Friends of "IFHY", Lend Me Your Ears!!!

Zak Forsman

Zak Forsman

Major Contributor
Today a bad review (two stars) went up for "I F*cking Hate You" from a reviewer who unfortunately was not the audience for this film and whose opinions, like "starts nowhere and ends nowehere" do not reflect the effect this little film had on a majority of viewers.

i'd love to let this kind of thing slide, but he was particularly hard on the actors, saying their performances lacked depth, that the song was "weird", and that Marion Kerr (who you all know and love) did nothing but stand there with a look on her face.

anyone who would say these things knows nothing of subtle human detail, nothing of the beauty of complex human emotions, and nothing of poetry for f*ck's sake!

http://www.filmthreat.com/index.php?section=reviews&Id=10867

SO I AM HERE TO RALLY THE TROOPS!!! I know many of you had great things to say, and feel as I do, that this kind of review sh*ts on the whole of struggling indie filmmakers, in a community like this one, who go out and grab their HV20 and some friends to make something insanely beautiful or compelling or maddeningly entertaining out of nothing!

And frankly, IFHY's image in the public is fragile right now. this kind of review so early in the game is damaging. I would encourage everyone to read the review, and leave a comment in the section provided below. registration only takes a second.

Admittedly, everyone is entitled to their opinion -- including a critic. But when the little guy finds himself being disparaged by a publication with a readership as big as Film Threat's, hundreds of thousands of people are going to come away from that review with an opinion of a short they never saw. This is our chance to show all of them how many people this film actually affected. That IFHY does not "start nowhere and end nowhere". That our beloved Marion Kerr does not lack depth!!!

It would mean everything to me to see this community stand up to poor taste!
 
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This business around IFHY is insane. One second you're up, another you're down...

last night I get a personal email from the Jury Head of a (confidential for now) film festival that has "unofficially" accepted IFHY into their programming slate. He said it was the best submission he'd watched, period, and wanted to reach out a little early to let me know. then I wake up to a sh*t review from Film Threat by a guy who has a bias against minimalist filmmaking and improv, and goes on to dismiss the depth of character put forth by two actors who I love dearly.

AND NOW, seconds ago, I get an email from Magnolia Pictures saying they loved IFHY and want to talk about distributing Heart of Now. crazy.

The fear is that Film Threat could kill the heat our little DVXuser film has generated.
 
thanks for the replies, guys. i definitely take this review with a grain of salt. but i can only attribute any miniscule bit of success I've had to getting worked up. it's a hell of a motivator. otherwise, i'd likely stay home all day... sitting on the couch... eating chips.

besides, i've gotten plenty of good press. Ain't It Cool News called it "brilliant". whatever that means. it just hurts when someone only puts enough effort into watching it to spit out a review (evident by his assertion that it starts nowhere and ends nowhere) and then places blame on the two actors' performances based on the perceived traits of their characters. so he thinks the character's a jerk. fine. that means it's a bad performance?

i mean come on! he describes the song as "weird" and "supposedly about love". i question how attentive he really was to watching it. any dope with two eyes and half a brain could see that song was about frustration and regret. and he's f*cking with my career.
 
There are two kinds of films in this world: a film that captures an audience and a film that is never seen.
 
that's true. you are very wise, DC.

Hey, I see you describe yourself as a Cinematographiliac. My DP signs everything as Cinematographreak. you two should get together.
 
hey Z- just got an email from one of my peeps in NY about your short.

"wow! tell them that was lovely. the actors are going to be stars."
 
"Maybe next time he can whip up a script that allows his talents to shine fully."

Ouch.

I usually hate discrediting people's opinions by accusing them of stupidity, but that critic is really an ignoramus.
 
They can't all be good reviews. I would not be worrying this much about it. It's not even that bad of a review - he clearly thinks you and the actors have talent.

I would be disappointed too, but I don't think this guy or any reviewer has any sort of obligation to be nice to a film because it's an indie, or for any other reason. Like you said, he's entitled to his opinion.
 
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It's kind-of a mixed review, Zak. It's not all bad, actually.

I think if Magnolia's got an eye on your work, one half bad half good review isn't gonna hurt anything.
 
Jared Meyer said:
They can't all be good reviews. I would not be worrying this much about it.

I would be disappointed too, but I don't think this guy or any reviewer has any sort of obligation to be nice to a film because it's an indie, or for any other reason. Like you said, he's entitled to his opinion.
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certainly. i'm not saying he should have written a positive review. i'm saying he didn't fulfill his obligation as a film critic to engage with the film and critique whether or not it was successful in attaining its goals. his review was lazy and dismissive.

Kholi said:
It's kind-of a mixed review, Zak. It's not all bad, actually.

I think if Magnolia's got an eye on your work, one half bad half good review isn't gonna hurt anything.
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maybe I'm just spoiled by the level of thought that went into the critiques from dvxuser members -- who went out of their way to thoroughly detail why they did or didn't respond to various aspects of the film.
 
Dude. It's a review. Maybe the guy just thought your movie sucks. That doesn't mean that it does. It just means that dude hates your movie. Big deal.

But as a rule I follow, If you believe the good reviews you get then you gotta believe the bad ones too.

Do the smart thing and ignore reviews all together.

Trust your artist friends that will feed it to you straight and focus on the work.

-rook
 
rook, i appreciate your thoughts but I don't think anyone ever got anywhere in life by sitting back and letting the chips fall where they may. the artist has to go away for a little while so the businessman can push things forward. that's the reality of this game. you've got to stand up, stake your claim, define your voice, get people to notice and "take it". no one is going to drop by dvxuser to start handing out distribution deals.

"dude. it's a review?" indie films live and die by the buzz generated around them. Ain't It Cool News aside, this is the most high-profile review I've gotten. i was hoping to offset the damage done to the heat this film had generated since LoveFest with an onslaught of support posted in the comments section of this two star review. the link to the review is on their front page with a big picture of John's face, so people are reading it and forming a low opinion of something that wasn't given a fair shake.

i wouldn't be surprised if the agents, festivals and distributors that have been in touch with me would be swayed by this review, considering it "cold" now. people in the film industry are not noted for their social courage. they blow with the prevailing wind.

am I crazy for being pro-active on this? is it a waste of time? the artist side says it is, business side thinks stopping to consider the question is time that could have been spent pushing this project forward.

onward and upward!!!!
 
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ZaK,
My brother the musician told me, "Don't read your press, weigh it." How many movies do we pan here only to have a dozen opinions from other people who went right out and watched it?
"The only thing worse than people talking about you, is people not talking about you."
 
"weigh it". i like that.

i'm working on a revised poster. have to send this to a few festivals next week, would appreciate opinions... am i overcompensating? or does it feel balanced. does it get your attention, does it "flow"? what do you think when you see this?

ifhyposterqj1.jpg
 
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