Westender

Rating:
Summary: Decent Fantasy Flick That Turns Into A Hiking Documentary
Review: "Westender" could be very good, if they'd cut about twenty minutes of the constant walking that the hero, Asbrey the Westender, does throughout the entire film. The story goes something like this: A once great knight falls from grace. No one knows exactly what happened and it's never revealed. He loses his most prized possession, his deceased wife's ring, in a game of chance while he's drunk. He decides the next morning, after recovering from a hangover and a beatdown, that he must seek out the man who cheated him out of his ring. What happens after that is pretty standard for a fantasy flick like this. Asbrey walks...a lot. He walks through the forests, finds the guy who cheats him, befriends him, then walks some more. He finds out that the guy who took his ring, a jester named Glim, was jumped by some slavetraders who in turn stole the ring from him. Asbrey walks some more. He finds the slavetraders but is captured. The next morning he is set free by Glim, who then abandons him. So now he walks alone. He is lead by a mysterious wolf(I'm assuming it's his wife) and finds his sword, suit of armor, and a mysterious old man who teaches him that material things do not matter. Asbrey walks some more, this time through a desert that looks something like a sandy beach. He meets a few more people along the way. Asbrey uses all of his time alone screaming, crying, and fighting his internal demons. In the end, our hero must decide whether or not to do what is right or take a selfish turn.

This story could have been a lot better. The idea of the knight fighting himself more than physical enemies is great, but it is dragged out over too much time of walking alone. It's boring to watch this guy walk through the desert. It's boring to watch this guy walk through the woods. The dialogue is minimal, with emphasis placed on the beautiful music throughout the film. The acting is pretty decent, especially considering that many of the characters are portrayed by volunteers and crew members.

Overall, this film isn't too terrible. Just do yourself a favor and skim through the scenes where Asbrey wanders through the desert until he faces a few foes. Considering the shoestring budget, the film and music is of very high quality. It's worth a look simply for the beautiful scenes shot in the forests of Oregon. When the movie is green, the colors are vibrant. When the action moves to the desert, it becomes drab.

Recommended to fans of medieval fantasy and Arthurian legend, but be warned that this movie drags at a snails pace and the action is very limited.

Rating:
Summary: Great Spin on the Fantasy Genre!
Review: Anyone who likes Xena: Warrior Princess will like this. It's a beautifully filmed fantasy story about internal and external conflict. The characters are so interesting that they sometimes are more interesting than the plot, it's one flaw, a flaw I'm willing to look past. I have no issue with any of the actors' performances. Buy it and escape reality for awhile (a la LOTR)

Rating:
Summary: One of the most promising directing debuts I've ever seen
Review: As a wanna-be filmmaker myself I am always keeping tabs on low-budget (or "NO budget" as the case may be) independent films. When a new director comes onto the scene, I think it is always worth checking out their first film to see if they have potential to be a great filmmaker (the Coen brothers' "Blood Simple" and Robert Rodriguez's "El Mariachi" denotes just that). Thus, when the movie "Westender" played at a local arthouse theatre, I was interested to see it (my interest piqued even more by the fact that it was shot almost entirely in the beautiful state of Oregon, where I live, and the writer/director Brock Morse is from my resident town of Corvallis). Of course, having seen so many poor independent films in my time, I wasn't expecting very much. I was pleasantly surprised when the film turned out to be really quite good.

The movie takes place in a fantasy medieval time and chronicles the journey of a down-on-his-luck knight named Asbrey who goes in search of a precious ring he gambled away while in a drunken stupor. Along the way he meets a variety of characters including an eccentric old man who lives alone and imparts wisdom to the weary knight and a comical sidekick named Glim who starts out as a foe but becomes a friend. Since the dialogue is minimal, the story is told primarily through the images (which are stunning) and the spelndid music score (composed by Rob Simonsen who also plays Glim). The performances (particulary by lead actor Blake Stadel) are quite good as well.

Of course, the film is not perfect. Though it is only 103 minutes, it feels longer. I think another 10-12 minutes could have been trimmed off its running length without affecting the narrative. Also, on occasion the sound (which is typically the most lacking element of any independent film) is less than stellar. These shortcomings, however, are forgiveable and can, I think, be attributed simply to relative inexperience on the part of the filmmakers. I'm sure these aspects will be improved upon in their next feature.

Overall, "Westender" is an enjoyable cinematic experience and a very promising debut which should leave the viewer looking forward to future projects by its makers.

Rating:
Summary: Impressive debut, but poor DVD
Review: Compared to the major studios' big budget medieval period pieces such as "The Lord of the Rings" "King Arthur", or even "Timeline", this is not even in the same league of course. So don't go into it with high expectations. But as a small, independent film done by first time filmmakers on an extremely limited budget, it's not half bad. The score and photography really carry the film. It looks very impressive most of the time. Beautiful locations. And director Brock Morse shows a lot of promise and has obvious talent. I did have some problems with the story/script. It's a bit 'artsy' and strange, with characters coming and going out of nowhere and a lot left unexplained...all of which I'm sure was intentional, so it really depends on your personal taste. My biggest disappointment however was with the DVD. One of the main reasons I would even bother to buy one of these independent cheapo films is because I am interested in the filmmaking process and I love to hear the creators (writer, director) talk about their film. I love to see the behind-the-scenes footage on how their first film came to be, the trials, tribulations, triumphs they had to endure to make the movie.I want to see interviews with the actors, director, writer, cast and crew in general, etc. Well, unfortunately NONE of this is included. There are no commentary tracks whatsoever, which is a shame and somewhat surprising. There are no interviews, no making-of sequences, nothing of note really at all. There is a 3 to 5 minute promo called The Creation of Westender but it is shallow and pretty worthless, essentially a commercial for the film. Where are these filmmakers and why did they not get more involved in this DVD? Most of the time I notice novice filmmakers are eager and delighted to share their movie and are all over the DVD. Not here. It feels somewhat abandoned. And to top it off, the DVD has English sub-titles (which are for the hearing impaired I assume since the movie is in English) that cannot be turned off (!) They are permanently present, which is a bit distracting. So anyway, overall, not a bad first film by director Brock Morse. It's quite impressive considering the low budget. It looks truly beautiful at times ...but it would have been a LOT more enjoyable if the DVD had included more than just the film.

Rating:
Summary: A Walk To Remember...Unfortunately
Review: First and foremost, this movie is bad. Not bad compared to Lord of the Rings bad, but bad compared to say, your six year old's elementary school stage adaptation of Lord of the Rings.

This is the story of some guy named Westender. Apparently he used to be a big shot for some reason but that's not important enough to ever discuss. He's drunk and sad because someone for some reason burned his wife a long time ago but that's not explained either so don't bother looking. Now he and this gypsy lady miss her. The only thing he has to remember her by is her ring which last night in a drunken game of some kind of wooden poker he lost. Now he must set off across Oregon, er...whatever kingdom they're living in, to get it back from the slavers who stole it from the guy who stole it from him within one week's time so he can run away with his new gypsy friend whom we never hear about again so don't bother looking for that either. Thus begins about two hours of walking. The first hour he walks through the forest with a new found friend and the occasional fight scene apparently choreographed by that same elementary school troupe. Eventually he falls into a river and his buddy inexplicably runs away and he winds up at the beach, er..the desert, or both seemingly. Thus begins a good 15-20 minutes of him walking interrupted only by the occasional bout of uncontrollable crying and flailing about. He finally tracks down the slavers but their nasty leader who carries the ring flees and he must make the grand hero's choice to chase the ring or stay and help the random slave girls who have no lines and don't even show the obligatory nudity that so often turns terrible films into terrible films with boobs.

Dialogue is almost non-existent in this film which is actually a plus, as the few lines that are uttered only serve to highlight the atrocious writing and amazingly worse delivery of the dare-I-say "actors". Oddly enough, the production values of the movie and even the DVD itself, which has a few extras, are relatively high for an independent film. This only makes one wonder how someone managed to pitch this travesty to someone else who in turn forked over money for the endeavor and why, with such powers, aren't they ruling the world. Avoid this film. In fact, go and drink heavily for several hours. Go now...live free.

Rating:
Summary: If you can accept a few trouble spots..it's way worth it
Review: I saw this movie on the suggestion of a friend and was amazed at the quality. Yeah, the script isn't stellar, but i don't think it needed to be. the movie is extremely powerful and moving in the way that it is shot and in the performance of the lead actor, who i belive to be the next big thing along with the director, Brock Morse, who i had the pleasure to meet. I think this is an excellent jumping off point for them both and one not to miss as i believe that we will be seeing much much more from both of these talented men

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful Independent Film
Review: I was reluctant to view this at first, as this is not generally the genre of film I like. However, after deciding to give it a try, I found myself mesmerized by the beautiful cinematography and memorable musical score. Although this is not a dialogue-driven film, it actually held my interest with the scenery of Oregon (could this beauty truly be in one state?) The lead actor, Blake Stadel, gives a good performance, truly making me feel his pain at times.

I gave this a good review as I feel there is a need for a true "art film" in the independent category. Although not a strong plot, it was beautifully directed and scored and I can't wait to see what these talented young film artists do for an encore.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting, quirky sort of film.
Review: Just finished watching this flicker with my 2 children (under the age of 10.) Son is an avid LOTR fan -- he thought it was "totally weird." Dotter generally doesn't like fantasy; she thought it was "interesting." Me? Loved the film score -- lush, beautiful 85-minutes of strings and splendid orchestration. Lead actor was convincing albeit in a self-absorbed role as knight errant. Scenery was splendid, particularly in forest element. I won't rehash all that others have said here, except to add I enjoyed the spartan dialogue and this indie film's idiosyncrasies. It's a different, quirky view -- not brain surgery or world peace -- but capable fodder for an evening before the TV with a video.