Incannerax
What a waste of my time!!!
Quiet Muffin
This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.
Darin
One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.
Delight
Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.
terraformer
This seems to be becoming one of those love it or hate it kind of films. It has either vicious haters or passionate admirers. I'm closer to the admirers. While I do understand some of the criticisms I am reading here (long, drawn out scenes, loud music mix, etc), the good far outweighs the bad.Brandon Slagle (who also wrote the film) is Lukas Reyes, and everyman who had just celebrated his wedding anniversay with his young (almost too young looking) bride, Sera (Andrea Chen). The next morning, all evidence of their life together...is gone. The rest of his life, however, seems to be the same.Lukas's best friend, Damon (Dee Martin) has the perfect solution...get his friend crazy drunk...and he does. The next morning Lukas wakes up, seemingly married to another woman, Nara (Devanny Pinn). He has no memory of this life and upon her claims they've been married for two years, he threatens to call the police on her and throws her out.Sera soon appears, but not before Lukas finds himself attached by a group of mysterious men calling themselves "The Knowers", who "police and fix" any rifts in the "symbiotic relationship" between parallel worlds, which states that each world must maintain a balance, which I assume means that multiple versions of the same person cannot occupy the same world at the same time, or that world destroys itself.It is an interesting, if slightly convoluted, storyline indeed, and quite ambitious for an independent film with no instantly marketable names in it. A lot of similar indie films rely on gore or sex to market themselves, but this one trusts its subject matter to sell it.Does it work? For the most part, yes.The performances are rather understated. A lot of them seem more like improvised conversations sans a few longer passages of dialogue. While this is on one hand a good thing, it also offsets the tone on occasion. Sometimes the film feels like a grandiose epic and sometimes it feels like a small "mumblecore" drama. The editing and cinematography is above average and the music, while it IS loud, is quite well done. A few licensed songs pop up here and there, and in appropriate places.Overall this is an enjoyable effort, with room to expand upon the storyline. A film called "15 Past Midnight" is listed as in-development on IMDb, and I can only assume that is a sequel. If the right tools are given, that could very well be something to look forward to.
David Anders
15 Till MidnightThe phrase "High Concept Sci-Fi" is tossed around quite a bit these days, and usually directed at big budget films like Christopher Nolan's Inception or Alfonso Cuarón's Children of Men, films that take the science fiction genre into strange new worlds beyond the typical "Space Opera" genre.15 Till Midnight is just such a film, breaking down the walls of the big budget Sci-Fi extravaganza and stripping it down to its core, proving that you don't need a multimillion dollar budget, excessive special effects or A-list actors to tell a powerful story of a man thrust into unbelievable circumstances.The first half hour of the film is pure build up, introducing us to Lukas Reyes (Brandon Slagle) and his wife Sera (Andrea Chen), and laying the first bricks of the bizarre into the story. Lukas wakes up one morning to find that Sera has seemingly disappeared into thin air, everything she owned is gone, along with the photos of the couple together. Lukas is distraught, but heads out to a bar that night with a friend to drink away his problems, and meets the lovely Nara (Devanny Pinn) who he takes home.The next morning Lukas wakes up to find that Nara has seemingly moved in overnight, even going so far as to claim that they've been married for two years. Lukas and the audience are left to wonder what the hell is going on, and from here on out, the film pulls out all the stops, pulling us through a mind bending, reality warping nightmare of secrets, lies and men in gas masks.To put it bluntly, I loved 15 Till Midnight from start to finish. The story kept me engaged, the characters felt real and the dialog never felt wasted or forced in any situation. Brandon Slagle's performance as Lukas was captivating, giving the viewer a solid anchor to the ever shifting and changing world of the film. To his credit, Slagle not only portrays Lukas, but also the "Evil" Reverse Lukas who makes periodic appearances throughout the film but doesn't really get a chance to shine until the last twenty or so minutes of the film. Devanny Pinn's Nara is an intriguing character, unfortunately she's out of the story nearly as quickly as she arrives, and giving us little time to truly grow attached to her as a character. However, the raw emotion that Pinn brings to her final scenes is so heartbreakingly honest that I found myself relating to her character despite her brief screen time. The other stand out moment of the film comes near the end when Andrew Roth gives one of the most moving speeches I've heard in a sci-fi film in a long time, bringing a human element to what could be a one dimensional villain.My only problem with the film had less to do with the film itself and more to do with my screener copy. Darker scenes were blurred and everything had that slightly washed out look of a low resolution Youtube video, but in a testament to not only the script but to the actors and everyone else involved in the film, I couldn't take my eyes off the screen for the entirety of the nearly two hour running time. 15 Till Midnight is the type of independent film that you pray for as a reviewer and fan of genre cinema, a film with a solid script, acting that actually draws you into the film instead of pulling you out, and well thought out cinematography and special effects that enhance the experience instead of distracting from it.
info-955-610967
I really think whoever wrote the last review for this piece of monotonous drivel was the director's Mum!!! (and I think she gave it a 10 - way more than once) Noboby else could have such excitement and kind thoughts about this fiasco!!!The idea behind this little flick was great, but they just failed to deliver a coherent and understandable movie that had pace, interest, suspense or any of the things that make for a semblance of entertainment. Plot: Lost in space. Script: Drivel. Music: Contradictory and out of character to the plot - (utter excitement through the boredom). Camera: Sporadic and amateurish. Direction: Meandering and confusing. In a nutshell - don't waste your time!!
skorponok
I can see this film becoming something of a niche cult hit. While it looks like a slick Hollywood production on the outside, it has a daft, intellectual storyline hidden beneath the surface.Our story starts with Lukas (Brandon Slagle) and Sera (Andrea Chen) enjoying their second wedding anniversary. The next day Lukas awakens to find Sera missing. But not only is she missing, but all of her possessions as well as evidence of their life together is missing too. Lukas goes to work and his best friend (Dee Martin) tries to talk him through his depression, even taking him out for drinks that night. In mid barhopping, Lukas meets a young woman named Nara (Devanny Pinn). The two go home together and when they awaken the next morning, Nara believes that she and Lukas have been married for two years, and numerous items owned by her have also appeared.Lukas threatens to report her to the police so she leaves. Then at work, Lukas's friend tells him that he and Nara are expecting a child. Lukas goes home, finding himself perused by a man who resembles one of the Agents from the Matrix a bit too much, who attacks him. Lukas finds himself pursued by more agents and soon finds Sera again, who has been trapped in a paradox of her own.By the end of the film, Lukas is apprehended by a group of men calling themselves "The Knowers", explaining that he himself is trapped in a loop and jumping between different parallel versions of his life.The film takes an extremely dark turn at the end, which I won't spoil. I will say instead that this is a film that will leave you thinking for hours after you watch it. I found plot points clicking in and suddenly making sense after the credits stopped rolling, which is something many films can't and don't do these days.Aesthetically speaking, the film makes great use of many New York City locations. The music, while a bit much at times, is reminiscent of Hans Zimmer or James Newton Howard. The performances are solid across the board, each actor coming into their own throughout the film.The film may be a bit heavy handed for a lot of viewers, especially in this day when Fast Five opens to 90 million dollars. This is a film for the portion of the audience that still uses their brain, and doesn't need big stars to draw them in (for example, Inception probably wouldn't have had the audience it did had it not had a hot director and top shelf cast).If you come across this film, and you enjoy films that make you think, then this is definitely for you. If not, I'm sure you can get Beverly HIlls Chihuahua or Step Up 3 in the 5 dollar bin.