Genres

Visitors Review

2012-05-26 02:56:50

short story it was based on

As we were watching this movie, my wife knew what was going to happen & correctly predicted the ending and other details which she said were from a short science fiction story she remembered reading. But the product description mentions neither story nor its author. Now our curiosity is awakened. Does anyone remember the name of the short story or author?

ferreiragon 2012-05-25 10:16:44

A new Ed Wood from our times....

I have followed this writer and director and he reminded me of Ed Wood.Quite creative and almost ridiculous plots mixed up with a director'scut where things can change magically with distorted almost funny andconfusing logic (if there is any). So, if you watch this movie and alsothe other ones from the same writer/director you will find things thatare quite funny if you take these movies as made by a contemporary EdWood. The funny thing as it happened with Ed Wood, is that they aredone with the intention of doing art cinema though the result is absurdand makes you laugh. Doing this in a delicate balance with no intentionof being funny having the opposite result is not for anyone...that iswhy I give it an 8!!

2012-05-23 20:54:03

Really wanted to like this movie - but I couldn't

I love films about the mind, telepathy and assorted things. I loved Push and Limitless. I thought this film would be similar but I was sorely disappointed.The acting is decent enough and I remember Nick Stahl from Terminator 3 with affection. However, this film was utterly and totally boring.So, they can enter minds. They die after a certain age. They find a woman who didn't die.The film's plot plodded on, without anything really happening, without creating any kind of attachment to the characters. There was nothing to like about in this film. I'm sorry to say it bored me.This is a highly subjective review but there you have it.

Jen Themeyoudontwannaknow-Pascoe 2012-05-23 16:17:21

One for the thinkers

Imagine Charles Xavier from X-Men with the evil streak of Magneto. Putthis person into a home for special children and have him trainchildren to be government spies and you have the right ingredients forwhat will eventually become the mind's resolve to right a terribleinjustice. Special abilities meet government mishandling and it's onlywhen the hero meets and falls for the woman of his dreams that he isable to bring the pain and needless killing of the innocents to an end.So is it possible there are gifted individuals out there with theability to read our minds? The naysayers will call it a trumped upwishy-washy idea at best, but heaven help us all if it were so and thegovernment gets control of them. An excellent movie if you're into alittle bit of fantasy/science fiction...assuming of course that itis...

Robert J. Maxwell 2012-05-21 13:43:09

The art of wind-swift thought.

I can't really recommend this, or not recommend it, because I onlymanaged to catch about half an hour of it in the middle, so I'm notassigning it a rating, but since it's garnered so few reviews, a coupleof observations might help.First, anybody looking for the expectable flashy special f/x andinstant editing ought to look elsewhere. The director and editor taketheir time in laying out and exploring each scene. The camera does notwobble spastically. Sometimes this lends the film a torpid tinge but Iwelcome it. Deliberation is almost a lost art. I'd rather be bored thanwind up with a headache.Second, the acting is above average without being bravura. I'm thinkingof the principles, Nick Stahl, Taryn Manning, Wallace Shawn, and MiaMaestro. Stahl looks a little like a dish-faced Tom Hanks with darkereyelashes and he's convincing without appearing to put much effort intobeing so.It's difficult to evaluate Mia Maestro's performance because herappearance is so flawless and her voice so hypnotically precise. Sheand Stahl fall for one another rather too rapidly, especially given theleisurely nature of some of their scenes together. It might have helpedif she'd been allowed to be more innocently seductive. Maybe if shetook her clothes off or something.Those who might enjoy this most probably ought to have a good deal ofpatience and a bit of magical thinking.

jvirgin-254-504772 2012-05-21 02:51:07

Great Concept, no script, or budget.

Great concept, long tedious scenes, could have been a good 1 hourtelevision show. A lot of time is devoted to actors walking about, withtortured expressions. The location shooting in Uruguay seems to betotally irrelevant to the story, they should have saved that budget,for better writing. While on the plus side it does feature a prettygirl, most of the characters are flat, the bad guys are notintimidating, in fact most of them just look constipated. The specialeffects, look like they were done on my laptop. I am sure the actorswere disappointed with the end result, and that Wallace Shawn probablythought it was "Inconceivable" that it would turn out to be such astinker. You will want the 2 hours of your life back, by the time it isover.

TheHrunting 2012-05-20 19:55:59

I know exactly what you're thinking...literally

In the wake of the ultra budget blockbuster super-hero flicks, "TheSpeed of Thought" enters as a small link on the chain in thepeople-with-special-abilities genre. There are going to be less camerasetups, bombastic-less music, no flashy costumes but instead more storyand dialogue to concentrate on.A telepath named Joshua Lazarus (Nick Stahl), who works covertly forthe NSA branch of the government, has a degenerative disease as aresult of his ability. He's told no one survives past 28 yet the pillshe's given will stale the inevitable. He's got nothing to lose ifthere's no future ahead of him, so he hangs loose with drinking,gambling, call girls and awaits madness to take hold, as the voicesthat were once controllable start to pile up. A light at the end of thetunnel appears and he gains some hope on one of his last missions inUruguay when he meets an attractive woman named Anna (Mia Maestro) whoalso has the mind-reading ability known as "scoping." Joshua has a mentor named Sandy (Wallace Shawn) who runs "The Home" inwhich special people of his kind are kept for training and treatment.Sandy eases the pressure of withering away with sympathetic talks ashe's dealt with many in the same situation. His slightly older friendKira (Taryn Manning) starts to show symptoms before himself, yet at thesame time she oddly starts to gain some new abilities. With Anna,Joshua finds a true connection when they mind meld memories together.Instead of showing shots of the characters' faces in person and a voiceover top, this switches to an isolated area that has them dreamilytalking to each other face-to face in what looks like they'rephysically standing there.This is as much of a slow moving drama as it's alove-at-first-telepathic-reading type of movie in the vicinity of"Hereafter" though without being exactly the same. Joshua and Anna forma forbidden connection as she's a natural who could never share hersecret and he swore secrecy to the people he works for who keep a veryclose eye on him. They become personal in their heads but yearn forthat physical touch. Together they make an attempt to get away from itall to be together no matter where that is but are sucked back into itwhen the company gets hot on their tail and some revelations areunveiled about who's really who and what it all means."The Speed of Thought" is a simple movie to escape with as you get thespecial abilities side that comes with its own set of rules and thereis also some romance to make it more personable. If they shaved offsome time it would have made a decent enough hour long TV pilot to getengaged in. But as is, the dialogue frequently overemphasizes to nailthe point home and it causes the flow to get stuck in a lower gear andbecome somewhat tedious. Blair Brown, who plays the boss, feels tightcasted from Fringe. There's some chemistry among the characters thoughit doesn't always leave much to read between the lines for what they'refeeling or how it works. Usually filmmakers find a balance in themiddle of stating the obvious and being too vague yet this continuallysteps over the line towards the former. Confusion--nope.Subtlety--what's that? Nearly every thought and movement is laid out inplain view, which sucks out the passion and challenge after awhile whenit started out on a higher note. For a film about the mind, thedialogue doesn't always leave much to the imagination and drags downsome of the rest of the film with oversimplification. (Also submittedon Cinema Freaks, http://docuniverse.blogspot.com)

2012-05-19 23:48:36

Allegory

*** 1/2"You can't know everything about someone and still like them," says one of the young psychics (or "scopers" as they're referred to) who works for a covert government operation in this low-key little sci-fi film. Dialogue like this makes it clear that in this film, by adding unreal elements to the story, the storytellers are really trying to explore truths about the human condition. For the most part, the film succeeds. Joshua (Nick Stahl), who belongs to the group of covert government psychics, has spent his entire life being told that his psychic abilities (dubbed Widmann's Syndrome) will drive him insane by his 29th birthday, after which he will have to choose between being a permanent vegetable or ending his life. Already 28, Joshua has begun to prepare for the end, until he meets Mia, another young psychic not affiliated with his group, who claims to be 31 and doing just fine. This leads Joshua to rethink what he's been told his entire life, and rethink his allegiance to the mentor who he had always believed had his best interests in mind.Despite a handful of action scenes, most of the film involves dialogue and relationships. When he meets Mia and falls in love with her, the film explores how much you have to know (or should know) about someone in order to have a relationship with them. And when Joshua begins to realize the lies he's been told throughout his life in order to serve the selfish and amoral desires of those around him, the film explores how much of what we're told from "authority figures" is just propaganda meant to keep us all in line and productive.The film is clearly low-budget, and the special affects, although used fairly sparingly, reflect that. But the film is really a low-key, thoughtful indie film, not a sci-fi/action film, and because it keeps its focus on the characters it remains worthwhile. Nick Stahl, a long-underrated actor in my opinion, is an intriguing leading man, which also helps elevate the film.