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Bellflower
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray ALL - America - Oscilloscope Laboratories Review written by and copyright: Anthony Arrigo (16th November 2011). |
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The Film
 I’m glad that director/writer/actor/editor Evan Glodell had the forethought to realize that if he’s going to make a romance/bromance film, best to hide it in the carcass of a script featuring a “Mad Max” (1979) inspired duo who are building advanced weaponry for the impending apocalypse. This isn’t a chick flick full of sappy emotion; it’s full of MAN RAGE and lots of testosterone, so if guys are going to sit through the relationship drama they’re going to need distractions like flame throwers, and cars that shoot flames, and things that are on fire and burning. Otherwise, we’d probably lose interest shortly after the opening credits. I actually pride myself on the fact that I’ve never voluntarily watched a “chick flick”, nor have I ever been unfortunate enough to date girls who are into watching such films. I will, however, watch romance films that are tailored to a man’s sensibilities. According to the bonus materials, Glodell was inspired to make this film (which had been brewing in his mind for a while) following a nasty break-up. Because, as we all know, nothing can fuel creativity like a woman ripping your heart out and stomping it into the ground. Utilizing the film crew of friends that he’d amassed over time, dubbed “Coatwolf”, Glodell made the film on a shoestring budget and still managed to craft something that can be difficult to categorize, but ultimately plays out like a man’s guide to dating and destruction. Aiden (Tyler Dawson) and Woodrow (Evan Glodell) are a couple of hipsters fresh out to Los Angeles from Wisconsin. Eager to see his friend capture a female, Aiden goads Woodrow to hit on any potential piece of ass that comes his way on their night out. As luck would have it, a bar challenge leads him to Milly (Jessie Wiseman), a local bar slut with a talent for downing live crickets. The two hit it off and Woodrow asks her out, leading to a spontaneous trip to Texas and a chance to get to know each other on a much deeper level than most first dates allow. The two find their relationship progressing nicely until Woodrow catches Milly getting nailed by her former roommate, Mike (Vincent Grashaw). Rather than spend his time moping about, Woodrow and Aiden decide to finish their dream car, the Medusa, a post-apocalyptic vehicle capable of shooting flames and carrying them through the barren wasteland of America in a muscle car chariot. As with most relationships, however, things aren’t quite done with Milly, leading to some nasty encounters that push both of them past the breaking point. It’s your typical “boy-meets-girl/girl-cheats-on-boy/boy-is-fueled-by-anger” love story. The performances here are noticeably stronger than I’d expect from a no-budget production. I’d suspect this is largely due to the rapport that Glodell and his cast members shared before shooting the film. When you’re already at total comfort with the person you’re sharing the screen with (especially if you’re also supposed to be in a relationship) that existing chemistry will immediately shine through in the performances. Half of the genuineness (that’s a word, right?) is probably due to the fact the activities the guys participate in (drinking, building machines of destruction, nailing chicks) are likely what they’d be doing in reality, the only difference being that there’s now a camera focused on them. Sometimes you’ll get these indie actors in movies who are clearly desperate to “hit it big”, and you can practically see their acting school chops working overtime to produce a worthy performance. The actors here, on the other hand, don’t appear like they need to impress anyone. They’re just making a movie, and it’s that casual approach which allows them to appear so loose. Before I make it sound like I love this movie, let me mention some glaring gripes that almost caused me to lose interest entirely. For starters, what exactly do these guys DO? Their primary responsibilities consist of drinking, screwing and driving. Not necessarily in that order, either. Is there a job hidden in there somewhere? Maybe one of them is a trust-fund baby? I’d love to slack ass as much as the next guy, but a lack of independent wealth usually stops most people from enjoying such a relaxed lifestyle. Let’s forget about paying rent, utilities and everyday expenses… now how the hell do these guys afford a sweet ass muscle car AND the ability to transform it into a raging inferno of flame-spewing death? Clearly, this is something we aren’t supposed to think about. It’s a minor, yet major, detail that dissolves the verisimilitude Glodell sought to achieve. I obsess over minor details like this when a film attempts to put me into a “real” scenario, but overlooks crucial details like this. There’s only one character I just couldn’t stand in the film, and that’s Woodrow’s hetero butt buddy, Aiden. I hope it’s just his acting style, but the guy comes across as a humungous douche. He could sanitize the nether regions of a small village’s female population; he’s that douchey. He’s one of those guys who thinks he’s hilarious, so everything he says has some snark in it, but in actuality he’s terribly unfunny and it sounds like he’s trying too hard. Any annoying, hipster qualities that Woodrow might possess instantly vanish when he’s viewed alongside Aiden. His scenes were a major reason why I felt like bailing on the film early on, but luckily he isn’t the main focus of the picture. The guy probably isn’t that big of a jackass in real life (or maybe he is, what do I know) but he’s definitely got acting like one down pat. The more I reflect on the film, the more I find myself appreciating what Glodell has done here. It’s not a great film by any means, and I’m willing to bet many people are going to think it completely sucks, but you can’t argue that the relationships don’t feel genuine. Woodrow runs the gamut of emotions that every guy feels in his situation, and this is a film that gets the range of that emotion right. I might not have been as interested in the proceedings if there wasn’t an undercurrent of post-apocalyptic fantasy involved. It’s badass that these guys build a flamethrower that could legitimately burn a man to death. And that car is such a thing of beauty. Completely improbable that two slackers like these guys could afford to build it? Most definitely, but sometimes you just need to push rational thought out of your mind and watch guys light things on fire.
Video
You aren’t likely to see a film with as unique a look as “Bellflower”, and there’s a good reason for that – director Evan Glodell built the camera himself. Using the chassis of a Silicon Imaging SI-2K mini digital cinema camera, Glodell combined vintage camera parts and Russian lenses to create his own Frankenstein’s monster used to shoot the film. While I applaud his efforts, and the work of cinematographer Joel Hodge, the original aesthetic it lends to the film is both a blessing and a curse. Ten years ago, maybe even five, the film would’ve felt much fresher with the look it’s given, but nowadays every moron with a smartphone thinks he’s the next Stanley Kubrick, and there are a countless numbers of apps that can be used to give film a distressed look that was typically only endemic to older, “grindhouse” style productions. At times I felt that the film stood out due to the techniques used to achieve this look, yet at others it appeared as though the filmmakers were trying to hard to produce distressed visuals with this proprietary camera. It’s more “hit” than “miss”, but I’d like to see how Glodell shoots a film without relying so heavily on visual trickery. The 2.35:1 1080p 24/fps AVC MPEG-4 encoded image is, as you might’ve guessed, all over the place. The dominant hue of the film is yellow, and it leeches into just about every scene. The image does make use of its high-definition benefits by presenting a fair amount of detail and improved strength with both colors and black levels. Glodell’s unique camera rig allowed the camera operator to maintain focus on specific areas of the frame while pushing the others out of focus, meaning there are numerous shots where you’ll see an almost-totally blurred image aside from one or two in-focus objects. It also looks like intentional blemishes were super-imposed within the frame at times, so there are also many shots where you’ll notice what looks like dirt stuck to the camera lens. The picture is likely exactly what Glodell sought to achieve, so this is aesthetically correct. Now, it might not make for the prettiest image, and I’m not even sure how much of an improvement this would be over the DVD, but I can’t fault any of the deficiencies here because they’re all intentional. If I had the option of watching the film as it was shot, or through the lens of a stock digital camera, I’d opt for Glodell’s approach. It might not make for the most attractive, shiny-clean image that the average Blu-ray fan obsesses over, but it certainly went a long way in giving the film a memorable palette.
Audio
The film’s leading duo may have aspirations of surviving in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, but the soundtrack to their lives isn’t as chaotic as that envisioned future. Instead, the English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround sound track mixed at 48kHz/24-bit is a dialogue-heavy affair that only gets punched up when we hit the final stretch of celluloid. Levels are balanced well throughout the track, leaving no line of bromantic dialogue unheard. Once we get into the final third, that’s when the track gets punched up with the arrival of the fully-finished Medusa. The rumble of the vehicle’s engine pumps with a guttural, heavy throttle that makes you feel like you’re standing alongside a drag racer. When flames come bellowing out of the custom exhaust pipes, you can almost feel the heat as you hear them searing the air. The car’s appearance is the only thing giving real weight to the soundtrack. The score, provided by Jonathan Keevil and Kevin MacLeod, is an entrancing mix of synthesizers and trippy bass that made me feel like I could’ve been hearing something Tangerine Dream scored. My only complaint would be that there isn’t enough of it. I’m not saying it’s sparse, but I would’ve preferred to hear more of the work done here instead of random indie tracks that sound like generic compositions some guy would be singing in the mall food court. The score lends itself perfectly to the sci-fi dystopia that the guys envision, sounding like something you’d expect to hear in one of those genre pictures. Subtitles are available in English.
Extras
There’s not a lot of material here, but the included supplements are brief and worth checking out if you’re so inclined. Considering director/writer/star/editor/everyman Glodell put so much of himself into the film, I’m surprised he didn’t record an audio commentary for this release. Still, we get an informative featurette on the film’s production, outtakes, trailers and a second disc containing a DVD copy of the film. DISC ONE: BLU-RAY “Behind the Scenes of Bellflower” (1080p) is a featurette that runs for 23 minutes and 40 seconds. Have you ever watched the bonus features for a film and it made you like the film more? That’s what happened to me here after my initial viewing left me marginally satisfied but also mildly disappointed. Then I watched this, however, and I understood the sense of accomplishment that the filmmakers had after finishing this picture and selling it at Sundance. It’s obvious that a lot of time and effort went into making this film, and for anyone who doesn’t know, making a film isn’t easy. Sure, everyone with a cell phone can pretend their a director, but the tight knit group Glodell employs, better known as Coatwolf, put a lot into making this film just how they wanted to. This is an informative featurette for aspiring filmmakers to watch, not because it breaks down how to do everything from A to B, but because it might inspire you after seeing how these guys pulled it off. “Medusa Rundown” (1080p) is a featurette that runs for 10 minutes and 9 seconds. That badass car from the movie – you know, the one that can shoot flames, put up a smoke screen, has a surveillance system with 3 cameras and will dominate the roadside once the apocalypse hits – is a REAL car. Glodell, a self-admitted tinkerer, built the machine with everything you see as a working option. None of the tricks seen in the film were faked because this car can do it all. This piece provides a total breakdown on everything it’s capable of, and it’s damn impressive to see in action. I’d imagine a large chunk of their budget money was spent getting this thing up to par. Outtakes (1080p) contains a reel of flubbed lines and missed cues, running for 7 minutes and 58 seconds. The film’s theatrical trailer (1080i) runs for 2 minutes and 3 seconds. There are bonus trailers (1080i/p) included for other Oscilloscope releases: - “The Law” runs for 1 minute and 25 seconds. - “Terribly Happy” runs for 2 minutes and 23 seconds. - “Beautiful Losers” runs for 1 minute and 47 seconds. - “Exit Through the Gift Shop” runs for 1 minute and 18 seconds. - “Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale” runs for 2 minutes and 30 seconds. DISC TWO: DVD This is a DVD copy of the film, containing all of the same bonus features listed above.
Packaging
The 2-disc Blu-ray + DVD combo release (spine #40) comes housed in Oscilloscope’s standard cardboard, recycled packaging. The panels feature faded pictures of the film’s stars. Both discs are tucked into cut-outs within the digi-pak, which is housed inside of a sturdy cardboard slip-case.
Overall
While I didn’t exactly love the film, I felt that this was a well-done, realistic depiction of the roller-coaster ride that comes with relationships, albeit with some fantastical elements to help it stand out. Glodell proves to be adept at handling a multitude of duties, giving the picture good direction both behind the camera and in front of it. I kept hoping we’d get the apocalypse the guys were hoping for, but the film ends on such a bleak note that it didn’t matter. It’s a highly stylized bromance with shades of sci-fi, and it manages to work more often than not.
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