I love the fact that we have a sophomore independent film this year. From my point of view, it means that these film makers will have 3 years to hone their craft. Hannah Mullen (yes, that Mullen) is directing this film along with Rory Hardiman. These two, along with their asst. director, Doug Stewart, took the summer course and know what they’re doing. Nevertheless, as with any sophomore film we need to keep expectations in check. These guys are out to get laughs, and I think they can get them. Their star, Kyle Rafftery is a funny, talented kid. So far, they are very pleased with his performance. Also, they agreed to have Marvin Jean-Simon co-star in the film. Marvin has a very funny role as the goofy friend, so he should do well. The script works, but it’s up against other screenplays that were able to go through a good 9 to 11 months of drafts and revisions; whereas, these guys punched out their screenplay in a few months. From what I have seen so far (and it is tough, since they’re editing it at home) I think that this could be the best sophomore effort since Sabotage. That movie was technically very sound, but didn’t resonate with the crowd as well as it had hoped. Nevertheless, let’s not forget what happened to the crew of Sabotage two years later when they made their films as seniors—those students won Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Art Director. I expect a similar result from this crew in 2014.
Buzz: A Tall Peppermint Hot Chocolate
MUSIC TRIVS:
These guys are an independent crew, so they won’t compete in most trivs battles. They will compete at the end-of-the-year wrap party (they’ll receive the same points as the lowest score). They do have a music trivs stud in Kyle Rafftery. This kid can play. And, if they keep Pat Connell in the movie, they’ll have the two best players that the sophomore class has. So, they could do some damage at the end of the year.