Why So Blu?

Encapsulated Movie Reviews – Three New Indie Titles

Sorry film fans – a lesser amount of cinema covered this week as requests to see the very tasty looking Ingrid Goes West, saucy seeming The Only Boy Living in New York and questionable Open Water 3: Cage Dive went sadly unfulfilled.  But thankfully what was witnessed by yours truly turned out to be some very interesting indie fare, all of which managed to do so much with so little.  One boy’s obsession with fanged creatures, faith tested via bloody sword battles and alien tales of self discovery make up the three nifty notables in this weeks small but significant Encapsulated Movie Reviews.  Check out the critical opinions for The Transfiguration, Pilgrimage and The Answer below!

THE TRANSFIGURATION
(Strand Releasing)

In what can only be described as Boyz n the Hood meets Abel Ferrara’s The Addiction (plus some coming-of-age and serial killer elements thrown in for good measure!), The Transfiguration is by far one of the creepiest five-star flicks of the year.  Matching real seeming urban elements and the haunting emotionless performance by lead Eric Ruffin with more fantastical themes like vampires and an unhealthy obsession with murder and mayhem, writer/director Michael O’Shea creates a rich and complex character driven outing that dares to defy all cinematic conventions that came before and does it damn well.  Dim and dark, but surprisingly hopeful at its core, The Transfiguration succeeds by daring to be different.

PILGRIMAGE
(RLJ Entertainment)

A medieval adventure set in 13^th century Ireland, Pilgrimage is given serious cinematic elevation by a riveting story.  The tale of a group of monks who head on a reluctant and dangerous journey to deliver their holy relic to Rome is filled with great characters (Jon Bernthal’s mute monk provides some serious swordplay satisfaction!), terrific story twists (double crosses galore!) and enough bloody battles in between speeches of faith to keep even the most ardent action fan interested.  So while lead youngster Tom Holland (yes, he of the Spider-Man fame!) as the wide-eyed man of the robe is a tad on the dull side, there’s still more then enough panache in Pilgrimage to warrant a Sunday afternoon watch.

THE ANSWER
(High Octane Pictures)

Creating so much with so little, The Answer reminded me a lot of the early and effective works of Charles Band.  (Viva la Trancers!)  An engaging tale of a mysterious man who is framed for murder seems basic enough, but his one also boldly infuses a sci-fi alien angle, sleek sinister mayhem moments and even some cool visual superpowers all on a budget of cab fare for a fun flick where Director Iqbal Ahmed wisely uses creativity instead of cash.  And while many have dared to dive into the same bold b-movie territory, all to varying results, this one fully understands the answer is making a movie that’s more good than bad.