Last Stop for Paul (2008)

What an amazingly made movie. If you don't know the story behind the film, here it is. Director Neil Mandt set out with cinematographer Marc Carter and just one camera. They went around the world to different countries filming themselves and other people. Somehow, they managed to use this method to make a great movie. Don't ask me how they accomplished this. Last Stop for Paul is full of great characters, stories and settings. It's pure eye candy. As a film student, I found this movie to be very inspirational. It got me to believe that I might actually be able to make a good film. This is the future of film-making here and it's a beautiful future indeed.

Last Stop for Paul follows two traveling friends (Charlie and Cliff) on their journey to fulfill their dead friend's dream of traveling the world. They take his ashes in a thermos (which is a hilarious scene in the movie) and head out. They have many cool adventures along the way. They pretend to be writers for Frommer's travel guide and get free rooms. They go to Jamaica and meet some troublesome hotties. They almost fly off a mountain in a broken down van and Charlie gets marooned on a boat in Thailand. All of this is leading up to an amazing party called The full moon party in Thailand. Geesh,I want to go there. The film is shot guerrilla-style and is very enjoyable and super cutting edge. I saw that it's won a ton of awards and can't believe it's not much more popular than it already is. In time, it will be though. This film will be a cult classic. There is no doubt about that.

Beautifully shot and self produced on DV cams, this movie really shines. It starts out being narrated by Charlie (director Neil Mandt) He has a hilarious fast way of speaking and is very witty. The movie starts out fast and never stops. Charlie and Cliff take a trip around the world in honor of their dead friend. They meet the funniest people along the way. One guy drinks snake blood, passes out and they all end up in jail. Another guy almost drives them off a mountain. The best scene in the movie is where Charlie is caught alone on a Thai boat and the driver whips out a huge knife. Charlie is obviously scared, but tries to keep his cool and talk his way out of the situation. He asks what the knife is for and the guy says for protection from bad people. It's a tense moment that quickly turns out well for him. But it's the kind of moment that you could never make without being completely in the moment in another country with the people you meet and getting them to act. Future filmmakers should all see this movie. It's truly inspired and I HIGHLY recommend you check it out at a film festival or buy the DVD.

I saw this movie at a festival and wasn't expecting much, but WOW. This movie totally blew me away. I don't want to give away too much of the plot, but it's about two guys that travel the world and learn a lot about life. Along the way, they meet a lot of cool people and it's really hilarious and touching. It's so awesome because they use all the natives of the locations as actors. It really reminded me of what Werner Herzog does. Just working with people from other countries and using what they do for the story. It gives the movie a very realistic feel and almost seems like a documentary. Very innovative, exciting and always entertaining. I HIGHLY recommend you see this movie. 10/10