Majorthebys
Charming and brutal
Cleveronix
A different way of telling a story
Kidskycom
It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.
Plustown
A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.
varinaplan-813-450258
As someone that spent 18 years in the city of Angels, I have met many Ellie Parkers. I adored this little gem, albeit low budget movie, with some of best acting one could feast their eyes on. The scene with Ellie in the car in a complete hyped up, Star Bucks frenzy, smeared with lipstick, banging her head to Blondie and madly shouting out " I wanna suck Vinnie's ####'!!!" in her New Jersey accent, had me rolling on the floor.For those that know nothing of the dashed dreams of Many desperate Hollywood starlets, and the pure sleaze these women encounter as they try to fulfill their dreams, forget it, you just won't 'get it'. LA is a town, of big talking wannabes and 'Ellie Parker' really led you into that world with it's fake facade and empty promises. Naomi Watts just shines as Ellie Parker. She totally engulfs the screen with her magical expressions of pain, joy, angst, fear, confusion and loneliness.I felt very empty after the final scene, just as Ellie did. The City of Angels changes you, makes you selfish, egotistical, and almost insane. Ellie knew her pursuit of acting had caused her to become a shell of a person, and as a viewer I really felt her pain.So it was shot with a cheap camera, big deal. The messages where there, contrary to what many other reviewers said, you just had to be sensitive enough to pick them up.This film really transported me back to LA, and made me shudder, thanks 'Eliie parker' for reminding me why I left!
drpavlovic1411
A movie doesn't need to be full of action, shooting, love, to be expensive, to be a block buster,..., though I don't like a 'French' school, when two people have enough time and money to be in a single room and make problems to each other. I call t movies 'slow' and 'problematic' without any obvious reason. You see people who are egoistic and bored.A movie can be an extended monologue, if it is totally authentic. If treats tome subject, the live itself as it really is. From the beginning, this movie has a type of wide frame, it is so 'alive', so direct. You see the life without any additional make up, fancy details, you see the life as it is: full of struggle and disappointment, it is the organic part of life, the other moments are happy. The leading character wants to succeed in the world of movie, but it is a hard job, we are the witnesses of dying of her dream and we can see how their life collapse in any aspect, including her love life.People like an ordinary movie, which talk about THEM, about disappointments, hard times, pointless living..., they can relate to it.But, this kind of movies must have some ending, the message. An acceptance or the words of wisdom. This movie has none. Trainspotting, for instance, is pretty entertaining, but generally says how life stinks, whatever we try. The guy is a drug addict, then he tries to work honestly, but his 'past' (his friends) drag them back. But, he finds the solution, he takes the money and go to make an ordinary, but nice, normal life. He had enough strength to go out and live as the other people.Here..., it is nothing but a desperation. Life sucks and that is it. Nothing has learned, grasped, understood, we can't see how the leading actress even she has found the peace..., she is like a white wall, without any feeling,..., this movie says nothing to us. A nice start, which continues through the whole movie..., then..., no messages. Nothing. We can't see that her giving up of the acting really freed her as she says, because the last scene is the opposite: she tries to fulfill her dream, she goes to the last audition, she tries to reach her dream to the last scene. To repeat myself: when the movie is talking about the emptiness of the life, some message must be conveyed. To give up some dreams must be deeply felt and understood, accepted, it must give some additional quality to our lives. To fail, that is not an end. When the house is burned, a Chinese saying says: "Nice, we can see the Moon now, there is no obstacles." This movie is just a pointless struggle which leads to nowhere. It can't entertain, to teach, to say something wise, it is just a half-finished story about the life as it really is, no guaranties, but the final touch.... is a big biiiiiiiiiiiiip...., the movie died before any finish touch. It doesn't need to be a happy end. Just a movie with the proper ending. I gave 4 stars for the realistic picture of the life, but the rest..., is like an unfinished painting.
lastliberal
If you are a Naomi Watts fan (King Kong, Mulholland Drive) then this is a not to be missed satire that features her at her best. originally a 16-minute short (2001), it was expanded to feature length. It really doesn't have any plot, beginning, meddle or end. It is a stream-of-consciousness type of film showing a day in the life of an aspiring starlet.I found it amazing that anyone could possible put on makeup while driving down the Los Angeles freeway, and the fact that she changes her shoes into boots and changes skirts was even more incredible. Are all Californians that crazy? This quirky little piece certainly shows the range of Watts and, if any of it at all is close to home, that Hollywood lot is weird.
meeza
"Ellie Parker" is a deranged, but yet, intuitive film on the struggling Hollywood actresses lifestyle of casting calls, nocturnal partying, and internal conflicts. Naomi Watts was a tour-de-force as the Parker protagonist. Her effusive expressions were a thing of beauty. Watts' acting voltage remains hot in Tinsletown. Too bad the same cannot be said for the Ellie Parker character she plays. Ellie goes from auditioning for a part in a Southern period piece soap opera to going through the opposite the end of the Hollywood spectrum just a few hours later by auditioning for a part in a soft-porn cheap flick. Director Scott Coffey shot the film in video which gave it a reality take. Mr. Coffey woke us up with his tasty-sugary crafty techniques but was a bit "sweet & low" with his cyclical screenplay. Chevy Chase also drives the film with a scene-stealer performance as Parker's eccentric agent, Dennis Swatzbaum. My primary "Ellie Parker" peeve of the film was the arrogant character Sam, played by Rebecca Rigg! The movie got definitely rigged with her suffocating performance. "Ellie Parker" would be an effective prototype study for aspiring female actresses, but will not probably satisfy the general movie audience. Nonetheless, that Parker Sister, Naomi Watts, is the super savior of "Ellie Parker". *** Average