Netflix Longies #1 (Girl Model, Kumaré, Foreign Parts, I Like Killing Flies, Monica & David)

This is basically the opposite of my Netflix Quickies series. Instead of movies I picked randomly on Netflix Instant that I tried for a few minutes and hated, these are ones I fell in love with and watched all of. So definitely check them out.

By the way, these are all documentaries, because for some reason the only stuff I’ve given five stars on Netflix lately have been docs. Just been really lucky with them, I guess.

girlpic


Girl Model (2011)
Directed by David Redmon and Ashley Sabin
78 min.
Continue reading Netflix Longies #1 (Girl Model, Kumaré, Foreign Parts, I Like Killing Flies, Monica & David)

Advice Column #6 (4/22/13)

fast
Hottest naked female on screen ever, please. Thanks! – Jason B.

Cody Clarke: This is such an easy question to answer. There are thousands and thousands of possible picks, all of them completely valid. But I’m gonna go way out of left field here with an obscure, underdog as fuck choice: (NSFW, obviously)

Editor’s Note (12/4/14): We no longer answer movie questions through our advice column. We answer them in the mailbag segment of our podcast. Send them to Cody@SmugFilm.com and we will answer on the show!
Continue reading Advice Column #6 (4/22/13)

The 10 Best Movies You’ve Never Seen

I realize it’s a little presumptuous to say you’ve never seen these movies.  Some of you out there may have seen a few, but some are so rare I’m almost certain they have only been seen by like one dude other than myself.  And some, I’m sorry to say, are virtually unavailable.  So you may have to do some digging.  But it’s more than worth it.

audience2

10.  Audience of One (2007) | Dir. Mike Jacobs | 88 min.

I had the pleasure of seeing this little-known documentary at a bar in Brooklyn a few years ago.  Rather than wax on about how great it is, I’ll just tell you what it’s about, because you’ll immediately want to see it.
Continue reading The 10 Best Movies You’ve Never Seen

The Innkeepers: A Crappy Horror Movie That Could’ve Been One of the Best Ever

innkeep


The Innkeepers (2011)
Written & Directed by Ti West
101 min.

Spoilers ahead. But not in the two paragraphs directly below this sentence.

What happened with this one? It really makes no sense how it could be so bad. The House of the Devil, Ti West’s film right before this, is pitch-perfect. A modern classic dripping with maturity. Easily one of my favorite horror movies of all time. The Innkeepers, however, is blatantly botched. So much so that it’s hard to believe he didn’t make it prior to The House of the Devil. How does one go from being the most intelligent horror writer-director around to being a hack in two short years? Did he get hit on the head or something?

I suspect the studio insinuated itself during the writing process, with awful script notes and the like. The thing just plain feels tinkered with and compromised, because the story starts off solid, and where he seemed to be going with it was genius and groundbreaking. And then unfortunately, for whatever reason, knowingly or unknowingly, he veered off onto a well-worn, safe, hackneyed path that robbed it entirely of depth.
Continue reading The Innkeepers: A Crappy Horror Movie That Could’ve Been One of the Best Ever

Advice Column #5 (4/15/13)

raid
Any recent good overlooked action movies? I liked The Raid but haven’t seen much else worth a damn. – John T.

John D’Amico: Short answer: yes. Long answer: yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes.

Editor’s Note (12/4/14): We no longer answer movie questions through our advice column. We answer them in the mailbag segment of our podcast. Send them to Cody@SmugFilm.com and we will answer on the show!
Continue reading Advice Column #5 (4/15/13)