LOOK DVD with Rhys Coiro, Hayes MacArthur, Tom Hodges (R) +Movie Reviews

Interesting premise, but this voyeurism just didn't work

Steve Kuehl | Ben Lomond, CA | 05/02/2009

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I once again was duped by all these "5 star reviews" and by believing all those excerpts about how anti-Hollywood this was and how amazing the CCTV cam concept was. Then I watched it, and I learned a lesson.

We have a story about various people in SoCal living out several days as seen through the cams and surveillance monitors in malls, ATMs, convenience stores, workplaces, and everywhere else. Aside from the legal issue of not being able to record audio here in CA, the boring drama of ten people I care nothing about, the tedious articulation of adulterous affairs, stalkers, pedophiles, killers, gay lovers, pranksters, Clerks wannabes and a few other idiots - I guess you could see a good movie.

Tons to dislike about this mess, including massive amounts of misplaced music (since technically this is supposed to be surveillance footage), poor video quality (I know on purpose), the blotting out of actor's faces in the police scenes (uhhh, I thought they were actors), and sad stories ripped from the headlines, etc.

I gave it a second star for the supplements as the documentary tells a half-hour tale of how to make an independent film. The director summed up the main fault of the story by saying an "overlord" takes all of this footage and puts it together for us to see - oookaaaay, right. There are 14 minutes of outtakes and 47 minutes of alternate scenes. Plenty here for the fans of the film, and I am sure there are those who would rank this in their top 10. Skipper for me - maybe a recommendation for those conspiracy types."

Excellent look into a rather disturbing topic... surveillanc

Esperanza Reynolds | Miami Lakes, Florida | 06/08/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Look is a movie that surfaces a rather disturbing subject, for there are millions of surveillance cameras in the United States that capture our every move, some of rather intimate nature.

Today, there is hardly any natural disaster, event or news worthy moment without a video having captured all details. The average American is captured by a recorded device at least 200 times. For example, if we use a prepaid pass device, the motor vehicle authorities know wherever we have been. Cellular phones provide records of our every call and of our location at any given time. Cell phone cameras are able to capture our image and send it over the Internet at any given time; our navigational pattern through the Internet is now recorded and used as a sales tool... But the movie tells how we are being observed at our jobs, at school, on the street, while shopping, in the dressing room as we try on new garments, at the airport and even in the "privacy" of our own homes.

The movie probes into subjects that leave us wondering if there is such a thing as a private moment, or a secret. Just look at the scandals of the day and realize that no one can carry a secret affair without some form of detection, whether a photo, a recorded conversation, or the paparazzi following our every move.

No one seems to be able to lie, deceive or commit a crime without some form of record surfacing, and while some aspects of this loss of privacy may be good for society, the movie shows the desperate situations resulting for some innocent victims.

A rather powerful movie, would highly recommend seeing it to understand the reality of our modern times.

"

Great concept and thought-provoking movie (even if the exceu

AIROLF | USA | 05/28/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"LOOK is my first Amazon Vine DVD and I was delighted to receive it, having read all about this film and watched the trailer on Amazon's Daily Blog about a month ago.

The concept of the film is its best feature; the movie is filmed entirely with surveillance cameras. In fact, better than the movie is the outtakes in the special features that show the director as he scouts the perfect positions for stationary elevator and drive thru cameras.

There are other special features on this DVD but none are promising. Particularly disappointing is the "alternative and deleted scenes" section. The "alternative scenes" are really extended scenes and only one or two scenes are actually worth viewing. Cutting these scenes was the right decision, but some of them shouldn't have been filmed at all as they hardly add anything to the story.

There plot of the movie is simple and complex at the same time - show people in the glimpses of different cameras as they go about their daily lives. What results is surprising and shocking at the same time - almost 100% of our lives and stories can be seen if one follows all the cameras that are watching us - from the mall cameras in the fitting room to the bathroom cameras to the garage to the cellphone cameras of strangers to the nanny cameras installed by us to spy on others but which, in fact, monitor us as well.

The characters in the story all have tangential lines and some have interactivity among themselves. sometimes this results into a story that's a bit too neat, but often it just underscores the interactivity of our lives.

Whereas Watchmen asked "Who is watching the watchmen?", LOOK asks who is watching YOU? Or me? or all of us? Where does the information from the cameras go? How can it be used? What is it being used for? And can we honestly trace our whole lives through the cameras that surround us? In our overstimulated society, who is reviewing the multiple camera feeds? The implications are great and terrifying.

Look illustrates that reviewing the feeds from the cameras all around would yield the stories of our lives (even if some details would be missing - one storyline is left open-ended on purpose).

In the end, the movie is more satisfying as a way to trigger contemplation and discussion of issues of privacy and the state of being human in today's technological world

Big Brother might not be watching you, but whoever is watching all the cameras can gather everything they'd like about you at any given time. LOOK is worth a look, is only once, to make you aware of our society's voyeuristic tendencies."

Interesting Premise; Horrible Execution

Daniel G. Lebryk | 10/07/2009

(1 out of 5 stars)

"After about 20 minutes I disliked this film. The potential, how cool is this, security camera footage blended together into a story? What an awesome idea. Oh but what a bad film, so poorly made.

The film opens with these very serious titles, there's some bazillions of hours of security camera footage, every American is filmed at least some incredible number of times a day... And then what does the film cut to? Two girls naked in a changing room. Yes they are both very cute, they have very pretty bodies, and nobody can ever deny that. But come on Adam Rifkin, could he have chosen a more hackneyed, prurient choice? Any belief that this might be some form of documentary or study of security camera video, as the opening titles suggest; went 100% completely out the window. The film follows a number of stories and people that ultimately cross paths and end up with a very neat tidy bow at the end of the film. Sadly, just about every cliché imaginable is covered in this film.

From a technical standpoint, the concept of security camera works for about 5 minutes. Nobody wants to watch an almost two hour movie of grainy, out of focus, fixed position cameras. So Rifkin decided to do away with that concept, and only occasionally reminds us that this is supposed to be surveillance cameras. The film has virtually no rhythm. It tries to create some complication by cutting between story lines. In the end, he spends infinitely too much time in the convenience store, and just about every other set he's chosen. Near the end some cutting between stories gets an interesting pace; otherwise, the whole film just plods along. In fact the salt in the wound, there's several scenes where Rifkin fast forwards the video tape, so we don't have to sit listening to some character natter on about nothing. The worst part of this, in the extended scene bonus features; he plays each of those scenes out - there's 45 minutes of this garbage.

The film is rated R, and deserves every bit of that rating. There's no fear in showing Tony having sex with several female employees of the department store; a male shipping clerk masturbating behind his computer; and the two girls trying on clothes. But all the male parts are pixellated. It is pathetic. There's plenty of strong language. Drug use. And violence.

The bonus features are just horrible. They are incredibly long and tiresome. There is a reel of extended scenes. Another reel of director deleted scenes (the last one of this series is so worth watching, it is the only funny moment in the film that isn't included in the film). Another reel of 'behind the scenes,' where somebody with an absolutely awful voice talks about the preproduction and production work of this film. It is one of the worst films of this type I've ever seen. If anyone could stand to watch this film over again, there is director commentary.

Such a bad film. Every cliché in the world is shown. The concept was decent, but the actual film is just plain pitiful.

"

Mall rats and cubicle drones on a collision course to hell

APC Reviews | USA | 06/16/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Answers the question "What if Robert Altman's 'Short Cuts' had been filmed with surveillance cameras and was about the intersection of two wandering criminals on a killing spree with the lives of completely shallow people that would have to be upgraded to be meaningless?"

A multi threaded day in the life gone wrong story, as seen on surveillance video. Also, people doing every crass, vulgar, immodest, gross, improper, cruel and pathetic thing they ever thought private while no one was looking as, of course, someone is looking ALL THE TIME. It also depicts, by way of the backgrounds, an endless cityscape of bleak, bland, corporate, suburban reality, miles and miles of aisles and aisles, cul-de-sacs, mall corridors, highways and elevators. Clandestine sex and nudity in public places features large in the scheme of this story, as does random violence and gratuitous stupidity. Fascinating, in a vaguely voyeuristic way, given the staged quality of the "observed" scenes, the film chronicles the torment and eventual crisis of mall rats, cubicle drones, teeny boppers, housewives, cops, salesmen, secretaries and family barnyards everywhere, all on a collision course to hell."

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