6/6/15 (Part One): Circular Thinking

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A Field Full of Secrets, alien blueprints, alternative fuel system, Charles Maxwell, cinema, Colin Andrews, crop circles, Dax Phelan, documentaries, Dylan Avery, film reviews, filmmaking duo, films, hoaxers, inventors, Movies, Nassim Haramein, Nikola Romanski, Peter Sorensen, set in England, Sweet Potato, Tim Carson, transgender, UFO enthusiasts, UFOs, Will Carson

Crop circles: depending on which side of the UFO divide you end up on, they’re either explicit evidence that we’ve been visited (and continue to be visited) by otherworldly forces or they’re proof positive that humans are (and always will be) extremely gullible. As someone who finds the notion of extraterrestrial intelligence a much easier pill to swallow than most of the “evidence” that’s been presented to prove it, I’ve always viewed crop circles with no small measure of disbelief. Do I think that aliens exist? Absolutely. Do I think that they get their jollies by crafting meticulous geometric patterns in isolated corn fields? Let’s just answer that with a slightly condescending smile and move on, shall we?

Charles Maxwell and Dax Phelan’s documentary A Field Full of Secrets (2014) takes an up-close and personal look at crop circles, in particular a “fresh” pattern that Maxwell and company come upon while conducting research in England. As the filmmaking team investigates the phenomena, they speak with experts from both sides of the debate, as well as the individuals known as “hoaxers” who make it their life mission to create as many of these mysterious patterns as they can.

As the group continues their studies, they hit upon the rather radical notion that the patterns might actually represent one-dimensional depictions of three-dimensional blueprints. When a mysterious, transsexual inventor by the name of Nikola Romanski contacts the team and offers to help build the “device” depicted in the most recently discovered crop circle, Maxwell quickly accepts her help. When the building process begins to stretch out over the course of several years, however, the rest of the team begins to doubt that anything will come of it. Will Maxwell and Romanski be able to do the impossible and actually build an alternative fuel engine, using instructions left by “little green men” or will the whole thing end up being just another wild goose chase?

Perhaps owing to the sheer number of found-footage/mockumentary films that I’ve seen recently, I went into A Field Full of Secrets fully expecting the film to be a fictional movie masquerading as “true life”: by the time the film was over, I still wasn’t sure whether it was a real documentary or not. After doing a little research, however, it would appear that A Field Full of Secrets really is a documentary, after all: it would appear that I had, essentially, hoaxed myself. Life imitating art, indeed!

Despite being initially confused as to what type of film this was, I’ll admit that A Field Full of Secrets was always an interesting, quick-paced film, albeit one with more than its share of unanswered questions and odd quirks. As someone who’s always been interested in UFO discussions, I found the commentary in Maxwell and Phelan’s film to be both intelligent and logically stated, two qualities which you don’t always get in documentaries about extraterrestrials and cryptozoology. Furthermore, Charles Maxwell (the director) and Dax Phelan (the producer) are an extremely likable duo: they’re down to earth, charismatic and have pretty good chemistry together…if you’re going to be spending this much time tromping through corn fields, it seems you could do a whole lot worse than hanging out with these guys.

I also appreciated that the filmmakers tried to make the presentation as balanced as possible, mostly through the inclusion of disbelievers and life-long hoaxers like the rather unforgettable Peter Sorensen. The part where he gives Maxwell and the team a crash course in how to make crop circles is not only informative but quite fun, nicely balanced by the realization that his foolproof system doesn’t explain some of the more complex patterns. More than anything, Maxwell, Phelan and the rest of the crew come across as open-minded: they’re not, necessarily, going in with any particular hard-set beliefs but are trying to roll with the punches and adapt as things develop. As mentioned earlier, not a bad bunch of people to spend a little time in the field with.

If there’s any real issue with the film, aside from scattered irritations like the annoying scene where Maxwell’s friends show up to rib him about his crop circle research (this, in the worst way possible, felt like padding), it has to be with the film’s confusing emphasis on Nikola’s transsexuality. Had Maxwell and Phelan just presented Romanski as another interested party, regardless of her gender identity, I wouldn’t have thought twice about it. Oddly enough, however, the filmmakers seem to go out of their way to discuss and point out this bit of information, even though it seems to bear little to no relevance to their current work. We meet Nikola’s mother and sister, hear Phelan talk about his concerns that Maxwell is getting “too close” to the reclusive inventor and witness Maxwell discussing how he wanted to continue his friendship with Nikola, regardless of what anyone else felt.

The problem, of course, is that Romanski’s gender identity is never actually woven into the context of the film: it’s just an extra detail that’s brought up frequently, discussed often but never actually tied to anything. This was actually one reason why I, initially, thought the film was a mockumentary: with as much attention as the filmmakers pay to Romanski’s gender identity, I assumed that it was more integral to the story than it actually was. In reality, Nikola’s transsexuality has no bearing on anything that happens, whatsoever: it’s difficult to even consider the treatment progressive, since the filmmakers seem so set on depicting Romanski as an “other,” almost alien figure.

To be honest, a film that primarily focused on Nikola Romanski would have been pretty damn interesting: gender identity aside, how often do you get to meet reclusive, genius inventors who are obsessed with plasma engines and interstellar travel? Had the filmmakers devoted more time to Romanski and really delved into her backstory, A Field Full of Secrets would have made a lot more sense. As it stands, however, Romanski doesn’t appear until the midpoint: with as little bearing as her sexuality has on the actual story, it seems a decidedly odd tack to spend so much time mentioning it.

Despite the aforementioned confusion and the fact that the film sort of sputters out, at the end (it’s no spoiler to reveal that they don’t successfully build the alternative fuel source since, you know, we probably would’ve heard about it by now), I really enjoyed A Field Full of Secrets. The participants are all engaging and endlessly interesting, the locations are beautiful and some of the crop circles are so majestically constructed that they are, literally, works of art. Whether you buy into the “truth” behind any of it, of course, is ultimately up to you. For their part, Charles Maxwell and Dax Phelan have set out to shine a little light on a particularly dark part of our galaxy and, if nothing else, have succeeded in giving us all a little something to think about.

6/1/15 (Part One): Invasion of the Vicious Kind

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Alien Abduction, alien abductions, alien experiments, alien invaders, alien invasion, Anja Savcic, Blitz//Berlin, Brittany Allen, cabins, cabins in the woods, cinema, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, co-directors, co-writers, Colin Minihan, Emily Perkins, Extraterrestrial, film reviews, filmmaking duo, films, Freddie Stroma, Gil Bellows, Grave Encounters, Grave Encounters 2, horror films, isolated estates, isolation, Jesse Moss, Melanie Papalia, Michael Ironside, military coverup, Movies, Samy Inayeh, sci-fi, sci-fi-horror, science-fiction, Sean Rogerson, special-effects extravaganza, Stuart Ortiz, the Vicious Brothers, UFOs, Vicious Brothers, writer-director-editor

If you’re the kind of horror fanatic who prefers the road less traveled to the well-worn thoroughfare, you’ve probably also spent your fair share of time backtracking from dead-ends. With the almost mind-boggling array of horror films being released these days, be it studio-supported tent-poles or direct-to-streaming vanity projects, separating the wheat from the chaff has never been a more daunting prospect. While the number of horror films actually released to theaters still seems as small as it’s ever been, direct-to-video/streaming releases are healthier than ever: with companies like Netflix and Amazon looking to scoop up as much content as possible, potential audiences have more choice than we have in some time.

To compound this issue, horror filmmakers have beaten some sub-genres such as found-footage and zombie films into the ground, releasing so much unmitigated crap that it becomes almost impossible to shift out the diamonds. To these over-mined fields that include the possession film, the haunted asylum and the post-apocalyptic wanderer, feel free to add the alien film, whether in its “abduction” or “invasion” variety. As of late, it seems that indie filmmakers are pumping out one alien-themed horror flick after another. Just recently, we’ve had Dark Skies (2013), the “Slumber Party Alien Abduction” segment of V/H/S 2 (2013), Skinwalker Ranch (2013), Alien Abduction (2014), Honeymoon (2014), The Signal (2014), and Oren Peli’s long-delayed Area 51 (2015), along with a host of others that have managed to slither under the radar. As mentioned, sifting out the diamonds in all of the mud is quite the task.

All this, of course, is by way of saying that the Vicious Brothers’ (aka writers/directors Colin Minihan and Stuart Ortiz) Extraterrestrial (2014) is not only a diamond, it’s easily one of the brightest diamonds that I’ve had the pleasure of witnessing in some time. I’ll actually go one step further and, with no hyperbole, state that Extraterrestrial (warts and all) is easily the apex of the modern alien abduction film: the filmmaking duo, along with wunderkind cinematographer Samy Inayeh, have managed to craft a film that is, by turns, gorgeous, terrifying, mind-blowing and endlessly thrilling. Thanks to its impeccable visual effects, amazing costumes and ability to cherry-pick the very best of sci-fi horror gone by, the Vicious Brothers’ ode to little green men looks like it cost roughly 500 times what it probably did. It’s not a perfect film, mind you, but it’s very nearly the perfect alien movie.

Plot-wise, the Brothers’ film stuffs an alien abduction filling into a cabin-in-the-woods casing. Overly serious April (Brittany Allen) and her clingy boyfriend, Kyle (Freddie Stroma), are headed to her family’s backwoods cabin so that she can take pictures in order to facilitate its sale. Without her knowing, Kyle has decided to turn this into the weekend that he proposes and has invited along their friends, Melanie (Melanie Papalia), Lex (Anja Savcic) and uber-asshole Seth (Jesse Moss), to join in the joyous occasion.

The problem, of course, is that no one bothered to ask April what she wanted: turns out, she doesn’t want to marry her high school sweetheart and settle down. She has a job offer in New York and wants to get out there and experience life, neither of which plan really involves Kyle. As expected, this little revelation throws a monkey-wrench into the weekend, causing Kyle to become withdrawn and moody, whereas asshole Seth just gets one more excuse to get blitzed and act like a jerk, in order to “protect his boy.”

Our little close-quarters domestic drama plays out with a larger, more sinister drama unfolding in the background: local sheriff Alan Murphy (Gil Bellows) is investigating a mysterious disappearance that seems to be tied in to a string of local livestock mutilations. He doesn’t necessarily suspect the city slicker kids but he also doesn’t want them stirring up the locals or interfering with his investigation: toss a personal angle into the missing person phenomena (Sheriff Murphy’s wife vanished without a trace) and you have a lawman with an agenda and no time for tomfoolery.

Just when our group of young people seem to have comfortably settled into the kind of restful vacation that might befit Virginia Woolf, however, a fiery meteor explodes out of the sky, screaming right into the nearby woods, where it explodes in an appropriately impressive little display. Upon closer inspection, the group discovers that the object wasn’t a meteor but an honest to gosh flying saucer. To amp the “uh oh” factor to 11, they also notice a set of humanoidish footprints leading away from the crash site…back in the direction of their cabin.

From this point on, the film becomes an unrelenting triumph in building and relieving tension as April and her friends, along with the able assistance of her surrogate uncle/old family friend/pot farmer, Travis (Michael Ironside), attempt to fight back against their other-worldly visitors. From the claustrophobic confines of their cabin “sanctuary” to the surrounding woods and, ultimately, to places that no human has ever gone, the survivors will learn one very important lesson: not only is humanity not alone, we’re not even at the top of the heap.

First off, let’s get the negatives out of the way. As far as the “human” relationships go, Extraterrestrial doesn’t show us anything we haven’t seen a million times in the past, nor does it present us with a group of unique, sympathetic characters: while the young group in the Vicious Brothers’ film doesn’t necessarily fall into the most generic “stoner,” “final girl,” “jock,” et al stereotypes, no one really stands out with the exception of Allen’s April and Moss’ odious Seth. This isn’t the kind of film where one gets wrapped up in the intense interpersonal drama of the characters, let’s put it that way.

The acting is fine, if a little unmemorable, although Ironside and Sean Rogerson both manage to chew a fair amount of scenery: Ironside’s Travis is a great character, however, brought to vivid life by an iconic character actor, whereas Rogerson’s Deputy Mitchell is a blustery, loud-mouthed and very silly caricature. Allen and familiar-face Bellows are constantly sturdy, although I’ll admit that Papalia and Savcic sort of blurred together, in my mind: they just didn’t get much to do, aside from the stock “run and react” options.

There are also a few moments where the editing and/or cinematography gets a little too flashy for its own good: one particular shot featured so much focus-shifting that I would have assumed the operator was having problems if the rest of the film hadn’t been so impressive (more on that later). I’ll also freely admit that the hand-held camera stuff doesn’t work at all, especially when held side-by-side with the actual cinematography: it’s like touching up a Picasso with ketchup rather than paint. The film also has a tendency to over-rely on the soft/loud dynamic of the modern jump scare, leading to numerous moments that are telegraphed by audio stings or ridiculous increases in volume.

And that, folks, is pretty much the downside to Extraterrestrial. The upside? Everything else. The film looks absolutely astounding: from gorgeous, evocative establishing shots to cleverly revealed shocks to immaculately composed frames, cinematographer Samy Inayeh goes way above and beyond the call of duty. It helps, of course, that the film’s visual effects (both CGI and makeup/costuming) are jaw-dropping: when combined when the absolutely state-of-the-art camera-work, Extraterrestrial is as immersive as any mega-budget Hollywood sci-fi film.

In fact, the first full reveal of the massive space craft reminded me of nothing less than Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977): there’s a genuine sense of awe, grandeur and spectacle to Extraterrestrial that is almost completely missing from other indie sci-fi/alien films. Say what you will about the Vicious Brothers’ grasp on the human dynamics of the story: the technical aspect is so astounding that it should, automatically, vault them into the upper echelons of the “event picture” biz.

This sense of perfect visualization continues with the actual aliens, which are pretty much the apex of the traditional “gray-headed, almond-eyed” alien in pop culture. The aliens, here, aren’t so different from other depictions of said types but they inhabit the film in a purely physical way that feels real, refreshing and, ultimately, rather terrifying. I was immediately reminded of the ways in which Spielberg’s original Jurassic Park (1993) felt so organic and “physical”: Extraterrestrial feels the same way, which is pretty much the antithesis of the current “green-screened-to-death” trend.

While the Vicious Brothers’ and their excellent crew absolutely ace the technical aspects of the film, there’s another, even more important aspect that they also nail: the claustrophobic atmosphere. Unlike most alien abduction films that aren’t called Fire in the Sky (1993), Extraterrestrial is genuinely, absolutely frightening. It’s actually frightening on several levels: it perfectly hits the “something in the background” vibe of modern horror films but it also digs in on a deeper, more existential level. There are moments in the film, particularly in its final 20 minutes, where it honestly feels as if the Vicious Brothers are letting us peer into the howling maw of madness: I don’t have to tell you how exhilarating that is, I’m sure.

As I’ve mentioned several times, Extraterrestrial isn’t an especially ground-breaking film, plot-wise: it’s not difficult to see the Alien (1979), Fire in the Sky and Night of the Living Dead (1968) references. The most important thing to remember, however, is that all artistry is theft: it’s what you do with the ill-gotten gains that makes the difference between trash and treasure. In this case, the Vicious Brothers have taken a laundry list of their influences and spun them into something that feels complete and whole on its own, regardless of the foundation its built on.

Lest I seem like an overly supportive stalker, let me conclude by stating that I had seen the Vicious Brothers’ debut, Grave Encounters (2011), some time before I saw Extraterrestrial and wasn’t overly impressed. While the film had its moments, it also didn’t really strike me as anything more than another “found-footage in a creepy place” film, which we already have plenty of. Based on that experience (I’ve yet to see the sequel), there is absolutely no way I could have predicted Extraterrestrial: suffice to say, the level of growth, here, is roughly the same distance between adolescence and adulthood.

Is Extraterrestrial one of the best films of the year? Not at all, although it at least has the finish line in sight (unlike a basketful of films that I won’t mention). Is Extraterrestrial the film to beat for modern, indie alien films, however? I’ll stake my damn reputation on it. There a level of craft and imagination that’s impossible to ignore: if filmmakers can get “discovered” and jumped into the big time based on Youtube videos, here’s to hoping that they can still do it the old-fashioned way…you know, by creating a great, memorable film. If we don’t see the Vicious Brothers directing a tent-pole picture within the next few years, I’ll buy and eat an entire haberdashery.

Catch Minihan and Ortiz on the small stages while you can, gentle readers: something tells me the Vicious Brothers are going to be doing a helluva lot of headlining in the near future.