Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Cost of Living with Brandon Routh and Bret Harrison

A new short film has hit the internet in the past couple of days and this one is a little different.  A first time film from director BenDavid Grabinski, it has a couple of recognizable names in it and looks more polished than the usual amateur short.



The flick is very obviously inspired by James Cameron's Aliens and is about a couple of security guards who work for a corporation that deals in making monsters.  Their job is simple, when the monsters escape, hunt them down and stop them.  Silas and Jerry are played by Brandon Routh, who you may know as Superman from Superman Returns and Bret Harrison of the TV show Reaper.

It's about 10 minutes long and is an effective throwback to the action/horror movies of Cameron's heyday that relies on suspense and lighthearted character work.  It will probably disappoint monster movie fans looking to see some cool creatures, as these guys are left to our imagination.  The director does an effective job in using camera work, the reactions of our heroes and the female voice of the computer to build suspense.

It's a neat little way to spend a few minutes of your afternoon with some nice one liners with an almost Ghostbuster-esqu blending of blue collar work with the supernatural to ground the far fetched premise.  I enjoyed it, as I did Routh's play on the stereotypical gruff voiced hero who throws out his one-liners as if he doesn't care how they land.

Couple of Geek Notes for the film:  Not only is the doomed voice we hear over the transmitter basically quoting Bill Paxton from Aliens, it is played by Michael Rosenbaum who was the most multi layered of live action Lex Luthors in Smallville.  Kind of a worlds colliding thing with Routh being the big screen Man of Steel.  Worlds also collide in a smaller way with the voice of the computer being portrayed by Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who starred with Routh in Scott Pilgrim as his ex-girlfriend.

You can watch the movie here: http://www.foindustries.com/

PS for those with sensitive ears, it is R rated.

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