Bravo for the B-side Podcast

Birdemic:  Shock and Terror is supposed to be a message of environmentalism, but like the shock and terror in the title it misses out on all three.  James Nguyen lost his message in an almost violently slow film that tests the limits of boredom.  While there are kudos for making the film he wanted, the only lessons here are what not to do.  More importantly, we stick hard on the tenet of knowing the structure of a story, particularly the importance of having a plot.

Birdemic:  Shock and Terror can be found on Tubi.

The indie film All We Had gives us the directorial debut of Katie Holmes. A story about a woman fighting poverty while raising her teenage daughter, in the hope of giving her daughter a better life. Solid cinema work, great directorial debut for Katie Holmes, this adaptation suffers from the original author, and adaptation writers, not having actually lived this kind of life. The beats are there, but the connecting webs between are missing.

All We Had can be found on Tubi.

We dive into the David Ryan Keith film I Am Rage.  David’s first action-horror delivers as we follow Erin, a woman with a terrible past, as she gets caught up in a centuries’ old family business that is definitely hazardous to her health.  I Am Rage is a departure from David’s previous films, i.e Redwood Massacre, Attack of the Herbals, Ghosts of Darkness, and for a first run it is brilliant.  We talk cinematography, writing, action, direction, pacing and more.

I Am Rage can be found on Tubi.

We are back!  And we are diving into Love Song of William H Shaw.  The third film in the FrenZee series, following Finding FrenZee and Revenge of Zoe, we rejoin our favorite characters John, Pete, and Billy.  This time around John and Pete are at odds, and Billy Shaw needs to figure out how to mend the rift.  Pure Indie film is what you will find here.  We have a lot of good things to say, and important lessons for creatives of all levels.  Jump in for this fairly spoiler-free coverage.

Love Song for William H Shaw is not yet in distribution.

We do love a thriller, but it has to thrill. Unfortunately The Invitation does not provide any thrills. Good direction by Karyn Kusama, good cinematography, decent performances, but things fall apart with the writing. We do pick out some good lessons from this one, but once again one of those lessons is a Do Not Do. Poor writing had the film basically figured out in the first ten minutes. Also, suspension of disbelief is stretched to the limit. You can see that money was well spent on the technical aspects.

The Invitation can be found on Tubi.

Someone reached out, and we watched their film. The Rogue Barrens is a no-budget, short feature that delivers. Exemplifying everything about Indie film – economy of locations, making the best of available equipment, simple story, and a low-overhead of effects. One big boost is a professionally scored soundtrack. These young filmmakers are the primary reason we started this podcast, which is to inspire newcomers, beginners, and everyone else. It’s fitting that their film should inspire others in their creative endeavor. A joy to watch, we have a lot of fun talking about this one.

The Rogue Barrens can be found on YouTube.

Sometimes a movie hits some deep personal beats. The film Evergreen does just that, and a lot more. This excellent indie film has some rock-solid lessons on direction, writing, pacing, and more. Fantastic performances and clear, crisp storytelling brings you in to the very personal journey of a young woman’s learning experience about life and family. A must watch for technical lessons as well as solid entertainment.

Evergreen can be found on Tubi.

We swing into Almost Adults, a great film about best friends evolving into being full-on grown-ups. There is a lot of great stuff here, thematically and technically. Performances are wonderful and the movie is well written. It brings you in for the ride with familiarity and perhaps nostalgia. An out of the park hit, it’s something everyone should watch not just for the technical lessons but also for a solid theme.

Almost Adults can be found on Tubi.

We give tribute to the great Danny Trejo, an actor that we simply adore and who deserves a tribute for more reasons than just being in movies. We have friend Miles Trout from the Discdump Podcast joining us to pay homage to a man who is not only a spectacular example of taking control of the second act of your life, but also just a damn good guy. His movies are fantastic, making him an Indie and B movie megastar. Join us as we talk about Trejo’s films, life, and just have fun.

Miles’ Links:

Discdump Podcast
‎Disc Dump Podcast on Apple Podcasts

High on Horror
‎High on Horror on Apple Podcasts

Toast of the Realms
Toast of the Realms Podcast – Home | Facebook

Deciding it was time for a horror film, we jumped in to Doctor Carver. Disappointment comes in all forms, and this film managed to pretty much deliver on all of them. We knew what we were getting into, as director Louisa Warren brought us Leprechaun Games which was just terrible. Filled with inconsistent editing, mind-numbing repetition of the moral message in the plot, lazy effects, and a ham, the lessons here are what not to do when making a film. Lots of those lessons within.

Doctor Carver can be found on Tubi.