15 Till Midnight (2010)

People are voting emotionally.

Let's be realistic.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

I'm not a professional reviewer, so I'm not going to get into all the fine details, but felt I needed to give this film a fair shake after seeing all the negative reviews. I can only guess they are expecting some multi-million dollar blockbuster with city destroying explosions, robots, and half naked chicks. This film was filmed on a shoestring budget, over a very tight shooting window, by guys that are "semi-pro" (for lack of a better word...)Anyways, with that in mind, I thought the movie was excellent. First of all, it has a plot line, that's solid, and thought provoking. More than I can say for those robot films... The acting isn't bad at all, absolutely no worse than Shia's, so don't see that argument either. Yes, I will agree the soundtrack was a bit overbearing at times, so audio I would consider the weakest part of the film, the actors didn't seem mic'd properly a few times, but no where near killed the movie for me. Camera work was solid, and effects felt appropriate to the situation.Overall, I enjoyed the film, felt the story was intriguing and deep. Which I what I watch movies for, not from eye candy. It held me through the entire film. People just need to watch it as an indie production and stop expecting a $200 million dollar budget.

The premise of the movie has the makings of a great scifi movie.Unfortunately, this isn't it.Amateurish acting and god-awful dialog overpower the almost acceptable photography, special effects and music and drags this film down to very pits of movie hell. And that's just the first 5 minutes.Playing the part of the main character, Lukas Reyes, actor Brandon Slagle's delivery is totally devoid of the main ingredient that makes up even a merely good actor's repertoire--the ability to deliver up lines without appearing to be acting. The subtext of his entire delivery from the beginning to the end of this film is "I'M ACTING!!!" in capital letters and, yes, three exclamation points.Part of Mr. Slagle's problem may have been the total lack of any character development. Not only is the main character not believable, he's pretty much devoid of any but the most rudimentary emotions making it hard to empathize or sympathize with his problems.The rest of the cast is merely mediocre, brought on no doubt by Mr Slagle's poor performance and, again, the total lack of any character development at all.In addition to poor acting and non-existent character development, there's the dialog. Some scenes in this movie were so long and drawn out, with no meaningful relationship to the development of the plot that I found myself wishing that someone would drive a car through the house just so I'd have something interesting see. Much like this review, this film could have been half as long as it is without any loss of context.A couple of the previous reviews of this movie have mentioned an "intellectual storyline." If there is an intellectual storyline in this flick, it is buried under a pile of bad acting and dialog so deep that no professional well-digger or archaeologist will ever be able penetrate it.As for becoming a cult classic. The only place this film will ever be a cult classic is in some future resurrection of "Mystery Science Theater 3000" or whatever takes its place.I was hoping for better treatment of a concept that's been around the science fiction world for umpteen years and a plot that has been--one version or another--in at least a half dozen science fiction stories.Summary in four words? It REALLY does suck.

It's funny how people tend to want to rip this film apart in reviews , the best part is the film was made in 7 days and on a very small budget with a crew of 4 including the director . The film is shot on red one and everyone that has been watching it is watching a stolen version which is a rough cut of the film and people have been misled to think this is the finished film. It's a shame when people steal films and throw them online.I have to say the film stands strong for what time limit there was to shoot and to get it in done with heavy equipment and camera and limited crew . I would like to see all the people that speak such ill things about others go out and make a film . It's understandable for people to like or dislike something. It's still a good indie film and for people to compare it to 40 to 60 million dollar budgets just makes me laugh...I give the film 8 stars for the hard work that goes into the indie film making.

15 Till MidnightThe phrase "High Concept Sci-Fi" is tossed around quite a bit these days, and usually directed at big budget films like Christopher Nolan's Inception or Alfonso Cuarón's Children of Men, films that take the science fiction genre into strange new worlds beyond the typical "Space Opera" genre.15 Till Midnight is just such a film, breaking down the walls of the big budget Sci-Fi extravaganza and stripping it down to its core, proving that you don't need a multimillion dollar budget, excessive special effects or A-list actors to tell a powerful story of a man thrust into unbelievable circumstances.The first half hour of the film is pure build up, introducing us to Lukas Reyes (Brandon Slagle) and his wife Sera (Andrea Chen), and laying the first bricks of the bizarre into the story. Lukas wakes up one morning to find that Sera has seemingly disappeared into thin air, everything she owned is gone, along with the photos of the couple together. Lukas is distraught, but heads out to a bar that night with a friend to drink away his problems, and meets the lovely Nara (Devanny Pinn) who he takes home.The next morning Lukas wakes up to find that Nara has seemingly moved in overnight, even going so far as to claim that they've been married for two years. Lukas and the audience are left to wonder what the hell is going on, and from here on out, the film pulls out all the stops, pulling us through a mind bending, reality warping nightmare of secrets, lies and men in gas masks.To put it bluntly, I loved 15 Till Midnight from start to finish. The story kept me engaged, the characters felt real and the dialog never felt wasted or forced in any situation. Brandon Slagle's performance as Lukas was captivating, giving the viewer a solid anchor to the ever shifting and changing world of the film. To his credit, Slagle not only portrays Lukas, but also the "Evil" Reverse Lukas who makes periodic appearances throughout the film but doesn't really get a chance to shine until the last twenty or so minutes of the film. Devanny Pinn's Nara is an intriguing character, unfortunately she's out of the story nearly as quickly as she arrives, and giving us little time to truly grow attached to her as a character. However, the raw emotion that Pinn brings to her final scenes is so heartbreakingly honest that I found myself relating to her character despite her brief screen time. The other stand out moment of the film comes near the end when Andrew Roth gives one of the most moving speeches I've heard in a sci-fi film in a long time, bringing a human element to what could be a one dimensional villain.My only problem with the film had less to do with the film itself and more to do with my screener copy. Darker scenes were blurred and everything had that slightly washed out look of a low resolution Youtube video, but in a testament to not only the script but to the actors and everyone else involved in the film, I couldn't take my eyes off the screen for the entirety of the nearly two hour running time. 15 Till Midnight is the type of independent film that you pray for as a reviewer and fan of genre cinema, a film with a solid script, acting that actually draws you into the film instead of pulling you out, and well thought out cinematography and special effects that enhance the experience instead of distracting from it.