Not only because of the cheap, crummy, careless cinematography.
(If you're going to use the live footage on a 'phone crap, and actually go to the trouble of having girlfriend explain to Drugboy that she has set the 'phone opposite him "to make a record," when you shift to the reverse shot filmed in standard manner, either set up a phone on a stand in the scene or frame it so the audience doesn't see that the space between the two actors is empty.)
Not only because Mr. Dano didn't bother to write a real script, so much of the dialogue is clearly ad-libbed, (not "improvised" as improvisation implies at least some consideration and talent), and pointless: Several rambling minutes on the existence and excellence of Pizza Fries. (This idiocy might have been a bit redeemed if the character had explained which industrial solvents he used to clean the cheese, oil and crumbs out of his beard.)
Not only because the thing is assembled from rusty, old parts that don't even fit together...
An "Intervention." Right. Let's see:
Up front, the female lead, while cataloguing her trials and tribulations with addict boyfriend, explains to Sis how she put him through rehab multiple times "at nice places." Of course, this makes all the subsequent stuff about how Drugboy must accept that he "has a problem, etc." as though he has to face it for the first time not only trite but ludicrous.
But that nonsense is kind of eclipsed by having two-thirds of the folks doing the intervention spend most of the time letting Drugboy know that they actively dislike him. Pizzabeard really goes all the way, explaining that he, (Pizzabeard), does not consider Drugboy worthy to live merely because Pizzabeard's brother is dead.
Not only because Mr. Dano attempts to distract the viewer from noticing that his opus is almost entirely content-free by shifting the setting from motel room, to automobile interior, to the woods, for no particular dramatic or narrative reason.
Again, the dialogue includes a statement that the trip is to a house in the country which arguably could make sense: i.e. Do the intervention in a place isolated from distractions and temptations.
HOWEVER, while we see the outside of a house that is all closed up, the cast trudges on by to set up a makeshift camp in THE FOREST.
What happened, Mr. Dano? Did one of the executive producers realize what a bunch of incompetents you and your crew are and wisely decide NOT to let you use their home as a location?
Of course, you still had to shift things to the country to serve the ridiculous, lazy ending that you tacked on just to get rid of the whole mess: A random "religious" nutjob.
Good God. Was that a real poncho he was wearing or was that a Sears poncho? Cosmik debris, indeed.
Most of this is almost par-for-the-course. What really stinks is how lousy the sound is: not just the recording, but also cast members, who seem to know nothing about diction and enunciation, repeatedly dropped the register to inaudible levels in the middle of sentences.
There is absolutely no way this wasn't recognized during production. The fact that you, and your production staff, allowed this to remain without correction before presenting it for consideration indicates a degree of carelessness I really can't understand. Did you not want people to hear your words?
Many filmmakers have little respect for their audience, but you seem to have outright contempt.
There is a concept in US civil law, (and I'm sure in other legal theories, as well), known as warranty of merchantability. The idea is that if you are selling something, it should be fit for the purpose for which it is intended. For instance, if you buy a car, you have a right to expect that the steering and brakes will function, even if the manufacturer doesn't specifically say that they will, because without them you don't have a working automobile.
Since the advent of synchronized sound in the late 1920s, it has become a standard of motion picture production to have working sound. One can excuse a great deal of carelessness and incompetence by calling it "style" and ducking under the heading of artistic license, but the lack of audible sound is a genuine manufacturing defect and renders the product unfit for sale and consumption.
The only thing worse is the fact that the services that charge the audience money to transmit this unfit product seem to have just as much, or even more contempt for their customers. Does no one at these companies review the product by actually watching it?
Maybe it's time for a class action.
XYZ.
(If you're going to use the live footage on a 'phone crap, and actually go to the trouble of having girlfriend explain to Drugboy that she has set the 'phone opposite him "to make a record," when you shift to the reverse shot filmed in standard manner, either set up a phone on a stand in the scene or frame it so the audience doesn't see that the space between the two actors is empty.)
Not only because Mr. Dano didn't bother to write a real script, so much of the dialogue is clearly ad-libbed, (not "improvised" as improvisation implies at least some consideration and talent), and pointless: Several rambling minutes on the existence and excellence of Pizza Fries. (This idiocy might have been a bit redeemed if the character had explained which industrial solvents he used to clean the cheese, oil and crumbs out of his beard.)
Not only because the thing is assembled from rusty, old parts that don't even fit together...
An "Intervention." Right. Let's see:
Up front, the female lead, while cataloguing her trials and tribulations with addict boyfriend, explains to Sis how she put him through rehab multiple times "at nice places." Of course, this makes all the subsequent stuff about how Drugboy must accept that he "has a problem, etc." as though he has to face it for the first time not only trite but ludicrous.
But that nonsense is kind of eclipsed by having two-thirds of the folks doing the intervention spend most of the time letting Drugboy know that they actively dislike him. Pizzabeard really goes all the way, explaining that he, (Pizzabeard), does not consider Drugboy worthy to live merely because Pizzabeard's brother is dead.
Not only because Mr. Dano attempts to distract the viewer from noticing that his opus is almost entirely content-free by shifting the setting from motel room, to automobile interior, to the woods, for no particular dramatic or narrative reason.
Again, the dialogue includes a statement that the trip is to a house in the country which arguably could make sense: i.e. Do the intervention in a place isolated from distractions and temptations.
HOWEVER, while we see the outside of a house that is all closed up, the cast trudges on by to set up a makeshift camp in THE FOREST.
What happened, Mr. Dano? Did one of the executive producers realize what a bunch of incompetents you and your crew are and wisely decide NOT to let you use their home as a location?
Of course, you still had to shift things to the country to serve the ridiculous, lazy ending that you tacked on just to get rid of the whole mess: A random "religious" nutjob.
Good God. Was that a real poncho he was wearing or was that a Sears poncho? Cosmik debris, indeed.
Most of this is almost par-for-the-course. What really stinks is how lousy the sound is: not just the recording, but also cast members, who seem to know nothing about diction and enunciation, repeatedly dropped the register to inaudible levels in the middle of sentences.
There is absolutely no way this wasn't recognized during production. The fact that you, and your production staff, allowed this to remain without correction before presenting it for consideration indicates a degree of carelessness I really can't understand. Did you not want people to hear your words?
Many filmmakers have little respect for their audience, but you seem to have outright contempt.
There is a concept in US civil law, (and I'm sure in other legal theories, as well), known as warranty of merchantability. The idea is that if you are selling something, it should be fit for the purpose for which it is intended. For instance, if you buy a car, you have a right to expect that the steering and brakes will function, even if the manufacturer doesn't specifically say that they will, because without them you don't have a working automobile.
Since the advent of synchronized sound in the late 1920s, it has become a standard of motion picture production to have working sound. One can excuse a great deal of carelessness and incompetence by calling it "style" and ducking under the heading of artistic license, but the lack of audible sound is a genuine manufacturing defect and renders the product unfit for sale and consumption.
The only thing worse is the fact that the services that charge the audience money to transmit this unfit product seem to have just as much, or even more contempt for their customers. Does no one at these companies review the product by actually watching it?
Maybe it's time for a class action.
XYZ.