Scott Sonoma (TheSonomaDude)
Being part native American, human transformations have always been something I've been intrigued by. Almost every native American folk tale (from my tribe, at least) ends in a transformation of some sort; man to animal, man to object, or even man to woman. The ladder was usually the coolest story.It seems like no films on Earth involve this idea, but it appears I have found one, Eric Dapkewicz's Paradox Alice. However, Paradox Alice is a generic independent film with nearly no redeemable qualities at all.With better writing, this film could have been worth it, but as it is, the only thing this script is good for is testing to see if your new paper shredder works. The concept of sequential hermaphroditism being a plausible way for a species to survive is compelling enough for me to suspend my disbelief, but the film gets lost in this pretzel a tangled "love" triangle. The two other males, one being a nerdy Christian mama's boy and the other being a rigid old captain, both fall for their friend who has just become a woman in an unsettling and sporadically amount of time. If my best friend turned into a woman overnight, it would be extremely hard for me to forget he was once a dude, thus, it would take years for me to actually fall for him/her, if I even ever did. But these guys forget it instantly and pursue her after just a few days. The captain character is begging for a kiss after what seems like 45 minutes.The acting is abysmal. Andrew Hernon as the captain character gives such wooden delivery in every scene of the film and he makes me want to throw my remote at the TV screen; every scene he's in is just completely torn to pieces by this guys lack of acting skill. Stewart Calhoun as the nerdy Christian somehow manages to be even worse, but it doesn't help that his character is written unbelievably poorly. The only credible actor in this film is Jeneta St Clair, who actually does a pretty good job and she deserves better work than this.The overall look of the film is very cheap. The lighting is atrocious; the film takes place in a futuristic space ship, not a damn cave. The ship computer/robot thing looks like a Sony camera with a tin can taped to the side, and I swear the film was shot in a garage. There are wooden bookshelves in the control room and the characters use futuristic visual trans-space communicating devices that look identical to iPads (gee, I wonder why?) But I will partially dismiss this because the budget was, what, $1000? If even?Most people seem to bring up the rape scene. Honestly, I did not find it that disturbing for two reasons. One: it is extremely brief...I mean, it lasts like three seconds before the male climaxes. The only thing I was thinking was "Wow, this guy finishes really fast." Two: the acting is so horrendous that it made it obvious that the rape was not real, therefore, I was not disturbed by what I was watching.The most baffling and confusing part in the film is the very ending. As the film begins to wrap up, we see the Xenomorphs (the creatures from the Alien films) aboard the ship while the ship computer spouts gibberish. This is obviously a twist ending...but what the bloody hell was the twist? Was the computer working in cahoots with the aliens the entire time? Was the gender transformation all because of the computer? Were xenomorphs on board the ship the entire film? (How else did they get on the ship at the end, besides just spontaneously appearing on board?) Most importantly, why the hell were there Xenomorphs in this film at all? Was Eric Dapkewicz trying to imply that this film is in the same universe as the Alien franchise?I've checked out the other works of Eric Dapkewicz, or "MakoDap" as he goes by on YouTube. He is the editor for several major Dreamworks films such as Flushed Away or and Puss In Boots, and those are some of the best edited animations I've ever seen. In the past, I also listened to and reviewed two albums by his band, Imaginarious, and both reviews were pretty positive. However, I have also checked out some of his stuff on YouTube. This man is very into transformations, man-to-woman specifically. He has created online comics depicting male-to-female transformations in graphic detail, most of which are sexual and contain some form of eroticism. Also on his YouTube account are the films he has directed, The Kiss and The Last Piece Standing, with Eleven being uploaded this summer. All three of these films have male-to-female transformations as the main theme. Another reoccurring plot point among nearly all of Dapkewicz's YouTube work is that after a man transforms into a woman, he/she becomes very horny and has sex with another man, usually willingly and very happy to do so. The ladder theme is very peculiar and disturbing, and it seems like this is just a masturbation fantasy for Eric Dapkewicz to get out of his system. That said, most of his YouTube work is actually crafted very well and he has a natural talent for storyboarding, but I don't recommend any of it.Overall, biggest problem with this film is that its just forgettable. The script is awful, but not so awful to the point of where its memorable. The acting terrible, but none of the actors are among the worsts (except maybe the captain). The effects are just mediocre, the sets are mediocre, the editing is mediocre, everything just blends in. Its the solid definition of a 3/10 - 4/10 film. I honestly don't recommend it even in the slightest, but I do think Eric Dapkewicz can make something good given some money, a good script and actual actors.
tblake87
I came across this "movie" on XBox Live for digital rental and from reading the description I thought it would be a nice escape in a SciFi world. Let me tell you I was horribly wrong. This film is extremely difficult to watch from beginning to end.Let me start by saying that I keep an open mind when it comes to independent films and I can look past monetary constraints, but the atmosphere from the get-go is a letdown. I will give praise to the lighting inside the protagonists' ship, it is very suitable for the setting, however the ship itself is a real disappointment. I understand that this film takes place in the near future, but there is no reason characters should be using iPads that are dated even by todays standards. The props throughout this "futuristic" setting just don't work. I just couldn't help but feel like the characters were running through someone's poorly decorated house being used as the set. It's just not convincing.Now that we have that out of the way, let's discuss the acting in the film. It's atrocious. There simply isn't any other way to describe it. It's absolutely atrocious. I just felt absolutely no connection with the characters whatsoever. The acting just felt very forced and didn't flow. Some of the mannerisms are extremely over-exxagerated at times that just destroyed any chance of immersion of the audience into this film.Next, let's discuss the plot of this movie. After the end of this thing, I truly didn't know whether the writer hates women or loves them a little too much. What I mean by this is the way the main character is treated through this film just seemed like it could be a view of an agenda the writer has against women. This woman is later raped in the film "for the benefit of the human race". Let me tell you, it was truly difficult to sit there and watch this 20-something girl raped(who ends up pregnant). It was just in poor taste. However, at the same time I can't help but feel like this writer is trying to play out some kind personal fantasy throughout the movie. The main protagonist originally is a male, but suddenly and mysteriously becomes a woman. The film then focuses on this character dealing with his new womanhood and his religious fanatic of a Lieutenant trying to get her pants because it's god's will. Remember the rape scene I mentioned earlier? Do the math. What really confuses me about this all is the protagonist goes from being a confident, tom-boyish newly transformed woman to a crying, helpless, girly-girl, that is suddenly madly in lover with her life-long friend, in no time at all. It just doesn't add up. I really thought I was watching the writer's personal, disgusting(rape) fetish come to life in this film. The whole way the film played out just made me feel a mix of pure confusion and frankly, awkward.Finally, there may or may not be a religious agenda in this film. I personally don't know if this purely for the sake of the plot or if it is the writer trying to push a religious agenda to the audience. I will admit that it seems like the latter several times throughout the movie. "Paradox Alice" is by far one of the worst and backwards films I have endured in years.The whole thing is just a mess from beginning to end and I can safely say you are better off spending your evenings enjoying a much more intelligent film or even just having a nice stare with the wall. This film truly is an insult in the independent film industry.2/10
