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Phillip the Fossil (2010)
Phillip's Living the Dream
Small town U.S.A, where the living appears to be good. The popular high school students purchase their steroids and alcohol from Phillip, whom was once one of them a decade earlier.
Phillip provides these goods and services to his high school friends as a way to connect with them. He still relishes the days of the young girls and constant partying. By providing the drugs and alcohol he maintains an in.
But, Phillip definitely struggles. He wants to be a good guy. After a fight with his boss, at a landscaping company, he's aiming to be more responsible, by becoming his own boss. A friend at property management company promises to help him secure a 100 clients, if Phillip succeeds in starting his own company.
There are times where Phillip just seems to be a sex and drug addict, whom's escaping an ordinary life in a small town, though he often gives glimpses that he's really a decent guy.
Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best (2011)
Brooklyn Brothers really do beat the best
This was a screening that was on my must see list, when I attended the Gasparilla Film Festival in Tampa. It won the feature film Audience Award.
Ryan O'Nan (he also received the Rising Star Award at GIFF) and Michael Weston played off each other excellently as the musical misfits pulled together, by somewhat depressing life events, to road trip to random music venues across America. At one venue, they gain the interest of Cassidy (played wonderfully by Arielle Kebbel), who becomes their road manager. The three of them cram into, what I recall being an old Rabbit, and have those conversations you have while cruising along in tight spaces.
As they pursue their goal of competing at a "battle of the bands" event, they take a discombobulated path from East Coast to West, where their stops at music clubs, frats, and busking pulls in the viewer to the characters' general efforts to succeed and to be accepted. Their music is an integral part of the film, and it guides the story along with the duo's up and downs in their ultimate quest to connect with others.
On a side note, I saw the Brookly Brothers perform after their screening, and their music is just as captivating live as in their film.
Friends (with Benefits) (2009)
View with your friends, conversations will certainly be sparked.
Just saw this film at the Gasparilla International Film Festival in Tampa. The movie has stuck with me. Wonderful directing, acting, writing, soundtrack, cinematography (great use of split screens) . . . really everything.
It did not take long for me to feel a familiarity with the six friends and actually give a damn about them. There's twist and turns, that are subtle and extreme. Keeping me engaged, as I was never able to predict where an interaction might lead.
Friends (With Benefits) is full of life, and understands the magic that pulls friends together; especially, twenty-somethings discovering themselves.