The Civil Dead

I never write reviews for movies, but hot damn, these guys are just great. I've been following them since there too shortly lived animated show "Stone Quackers" and I love there podcast too. There chemistry is undeniable and I love that kinda of humor so much. Going into this movie I didn't really know what to expect but I can honestly say it surpassed whatever I thought it was gonna be. So insanely clever, funny, weirdly dark at times, and I just really loved it. Hope to see much more from them again soon!

When his wife goes away for a weekend, "Clay" (Clay Tatum) is quite happy just dragging the mattress in front of the television and beering out! He's a photographer by trade and wandering around the city he encounters "Whit" (Whitmer Thomas) whom he knew years earlier. Their's is an uneasy friendship, but he is polite enough and the two spend a day together that concludes in the most unlikely of revelations! It appears that "Whit" isn't quite what he seems! Of course scepticism abounds, but a conversation with his neighbour confirms the worst - nobody else can see "Whit"! What now ensues are a fun series of increasingly exasperating escapades as the former man finds his new gadfly pal persistently more and more annoying and demanding whilst he just wants to get on with his life - especially when his wife returns! Perhaps a few days in a remote mountain cabin for the two men might provide a solution? Although it's really dialogue heavy and the scenarios do repeat themselves a few times, this is still an entertaining film with plenty of quirkiness and two engaging performances from the lead characters who try to avoid the obvious "Scooby-Do" style stereotype spooks. The end of the film rather entertainingly explains the beginning, too. No, you'll never remember it afterwards, but it's quite an enjoyable tale of the geek and his beast.

A photographer finds the unwanted attentions of a ghost a bit much to handle.

Engaging buddy movie that has a similar feel to Sideways in its binding together of an odd couple. The principal actors are themselves the creators, so they carry this off perfectly in low-key style, and yet generate a mounting sense of jeopardy.

The cleverest element is in maintaining the ghostliness in the 'real' world, from the moment of the appartition's sly arrival and on through his lack of impact on the world - the stunt in the middle of the highway was particularly impressive.

And yet the ghost does have an impact during his moments of rage, so the ending felt premature: even as my brain was racing ahead to the final showdown, it was all over without uncovering how far each character would go to get his way. And the paedophile reference wasn't followed up - or maybe I missed it.

The performances are excellent, pace is good. LA looks its usual bleached-out self. And the music is pleasant.

Overall: Engaging slackers story slacked off in the end.

Saw this at Florida Film Fest. If you ever get the feeling that many modern movies can be formulaic and uninspired - watch this. Your faith will be renewed.

Also the two main characters (who also wrote it) are funny as hell.

An exciting spin on undead beings, as it delineates the hardships of a deceased individual and, at the same time, the gradually unfolding events correlate to a living person and that propagates an unusual brotherhood that prospers amidst some unlikeliest circumstances.

This was nothing too profound, though the story did attempt to touch upon some deeper stuff and tried its best to turn it into something that may culminate in introspection, but it couldn't.

To me, it felt more like a comfort feature, movies you tune in with no preconceived expectations at all, you seek to take pleasure in the ride, and in that case, it would suffice, I reckon.

P. S. I wouldn't say I liked the ending, though. It was so cruel!