Web Series Showcase: Fruit Bat (2018)

The famous though goes: an author has a writer's block and she/he ends it by writing something about - vampires. No one can deny that the world did not have its share of vampire fiction in almost any and every imaginable form. From crunchy kid snacks to video games, count Dracula and other like him have marked the pop culture landscape ever since Bram Stoker got us hooked on these creatures of the night.

However, few would deny that there has been somewhat of a saturation in the bloodsucking market. When this happens, the airwaves are ripe for one of the most important genres - parody. This is exactly the thing that Alex J. Murphy and Javahead Productions decided to do with his work. Here is the description of an upcoming web series of short films called Fruit Bat:

Short Film Review: Happened in the Present (2018)

The internet proved that entertaining and extremely low-budget movies, featuring a medium-length runtime can be made today. Just a decade or two earlier, films of this type, lasting between 20 and 40 minutes were considered an impossible venture outside of student exercises. Movies like The Defector are a perfect example that this is no longer true. Now, a new film called Happened in the Present show that this formula can be applied to a YouTube work of art and end up as something regular viewers can easily enjoy.

This film is the work of Mark Sarko, a director and hip-hop artist based in Germany that has clearly been around the entertainment industry. The plot presents a process of unorthodox investigation that begins with a body turning up in the bathtub of an apartment. From these, a duo of oddly mixed individuals starts their search for the truth behind this event, mostly using music and weird analytical capabilities.

Documentary: Imagine Nation (2018)

Electronic Dance Music or EDM is one of the unsung heroes of the ongoing digital revolution. From its modest beginnings decades ago when first audio engineering pioneers started experimenting with modifying guitar processors to the birth of DJ and computer music production, the EDM has been growing constantly and consistently all over the world.

Imagine Nation is an impressive new documentary taking a look in this domain and doing it at a festival that holds a very special place for the EDM culture. Here how the film describes itself:

What started as a small city festival in Atlanta has blossomed into one of the largest EDM festivals in North America. Viewers are immersed into the event's eye-popping stage production, insane pyrotechnics, diversified line-up of headliners from around the world, a wide array of stage performers, Avant Garde art installations, stunt riders, and carnival rides.

Two Paragraph Review: Upgrade (2018)

First, let's talk about the weakest part of this film - in the beginning, the movie stumbles with its exposure and buildup. The main character Gray, an anti-technology car mechanic living in a futuristic near future, seems like a fish out of the water, but not in any intended way. Sure, the plot is clearly going to an ominous place but it appears to be taking its sweet time to get there in the first 20 minutes. The screen time for this part of the story feels somehow wasted and there is no meaningful connection neither between Gray and his wife Asha, nor between him and the life he’s living.

But, with the intro into the story ending and the actual plot beginning, the movie switches gears. The biggest improvement at that point is the introduction of STEM, a self-conscious chip that bridges Gray’s damaged spinal cord and turns him into a flesh-based robot. STEM is a combination of KITT from Knight Rider and HAL 9000 and it quickly transforms the film into a brilliant action movie. With some exceptional cinematography from the director Leigh Whannell and smart and funny script (which is miles away from the awkward and sloppy opening), Upgrade is sure among the top action films of the year so far.

Two-Paragraph Review: I, Tonya (2017)

It would be a complete waste of time to watch this movie and figure out it is only a complex showreel for Margot Robbie where she demonstrates her acting talents. Fortunately, the film is not this but a dark comedy that happens to be rooted in reality. For those in the US, the story of Tonya Harding is probably well-known and the film uses this fact. It quickly rewinds her life up and down as it builds towards the key element – the entire scandal with the wounding of Nancy Kerrigan.

Here, the film for me falters. I, Tonya am neither a film about this haunted yet brilliant person nor is it about a wacky crime in the sports world of the 1990s. It is something in-between and that is why it works as something in-between bad and good. No one is to blame for this and it does not hamper the film too much, but it does end up making the movie feel like a really expensive afternoon TV release. 

Indie Showcase: Sinking Sand (2018)

The plot that is based on crime and punishment is as old as time itself, even before a particular Russian novelist used it for one of his famous books. After all, it is something we're all instantly interested in, no matter what the actual story or the setting might be.

The appeal of the concept is clear and also the reason why centuries pass and it remains as fresh as ever. Sinking Sand is a new indie thriller-drama that is utilizing the very same idea. Here is how the movie explains its plot:

After a loving wife murders a blackmailer to protect her husband’s flourishing law career, she must watch as he prosecutes another for her crime.