mac-ginty

A young/teenage boy is left at his Grandfathers while his parents go to a funeral. His Grandfather (Michael Ironside) teachs him how to pitch hence the title. Then things go awry.I was rather impressed by the claustrophic feel of this film. At times it plays like a grown up version of Home Alone, at others it reminded me of The Shining. I would recommend you avoid the trailer as it has spoilers and just watch it. A small cast in one location is often the way way to go in low budget efforts and this does it really well. Michael Ironside in a fat suit is a bit wasted though. Well worth seeking out.

Dodson owns a furniture store and aspires to a glamorous lifestyle he cannot afford. He borrows money from the bank and then a loan shark. As repayment pressures mount he resorts to bank robbing to fund his debts. He also teams up with a vacant blonde who likes to spout movie dialogue rather than talk with real feeling and their love story is a meaningless sidebar. The problem for me is Dodson is an unlikable man, he steals from friends and wants things without working for them. Sturgess portrays Dodson as ineffectual rather than charismatic which leaves you wondering why the bank tellers he robbed all liked him. I felt no emotional attachment to any of the characters.

The score also misses a trick opting to use generic synth music rather than some of the definitive 80s tunes. Its a stylish enough film but has no emotional core. The period is evoked sufficiently to feel like a period set piece. Could have been better with the talent involved.

Two sisters and the husband of one of the women go to a cabin to help the younger sister overcome a past trauma. Whilst there they find an alien artifact and proceed to mess about with it because it might be worth some money. The older sister is then plagued by a dream in which an Alien interferes with her. The Alien itself is a man in a cheap Halloween mask.

Now at one point a character says this is like an X-files story but its not because the X-files was good. This is a three hander with adequate performances and is well shot but ultimately it is quite boring. There's no big sci fi questions posed and no horror either. Give it a miss.