archived-videos "Sane: The Story of the Boredom Killings"

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alterEGOcinema

First thing:
WARNING - This movie contains extreme violence, profanity, alcohol abuse and sex/nudity including rape.

I post this first because there's already been talk about this film maybe being removed due to its content, so please do NOT watch if you think it will deeply offend you.

"Sane: The Story of the Boredom Killings" directed by Jeremy Williams and Shane Ryan aka 'The Cousin Bros.'

http://www.studentfilms.com/film/get.do?id=793

"WOW! To evoke such an unsettling emotion from the audience is an art. Not to compare but the killings had an Oliver Stone/Natural Born Killers feel...we loved it!" - PHILADELPHIA VIDEO FESTIVAL

Best,
Michael-Brian
Alter Ego Cinema
www.alteregocinema.com
 
Upvote 0
I have to be honest. I did not like it at all. I think maybe Mr. Ryan and Mr. Williams were trying to say something about restless youth and a violent society, but this short came off as glorifying violence, not denouncing it. Not to mention there is a strong misogynistic (not a word I use lightly) vibe to it.

I am not a squeamish person, neither am I a prude. I think violence like this has a place in cinema, but it needs to be done correctly. I don't feel it was done correctly here.

With that being said, I will always defend an artist's right to make a statement however he/she sees fit. I will be placing this on the homepage, not because I like it, but because I feel it should be seen and discussed.

I am very interested to here from other members on this one. Especially some of the female members.

Poke
 
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There were a lot of good shots, and I enjoyed the audio immensely. You could say that I liked it from an audio/visual/editing perspective. I did not care a whole lot for the content of the film (but I'm just one guy).

Poke -- I agree with a lot of what you said, but at the same time, my guess is that this film was not trying to promote or denounce violence. This film was merely trying to "show" us violence (there is an appetite/audience for everything). Or I may be completely off the mark.
 
Charles@Bophe said:
... my guess is that this film was not trying to promote or denounce violence. This film was merely trying to "show" us violence (there is an appetite/audience for everything).
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Maybe so. But I would argue that in the way it was presented, as two fun loving guys kill three people, lends itself for people to be critical of it.

I am not getting on a soapbox here. Whether or not the film was intended as I saw it does not matter to me. I was merely giving my opinion.

Poke
 
How long is it?
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If I remember correctly it is about twelve minutes.


I really liked the idea. I had some classmates in high school who decided to rob another students house for fun. They also thought it would be fun to bring along some handguns. Fortunatly the family was out of town and nobody got hurt. So for me this story doesn't require a great stretch of the imagination. I like the idea of exploring the depravity of a bored upper-middle class (that seems to be most everybody these days.)

Having said that , I really didn't care for the delivery. I didn't care for the frantic handheld movements and the overcutting. I have to agree with Poke in that it gave the piece a gee-isn't-this-fun feel. Which I guess since the story is told in a first-person documentary style that would kinda be the point. Unfortunatly it does leave the viewer unsure of the intent of the filmmaker. The acts themselves are creepy enough that it isn't really necessary to force the mood.

Otherwise an interesting view. I also thought the audio was wild. It definetly complimented the video and editing work.


Sorry about the typos and spelling errors-VERY long day at work-my brain shut down a while ago.
 
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If I remember correctly it is about twelve minutes.
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Thanks Mikey D.

I have limited access to a very sloooowww pc on dial up, so I could drive to the Philidelphia Video festival and view it faster than I could download it. Wish I could see it.
 
Wow! This film really seems to be making some people talk. I'm suprised. I guess when you know something so well, it seems much tamer.

There's a lot I guess that can be discussed about this film, but I've been kinda worn out explaining it and sticking up for it. There's a discussion that was started on the forum at Studentfilms if you wanna check out my defense in the movie, or I guess I coulda copied and pasted it here but it's really long.

All's I can say briefly, is the filmmakers honestly intended to show their example of what "reality TV" and the news has become; a way of feeding off of others pain.

"Sane" was just an extreme example of this. It was put together in the way they feel the media would put together real life footage of something this disgusting; in the form of entertainment.

Obviously, not everybody is going to get their point, and they went trough some tough battles in their hometown over this movie, but they still stand by it, so I'll give 'em that.

But it's also a very sick movie, I'll agree, so I guess it can go any way.

I don't know. It's definately one open for discussion. I just like how Shane can go from "Sane" to something like "Isolation" and how Jeremy can go from "Little Guy Kicks Ass" (where he's a he-man looking straight-faced robot) to "Sane" (parading around in a thong and talking dirty). I just think they show a lota talent. But some of it is pretty out there.

Oh well,
Best
Mike-B
Alter Ego Cinema
 
Not good. Not at all.

Wow. This movie is horrible. If you want a movie that uses violence and rape in the correct ways, rent Monster.

Btw, by "correct ways" I mean the correct ways in film. Neither are correct for real.
 
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I think a better word for it would be weak or I couldn't think of an interesting story so I used violence and sex to get people to talk about my poor excuse for a short. Waste of my time. :tongue:
 
Wow. Don't you guys think you're being a tad harsh? I mean you may not agree with the use of violence, but that doesn't make the short bad. It had an interesting visual style and the sound design was good. I just can't see why anyone would want to be so cruel in their comments for any film posted here. We are after all members of the forum that everyone says is full of helpful and kind filmmakers.

I just think there's a better way to critique this short.

Poke
 
Maybe I was a bit harsh. I ate some bad christmas food yesterday. I should have expressed my opinion in a more constructive way. It lacks quality production values and it feels underdeveloped. You can learn more from the constructive criticism than being sugar coated.
 
Poke said:
Yes, I didn't mean sugar coated, but I did mean constructive.

Poke
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Face it Poke...You're just one of those warm and fuzzy type of guys!!

As for the movie, I thought that there were a lot of good ideas in it. I do believe that there could have been more thought to it. I think that it was "compressed" a bit. They tried to fit in too much in too little time. Bring out the characters, and make it a feature or a longer short. Then the violence would but softened for lack of better words, and less offensive.

But all in all I think that there was something there.

Chris
 
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