DVD Corner

Skills Like This and Enlighten Up! DVD Reviews

Director Kate Churchill ruins “Enlighten Up!”

“Skills Like This” is painfully unfunny.

Enlighten Up! DVD Review

GRADE:

CONTENT: C

PICTURE: A-

AUDIO: C+

EXTRAS: B-

THE MOVIE:

The plot: Documentary filmmaker and Yoga enthusiast Kate Churchill enlists journalist and Yoga skeptic Nick Rosen as the subject of her documentary film “Enlighten Up!” Her primary goal? To try and find Nick a Yoga class/teacher/philosophy that would change his life. The bulk of the documentary sees the two traveling from New York to India to meet various teachers and learn about many Yoga philosophies and techniques.

While seeing Nick Rosen’s journey and learning about people’s perspectives on Yoga proves to be mildly interesting, “Enlighten Up!” is sadly ruined by director Kate Churchill. Throughout the course of the film, we see Churchill essentially throwing a fit because the movie is not going the way she expected. She thought Nick’s life would be transformed by Yoga but that’s simply not what occurs. As a result, she becomes frustrated and moody. As any film buff or documentary filmmaker should know, you cannot force anything in a documentary or else it ceases to be a documentary. If she wanted things to go her way, why didn’t she just script a story about Yoga changing someone’s life?

Summary: As a documentary film, “Enlighten Up!” doesn’t quite succeed. As we learned in the film, Yoga is something that really has to be experienced. Watching someone experience Yoga just isn’t very engaging.

PICTURE AND SOUND:

The widescreen picture quality is top notch. The shots of New York and India are breathtaking. 

The Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track is so-so. Some of the interviewees can be hard to hear as evidenced by the constant use of subtitles.

EXTRAS:

13 minutes Norman footage, extended interviews with B.K.S. Iyengar and Gurusharanananda, Northern India photo montage, deleted scenes, Kate Churchill bio, and Docudrama trailers.

Skills Like This DVD Review

GRADE:

CONTENT: D

PICTURE: B+

AUDIO: B+

EXTRAS: B-

THE MOVIE:

The plot: Max is unhappy with life. He wanted to be a writer his whole life but he realized he wasn’t good at it. In fact, Max doesn’t think he is good at anything, until he finds something he is good at. One day, while eating lunch with his two pals Dave and Tommy, their conversation somehow turns towards robbing a bank. Max looks across the street and on a whim decides to rob the bank. Max is so overjoyed by how easy and exciting it was that he decides to continue stealing. Additionally, in a strange turn of events, Max soon finds himself becoming involved with the bank teller (Lucy) whom he first stole from. Things seem to be going great for Max until his life of crime soon blows up in his face. Will Max wind up in jail or will he turn his life around?

On paper, “Skills Like This” sounds like a fun, quirky indie comedy, but it is sadly anything but. Sure, writer/star Spencer Berger deserves some credit for originality, but the movie simply isn’t funny at all. What could have been a smart and charming comedy about finding one’s place in life comes off as awkward, clumsy, and quite frankly, embarrassing. It doesn’t help that the movie contains irritating and over the top characters like Tommy (played by Brian Phelan) or lame gags involving bikes, job searches, etc.

Another off-putting element is the distracting direction by first time director Monty Miranda. The movie often plays more like a flashy commercial or music video with all of the song inclusions and quick cuts. This “style” certainly takes you out of the film.

Summary: “Skills Like This” seems to have its admirers, but I cannot say I am one of them. Skip it.

PICTURE AND SOUND:

The widescreen picture quality looked quite sharp for a low budget indie. The colors were nice and crisp.

The Dolby Digital Stereo track is adequate. The movie is never hard to hear. The songs did seem a bit overly loud though.

EXTRAS:

* 7 deleted/extended scenes.
* Interviews with director Monty Miranda, producer Donna Dewey, executive producer Greg Camalier, actor/writer Spencer Berger, producer/actor Brian Phelan, actor Gabriel Tigerman, and actress Kerry Knuppe.
* Monty Mirando bio.

* Tommy’s resume from the film.

* Fundraising trailer and theatrcial trailer for “Skills Like This.”

* South By Southwest Award Acceptance.

November 16, 2009 - Posted by nicklyons1 | 1 | Enlighten Up! DVD Review, Skills Like This DVD Review