Synergy: A Tale in Two Parts - *1/2

Drugs, women, greed, old school tie

2005, USA/UK, Colour, 103 minutes

Directed by Rickardus Mahoney

Starring Sapphire Philips, John Furie, Bill Furie, Lazy Smith and Julie Green as Dean Anderson

Encouraged by tales of corporate greed in the late 1990s three men go to college to study to learn the skills necessary to become a success. This simple premise established the story quickly departs into a swirling vortex of greed, education and furious sculling down the old river flat. A curious juxtaposition of college stereotypes takes up the majority of the film, which sadly leaves precious little room for the much promised stock-market heist or indeed an explanation of the title. Is it trying to be cute? Smart? Ironic?

Watch out for – During the lunchtime theatre scene in the second act there is a pause while everyone looks expectantly at the stable door. It was the perfect moment for a pantomime horse to walk out but the director didn't have the cojones to do the right thing.

Reviewed by Juan Incognito

Sunfire to the Moon - **½

Even the darkest crater can be penetrated with love

2005, USA/France, Black & White, 143 minutes

Directed by Revel. Written by Revel, William Evans.

A sassy name cures many ills, and Sunfire to the Moon is no exception! In an attempt to bring back the spirit of the 1960s - here defined as a weird mix between the '68 riots in France and Woodstock in the US - director Revel, a child of '68, constructs a rather confused kaleidoscope of music, sex and political protest. A series of interwoven stories, sort of like Battle of Algiers, combined with documentary footage builds to a crescendo in the third act as the great concerts of the era promise a New Age. Sadly, the effect built by this long story is then almost totally lost by a now cliched Vietnam sequence right at the end, where the "innocence" of the 1960s was lost. Now this angle was tired way back when Forrest Gump came out, let alone in 2005. But just as the audience makes a resigned sigh, out comes the anti-Iraq rhetoric, and again, we are beaten over the head with the idea that all art is politics, and not just a welcome chance for diversion from real life.

Watch out for – the face of Jimmy Hendrix merging into Bush Junior. Is he tripping or are we?! I sure wished I was.

Reviewed by Juan Incognito

Surviving the Net – ***

Information is powerful, and the Internet is a killer

2005, USA, Colour, 91 minutes

Written and directed by Jimmy "lolz" Kant

Starring P. K. French, Veere Illyonich

Generally when a filmmaker attempts to incorporate the internet or computers into a project bad things happen. Think The Net and You've Got M@il. With so much to live up to Surviving could have been incredibly bad, like with lame graphical representations of people typing stuff into search engines. Happily a glorious ensemble of physical humour and ultraviolence quickly ensures that the focus of the film is events, not technology. Plus there are all kinds of deliciously loaded lines which will leave the audience groaning with delight. When hero Jack single handily uses his mad hacking skills to remove the pants of his nemesis while said nemesis is at an important business meeting you can't help but cheer at the screen.

Quote - “I'll phreak you all ways to Friday before I make you wish it was still Monday so you could start all over....you're a chick, right?"

Reviewed by Juan Incognito

The Insurance Claim - *

Cheating raises everyone's premiums...even at Christmas

2005, USA, Colour, 93 minutes

Directed by Adlai Frankenheim. Written by Susan Ho

Starring Lisa Laticia, G Minx, various children

Billy Page has a dilemma, it’s the week before Christmas but he can’t afford presents for his many adopted orphan children! Driven to desperation he concocts an elaborate insurance scam that enables him to provide for his family. So far so good. Sadly though the initially promising scenario turns out to be the setup for a morality play on the virtue of honest dealing and taking responsibility for one’s actions. The sweet, lisping plea of the cutesy child, begging father to not sacrifice his eternal soul for material satisfaction frankly just grates, and if that wasn’t bad enough its followed by a courtroom redemption speech by Billy that would make even the most sanctimonious of us be violently sick.

This is what happens when the Moral Majority, the Business Council of America and various law enforcement agencies combine to co-fund film production in an attempt to salvage reputations in a post Enron/Credit Crunch business environment. To the credit of the Director he must have realised his production was irrevocably tainted, how else can one explain the vandalised photo of President George W Bush in the DA's office at the 64th minute, and subsequent attempts to contact Adlai Frankenhim have failed due to it apparently being a made up name.

Reviewed by Juan Incognito