From Other Worlds (2004)

[lester1/2jr]

                    This piqued my interest because it's written by the guy who wrote "Married to the Mob", not the first person you'd think of to do a low budget indy sort of thing.  So did this apparent contradiction yield some sort of workable outcome?  Yes, very much so.  Perhaps bouyed by Napolean Dynamite? I have no idea but this isn't the first sort of "PG Underground" movie I've seen lately and I hope it's not the last because while it is corny it is also refreshing and more or less attitude free.  

                       I recently told a friend of mine, who wasn't listening,  that when I see the films he puts in his queue I picture a bunch of dirty people ambling around.  Sure there is some good stuff like that but I have this sort of naive idealism that "alternative" can be ANYTHING that's not what's going on in Hollywood, not just the assigned indy hairstyle with the smoking the cigarettes or going to like the Sudan and hiding from the Janjaweed for a month or something.  It's hip to be square.  We're through being cool.  Yes we have no bananas okay...

            The two main characters are kind of unusual.  the female lead has a thick Brooklyn/ New Jersey/ I don't know accent which reminded me of an episode of MTV True Life where the girl goes to an acting coach who attempts to drill her similar sounding staten island accent out of her.  The male lead is a west african guy who is apparently in alot of Jarmusch movies but while he's more or less handsome he's not Denzel Washington and is very African looking.  As one character notes "He's not even African-American, he's African-African".  Both are convinced they were visited by Aliens and began to find clues that they believe will lead them to the truth and form a bond based on this despite their different backgrounds.  

             Like I said, it is corny in places, especially the incidental music and it kind of runs out of steam here and there but it's different, entertaining and certainly a cut above most indy offerings I've seen especially the writing.  It's a little better than "Murder in Manchvegas" which I saw recently but similar in that it has elements of stuff like the Sarah Silverman Show or Chris Elliots "get a life" without the subversive undercurrent which is okay though in the case of both "Murder..." and this I think it's fair to say they could use a "little something." I don't know exactly what.

            Movie looks like it was filmed with an expensive digital process rather than film. It's crisp and clear but the colors aren't that great though I have no actual idea what they did.  I don't think I need to mention this got some really bad reviews from the cinephile set.

4/5