given funding to do a feature (clearly their goal in making the short), I hope they focus less on the glitz and the positive press it has earned them from people with bad taste or low standards and more on telling an actual story with interesting characters (within your world of high action-adventure production values).

"Broken" is a great "how to" disc. While the short film is cool, it really works better in conjunction with the DVD that offers great insight into how to make your own action/thriller on a small budget. Made for reportedly $8,000.00, director Alex Ferrari has crammed in some 100 special visual effects shots. And it looks terrific leaving you wanting more.The story involves Bonnie who wakes up in her darkened apartment to be abducted by strange and dangerous folks. Skip forward to a warehouse or secret facility of some sort where Bonnie is strapped to an antique wheelchair surrounded by even more dangerous killers all of whom want a piece of her. But she doesn't know why. And neither do we. In time, she will be killed but the sadistic bastards want to have fun with her first.More of a teaching film, "Broken" serves as the platform for special effects talent, director, and co-writer Ferrari to educate us on how everything is done. The amazingly power packed DVD is extremely instructive and even fascinating. Use of split screen showing the rehearsal and the finished scene is interesting and Ferrari humbly provides insight into the workings of making a action/thriller with little money.I especially liked the recipe offered for making your own "guacamole gun." For those of you not familiar with this gun, it's a device that simulates what happens when a person is shot by a gun. It's gross and funny to see the experimentation process for the creation of this useful device.Anyone who is thinking about making an action/thriller ought to have the "Broken" DVD in their library.The Disc A must for anyone intending to make their own low budget action/thriller or anyone whose just curious about the subject.Picture Quality: 10/10 The transfer is crisp and the picture lush. There is a portion of the DVD devoted to making DV look like film.Sound Quality: 10/10 Sound was even good on extras shot during rehearsals. Of course, there is a portion of the disc devoted to sound and syncing.Extra Features: 10/10 A teaching disc that includes fantastic extras.The Final Word:I liked the short movie fine, but when combined with a dynamite DVD loaded with extras that are content rich, this should be a essential part of any independent filmmaker's library.Jonathan W. Hickman - http://www.einsiders.com

Bored with Hollywood's standard methods of operation, Alex Ferrari took it upon himself to make a film on his own with a measly budget and see if he could pull it off just as well as the studios. Aside from the fact that it's only twenty minutes in length, I think he has succeeded. With only eight grand in his pocket, Ferrari found some really talented actors, a SFX team to marvel at and edited the film beautifully all with the helpful hand of his co-writer and producer Jorge F. Rodriguez. Oh, and I can't leave out the musical score. It really sounds professional and adds a lot of emotional depth to the story.A woman wakes up in the middle of the night to find an intruder in her house, she is tied up and taken to a base to meet her adversary and his cronies. But there's something more to this woman than meets the...eye. What is it? Maybe what lurks in the shadows has the answer. Is it something to fear, or something to hope for? Guns and weapons abound in this suspenseful and disturbing action/thriller. To say much more than that about the plot, would spoil things. But let's take this thing apart shall we?First off, the environment and effect shots. Wow! He did all this with $8000? Very impressive. The lighting is just sweet. For some reason it reminded me of places within The Matrix. Yet this setting has a feel all its own. Seriously, check out these locales. The gun fighting has a unique style and the people don't simply fall over dead when getting shot. There are interesting angles and camera movements as the bullets fly and hit their mark.Second, the characters and the actors who bring them to life. The evil Duncan is for sure the bright spot among the characters. Creepy and obviously disturbed, he really brings life to the film and is the character you really want to keep your eye on. The young girl who finds herself in this predicament is also pretty good in this role. With limited screen time (I say limited because of the length of the film), she makes the most of it and has us asking for more. There is obviously some interesting depth to her past. The one drawback to the film is the fact that there are all of these other interesting looking fellows standing around who are not explored thoroughly enough. For example, the tattooed Indian-looking fellow who gives up his guns for an obvious talent for throwing knives. Unfortunately he is dispatched before we get to see much of his talent. The same goes for a number of interesting looking "gangsters." I especially liked Marquez and her duel wielding fully automatic barettas.I wish there was more to the movie. It was really good but left me wanting more. More characterization, more back story and more explanation as it ultimately doesn't make much sense. However, the fact that it left me wanting more, proves its remarkability. Unanswered questions are sometimes what makes a movie worthy of seeing. It gives you something to talk about afterwards. Not the usual, "it was okay." There's really something to discuss while the credits role. What this movie really needs now, is a prequel. Anyone who sees this film, will pay extra for that.I've never before reviewed a short film. The only experience I have with them are the shorts before Pixar films and the few that I have caught while channel surfing past IFC. Oh, and "Bambi vs. Godzilla. But I digress; although most of what is seen in "Broken" is not really anything new, it is new if you consider the fact that it was done so quickly and cheaply and without the help from a major studio; and done just as well as Hollywood, if not better, in many respects. The action sequence was directed/edited so superbly and was so much fun that it reminded me a little of the bar fight in "Desperado." I hope that I explained it well enough to encourage everyone to check out this film if you can track it down. It takes less time than watching an episode of The Simpsons, but packs twice the punch.

Broken is a mystery, a thriller and an action movie, but more than anything, it's like a slice out of a big-budget Hollywood flick. I say slice because Broken is actually a short, coming in at only 15 minutes long and cost a paltry $8,000 to make. Most short films aspire to art and experimentation or are hamstrung by financial constraints, but Broken is really none of these things. It was designed from the ground up to be an action film, almost like a trailer for a movie that has yet to be made. Unlike a trailer, however, it has self-contained story arc and develops the characters as reasonably as can be expected in the time available. It's a stunning achievement. The movie begins with Bonnie Clayton (Samantha Jane Polay) roused from an apparent nightmare and stumbling into her kitchen. There she's confronted by the mysterious Duncan (Paul Gordon), lurking in the shadows. She's knocked unconscious and wakes up gagged and tied to a wheelchair in a disused hospital basement. The harmonica-obsessed Duncan, with a distinctive scar on his face, explains why she was abducted. It seems that she is some kind of secret operative (for whom it is not explained) and "the management" want her replaced. But the confused Bonnie has no recollection of who the hell Duncan is and just wants to go home. Nor does she recognize any of his colorful and bizarre entourage, which includes the sexy flame-haired assassin Marquez (Amber Crawford) and a handful of musclebound henchmen who look like they're itching to blow her apart. Duncan confirms our worst fears: "Everyone here, even the fellow wearing that ridiculous little hat, came here for a reason and one reason only: to kill you." Meanwhile, a masked agent, armed to the teeth, stealthily creeps into the basement to save Bonnie, but it seems that Bonnie still has a couple of tricks up her sleeve... With a movie this long there are bound to be problems. The thugs are underdeveloped and seem to be there simply as cannon fodder for the gun battle at the end. The plot feels truncated and begs to be extended and expanded, and there are curious touches—such as Bonnie's glowing eyes—that I would love to see explored. Put simply, there are too many ideas to be locked into a 15 minute running time. The good news is that The Enigma Factory, the production company behind Broken are in talks with several interested parties about financing a full length version of the film. At the end of the short, there's a knowing look to the camera by one of the characters which I'm not convinced belongs in the film because it's a little too long and obvious. Aside from that it's all gravy. The film represents a new benchmark in self-financed movies. While Star Wars fan films have often excelled in the visual effects department, they've sometimes been let down by hokey acting or leaden editing. But Broken excels in just about every department. It exudes quality and high production values that simply belie its budget and must be a torchbearer for the new revolution in digital film-making. A quick mental calculation would seem to imply that a two hour movie could be made for as little as $64,000, which doesn't even cover the hairdressers' trailer on some Hollywood productions. The website is worth checking out for some great visual effects features from Sean Falcon, like the extras you find on DVDs. There are also storyboards, galleries, posters and interviews with the writer/director Alex Ferrari and writer/producer Jorge Flores Rodriguez. It's a pretty attractive package for an intriguing thriller that's the movie equivalent of strapping yourself to rocket and lighting the fuse. Pixel Surgeon UK