I Can See You (2008) / The Viewer (2009 3D Short Film) (2008) Review

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"I Can See You" is a fascinating low-budget horror film by Graham Reznick. The three-man staff of a boutique ad firm leave their Brooklyn home base and head to a rural campsite to toss around ideas for a new campaign for a household cleaning product. What begins as a low-pressure brainstorming session becomes a horrifying nightmare where the borders between reality and imagination, sanity and madness, are re-drawn or erased completely. Director Reznick moves things along slowly at first, with few traditional moments of terror. He backloads the horror and makes the viewer wait for it by creating a feeling of unease, laying the groundwork for the fireworks in the final reel. I was reminded of several films -"The Hills Have Eyes," "The Evil Dead," and "Un Chien Andalou" -though "I Can See You" has a unique quirkiness all its own. Special features include a behind-the-scenes featurette, deleted scenes, and cast and crew audio commentaries. Also included is the 3-D short (yes, those glasses are included) "The Viewer," shot entirely from the perspective of an accused killer facing interrogation. Like "I Can See You," "The Viewer" evokes genre clichés only to subvert them.

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Graham Reznick's "I Can See You" is not the resurrection of the horror genre, as critics from the Village Voice have so grandstandingly claimed; it is, however, a fun tour de force into a psychic zone that many people will indeed have to watch a movie (this one?) to experience.

The linear plot really doesn't matter too much. Three "ad men"-the contemptible, snakey Doug (Duncan Skiles) , the..strange Richards, looking like an ad himself for a return to 70's apparel, and the robotic Kimble. Kimble is sorta like every person you've ever met in your life with no personality and, strangely enough, a girlfriend who has plenty (Neal Jonas).

The three go camping to brainstorm for new ideas to represent their moutwashing product. The whole thing is a bit incongrous: these three actors, obviously green, are art house hipsters trying to act like businessmen (not really though: it's barely concealed.) This adds, however, to the disorienting atmosphere which is at first darkly comical and then becomes sinister in a way which is difficult to articulate. If Luis Bunuel and David Lynch had collaborated on how a man's psyche can breakdown during stress, *perhaps* this would have emerged. Rebellion against the Daddy figure plays a big part in Richards' serious breakdown (the scene in the lake with hippie girl Sonia is perhaps the most effective).

The chief flaw with this noble endeavor is that it is TOO MUCH Lynch. I don't know if the gang had been smoking j's and repeatedly watching Lost Highway and Mulholland Drive repeatedly or not, but it sure seems that way sometimes. Coming with a set of three D goggles and an entertaining short "interrogation" film, this is well worth the watch if you'd enjoy the brain matter of every tweaked filmmakers smattered together with a sprinkle of acid here and there. I did.

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A group of guys from an advertising agency -including one young man who has been struggling to paint a portrait of his father, but can't properly visualize the man's face -are looking for inspiration for an ad campaign for a cleaning fluid. They decide to take a jaunt into the woods and come to a very bad end -although exactly what the nature of that end might be is eerily unclear. The first half of the film is basically all ominous, atmospheric set-up, aided considerably by the brilliantly creative sound design that is also integral to the film's nightmarishly bizarre second half. Horror fans with conventional tastes will likely hate this fascinating first feature from writer/director Graham Reznick (see the clueless one-star reviews below). In fact, you'll be more prone to enjoy I CAN SEE YOU if you can appreciate avant-garde filmmakers such as Kenneth Anger and Stan Brakhage at least as much as you enjoy John Carpenter or George Romero. The thing is, some viewers have an appreciation for cinema as a visual art form and some are just blind to it. To be engaged by a film like I CAN SEE YOU, you have to have an imagination to engage in the first place, and an inherent feel for the sort of dark poetry of the subconscious that's on display here. The DVD also features THE VIEWER, a terrific, award-winning 3D short film that plays with your head in an oddly dizzying way.

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Crap. Director did great work with Stakeland, etc., not blaming.him, as the script was obviously stinky. This was a bucket of poo.

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This was another crappy movie that is just a total waste of time and electricity. I don't know how movies like this ever get financial backing.

Pixar Short Films Collection 2 (2012) Review

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This is the second collection of Pixar Shorts, but the first one that I've seen. I have to admit that I loved the Toy Story films and "UP" was one of my favorites but I've missed "Cars" and it's sequel and the others.

The Bluray at hand contains a dozen shorts, clocking in at 75 minutes. Each can be played with, or without, the Directors' commentaries. (So you get about 2 ½ hours of entertainment in the base package). The other bonus is really neat. It's a selection of seven "Student Films" from the three top Pixar directors: John Lassiter, Andrew Stanton and Pete Doctor. These were made in the late 1980s and each one (they run about six minutes each) is introduced by the Director. Some are just animated line drawings with sound while others are more fully realized and were shown in the Mike and Ike Animation festival. All were new to me and I found them fascinating and fun.

As to the "core dozen", there are both what I'll call "funny" and "serious" shorts and not all use the CGI method of animation. Two are offshoots of the film "UP". The first features Dug, the dog. It's okay. The other "George & AJ" shows that the senior, Carl (Ed Asner) in "Up" was not the only one who wanted to escape the retirement home. I liked that one.

There are two offshoots of "Cars" with the hayseed pickup, Mater, telling "tall tales". Clever.

"Toy Story" has two offshoots too and they are a hoot! "Hawaiian Vacation" does a real job on Barbie and Ken (especially Ken) as they try to leave the toy chest for Hawaii. The other "Small Fry" takes digs at Fast Food "meal deal prizes". Wonder where all those outdated toys from movie tie-ins that failed go? You (and Buzz Lightyear) will find out here.

"Day and Night" is a wordless piece as is "Partly Cloudy" and what I'll call the "serious" ones. This is a case where you'll get more out of it after you hear the commentary track.

While "Small Fry" was close in the "funniest short in the set", the hands-down winner is the opener: "Your Friend The Rat". Two characters from "Ratatouille" present in about seven minutes the "History of the Rat", just like the old Disney Educational cartoons of the 1950s did. Director Jim Capobianco uses 2-D, hand drawn animation as well as other "old school" techniques along with CGI in a short you'll watch a few time just to catch the jokes and clever satire.

As fellow reviewer N. Schoenfeld pointed out in his "review" (actually a "preview" since he had not yet seen the collection) the Bluray set is pricey, but I'm not reviewing price here. The images are sharp even on my 30 year-old standard def TV screen and there is an amazing amount of creativity here. The "Cars" and "Toy Story" shorts will appeal to small children (but they won't get a lot of the "inside" jokes"). They'll probably be bored with the "serious" ones and the less flashy "Student Films" too. But adults who love great animation will find a lot in this set to enjoy!

I hope you found this review both informative and helpful.

Steve Ramm

"Anything Phonographic"

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If you like Pixar Shorts and want to watch them all in one place without popping discs in and out this is a great deal.

However, there are two ways this falls short of the first volume:

1) The first volume had some Pixar stuff that had never been collected along with specials/shorts from the various title discs. Everything on this disc is found elsewhere.

2) The first volume had a "Play All" option which was great for just popping the disc in and watching. This volume doesn't seem to have that feature which means you have to keep selecting the next short to watch. My kids love watching these and I frequently popped the first disc in while working in the kitchen or on a drive to occupy them and now this is no longer an option for the second volume.

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Anyone who has seen Pixar shorts, knows how wonderful they are. The content on this disc is no exception. But this is a product review, so the value of the product as well as the film itself should be taken into account.

Considering this product is the price of a feature film release, and that there are 40 mins of content here, and 50+ mins of content on volume 1, I don't see the value here. It would be better if all shorts up until now were contained on one set, and with a greater amount of special features. (These special features do exist, but unfortunately you have to buy all of Pixar's feature films, along with their shorts, to get them all). I wouldn't be as critical, but Disney is notorious for releasing something, then re-releasing it, followed by a re-re-release a year later.

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Twenty bucks for a collections of short films seemed a little steep, but I felt like it was money well spent after the first 10 minutes.

It's difficult for me to imagine that you won't love this, but I know everyone's different. I will say this: If you've ever seen and enjoyed a Pixar film, you owe it to yourself to watch this.

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With very few exceptions, the content on this disc can be found on the full-length PIXAR Blu-rays, so if you already have those, think carefully before buying.

Also, (as mentioned by others), what genius forgot to program a "Play All" feature on a disc with a bunch of 5 minute films??