I got some stick and rightly so, people put a lot of effort into making these films and they should be proud of what they have achieved. It has now thought come to the stage to take a look at the reviews that have come out of Sundance.
"Hilarity should ensue, but the humor drummed up by Wright and scenarist Kevin Lehane is pretty tepid, middlebrow stuff; despite the idea's potential, this doesn't come within spurting distance of "Evil Aliens," "Shaun of the Dead," et al" LinkDennis Harvey reviewed for Variety and gave the film a pretty rough ride. He puts one small plus point to the film being,
"Trevor Forrest's widescreen lensing of County Donegal scenery"LinkNext review and I shall give you one quote from Fearnet.com, I shan't link.
"So it's an Irish monster movie about a monster that can't eat drunk people. Come on, that's pretty cute."They seemed to love it. Not really much to get from the review as they analyse "the talkier bits". Next review. This final review gives the film a pretty good dressing down. It is the only review with a rating and it comes in at a 1.5/5. Nicholas Bell reviews for Ioncinema.com
"Intentionally goofy, and drearily written, your reception of the film will all depend on how high you set your stakes. ThinkTremors (1990) was a classic? Maybe you’ll enjoy this tired flick." Link
I was rather surprised to see such a harsh review. Did not expect the writing to be so badly received. It is a low budget horror after all.
It seems that overall Grabbers has had a pretty bad reception and with its constant referral as
"but even if you have to see it sober, it’s a fun, small British film, complete with the requisite British humor and characters actors" LinkThis goes ahead and opens a brand new can of worms as to what is an Irish or British film but a film made in Ireland, funded by the Irish Film Board with Irish actors, Written by an Irish man, Directed by a Northern Irish man but yet, not made in America? British film then.
Come on people Ireland can make films! Let us get out there and show it.
When the majority of your reviews are overwhelmingly positive and the bad reviews put Evil Aliens on a pedestal and knock Tremors it says a lot more about the "critics" than the film itself.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.empireonline.com/empireblogs/under-the-radar/post/p1190
Hey Whatever,
ReplyDeleteI am not saying its a bad film. I never have. My issue is that it is playing on stereotypes and clichés that I think Irish film is better to move on from. That is my own opinion and every review wether bad or good points to the same thing, its a film about Irish people getting drunk with monsters.
"Like Super 8 laced with Special Brew – but with nothing to sleep off in the morning." http://www.empireonline.com/empireblogs/under-the-radar/post/p1190
It shouldn't be the case, it should be that we make a film and its like Super 8.
I think we need to do things differently but thats my own opinion and if this is what people want and what is getting funded then that is what we are going to see. I am not a fan of critics either and felt they were far to harsh but yet again I have yet to see the film.
Guy
Playing WITH the stereotypes and clichés. There's a big difference. Wait to see the film, Guy. It will be out in cinemas later this year and you can decide for yourself whether the film is slumming it or subverting it, whatever that may be.
ReplyDeleteAnd keep this in mind: the film never would have been backed by the UKFC, the IFB, and/or Northern Irish Screen if it were a dumb, offensive cliché ridden monster movie. And it never would've been selected from over 5,000 films to play at Sundance if it were a charmless, derivative comedy. It's a film that's fun, clever and original. Of course I'm biased as I worked on it (and have commented before on this site) but I have to speak up when I see it being maligned and reviews being chosen from sites with sub-headings like "We love subtitles". Of course it's not for that viewer. Lastly, for every one star review there are four star reviews as well.
http://www.upcoming-movies.com/Articles/sundance-2012-grabbers-review-four-stars-clever-monsters-and-an-irish-twist-boost-family-friendly-monster-tale/
I appreciate your input. I am glad to see people making films in Ireland no matter what they are. It has done very well for itself and like yourself I would be very proud (and so you should be) of working on a film that premiere's at Sundance.
ReplyDeleteGet the other reviews up here http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1525366/externalreviews
Not a good spread of reviews currently.
Hopefully the powers-that-be will put all the positive reviews up on that IMDB page as it truly did get a great reaction.
ReplyDelete