-- “Do not feed the humans, let them all die out.” A great quote that perhaps relates to the
title of the movie and the “game” Larry plays by making everyone wear an animal mask.
-- “Jesus on a Stick.” I don’t know, this just made me laugh.
-- One character says, “We do not have anything.” Then another character says, “Yes we do, we
have us.” A poignant comment that makes you think about what it means to have friends and be
humans. The opposite of the first quote.
-- “My light side is Bud Light.” Hilarious!
Philosophy aside, the movie, although silly, is a valiant attempt at doing something out of the
ordinary. I think what I enjoyed most were the scenes when everyone started to make a movie,
but various distractions prevented them from doing it. I think all of us amateur movie makers
have been in this situation. The crux with my friends has usually been us getting on the
Playstation on a movie-making night. Food is also a powerful distraction. How many of us had
to go to the IHOP or Village Inn at 2am to get something to eat before filming resumes.
Everyone I’m sure. So I can relate. The funny thing is that Larry, the supposed “director” of
this movie attempt, is usually the one who creates the distractions that prevent anything from
getting done.
Jared Hargrave, Rusty Hoot Pictures
The Animal Game [3.5 hour version]
Orange Cow Productions
Review by John Simpson, The Amateur Movie Database [psychofilm@yahoo.com]
http://www.go-amdb.com
[editor's note: this review is based on an earlier version of the movie which has since been trimmed by one hour.]
Rewatchability factor:
The length may scare you out of repeat viewings...
When watching this amazingly long movie, only one thing crossed my mind--these people must be improvising geniuses. To hear the words spouting from their mouths is like reading some novel you're forced to write a report on for English class. The movie was all improvised and shot on a single night, from what I have learned about the production. Entirely in black and white, this movie deals with a group of people trying to make a movie. Do they want to make another typical, cheesy, out-in-the-woods-in-the-dark slasher movie? Do they want to make something socially significant? Will they make a movie at all? I don't know what to make of the acting because I don't know if they did any acting or if this is how these people all act in real life. If it is, in fact, how they are in real life, then I would have a major inferiority complex standing anywhere near them. Although an *extremely* long movie that doesn't feel like it's ever going to make any sense, "The Animal Game" pays off if you stick with it until the end. I found myself a little shocked by how cool I felt the resolution was. I wasn't expecting to be rewarded for my hours upon hours watching the movie. Good job, Garrett! Think you may trim the running time again in the future?
Posted by Jay Bauman, Blanc Screen Cinema
>
Mike Stoklasa [of amateur movie group GMP] let me borrow The Animal Game the other day, and surprisingly, I really really really friggin' liked it. Everyone keeps talking about the length, but it didn't even bother me. It added to the weird atmosphere of the whole experience. The unique dialogue, camera work, acting, and the length all made the movie feel like some sort of dream. I was in a weird hypnotic state while watching it and it's been stuck in my head ever since, making me question issues that the movie raises. That to me is it's greatest attribute: the fact that it made me THINK for a change.
Jay
The Animal Game [2.5 hour version]
Posted by Mike Stoklasa, GMP Pictures
The Animal Game. This movie was a wonderful mess, a poetic piece of puke, a
brilliantly conceived bowel movement. I couldn't take my eyes off the screen
or my hand off the fast forward button (though the temptation never was
realized) It was long, seemingly pointless, but at the same time was an
experiment in humanity and some sort of something brilliant. The boring parts
were painful, but as Garrett says in the film "It's like getting hit in the
head with a baseball, you feel pain, but that pain is a reminder that you're
alive" This is most true, Animal Game was long, but at the same time that
length was like tough love for film makers.
Animal Game is basically a 2 and
a half hour film about a group of kids making a movie.........okay it's just
like the Blair Witch Project. It's shot all in black and white and pretty
much has the same feel cause the Idea is that the film is all from the
perspective of a video camera that passes from person to person. Gilchrist
plays "Larry" the odd egocentric mastermind behind the film who apparently is
dying at the end of the day and wants to preserve himself and his odd
ramblings on the hi-8 format for all the world to remember him by. Larry
struggles with the dual nature of man and his animal instincts all the while
a cast of 18 year old boys laugh about hustler magazine and make jerk off
jokes (perhaps this was subtle social commentary?). What was acting? what was
these guys just goofing around? Like the number of licks it takes to get to
the center of a tootsie roll pop, the world may never know. Or care for that
matter as I don't see that many people getting to the end of this film. Most
people don't have the patience to sit through a 30 second television spot,
let alone 140 minutes of a shaking video camera and the temptation to fast
forward or turn the tape off was too great especially for the brave explorers
that made it as far as the forest sequence at the end.
The shame about this
film is that conceptually it's a great little idea and in many numbers of
occasions Garrett says some very funny things and some semi-profound
statements can even be pulled from the dreck of his rambling. In the diner
the camera is on Gilchrist as he's talking about how mankind is really
animals. Garrett then begins to eat off his plate with his face like a dog.
Ashe says "are you trying to prove a point", Gilchrist responds with a stone
face "No, I'm just trying to eat" This had the old laughmeter off the charts,
and there are many moments of this throughout the film, however they are
spaced too far apart and it does drag on, even if it's conceptually
brilliant. It's the typical case of a director not wanting to part with any
of his footage. Garrett must and will learn this someday: that the audience
needs to be a small step behind the film, when the plot twists or what not
they are close behind, ever following along in anticipation of what is next.
When the audience gets ahead and the film is catching up, it is what is known
in the industry as a "bad thing". I would be interested to see a cut of
animal game that's a good hour or so shorter cause there was a lot of
potential there.
all in all, watching the animal game was like watching a
train wreck with an underlying theme of death and how you will be remembered
after death. It's a topic we all can't help think about, there is something
kind of creepy about the animal game, something that transcends it's format
and it's actors, it's hard to put a finger on. It's a very deceptive little
piece of video hell.
The Animal Game [2.5 hour version]
Orange Cow Productions
Posted by Jason Santo, Random Foo Pictures
6-26-01
I watched Animal Game this weekend... in pieces. I got motion sick about 1 hour in and had to shut it off. I may write a review about how bulemics should use it to keep their fingers clean and their habits healthy. I didn't puke, but I came close.
The movie was interesting as experiments go. I do wish you trimmed the fat a bit. You constantly yelling about how your leg hurts got embarrassingly irritating after a while.
I'm sorry... it reminded me of a cerebral Blair Witch with a thoroughly pointless outing to a convenience store thrown in. I'd love to edit it down. If you spent a lot longer time in editing, I bet you could have fucking revolutionized amateur movie-making. You could have eliminated a shitload of character inconsistencies and shitty line deliveries.
If you want to see an interesting experiment in psuedo-doc, micro-budget movie-making, check out Orange Cow Productions' "The Animal Game." It's a very untamed mixture of comedy, eccentricity and, in spots, pure tension. The thing was shot by high school kids, but if it fell under the right cutter's skill, it could have been really terrific. The way it is now is just "interesting..." and long. Very long. (2.5 hours - pack dramamine.)
Editor's Note: Those of you who have read the very positive reviews at the Phantom Movie page may be wondering whether I would actually post an all-out pan of one of my movies here. Wonder no more, because here comes one.
The Animal Game [2.5 hour version]
Orange Cow Productions
Review by Jon Ashby, REwindvideo.com
9-30-00
The Neverending Story
At 2.5 hours, The Animal Game is ridiculously long for an no-budget movie - and to think that the original version made this one look like a TV commerical!
TAG: The Failed Experiment
Lately I've been feeling like a jerk. It's been pointed out to me that I nitpick about amateur films, even really good ones, to the point of sounding quite negative. It's true I suppose. But when I took a time out to think about it, I decided that my honesty should always take priority over my status as this site's webmaster and promoter of low-to-no budget moviemaking. I'm a really positive guy! Unlike my partner, I will pull my punches from time to time in the interests of online karma. But I can't lie about how I feel. The movie I'm about to review is called The Animal Game by Garrett Gilchrist. And I'm going to be honest.
I didn't enjoy this movie. God, how I wanted to.. but from frame one I was having vivid recollections of strange experimental college films by my old colleagues. When I called Wally to tell him what it was about, it became a struggle to find words. Let's try it again. A nuerotic young man named Larry grabs his home video camera, calls up some old friends to make a movie, and over the course of 2.5 hours of seemingly unedited footage, drives them all insane. Clearly The Animal Game was an experiment - it even says so in a disclaimer style page off the top of the movie. About ten minutes into the movie, I was already lying on my couch like Edward Norton in Fight Club, suffering from insomnia. Just staring.. waiting for some inciting event to spark meaning, purpose, anything, into this story or lack thereof. By the thirty minute mark all of these guys were walking aimlessly around, trying to pull some kind of filmmaking rabbit out of a hat. For the most part they just pissed each other off, and brought me with them. When I went to use the washroom, I didn't pause the movie. I was hoping to return to find something new, something that would require me to rewind and see what I missed. No such luck.
Before I piss off the Orange Cow crew any more, I should take a moment to highlight the best feature of this movie. As a result of genuine improv or considerable skill (probably the former, but who knows), the performances are 100% real. I believed these guys through and through - when they got pissed off, I could feel it. When they made fun of one of the others, I felt like they deserved it. Hell, at moments I even related to them. In amateur, low budget and professional films, you'll be hard pressed to find this calibre of genuine performance.
It's just too bad that doesn't carry a movie for me on it's own. I will give Garrett full credit for trying something new and taking a big risk - it's commendable. It's unfortunate that it just didn't work. Watching these guys spend a perfectly good evening grating on each other's nerves just isn't my idea of quality movie watching time. Other notes, though the handheld camera operation is actually relatively free of hard jerkiness, that Blair-Witchesque always-moving-never-stopping camera gave me a serious headache. I had to walk it off.
I lost focus a long ways into it.. needless to say that even if the (oddly appropriate) ending was inspired and artistic, I was lost to it for my inability to follow these guys. Perhaps I'm too simple a movie viewer to grasp the high concept here.
So conclusion? Good effort into something new with some excellent (albeit annoying) characters, and nearly impossible to watch. At one point the main character asks his friend if he's talented enough to make the entire film intriguing by his presence alone. I regret the answer is no.
Jon Ashby, REwind
Sidebar: To truly enjoy the talent of Orange Cow, check out The Phantom Movie also by Garrett Gilchrist. I quite enjoyed this one and don't want people to think poorly of Gilchrist's work for this one review. Stick with comedy guys.. you're very good at it! And forgive me this review.. normally I would have simply skipped it, but I promised it was coming and I won't lie to save feelings. Feel free to dig into me in the forum if it helps.
Editor's Note: I suggested to Jon later that as punishment for this review, he should watch the movie again. =) I also informed him that it was a comedy, sort of, really ...
Comedy? Really? I guess it just didn't work for me. Of course I'm still very much looking forward to the other Dr. Fred tape you sent me. Regardless of my feelings on this one movie, I still think you guys have amazing talent. I'm looking forward to all that Orange Cow will present in the future! I'm glad you're taking it well, I was hoping it wouldn't sting too much.
Tell your guys they are awesome actors!
Jon
Afterwards, Pennsylvania Tim of the band 50 O'Clock wrote this response.
The Animal Game [3.5 hour version]
Orange Cow Productions
Review by Tim McDermott [atoook@aol.com]
"The movie I'm about to review is called The Animal Game by Garrett
Gilchrist. And I'm going to be honest.
I didn't enjoy this movie."
Well, I did! As a big fan of unnecessary, gratuitous swearing, I thought it was great. I liked the whole idea behind it. Larry's desperately trying to make a movie because of his intense fear that he will die the next day, while the other kids have their own agendas to deal with. Griff, the cynicist, doesn't want to be there, even if it is a matter of life and death. Dick, the dick, wants so bad to be friends with the rest of the group, but no one even wants to know him, it seems. Sam and Boswell, the crew members, pulled in without even knowing about the project, seem to enjoy themselves. Mike, the real leader of the project, tries to make a movie out of it but can't seem to control the group (I don't want to say anything really bad about David Ashe's character since he already hates me as it is). Brilliant. I don't think it could've been better. Maybe it could've been a little shorter. That seems to be this Jon guy's main gripe. The length. Maybe if he looked beyond the length he would've enjoyed it more. Or maybe I looked into this movie way too much...
Tim
The Animal Game [3.5 hour version]
thoughts from Janina "Basil" Robbins [Robbinsjay@aol.com]
Oh Bug...
I've watched too many of your movies now. I can just see you rambling
on...and Justin whacking you with a chair.
... Oh and I LOVED The Animal Game. Honestly. It was painfully annoying, yet
incredibly profound all wrapped into one. I really did like it. Your stuff
just always comes out so professional. And by professional...I don't mean actually
professional like churned out of a studio, but I mean much better than a lot
of other shoddily put together "things" that I can't even call movies that
I've seen in my lifetime. *shudders to think about it*
... It's just so...hmmm...there isn't a word to describe the
fact that you can't find people to watch "The Animal Game". People have such
short attention spans. The only reason I had to watch it in segments was
because people kept coming into my room and wanting to talk to me. So it
went....press play on VCR...laughter ensues, a bit of thinking possibly, a
bit of sinking into insanity...and *knock, knock, knock* some person walks
in "Hiya Bas, whatcha doing?"...I'm watching a movie..."Oh whatcha watching?
Hmmm? Is it any good?"...Yes far more interesting than babbling about
nothing..."Ah, it looks annoying"...Okay, that's nice. Thank you really for
sharing....*the person starts to sit down to watch*...Um, you've missed about
an hour of it already...*the person continues to watch*...Uh, it's 4 hours
long...*the person doesn't move--the glow of the tv is too much for
them*...have to pause the VCR as the person then starts to have a
conversation because they have no idea what's going on...I finally get the
person to go away...Ah, back to the movie now...presses play on the
VCR...*another person walks in*..."Hiya Bas. How ya doing?"...My brother
died, quit asking me that stupid question..."Oh really? I'm glad you're
doing fine."....I lied you, idiot..."So what are you doing in school?"...I
withdrew for the semester..."Really? Weren't finals next week?"...Yes, I
missed 2 weeks of school already..."Oh, you could have studied really
hard..."...Um okay. You study really hard for me then...finally have to
pause the movie..."So what are you studying?"...I don't know, I'm changing my
major..."Oh really? What to?"...*I pull my hair out and go insane...
I don't think I'm even going to go into what watching the movie with Cyle was
like. ... the guy
simplifies everything. Not that there's a problem with doing that, but some
things like...umm....maybe...well there are things that aren't simplified
easily without losing something. That sounds just like you trying to edit
The Animal Game. =( I don't think I even want to go into Cyle and The Blair
Witch Project. You know, I warned the guy that it was filmed a lot with a
handheld and that if you sat up close you'd get sick. Did he listen to me?
No. Did he get sick? Yes.
Oh and I forgot to mention a very interesting side effect that I experienced
after viewing the Animal Game...an increased proclivity to babble
incessecently (as if I didn't do that enough as it was) and a sudden
hyperness. Larry just had a ton of energy and I think it like comes through
the screen and stuff and like transfers itself to ya. =\
Bas
Brain Goo
A Review of the Animal Game [2.5 hour version]
by Jared Hargrave, Rusty Hoot Pictures [www.rustyhoot.com]
A few weeks ago, I wrote an article about how I think we amateur movie makers should embrace
genre bending instead of being chained to the Hollywood wall of movie conventions. As a result,
I received a copy of Orange Cow’s “The Animal Game” directed by Garrett Gilchrist. I wanted to
see an unconventional movie, and boy did I get one!
The main reason that this movie is so different, is because it really isn’t a movie at all.
Instead of having a true storyline, “The Animal Game” is a collection of outtakes from a movie
that was never made. But these outtakes are over 2 hours long, which in itself is plenty of
footage for a movie.
Because of its first-person viewpoint, my initial reaction was, “okay, Blair Witch ripoff.”
Mainly because it was shot in black and white and much of the movie consists of teenagers
running in the woods at night. Yawn. Yawn is the best way to describe “The Animal Game”
because of its exceeding length. But I must say that it does have many good points. But first,
the bad.
Initially, I was really getting into the the “story.” A high schooler named Larry (Garrett
Gilchrist) invites his friends over to make a movie in one night. It is called “The Animal
Game” and he requires his friends Mike (David Ashe), Dirk (Ben Sipperell), and Griffin (Justin
Bielama) to don animal masks so they can explore their respective animal’s nature, or something
to that effect. An interesting idea, but Larry’s friends soon find out that there is no
script, no planning, no anything. Just 4 cameras, a counter full of food, and a thousand
dollars on the table. Unfortunately, because of Larry’s lack of planning and annoying
philosophical tirades, the movie never even comes close to being shot and everyone instead
wanders the town, eats at a local diner, and gets lost in the woods. And we, the viewer, get to
go along for the whole 2 1/2 hour ride. (The movie was originally 5 hours!)
I’ll admit, I was intrigued through much of the movie, only to try and figure out what all of
this was about. But several things got in my way. The main problem is the length. Even after
being cut down to 2 1/2 hours, it is still way to long. I became lost in a sea of philosophical
muck with no end in sight. The effect? Jared Brain Goo. If the movie was cut down to about an
hour, it would probably make more sense and have a greater impact instead of forcing the viewer
to sleep through all the random “walking around for no reason” stuff.
The second thing is Larry’s accent. Garrett, is that how you really talk? I hope not. Well,
by the end of the movie Larry’s voice seems normal, but in the very beginning, he sounds like a
hyperactive high school theater student faking a terrible English accent. The sound was
somewhat disturbing and may be the scariest thing in the whole movie.
Third, I’m not sure if I liked the whole $1,000 gone missing scenes. First of all, the fact
that Larry puts $1,000 on the table so they “can buy stuff.” doesn’t seem probable enough, even
for a character as insane as Larry. But later it seems the money was put in the open so that it
can get stolen, making the movie turn a 180 into a lame “who done it” mystery. This plot plant
didn’t work for me at all.
Now for the things I liked. I liked the philosophical tirades. Although sometimes annoying, I
couldn’t help but think that there was some purpose to it all, some universal message. I’ve
chosen some of my favorites to try and figure it all out.
Despite all the things that make this movie good or bad, I think it all comes down to this.
There are no new ideas for movies anymore. In the course of this movie, all the characters come
up with dozens of movie ideas, and all of them are shot down by Larry because they are not
original. Whether they be horror movies or science fiction movies or war movies, everything
has been done already.
Well, not everything. “The Animal Game” is a first. The genius of this movie is that it is a
movie with no plot or script about people making a movie with no plot or script. Yay! But in
the end, both fail. The idea behind this movie is great, but it is lost beneath dizzying layers
of video that serve no purpose. In effect, it is a great concept that is killed by poor
execution.
To end with another quote from “The Animal Game,” during a scene where one of the characters is
lighting a page of Cosmopolitan Magazine on fire, Larry asks, “Is this symbolic of something?”
I have to ask the same thing for “The Animal Game.”
'that ain't even a monologue, it's babble.'
The Animal Game [2.5 hour version]
Posted by daxthomas@webtv.net
mr. g,
wow
watching the animal game
the very first chunk of the film that I began to chew was quite
something. Something odd and new. Unusually shaped. Brilliant, was one
of the words that I might've shouted, laughing as I did, my smile wide
and genuine.
(rod serling, i began thinking. this kid is rod muthafucking serling!
great voice!)
an hour and a half in...
I was still smiling. I think...I think my cheeks hurt. Maybe...yes,
that's right. It reminded me of reading 'fear and loathing in las vegas'
and having to put the book down and away, as I couldn't continue without
it hurting. so deliciously ridiculous. not exactly the same, but I did
have to stop the film. for a while.
upon return...days later
It took me several attempts to finish, and, yes, it did wear me down. I
don't know. I enjoyed it on some levels because I could relate
(cynicalfilmboy), and as well, i enjoyed it for being something that is
completely opposite from what I know (i am not, nor have I ever been, a
bored white kid from the suburbs of new england. rather a bored indian
kid from a nowhere reservation i actually am, and have always been.)
Your world does fascinate me.
I actually love the concept/non-concept idea. The whole
deconstructionist aspect; creating while commenting on The Creation.
Wonderful. Very difficult to pull off. Your film is an anomaly. Wholly
different and interesting. A sort of slickness (editing/sound), both
unexpected considering it's classic, stock video origin.
Amazing performances. The somewhat seamlessness in which you blended
both David and Your subtle, and notsosubtle, histrionics, with the
seemingly less acting chop-equipped members of the cast, was tight, and
almost thoroughly believable.
I loved the quickie mart ('sliced bread'), and diner detours. And too
many other smallish detail things I don't remember now.
I didn't really enjoy where the stolen money/false motivation was taking
us. but i will admit that after half an hour of the 'ow...ow! my ankle'
and bickering, I did grow scared, for some silly and embarrassingly
unexplainable reason, for your remaining trio. What happened to the
america kid, godamnit?!
this time, at the end. the very end. No longer smiling, I whispered.
brilliant.
good show...
old man.
And yet I still don't know what it is garrett. you tell me.
dax