Customer Reviews

Drawing Flies [VHS]

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

unless you're talking about picture and sound quality, which in this case is the absolute worst i've seen on any dvd.. but apparently, they did the best with what they had.

What we have here is an extremely bizarre half-story about a man losing his grasp on his mind, and how far his friends are willing to follow him into his madness. No, it doesn't always work.. no, the acting isn't always the best.. but it's a dvd i don't regret buying. Jason Lee, Carmen Lee, and Renee Humphrey turn in pretty good performances.. and even the stoner-eyed Mewes makes good with some on target delivery at times. View Askew fans will also get a chuckle out of seeing Scott Mosier in a diaper.. as well as Silent Bob's cameo, and the credits that state Silent Bob was played by himself.

On the other hand, i'm not sure what this movie has to offer non View Askew fans.. if you're not a fan, you should probably pass on this one.. unless you feel like buying an EXTREMELY low budget indie film about stoners in the woods and sasquatch.

In any case, this DVD is... enough to take a gamble on even if you're not sure about it.

... I actually like it. I'm bordering on loving it, its only a matter of time and viewings. Maybe I'm just too big of a Jason Lee fan to not love this movie. In the first few minutes of was inclined to agree with my View Askew bretheren that it wasn't the greatest film ever made, but then Carmen started climbing over the welfare desk and I said "I've gotta watch this a little more". I'm glad I stuck around, very glad indeed. The second Jason started dancing with the Sasqautch, I said "this is one of the greatest movies ever!!" I don't know what it is, but that moment is hilarious. I nearly fell out of my chair. I'm serious. So, in short I finished watching it and I have come to like it more and more each time I have seen it. It has a certain inescapable charm. I don't care what anyone else says. If you like View Askew and you like Jason, you should, I repeat should, like this movie. I can't garauntee it. Rent it if you are in doubt. Its worth at least that.

VIEW ASKEW PRODUCTIONS
PRESENTS
DRAWING FLIES


Like almost everybody else I went out and bought this film based on the fact that it was a View Askew Production and starred Jason Lee. But unlike almost everyone else who has viewed this film I think that this movie is brilliant. I' am sure people who are reading this and have seen the film are gasping, but if you really sit down and watch the film for what it is I guarantee you will believe the same as me.

The story follows a group of friends who live in Canada and are all about to be kicked out of their apartment due to the fact that they have no jobs and are not granted welfare. Donner, who is the unofficial leader of the group decides he wants to go find Bigfoot or a sasquatch as he likes to point out. Knowing his friends will never go for it he decides to trick them into following him on this exhibition by saying his Uncle has a cabin in the woods that they can stay in. Since they will no longer have an apartment to live in they decide [some reluctantly] to accompany him on this trip. As they go deeper and deeper into the woods Donner starts to lose his grip on sanity and the group is even ran off by a group of men in large diapers. Az even falls from a tree and gets messed up pretty bad, and when his cut gets infected it becomes life threatening. So with no where to go once all is revealed the friends have a choice, stay with Donner as he slips into insanity or try and make their way back.

As with any View Askew film the performers for the film are familiar faces for the most part. All will recognize leading man Jason Lee in the role of Donner. As always Lee gives the best performance of the film delivering with quick comedy wit, while at the same time showing more of a dramatic turn when he starts to go crazy. I think that it is an interesting fact that this was the role that Kevin Smith saw Lee in and decided he would cast Lee in "Chasing Amy". Another familiar face turns up in Lee's ex wife Carmen, who delivers well as Cassady. Jason Mewes of "Jay" fame turns up as Az, Jason as usual is the biggest comic relief of the film. Renee Humphrey is also in this film, as well as a fresh face in the View Askew world Martin Brooks. Brooks surprised me as he turned in an excellent performance; I wish he would make more films. Also a great moment in the film occurs when Kevin Smith cameos as "Silent Bob" in the film and accidentally runs into Jason Mewes's character Az. After a brief quite second between the two as they look at each other, they move on as if it never happened. But the most brilliant thing about this film has to be Scott Mosier joining some other guys in the middle of the woods in nothing but a diaper. That has to be the greatest part of the movie, except maybe Lee's scenes where he admits what the trip is all about and gets in a fight with Cassady.

For a film that had an extremely low budget of 40,000 [if I' am not mistaken], this film even in black and white looks great. Brian Pearson did a pretty good job of making this film look as good as possible. And writer, producer, editor, directors Matt Gissing and Malcom Ingram did an excellent job with this film. The script had to have been great because this film turned out brilliant, if the Sci-Fi channel ever tried to make a film that would make Kevin Smith proud this would be it. Speaking of which, I' am so glad that Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier decided to back this film because it was definitely worth it in my eyes.

I would recommend this film to any and everybody out there who has a taste for films that are a little bit out there. Also be sure to check out the two commentaries on the film, the first by the Directors [that one is for all the technical behind the scenes stuff]. And the second featuring the directors, Smith, Mosier, Mewes, Lee, and others, that one of course is the livelier of the two.

This movie has a great cast, you'll recognize SEVERAL View Askew regulars. The dialogue is interesting, the special features are informative, and the plot is just completely BIZARRE. I have watched it twice, so that has to say something...worth the buy for View Askew fans and supporters.

I couldn't quite tell if I liked this movie or not. Basically, it has its good points and its bad points. Obviously, the good points keep me from hating the movie, but its numerous bad points keep me from wholly recommending it . . .

The good points: (1) Jason Lee is really good, as always. (2) For once, Jason Mewes plays a character who's not a complete stoner goofball, and he does a pretty good job of it. It's certainly interesting to see him doing something different. (3) If you're a ViewAskew fan, you'll like seeing some of the other ViewAskew regulars in roles of varying sizes. Renee Humphreys (from "Mallrats") has a starring role, and Joey Lauren Adams, Kevin Smith, and Scott Mosier all do cameos. (4) Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier's introduction to the movie is hilarious. (5) The movie is the first feature by Matthew Gissing and Malcolm Ingram, and it has a rough, black-and-white, "Clerks"-ish feel that's appealing. (6) The film does generate some suspense, and the ending has elements of mild surprise.

The bad points: (1) Aside from the two Jasons, the performances are nothing spectacular. In particular, Carmen Llewellyn Lee (Jason Lee's then-wife) can barely act at all. (2) The movie uses a lot of obscenities, which ordinarily I don't have a problem with, but in this case I felt like they were substituting for real emotion and obscuring weak dialogue. (3) The plot is implausible. Jason Lee has visions that cause him to lead his friends on a quest into the wilds of British Columbia, but the visions themselves are so silly it's hard to believe anyone would take them seriously. (4) The action and setting are reminiscent of "The Blair Witch Project"--not the fault of the moviemakers since this film was finished well before that one came out. Still, you may get the feeling that you've seen this before.

My local video store didn't have any DVD copies, so I was forced to rent the VHS cassette. I have no doubt that the audio commentary on the DVD is really interesting, and obviously fans of Jason Lee, Jason Mewes, ViewAskew, or all of the above (like me) will want to see this movie, or maybe even own it, regardless of its overall quality. It is great that Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier are supporting aspiring filmmakers. I just hope Gissing and Ingram have learned from this experience and make a better movie next time.

I bought this movie "blind" because it was the "lost" View Askew film. While Kevin Smith is kind of uneven as a director (Clerks, Amy, and Jay and Silent Bob were great, Mallrats was acceptable, and Dogma was juvenile but funny), this is a project he helped fund. Starring Jason Lee and Jason Mewes (Jay) of View Askew fame, plus a lot of other Askewnies including Smith himself, this film details the lives of a clutch of welfare bums in Vancouver. When their welfare is cut off, they have to come up with a new plan.

One night, while watching a nature documentary, Jason Lee gets the bright idea to go look for Bigfoot. Except, he doesn't want to tell his friends, because they might think he's a psychopath. So he tricks them into going camping with him, in an effort to drive the group deeper and deeper into the woods. Things start to unravel from there as the group fights about drugs, sex, and food (in that order, I might add).

There's a lot of problems with this movie. Shot in dirty black-and-white, it's very hard on the eyes, and it seems like no effort was made to clean it up for DVD. The acting is only passable (it seems like everyone knows they aren't getting paid for this, and they are trying to wrap ASAP). The plot, while promising, doesn't pan out. The pithy dialogue that is View Askew's trademark is absent, and the potential for a Blair Witch-style horror film is wasted on recycled bong jokes and stoner `philosophy.'

The DVD presentation is decent: sound isn't any better than two-channel stereo, but it doesn't really have to be. There are some deleted scenes (and you can use seamless branching to put them back in the movie - congrats for that, at least!) The commentary is funny, much moreso than the movie itself, as the cast and crew sit around trashing it and talking about how awful it is.

I wouldn't even recommend this to a Kevin Smith fan, without renting it first. To the average viewer, go get Chasing Amy instead. You'll thank me.

Having seen Drawing Flies in it's very limited Festival release over 5 years ago, I am thrilled finally be able to own this picture. I had even gone so far as to call View Askew to beg for a video transfer from the celluloid, but to no avail...

I have to say that I am happy with the project overall. Frankly, the quality isn't that great (as I am sure you will hear many people say), but the quality on this dvd is honestly better than the version I saw in the festival (which I think was beta). I know Indie DVD did a lot of work on restoring the print and I think they did a fairly good job considering what they had to work with.

All in all, the film isn't the best ever, but it is certainly one that grows on you. Also, the story is just plain fun and the dueling Jasons really steal the show. I recommend it for any film buff who likes a little campiness here and there. And if you like this, check out Tail Lights Fade, also by Gissing and Ingraham.

First let me start off saying that I am a huge View Askew fan. I've seen all the movies at least ten times and I love every one of them. Now, back to this movie. It really didn't do much for me. The movie was pretty short and took a half an hour to get exciting or really make much sense. The first half an hour was really boring.

It was nice to see Jason Mewes in a non Jay role, but you could tell he was playing a Jay type character, only not named Jay this time. Many other people from other View Askew movies appeared with the best of them Being Jason Lee. He is such an amazing actor, Smith states before the film that this movie prompted him to put Lee in the co-star role in Chasing Amy.

This movie was just average. If you're a huge View Askew fan, buy it so you can see some early work of other members of the View Askew family. Otherwise, pass and buy Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.

I know it's a little odd but I think this may be a little better than CLERKS. Drawing has some great yet bizarro humor (Bizarro from selab). The movie also has a directors cut and theatrical version so that way you can see both great features. Just in case you wanna know, the movie is about a guy who is on the verge of having a nervous break down (or losing his, I can't tell which) and then he decides to look for bigfoot, so he lies to his friends and says that there is a cabin where his Grandfather lives but it is in the middle of the wood. The movie is jam packed with laughs. If you life Kevin you love this movie. If you like bizarre humor, you'll love this movie.
By the way, Jason Mewes is in this movie you know Jay from Clerks.

Drawing Flies is an essential movie to own if you are a fan of the View Askewniverse. The file is not typical with other movies associated with Kevin Smith. The dialog wasnt as fast paced and witty, and sometimes flat all together. The acting was fairly good, but did leave somethings to be desired for. The sound and picture quality lacked a lot, but didnt keep the directors from telling the story. If you are not a die-hard View Askew fan, or a fan of Independent films then stay away from Drawing Flies. But if you do like those types of films then I reccomend this movie for you.