Indie Gems: Odd Thomas

-
I see dead people...and do something about it.

Odd Thomas (Anton Yelchin) is a short order cook in a small California town with a - well, odd gift. He can see dead people. Sometimes, when they are murdered they help Odd find their killers as a low key detective. Only his girlfriend Stormy (Addison Timlin) and the police officer he works closely with, Chief Wyatt Porter (Willem DaFeo) know his secret. One day a man named Fungus Bob Robertson (Shuler Hensley) shows up and dark forces follow him. Odd tasks himself with solving this very intricate mystery.

Despite being a huge fan of Anton Yelchin, I hadn't seen this film until recently. For some reason it eluded me. It was a small film that ran into financial problems. It was filmed in 2011, but didn't see a small release until 2013. Though watching the film, you'd never guess it had problems. The story is put together well, the CGI looks great for an indie film and the acting of course is top notch.

Yelchin of course is the standout and he gives a great performance. Odd is a very smooth guy, but parts of this film are downright heartbreaking and Yelchin excels there. He and Timlin also have amazing chemistry so it's easy to love his scenes with Stormy. I'm glad I finally got to see this. It's now moved up higher on my Yelchin list, right up there with Like Crazy, Alpha Dog, and Five to Seven.

Grade: A

Watched on: Netflix Instant

Memorable Quote: "He didn't just have one killer, he had two. One more and they could buy group health insurance or form a rock band." - Odd Thomas (Anton Yelchin)

Comments

  1. AnonymousMay 5, 2017 at 8:03 PM

    How could I have missed this? I love all your reviews but indie gems best of all - love gathering movies for my list, especially your recommendations.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Often Off TopicMay 8, 2017 at 9:25 AM

    This has been on my list for ages too, and I don't think I've ever really known what it was all about! I need to hunt down a copy of this ASAP now.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamMay 10, 2017 at 2:51 PM

      I didn't know what it was really about either. I had just had it in my queue because Anton is in it.

      Delete
  3. m.brownMay 9, 2017 at 1:36 PM

    This mofo has been on My List since forever and I have almost pressed play 900 times. After reading this review, I'm f--king doing it, man. I'M GONNA DO IT!!

    Sorry. Great post. I gotta check this one out now!! Like, for real.

    ReplyDelete
  4. BirgitMay 11, 2017 at 11:40 AM

    I always feel so sad when I hear this young man's name. He died way to young and senselessly. i hope his family sued the car manufacturer. This film sounds excellent as I love this theme-on my list to see!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamMay 11, 2017 at 12:47 PM

      They did, and I hope that action prevents other people from dying. They need to fix that defect.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Thanks for stopping by, let's talk movies!
(comments are moderated to reduce spam)

Popular posts from this blog

Random Ramblings: The Radio Flyer Conundrum

-
Image
Recently, I was talking to someone about who I thought were the best child actors when I was also a child.  Two that really stood out to me were Elijah Wood and Joseph Mazello, and one film those two were in together was called Radio Flyer.  Then I was reminded about the uniqueness of this film. Instead of reviewing the film, I wanted to have an open discussion about the ending. It deals with a tough issue; child abuse. What I’ve noticed is the way that the film ends is interpreted many different ways, and the filmmakers never came forward to say what was right and wrong. I’m interested in hearing everyone’s opinions on it. How did you interpret the ending? Obviously spoiler alerts will follow.. For those of you who haven’t seen the film, the basic premise is this: Two young boys, Mikey (Wood) and Bobby (Mazello) move in with their single mother and her boyfriend, who refers to himself as ‘The King’. It doesn’t take long for The King to start physically abusing Bobby, and the
Read more

Indie Gems: Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon

-
Image
Passionate about your profession? I had never heard of this film until it ended up on one of Jason's favorite horror movie lists around Halloween. It immediately sounded interesting to me, so of course I threw it in my Netflix queue. (and if I'm just now watching it after adding it around Halloween, you know how ridiculous my queue is) Taylor (Angela Goethals) is a journalist who, along with a film crew decides to follow around a serial killer named Leslie Vernon. (Nathan Baesel) He plans on doing the typical slasher thing - getting a bunch of drunk teens in an abandoned house and knocking them off one by one. He gets advice from a retired serial killer, Eugene (Scott Wilson) and is threatened by a man who's on to him, Doc Holloran (Robert Englund) Taylor and crew are there capturing it all. Leslie Vernon is fucking hilarious to start with, and clearly very passionate about what he does. He tells Taylor all of his secrets and can barely contain his excitemen
Read more

Please join me in my Favorite Movie Titles Blogathon!

-
Image
Earlier this week I made a post where I ran through the letters of the alphabet with my favorite movie titles. There were a few people that suggested I turn it into a blogathon, and I've never done that before. So here goes nothing! Since this is my first attempt at a blogathon, it's all pretty simple, and it's hopefully a quick post that everyone can join in. Rules: 1) Going through the alphabet, list your favorite movie title beginning with each letter.  2) You don't have to necessarily  like the movie to use it's title.  3) Use the banner at the top of this post in yours. 4) Please have submissions in by Friday, May 30th*. (But I'll be honest, if you send them to me after that date, I'll still add them to my post.) You can either leave a link to your post in the comments here or tweet it to me, ( @ramblingfilm )  Thanks everyone! :)  *I had to move the date back a week due to Photobucket threatening me with bandwidth issues. But
Read more