Category: Interviews

Remaining Native


Remaining Native was watched as part of the Seattle International Film Festival 2025! It had its showing on Saturday, May 17th as part of the festival, and it was the Seattle Premiere of this film! You can also see my interview with the director, Paige Bethmann, here!

What if you could run away from all of your problems, and never look back in fear? Well for me, personally, I can barely sprint, so running that far seems like the main issue. Cross country running is not my passion.

But it is the passion for Ku Stevens, who at the start of this documentary is a high school student in Nevada, who has made long range running his deal since he was much younger. And basically he was the only one in his school who liked to run at that. And of course, he is a Native American. He stood out in many ways. No one cared about his running, but he was very good at it, and won many a competition, without having many to compete against to really prove himself.

Now Ku has lived in this area for a long time, including many generations of his families. Including his Great Grandfather. Who, like many around that time, were taken from their families and brought to boarding schools just for native kids, where they would be indoctrinated into “American Society” and values. And by that, we also mean abused, beaten, killed, and more if complete assimilation was not met. A tragic place, where many lost their lives, but not Ku’s great grandfather. No, he escaped when he couldn’t take it anymore. And he did it, by running, and hiding, almost 50 miles to get back to his home.

And this documentary is about Ku honoring that legacy, and setting up something called the Remembrance Run. A journey of 50 miles over two days, in the desert summer heat months, to explore his great grandfathers sacrifice, and push himself to his own challenges for his life.

runner
Running doesn’t me escape my problems, but, that’s more because I cannot really run.
There are quite a few documentaries lately about these Indian Boarding schools, in the US and Canada, especially due to the discovery years ago of the pit of bodies found outside of one. A mass, unmarked grave, making people couple with this past. I mean, non-natives learned about them in a quick sentence in a class once probably and never again, not knowing the full great and powerful impact. But those families always did, and it is time for the rest of the world to catch up.

I watch every single one of these documentaries I can, and I can say that Remaining Native is the first to tackle the subject in a very specific way. It talks about the tragedies, of course, but also on how to overcome them, how to learn from them, and how to grow from them. It offers a chance of hope. Sure, no one now can really experience and realize how these things were, and know it in their bones, but there are things we can do to make sure these experiences are never repeated, and things we can do to make sure that these forced sacrifices are not completely in vain.

Ku is a kid who was a lot more brave than I was at any point in my life, and wise beyond his years, to set up an event like this. I think he is a great role model, a guy in college right now, still with his whole life in front of him. And Remaining Native is a hard hitting documentary, taking on a hard hitting subject, while keeping it personal at the same time.

3 out of 4.

Fucktoys


Fucktoys was watched as part of the Seattle International Film Festival 2025! It had its showing on Friday, May 16th as part of the festival, and it was the Seattle Premiere of this film! You can see my interview with the director, Annapurna Sriram, here!

Trashtown is not the world you know, it is a sort of alternate universe, where the depraved and hidden aspects of society are allowed to flourish and everyone can live the life they want to live. Without getting judged and ridiculed in response. Sex, drugs, and a little rock and role. Prostitution, psychics, fetish life, showing off your body, all of this and more exist in Trashtown.

Which brings us to our hero on a new adventure, AP (Annapurna Sriram), who has felt down in her life. And according to her psychic, she has been CURSED. But it isn’t that big of a deal, a curse can be gotten rid of with a specific ritual, which would just cost her about $1,000. Hey, that’s a good deal to get rid of a curse. So AP, who already is a sex worker, decides to put her work into overtime to get the cash and get rid of the curse ASAP.

Along the way, she gets to meet Danni (Sadie Scott), an old friend, who is back in AP’s life, and they are going to help her get the money for the curse, and AP is going to help Danni get some work in the process.

Also featuring others like François Arnaud, Damian Young, Brandon Flynn, and Big Freedia.

trippy
When the drugs finally hit, your experiences may vary.

Fucktoys does a good amount right for what I would describe as a very experimental movie. First, it gives traditionally underused actors and actresses the ability to play roles they may have always wanted to play, but never an outlet to play them. It gives underrepresented groups more screen time, without making their underrepresented qualities their reason for the role. Everyone just plays a person! It is wonderful to see.

The film intentionally gives off a seedy 70’s indie exploitation film vibe, with the film used and the scenery. I honestly couldn’t tell you when it was set, as the technology use was not fore front. Did someone use a cell phone? Probably! I don’t remember. And it didn’t matter too much to the story, so the strange world created can also be independent of any time period. It can just be free love, man.

Despite the very unique vibes, and free spirited nature of the film, it does seem to still lack something else. No character fully stands out to me. Everyone just exists. The plot feels like a loose vehicle to show off the world, and that is it. For the main character it becomes a repeating loop of “let’s do this activity” and then something goes bad, so her attempts to get the $1000 keep faltering. So the story is light, and almost like a TV pilot just to introduce various concepts. I wish the story had some more intensity too it, but at the same time, the light hearted nature of Trashtown was also the point.

2 out of 4.

Drowned Land

Drowned Land was watched as part of the Seattle International Film Festival 2025! It had its showing on Friday, May 16th as part of the festival, and it was the Seattle Premiere of this film! You an see my interview with the director, Colleen Thurston, here!

A Civil Action. Dark Waters. Films about lawyers going after corporations who have poisoned the water in communities and refuse to take action to fix it. Films where the little guy has to stand up to Mr. Moneybags, and well, it doesn’t go well. Sure, there is some success, but when compared to the extreme damage done to these communities, it gives a strong Pyrrhic victory vibes behind it.

So, what is the problem can be stopped at its source?

In Drowned Land, we head to Kiamichi River, where many natives in Oklahoma live, after being moved during the Trail of Tears. Not just Native Americans either, plenty of other folk use the valley and the river. But we have, like in those movies, a company who wants to come up and turn it into a hydroelectric dam, flooding parts, affecting the wildlife, and the residents both up and downstream in different amounts.

And this documentary is about the local residents coming together to put a stop to this. They don’t want it to be touched. They want to save it, and so they go to the hearing, with personal narratives, facts, science on their side, to see if they can prevent future tragedy from befalling upon their community.

valley
And its not just about protecting beautiful sights, but hey, its a bonus.
You know the beginning of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, where Earth apparently didn’t make the hearing to save itself, so it went kabloom? Well, apparently those meetings are useful. Splice with scenes of community members talking about the river, and museum visits and more, we get to see snippets of the two day hearing, where community members brought their voices and expertise to say why the dam should not be built.

And of course, the most surprising part about this, is they were successful.

For now.

Because this was not the first time it was attempted, and won’t be the last time, unless they can get legislature protecting the area forever. Which is the next goal. But holy shit, they won? Even if just a small step towards staying free from this construction, that is such a massive uplifting feeling. I have seen a lot of protest documentaries about constructions on native lands, and trying to stop corporation take over. I feel like the corporation always wins, and we see why everything is corrupt.

If anything, this documentary should be shown just to see that it can be done, it just takes a village working together.

But besides that, I am sad to say, the parts between the hearing just failed to keep my interest as much. I am a political and legal junkie, I would have loved it if the whole thing was just that one aspect myself. The human interest stuff, I get it, but it felt a little bit more like padding than anything else.

2 out of 4.

Folktales


Folktales was watched as part of Cascadia International Women’s Film Festival 2025! It has its showing on Saturday, April 26th as part of the festival.

Sometimes, people take a gap year after they finish high school and before college. (Sometimes it is forced because they didn’t get in anywhere, or forgot to apply). Some people never go to college at all and go straight into the workforce. Some people choose to study abroad, in some level. Some people switch from college to college. Some people even get to study abroad while in high school!

And some people choose to “study abroad” in a folk high school in Norway!

This is a school that exists within the Arctic circle, and is a full school year type program. On my own looking it up, people from all over can attend these schools. Most of the people must live in the country itself and the EU, but they accept a small amount of people (Around 10% it seems) from other countries as well.

And for this type of folk school, survival is the goal. You are meant to learn skills to live off the land. Building and maintaining fires. Dealing with cold weather and getting out of ice. And of course, dog sled travel! You will learn to bond with the animals, to take care of them, to direct them along the path and how to fix problems as they come up, like falling over.

Will the students at these schools decide to then go and live in the Arctic circle full time, living off on their own in the wilderness? Probably not. A lot of them likely won’t use the specific skills at all. But the learning experience, the confidence gained, I am sure is one of the bigger components for students after these things are over.

wolf
And you get to be surrounded by good boys. Far better than a normal school (with bad boys)!

As like many a documentary, this one focuses on the entire program, and specifically three students. We have two native Norway students, and one from the Netherlands, (a woman and two men) amongst their many classmates. We get to see them before they head to school, why they decided to go, and the many trials and tribulations throughout the year. Including when they don’t get to have sun for a long period of time. You think your school is bad? This one takes away the sun, so maybe you should just write your essay.

The students picked are a pretty good mix of archetypes, including one student who has the ultimate of lows with having to withdraw from the program. The decisions behind that, and the pressures can really get to people. Especially when they go on excursions and actually force the students to make their own fires, melt their own ice for water, and cook their food. There isa time for hand holding, and there is a time for showing yourself, and not everyone is willing to trust their own abilities to achieve that higher level.

Now I wonder if anyone has ever died during these school trips. I am most certain that things would never get that dire, and they would intervene at that point. But there is certainly a line!

I admit, the school sounded cool, and depending on the price, it honestly sounds like an experience one would never forget, and give every life lesson possible that one might need to go into the world confident and ready to excel. I might have already looked up how my own kids could go.

The documentary itself has some incredible shots. Including shots of the drivers of the sled dog team, and aerial shots of the campers on a journey, and one particular beautiful shot of just laying up and watching the aurora borealis.

In conclusion, Folktales is a documentary that isn’t set out to push an agenda, but just inform of something rather neat out in the world that people likely didn’t know about. And that is how this documentary came across, as something rather neat!

3 out of 4.

Art of a Hit


Art of a Hit was sent to me early as a screener. You can see an interview I had with two of the stars, here!

What happens to yourself if you get a little bit famous, but can never surpass that level? And you both plateau, and then fade away into obscurity? You were so close to greatness, and yet it is all gone.

That is what happened to our band. They had a few hits in the 90s, things were okay. But then their bass player (Rob Raco), who had all of their personality and star potential (weird for a bass player…), got offered a solo gig and took it to grow his career, and the rest of the band had…nothing!

So now here it is over a decade later, the band is sort of together, but not really. They never quit, but that doesn’t mean they play together as much. They have side projects, they still make music, but they aren’t together. But with their record label, they get an offer to head to France, to work with a mythical record producer (Charlie Saxton), to see if they can get their sound back. To see if they can make a hit song or a hit record with him. And maybe taste that sweet sweet glory.

While this happens, the band leader, Ryan (Ryan Donowho) has to manage all of the personalities, the producer, and the record label (who actually dropped them and isn’t paying for this, whoops!). While finding himself mentally, and literally, haunted at this daunting task in front of him at this spooky castle.

Also starring Allie MacDonald, David Valdes, James Earl, and Tim Jo.

band
“This is going to ruin the tour.”
“The what?”
“The world tour.”
This film is labeled as a horror, but really it is not. First, it is far closest to a drama. There are scenes that suddenly get…gorey? I guess that is the right way to describe it. Accidents, self mutilation, being literally chased. But those scenes are few and far in between, and they are almost all in the band leaders head or dreams (not a spoiler). So if anything, maybe its more of a thriller, because of all of the uncertainty they are dealing with, and how most of it manifests in terms of fears of failures.

Honestly, the real scary stuff is happening at the end, and it is literally indescribable. Indescribable because of a spoiler, and I don’t want to get into that, but the ending is definitely horror in a non traditional sense of the genre.

Instead what I am mostly watching and interested in, is the band dynamics, the secrecy of their former bandmate who left, and how natural the group feels. And hell yeah, the band feels like a real band, with baggage and history. Exactly like one would hope. Only one member was awkward with them, and that was because he is new to them for the plot. I think Donowho carries a lot of weight in his face, with his fears of mediocrity, and it shows.

I believe I have been told all of the people did re-record the music that was made for this film. The band Jets to Brazil wrote the songs for the movie, but the actual actors (who all happen to be musicians), re-recorded it and we get to hear what they actually sound like together, and that is awesome. No weeks of intense strumming camp for these folks.

Either way, Art of a Hit I think would be better if they focused less on these few horror elements, and more on the very real dramatic and scary elements of being faced with fading into nothingness, with people barely remembering your name after you were so close to superstardom. That is a strong story. But I do understand these sorts of movies are harder to get funding for, than cheap horror. You never know when the cheap horror film will skyrocket and become popular, after all. A good story, just with some dumb horror moments.

3 out of 4.

The Ride Ahead


The Ride Ahead was watched as part of the Seattle International Film Festival 2024! It had its showing on Saturday, May 11th as part of the festival, and it was the Seattle premiere of this film! You can see my interview with the codirectors, here

Documentaries that are slices of life feature can go so many ways. They can be dreadfully boring. They can be insightful. They can make you grow as a person. What happens with them really is more so up to the viewer. The documentary is saying here I am, this is me, take it or leave it. And then the viewer has to take it, or leave it.

Sometimes the slice of life has a greater message like. Hey. Be good to people. Or. Hey. Treat me like a person. Quite reasonable asks.

The Ride Ahead is about Samuel, who at the time of the documentary is 21, and adult, and he doesn’t feel like an adult. People treat him like a child, like someone who needs delicate gloves to handle. Sure, he is confined to a chair. He has cerebral palsy. He has epilepsy. A swallowing disorder. Talking is hard and he needs caretakers to function. But that is his life, and he is just trying to live his best life possible. Just because he has caretakers that are both paid by the state, and his parents, doesn’t mean he is less deserving of having a life, or deserves to be treated like a kid.

People suck, let an adult be an adult. That was my main take away from the documentary.

interviews
Reviewing a film about someone interviewing people?
Okay, I guess there is a little bit more. One of the main reasons this documentary exists is that Sam, being patronized his entire life, feels like he isn’t sure what it means to really be an adult, especially as someone with his condition. He doesn’t feel like one, not just because of how he is treated. Adults are meant to have relationships, to find love, to have sex, to gain jobs, to live alone, and more.

And so Sam seeks out others who have been in his position before, who seem to have figured things out, and just straight up get their advice. He interviews a ton of people, including Maysoon Zayid, Ali Stroker, Keith Jones, and Judith Heumann, who did pass away last year. Sam doesn’t beat around the edge, he asks hard questions and gets some hard answers. And some awkward questions!

I love how realistic this thing keeps things. Sure there are some celebrities and famous people here, and it is probably hard to book them for documentaries, no matter the project. But they felt welcoming, and helpful to the task.

As a documentary, like I noted at the start, this is a slice of life thing. If you don’t want to see about his life, you won’t like the movie. If you know people like Sam, it might not do anything for you. But for a lot of people, it is a great look at people in our country, whom have difficulties with basic things that there shouldn’t need to be difficulties with. The chair does a lot of work, but it doesn’t help if there is no drivable land around the town or sidewalks. A general search for equity is how many people should want our world to grow and be shaped. And this documentary does a good job of making some great points.

3 out of 4.

Gloria!


Gloria! was watched as part of the Seattle International Film Festival 2024! It had its showing on Sunday, May 12th as part of the festival, and it was the North American premiere of this film! You can see my interview with Margherita Vicario, the director/writer, here

Let’s talk about Gloria. Well, Gloria isn’t a character, so we can’t. It is however a common name/word used in religious songs, especially in Italian. You know, Gloria in Excelsis Deo? It means Glory really, but Gloria is also a nice name.

Instead we will talk about Lucia (Carlotta Gamba), who is at a school for choir music training, somewhere in Italy, in the 18th century. Like a lot of girls brought to the school, she was an orphan and so it is also an orphanage, bringing these girls to devout religion but also providing them food, shelter, and a service they can give back to their community. Lucia is also mute! That doesn’t really affect her hearing at all though, so she can still play instruments, she just cannot sing.

Oh, let me reiterate. Lucia can HEAR really well. In fact, she can imagine music all around her, in the everyday mendacity of life. Mr. Music would be so impressed. She also knows music can better than how it is currently presented, slow and dead. It can be upbeat, it can be fresh, it can have many different instruments providing different elements, and yes, even the human voice can be used to greater lengths.

But she is a woman, in a man’s world, and because this is holy music, it has to be done a SPECIFIC way. But with an upcoming visit by the Pope, yes, THE Pope, she thinks it is time to rebel, to spread new music, and to present to his greatest holiness what music could really be like.

Also starring Maria Vittoria Dallasta, Galatéa Bellugi, Veronica Lucchesi, Sara Mafodda, Paolo Rossi, and Elio.

orchaestra
Get up loser, we are going to pop-ify these sounds.
Gloria is such a cute movie! Rahhh! And I just need that to be known.

It looks amazing, from the costumes, the set, and the cameras used. It is portraying a dull religious school, but we can still see color when its needed, even in the darkest of moments for the characters, who are going to fight to overcome whats shackling them down. Overcome what? We are going to fight the patriarchy! And hell, even fight the papacy too! Men telling women what to do, how to think, what is right and wrong, its gone now! Let them live their lives!

Okay, yes, this is a work of fiction, and Lucia herself is not based on a person from history. And it is very unlikely that the sort of songs made in this movie, would have been made 3 to 400 years ago. But that is okay, because the point really is that these women were creative, and were not able to express their creativity. And apparently, thanks to some Napoleon nonsense at some point, works that were created by these women composers became lost. At the end we find out this film is dedicated to those women, who likely had a voice, but it was silenced at some point and aren’t people in the history books as a result.

That is a good enough cause for me.

Like I said, it is a very great looking film. But also, it is just fun. It is a good time to be had, while shining light on a real unspoken part of history. It is silly, it is modern, but the cast of characters feel distinct enough and well. They just want to have fun.

Gloria! is fun.

3 out of 4.

Seagrass


Seagrass was watched as part of the Seattle International Film Festival 2024! It had its showing on Monday, May 13th as part of the festival, and it was the Seattle premiere of this film! You can check out my interview with director, Meredith Hama-Brown, here!

Judith (Ally Maki) and Steve (Luke Roberts) are going through something. Judith is a Japanese Canadian, and Steve is “White Canadian”, and being an interracial couple comes with a lot of difficulties other couples never have to face or talk about. But they are now working on couples therapy. The one they picked is actually many days long and a vacation spot, with other couples. A nice destination to air out their issues and work together to find their love again. In a beautiful area!

And this is one that is for the whole family. They have two kids (Remy Marthaller, Nyha Huang Breitkreuz), who also have their own problems growing up, being of mixed ethnicities, and their identity. But on this vacation is an area with a lot of kids, and kids activities, so they have plenty to do and fun to be had, while their parents are having a bit less fun.

The catalyst for this story is that Judith’s mom died recently, and Judith has been in a funk ever sense. Hopefully they can work on their issues. Hopefully the last decade wasn’t a waste. Or was it?

Also starring Sarah Gadon and Chris Pang, as another Asian/White couple at the resort, with their genders swapped from our two leads. Although notably, the man is Chinese Canadian, not Japanese.

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Scenic cool cave shot but don’t worry, the cave MATTERS.
Seagrass is a film that is one step away from being a thriller, purely for tense moments in their drama. Honestly, I wondered if this might turn into a murder story. Or a ghost story. Or something. I was a bit scared at times, as they really ramped certain events at the end. And the camera work. The camera really liked to linger, or do some far away shots, and it had me wondering if something was going to pop out and the genre was going to switch.

I think that can all be attributed to the wonderful acting and script for this story. While its not as tense as films that make you clench early on and never let go, it gives subtle hints of a potential ending disaster, and you never know if this is going to be the time for a boiling over point.

Maki does a lot of great work here specifically. Roberts is a good standard dull white guy, who isn’t unable to understand view points outside of his own. But Maki has to put in the full range here. And she is wonderful for it.

I didn’t know exactly where Seagrass was going with its story by the end, but it chose a very nice path, with some powerful final words. I am also glad that the 1994 Vancouver Hockey riots were a part of the story as well. Always important to include those into movies, if at all possible.

3 out of 4.

Fish War


Fish War was watched as part of the Seattle International Film Festival 2024! It had its showing on Saturday, May 11th as part of the festival, and it was the World premiere of this documentary! You can see my interview of two of the directors here

Ah yes, wars over animals. They happen a lot in the Pacific North West. For example, may I inform you about the 1859 Pig War on the San Juan Island in Washington? When the United Kingdom and United States were trying to figure out how to split the land between Washington and Canada, the islands became a touchy subject. Both armies landed on San Juan and a pig was killed and they stayed there until eventually, the US got to keep those island groupings.

See? Lot of animal wars. Now, Fish War is a documentary mostly about events that took place a hundred plus years after the very small Pig War, but it unfortunately started before that. It started with the United States pushing around the native tribes and forcing them to sign treaties, often with wars and suffering involved. Things were forced and one sided. But the indigenous populations of Washington decided to sign a treaty on their own terms, before all of that, and they fought for specific rights. One of the biggest, was their right to still live and fish in the Puget Sound, of which it was said to be equal with the others that now lived there as well. A 50/50 split of the fishing in the sound.

But, in the early 1970’s, laws had made it illegal for the Native Americans to fish where they always had. So they kept doing it, kept getting arrested, and soon the split ended up being about 2/98%, not in their favor at all. The literal white man was taking all of the fish, and ignoring the treaty. So they decided to sue the State of Washington, the language was clear. And sure enough, the judges agreed with the tribes. The fishers of Washington were illegally over fishing the areas, and needed to limit their supplies greatly.

Unfortunately, a lawsuit win apparently isn’t enough. People ignored it. People got mad. People tried to be violent. The Attorney General of Washington made it his mission to get it overruled, and it kept going to the court for decades after, making the tribes constantly battle for what they had always deserved. You don’t always get the state of Washington to be the bad guy in stories, so it is very interesting when that shows up.

boat
And you know what? They should have higher than 50% too.
Fish War was not just a fascinating look at recent history in the Pacific North West, but it was a fascinating look at things that are still happening right now. Because overfishing and destroying of the salmons habitat have also occurred, and the legal system has consistently ruled that their rights are worth protecting, and if there are no fish at all, then the treaty is broken, so the ecosystems all must be protected as well. If you are an environmentalist, or care about Native American rights, this is a story for you.

Honestly, hearing this one old lady remember stories from the 70’s, how they got away with their civil disobedience and continued to fight for their rights filled me with wonder. She was so giddy at being able to stick it to the man, and knowing she was on the right side of history. These personal stories of people who just fifty years ago were fighting the good fight, and their fathers and mothers, and have to continue to fight this thing is absolutely mind boggling. Like, when will the United States stop harassing Native Americans? Based on the number of documentaries and stories I have seen lately, the answer is not fucking soon enough.

I always wonder what I would do in other people’s shoes during moments like these, and I can’t help but feel I would be a coward and run. So it is important to learn about and honor these local heroes. If we can learn lessons from them, we can learn that a regular person can be the change needed for the world, and it might help more people get involved.

I am happy Fish War is getting its World Premiere in this area, because it is solely about this area, and as a younger individual, it is something I never would have known without it. There is always so much more in the world going on, before we were around, and there will be a lot after it as well. We can only hope that we spend our time fighting for what is right, and helping others, so that many future generations can have the same benefits.

3 out of 4.

Tim Travers and the Time Traveler’s Paradox


Tim Travers and the Time Traveler’s Paradox was watched as part of the Seattle International Film Festival 2024! It had its showing on Friday, May 10th as part of the festival, and it was the Seattle premiere of this film! You can see my interview with the director/writer and star here!

Tim Travers (Samuel Dunning) is a smart guy, a scientist, and a bit of an asshat. Oh, sounds like someone you know I am sure. He also seemingly has invented time travel on his own. He was able to go back in one time and see his past self. His past self didn’t expect that though. So Tim killed him.

Why would Tim do that? Because everyone knows about the famous time traveling paradox. About what would happen if you go back in time to kill yourself, or kill your grandpa. It is impossible. It doesn’t fathom or make sense. But Tim was about to do that. So WHAT is really going on here, and how did things break?

So while this is happening, another Tim comes back from the future, and the killings continue. They do until they don’t! Meaning, eventually, we get multiple Tim’s, all pondering and confused as to what is going on, and what does it mean for the science community. What can they do with this machine, can they make it better, and can they become GODS? Okay, no one is going to become a god.

But also during this time, a lot of them like to get drinks at the local bar. And there is some dating stuff happening with Delilah (Felicia Day), who certainly doesn’t believe a poop of this story.

Also starring Joel McHale, Danny Trejo, Keith David, Jeff Hilliard, Nicole Murray, and Stimson Snead.

fourtims
Tim, Tim, Tim, and Tim.
What can you say about a new time travel movie, when we have so many excellent ones out there? Because a time travel movie has to be able to stand on its own. It has to have new ideas, that aren’t too abstract or confusing. Well, they could be abstract or confusing if they leave fully into it. You know, like Primer. That one is famous for being so hard to get, while actually doing a great factual job at what it accomplished. Once you are able to map it out.

Tim Travers decides to launch itself more into the sillier aspects of time travel. Like, I got it for awhile. And then I stopped getting it. Then I stopped caring about getting it, and just focused on the strange story. If this thing IS actually based on some sort of time travel logic, and isn’t just shenanigans, I couldn’t tell you. I would be very impressed if it was! (But I think its just shenanigans, and I won’t hold it against them. But if you demand your time travel stories to be consistent with their rules, this one might not be it!)

As for the movie, Dunning is a strong lead for a indie picture like this. Whenever you have to play multiple people, I assume it has to be very tricky, especially if they all start to gain quirks and differences. And you know, acting as if someone is near you, but they aren’t, because you have to be spliced in later as the other part. Times uhhh, a large number. So for at least a movie of this size and budget it, he absolutely nailed it. Now, I don’t watch Doctor Who, nor do I want to, but he gives what I assume to be David Tennant Doctor Who vibes.

Again, this story is VERY silly. And its all over the place. And it has a strange amount of cameos that you would never have guessed, assuming you didn’t read my plot summary up above. It has heart, and some science behind it, which is more than a lot of films, so it becomes worht the time.

3 out of 4.