ANALOG DAYS d: Mike Ott
After debating whether to catch a late Tuesday night show at the Los Angeles Film Festival or just hit the sack early and catch more movies the day after, I finally decided to watch writer-director Mike Ott’s Analog Days, which revolves around a group of aimless twenty-somethings stuck in the dredges of Southern California – Newhall, to be exact, a right-wing desert town full of racists, homophobes, and assorted low-lives.
That may sound like a depressing time at the movies, except that Analog Days is anything but. Instead, Ott’s intelligent, funny, and quite moving feature-film debut presents an incisive but compassionate portrayal of young men and women who – rightly – feel that life is passing them by.
Although this low-budget film needs some sound work – I missed several bits of dialogue that made the narrative a tad confusing at times – and Ott’s camera set-ups are a little clunky here and there, Analog Days feels more real than a good many youth films out there. Particularly impressive is the director’s handling of his young and mostly inexperienced cast. The film’s five principals – Brett L. Tinnes, Granger Green, Ivy Khan, Ryan Johnsen, and Chad Cunningham – deliver remarkably naturalistic performances. And for once, here’s a youth film with a soundtrack that sounds as hip as it’s supposed to.
By the way, at the Q&A Mike Ott said that it’s unlikely that Analog Days will be screened in Newhall.
Comments
Leave a Reply
NOTE:
All comments are moderated and may take some time before they are posted. Different views and opinions are welcome, but courtesy is imperative. Rude/crass/bigoted comments and name-calling of any sort will be immediately deleted.
Also, please be aware that the Alternative Film Guide has no contact information for the talent mentioned in this blog and no information pertaining to or access to distributors'/producers' film prints.
