Yellow Rock (2011)

I'll tell you why so serious

A different way of telling a story

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

The film opens with a poorly scripted, worse read narrative about the plight of the Native Americans. Max Dietrich (James Russo) an apparently bad guy comes into Yellow Rock to hire Tom Hanner (Michael Biehn) to take him through Black Paw territory so he can locate his missing brother and nephew. His party of men end up with Dr. Sarah Taylor, an interpreter respected by the Black Paw and a member of the tribe (Michael Spears) to make sure they don't pass through the sacred burial grounds which would curse them. Of course they pass through the daylight medieval misty burial grounds and the film takes the anticipated twist.The acting was over done to the point of being bad. Lenore Andriel, who also wrote and produced this film was perhaps the worse of the lot reminding me of a laughable Angelique Pettyjohn. I understand shooting a film on a budget, but if you are going to use a modern Presidential coin to be a $20 gold piece, don't show a close-up of the coin. C'mon Nick, at least look at the final edited version of the film.The film ends, likewise as it begins with a narrative that should have remained on the cutting room floor.*Winner Best Picture - 2011 Red Nation Film Festival *Winner Best Director - Nick Vallelonga - 2011 Red Nation Film Festival *Winner Best Actor - Michael Spears - 2011 Red Nation Film FestivalIt did win these awards with 3 nominations in each category. i.e. it was judged better than 2 other films "Breaking Dawn" and "Every Emotion Costs."Parental Guide: No f-bombs, sex, or nudity. Some minor adult language.

I recently rented yellow rock and was surprised. I had gathered that it was a low budget Indie film. It sure did not look low budget. There was a large cast of well known actors, beautiful sets and a clear and well lighted picture. These are things I would associate with "not low budget project", but there they were! Now the story: It is a western in the real traditional sense, but, and here is the important part, it offers a window into the lives of the Native American Peoples of California prior to their destruction. A fascinating, lost history with a touch of pathos for what has been destroyed. Of course, It is not on the scale of Dances with Wolves due to the budget, but it is a well researched and very enjoyable movie. An indie that looks like a big budget production.

I'm a huge western fan but the other 2 reviewers on this film are way off base...must be related biased basis to the production of the film. This film is just awful... you'd be far better off just watching an old episode of Roy Rogers. The acting and the script are both completely lacking of any substance and with half the budget and a camcorder anyone could have made a better western than this...don't waste your time. The story line needs work and in many places scene changes are completely disjointed. The actress playing the good doctor simply isn't believable in her role and her lines are lacking in reality. The bad guys are really the only semi-bright spot but there is absolutely no character development from that end either. The movie sets were extremely amateurish but the camera work and cinematography were at least somewhat up to standard for such a low budget film. Nevertheless, I absolutely can not recommend this film even to the most die-hard western fan.

"I don't give a damn about those Indians, all I care about is finding my brother and the boy." When Max Dietrich's (Russo) brother and son go missing he sets out to find them. When he gets to the town of Yellow Rock he hires Tom Hanner (Biehn) to guide him to where his brother is. After meeting up with a doctor and getting permission from the tribe's elders they set out on the path to find them. Against the wishes of the Indian guide with them they pass through a sacred burial ground. I'll save you the "western genre is dead" speech, but again this is another movie that isn't terrible but is a B-movie at best. The idea is neat and the cast actually has people that I've heard of but like most westerns lately this one is very slow moving and not really worth watching more then once. Little by little it seems like western movies are starting to get better, but at this pace it will have a full revival in the year 2067. Overall, not as bad as most of the new westerns that have been made and worth watching, but don't expect amazing. I give it a B-.