Tell (2012)

I have to say I am a big fan of Ryans You Tube channel "Film Riot" and I thought his film "Losses" was very well shot even though it lacked a good story line.However, I waited nearly 3 years for this film and I expected something amazing, but instead got something that was OK.I purchased the Blue Ray with the signed script (Which took for ever to come), just so I could see the behind the scenes and see how Ryan did his scripts. But even the Blue Ray was OK and nothing amazing and I was slightly disappointed.The acting was above average, but for a short film it was alright but not a 10 out of 10..... More of a 6 out of 10

Having watched Ryan Connollys youtube show for some time, I was honestly not expecting to be pleasantly surprised by this short film. Connollys movie-making style is not one that I typically enjoy, judging from his previous internet productions, but having watched Tell I have concluded that Ryan Connolly really have it in him to produce high-quality movies. Especially backed by a team of very skilled actors like with Tell. In his previous Youtube productions the actors are very amateurish (sad to say) and lack the professional maturity that the actors in Tell now have exhibited. I was frightened and surprised by this thriller, and can't wait to see what Connolly will make next.

First of all, you need to realize that when I give something a 5/10, I'm saying that it's perfectly average. Many people consider a 5 to be a poor score but I don't. I consider it to be neither good or bad along the bell curve. There are around 50 or fewer movies in the history of filmmaking that I'd give a 10 and only around 100 or so that I'd give a 9 which will hopefully put things into perspective. I actually wish that more people thought like that. 5 is average.It's tempting to consider this a first effort from Ryan Connolly and his team and while it is, in a sense, it's also not. Ryan is a very experienced writer and director when it comes to working with no budget and has a pretty fair following with his YouTube channel, Film Riot (which by the way, is a good place for aspiring filmmakers to learn). Throw in years of film school and it's not exactly as if this is a total noob effort. That's a good thing though because I try not to make that distinction when I'm doing a review. I review without prejudice regarding budget or experience. It could be $200 mil or $1,000 as I believe Tell was. (which really puts the 5 into an even better perspective) Ryan Connolly is a pretty good writer with a good sense of timing. I would have preferred to see something more original from him over a retelling of The Tell Tale Heart. So now when you're rating the script, I'm stuck with having to rate a story that's a great original tale, but the problem is, this is simply a story that's already been done. The original was fantastic. However, this is more like a copy from a xerox machine, it's never going to be as good. The acting was average (remember what I'm comparing it to) which bodes well for those who were in it. I wasn't pulled out of the story because of shoddy acting. That's also a testament to the director and his ability to get performances which may have been beyond the scope of what the actors had previously been able to do. Good job for a first effort. The way Connolly uses lighting and camera angles to set moods for the shots was very good and on par with many of Hollywood's directors. Especially when you consider that he did not have the money to build sets to the specs of the shots that he wanted. I've always felt that this is a strong suit of his and I'd like to see what he could do with a bigger budget.The most glaring problem for me is that I felt as if some of the shots ran too long and should have been either removed in editing or made shorter. Using a scene from the beginning as an example, the main character is moving from inside the house out to his car and back again. The viewer doesn't need to see the actor go to the door, open the handle, close the door, walk to the car, open doors, close doors, walk back to the house, open the door...Similar situations play out throughout the entirety of the film which slowed the pace too much and if anything, left me bored, searching to forward into areas of more suspense.Overall, I say it was a good "first" effort but there are some glaring issues that I think could have made it better. The scores are going to be artificially high as the fan base gives it scores that should be reserved for the best films in the history of cinema but that's to be expected. I still think that this was a solid debut that should draw some needed attention in his direction and hopefully set Triune Films up for a successful career.

The first thing I want to say is that I might be a little "prejudiced" about this movie, because I am a real fan of the FilmRiot you-tube show and I'm watching it for a really long time. I'm really impressed about this movie Tell, they created. It has a fantastic script (my opinion) and it's very well acted. I think the cruel storyline really succeeded along with the background music. But you won't lose any sympathetic for the main character, even after all his murders. I don't want to say too much about this movie, you have to watch it for yourself.... which can't be a problem since it's free to watch! The You-tube broadcasts quite exploded in popularity the last few years. The, not too long, free to watch movies, are a good way of wasting time for almost every one. This community has grown so much, that the quality is increasing to a high level. It's showing us you don't need a Hollywood budget to make a good film.The internet is really competing against the high budget films in cinema's and on DVD's. Projects like Tell, witch are almost getting to the "cinema" quality, will make "buying" films superfluous. I think projects like Tell, can really gain popularity in the future. People are looking more and more for ways to watch films cheap, like Netflix or even illegally downloading them.Hopefully this will be our future. At least TELL is one step in the right direction...