High-Def Digest: The Bonus ViewMark Duplass Archives - High-Def Digest: The Bonus View

Sundance Journal: Paddleton

Jason Gorber — Thu, 14 Feb 2019 16:00:33 +0000

Cancer dramas are usually mawkish, teary things, melodramatic films where the fear of loss is exuded in every frame. It’s somewhat refreshing that director Alex Lehmann and co-writer/star Mark Duplass managed with Paddleton to find a way of creating a warm, amusing, and deeply affecting film about friendship and mortality that avoids all the obvious...

The post Sundance Journal: Paddleton appeared first on High-Def Digest: The Bonus View.

‘Table 19’ Review: Great Cast, Shame About the Movie

Philip Brown — Fri, 03 Mar 2017 17:00:36 +0000

There’s a unique pain that comes from watching a movie filled top to bottom with actors who you love shuffling awkwardly through a screenplay completely unworthy of their efforts. ‘Table 19’ is a particularly rough example of the form. Essentially, this is an unofficial remake of ‘The Breakfast Club’ centered on a collection of vaguely...

The post ‘Table 19’ Review: Great Cast, Shame About the Movie appeared first on High-Def Digest: The Bonus View.

‘The Lazarus Effect’ Review: Can’t Quite Rise from the Grave

Philip Brown — Thu, 26 Feb 2015 20:00:29 +0000

The ‘Paranormal Activity’ franchise can be blamed for many problems with the current state of the horror genre, but one definite win to come out of that manufactured phenomenon was the creation of Blumhouse Productions. The horror label has been responsible for a quite a few clever low-budget genre flicks (as well as a handful...

The post ‘The Lazarus Effect’ Review: Can’t Quite Rise from the Grave appeared first on High-Def Digest: The Bonus View.

‘Togetherness’ Pilot Recap: “You Gotta Know When to Kick Him in the Nuts”

Josh Zyber — Tue, 13 Jan 2015 20:00:57 +0000

HBO has a habit of developing half-hour comedies (“sitcom” isn’t quite the right word) by indie filmmakers who like to blur the line between comedy and drama. Some stick while others don’t. The network’s latest attempt in that vein, ‘Togetherness’, comes from Mark and Jay Duplass, the brothers behind movies like ‘Cyrus‘ and ‘Jeff Who...

The post ‘Togetherness’ Pilot Recap: “You Gotta Know When to Kick Him in the Nuts” appeared first on High-Def Digest: The Bonus View.

‘The One I Love’ Review: Mumble-Horror

Philip Brown — Fri, 22 Aug 2014 15:00:06 +0000

Mixing together conventions of the quirky indie broken romance with ‘Twilight Zone’-style conceptual horror, ‘The One I Love’ is if nothing else a unique film. It opens by feeling like a movie you’ve seen a thousand times before, mutates into something you’ve never seen before, and then devolves into something you’ve only seen about a...

The post ‘The One I Love’ Review: Mumble-Horror appeared first on High-Def Digest: The Bonus View.

‘Tammy’ Review: A Crack in McCarthy’s Armor

Philip Brown — Thu, 03 Jul 2014 15:00:41 +0000

The success streak that Melissa McCarthy has enjoyed since ‘Bridesmaides’ couldn’t last forever. ‘Tammy’ may be her first outright failure as a star vehicle. The comedy isn’t a complete disaster, though. At least its failings are due to an overreaching ambition rather than just lazily strumming out the hits once more. It’s safe to say...

The post ‘Tammy’ Review: A Crack in McCarthy’s Armor appeared first on High-Def Digest: The Bonus View.

Weekend Movies: Not a ‘Trek’ Fan? Ha!

Luke Hickman — Fri, 17 May 2013 16:00:06 +0000

Captain’s log Five dot One-Seven dot One-Three. Get off your asses and head to the closest large-format screen immediately! Leading up to the blockbuster season, ‘Iron Man 3’ was probably my most anticipated movie, but if you read my spoilery anti-‘Iron Man’ post from a couple weeks ago, then you know that I wasn’t satisfied...

The post Weekend Movies: Not a ‘Trek’ Fan? Ha! appeared first on High-Def Digest: The Bonus View.

Weekend Movies: Savage Spiders and Bubblegum Pop Stars

Luke Hickman — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 13:00:35 +0000

The timing of this week’s movies has been strange. The $220 million comic book franchise blockbuster opened on Tuesday – which was to be expected considering that Wednesday was a major box office holiday. The teeny-bopper pop-music concert documentary received an odd Thursday opening. And the only major opener actually hitting the big screen on...

The post Weekend Movies: Savage Spiders and Bubblegum Pop Stars appeared first on High-Def Digest: The Bonus View.

Weekend Movies: An Awkward Threesome

Luke Hickman — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 15:00:23 +0000

There are really only three movies that you need to know about this weekend. Two must be brought to your attention specifically so that you don’t make the mistake of accidentally seeing them, but the third is so good that you need to go out of your way to see it. I’ll bet you can’t...

The post Weekend Movies: An Awkward Threesome appeared first on High-Def Digest: The Bonus View.

Weekend Movies: Animals, Aliens & Misfits

Luke Hickman — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 15:00:07 +0000

One of my Big Three most anticipated movies of the summer opens this weekend – and, no, it’s not the ‘Madagascar’ three-quel. Eight days have passed since I saw a screening of ‘Prometheus‘, and I’ve been dying for it to open. Not only do I want to see it again (this time in IMAX 3D),...

The post Weekend Movies: Animals, Aliens & Misfits appeared first on High-Def Digest: The Bonus View.

Sundance Journal: ‘Safety Not Guaranteed’

Aaron Peck — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 20:00:30 +0000

Many of the narrative films I saw at Sundance this year seemed to need a few edits or some reworking to be truly viable in the mass market. ‘Safety Not Guaranteed’, on the other hand, is perfect the way it is. No alterations are needed. This was the most complete narrative film I saw at...

The post Sundance Journal: ‘Safety Not Guaranteed’ appeared first on High-Def Digest: The Bonus View.

Sundance Journal: ‘Black Rock’

Aaron Peck — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 18:00:18 +0000

I let myself get my hopes up really high for ‘Black Rock’. I mean, tremendously high. I love Mark Duplass, who wrote the movie. I love Katie Aselton, who directs and stars in it. My high expectations for the film were definitely factored into my final thought: This movie sucks. This is quite possibly one...

The post Sundance Journal: ‘Black Rock’ appeared first on High-Def Digest: The Bonus View.