East of Sunset

A must own for all TOM WAITS fans!
This is a great movie I caught at the film festivals earlier this year. The story is set to the early works of Tom Waits and it is quite a compelling watch.

I was very excited to find out that the DVD release contains a bonis full length CD with 18 of the Tom Waits songs from the movie performed by cool comtemporaty artists! Thats closed the deal for me! Tom Waits fans will enjoy this!

I'M NOT YELLING!!!!!!
Let's see how much depression we can cram into an 89 minute film. Carly (Emily Brooke Hands) is a depressed skank who smokes, drinks, takes pills, and sleeps around. She has been abandoned by her tough love sister Carrie (Lucia Sullivan). Get it. Carrie who is not caring. Where do they get these clever writers?

By trade she is an out of work substitute teacher. She hangs out at a cheaply designed club where she develops a relationship with the bartender (what a surprise). What she doesn't know is that he is a bad person because he is a recreational heroin user (if there is such a thing). Amazing. People who are on the bottom will always find someone to look down on.

The film moves slow. It is about the substandard relationship of two losers which I didn't really need seeing, unless I needed someone to look down upon. In that regard, the film is uplifting. Interesting sound track. The movie is well done for what it is. It just isn't my cup of tea...

It's dark. It's real. It's minimalist. It's not "hollywood".
What you get here is a stunning directorial debut by an upcoming indie film director. The sparse script and environments in the film create a captivating look into the lives of those on the other side of the tracks. Elegantly caputuring the conflicted lives of two struggling twenty-somethings in love, East Of Sunset is more like a poem than a film. Highly reccomended as a field guide to anyone living (or contemplating) living the "artists life" in places like Los Angeles or New York. Props for the real grit of the "glamorized" drug life often romanticized in lessor tales.

All this and according to the filmmakers commentary on the DVD, the movie was made for under $50k, and in less than two weeks... Stunning Achievement!

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