NYS Music 20​14

Category: Film Review

  • Film Review: Whiplash

    Back in May I saw the clip below for Whiplash, a film about an aspiring jazz drummer and an overbearing professor. I waited patiently for six months for the film to be released. Watch the two minutes clip to get a sense of why the anticipation for this film was so strong.

    That scene takes place only 20 minutes into the 100+ minute film and is far from the most powerful scene in a building, erratic sequence of events that demonstrate the will to be the best and the extent to which one can push the human body and spirit before it cannot be pushed any further.

    Miles Teller plays Andrew, an aspiring jazz drummer at the Shaffer Conservatory, a fan of Buddy Rich and a tireless student of his work. J.K. Simmons plays Terence Fletcher, a sought after professor and leader of The Studio, a Shaffer ensemble that is the highest level at which the best of the best can hope to be a part of. Andrew finds his way into The Studio, only to find out that Fletcher, while a brilliant professor is a psychological tormentor, breaking his students down until the point that perfection can be attained.

    Simmons is quite simply outstanding in his best role to date, exhibiting anger and emotion not seen since OZ; every wrinkle and line on Simmons’ face is stretched and contorted as he berates and abuses his students, with particular focus on Andrew. The rapid fire personality of Fletcher rubs off on Andrew and shifts his personality in a Stockholm Syndrome fashion, abusing himself through intense practicing to the point of clothes drenched in sweat and bloody hands. Andrew dates and breaks it off with Nicole, quite coldly, opting to focus squarely on his drumming and his future. Bloody cymbals and drums galore, Andrew pushes himself, turning into a madly driven drummer fighting for his seat in The Studio.

    Whiplash is one of those film roles where an educator makes a strong impact on a student. In this case, Fletcher is a saboteur, tearing Andrew down bit by bit; even when there is nothing left to strip from him, he finds more. Fletcher is a sadist and nothing gets past him. When Andrew is finally broken, he shines his brightest.

    Teller’s drumming is quite impressive, well-practiced and looking as close to the real thing as possible – it’s tough to fake playing drums in a movie but through the efforts of drummer director Damien Chazelle it comes off as flawless. The film’s cinematography is jazz influenced as well, bouncing around to the music and catching every little facet of a jazz core ensemble that is disallowed from errors. The Sundance Award-winning film is strongest because of the drumming, cinematography and Simmons’ Oscar-worthy performance.

    Whiplash is rated R and is playing in limited release.

  • Film Review: Uni-Terra

    Uni- Terra is an independent film written by Fredonia student Joseph Edwards, who also cast, directed, shot and edited the film, a lot for such a young filmmaker. It only took him three months to put this together and the movie was filmed on his very own campus, SUNY Fredonia. Edwards is a communication major with a minor in film studies.

    The film had its first premiere in 101 Jewett Hall on Friday, Nov. 14. The cast, friends and Edwards’ parents showed up for the event.

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    Charles Scheffler, Samantha Ploetz, Joseph Edwards, Drew Smith, Richelle Dalaba (Left to right)

    “In the near future, a philosophical extra-terrestrial of an ancient, enlightened alien race is sent to assassinate an corrupt, insidious world leader of Earth’s newly-found utopian civilization, Uni-Terra,” said Edwards of the plot of the film.

    The film genre is considered “fictional narrative, [and] political sci-fi.” Edwards went into detail about the meaning behind Uni-Terra, saying, “A government should not have too much power. It is important for people to understand their standings, but there is a lot of secrecy in our government.”

    “Film production is what I want to do. I want to be an independent filmmaker,” Edwards said. “Ever since I saw my first PG-13 film, Castaway, I was interested with how everything worked. Everyone watches the film for itself, but they do not understand how much work goes behind the camera.”

    Edwards was involved with BOCES at his high school, where he picked up the basic skills for radio, audio and television. Edwards also has been a writer for a long time, and he said that has helped him become more interested in script writing.

    The premiere of the film had a great atmosphere, and everyone in the audience saw the passion that Edwards has for his films and how thankful he was that everyone showed up to the event. He greeted everyone who came into the lecture hall with a smile, handshake or even a hug.

    Uni-Terra is an impressive film that was made in just a short amount of time. It has a perfect amount of action, special effects, in-depth meaning and humor. The film starred Charles Scheffler, Samantha Ploetz and Drew Smith. Scheffler played Sinatra, an alien that is sent to assassinate Godric Walton (Smith) for his overly empowered government. Quinn Maverick (Ploetz) is one of Walton’s best wingmen, and is sent to exterminate the threat known as Sinatra. However, Sinatra soon convinces Maverick to help him overthrow the corrupt government and to expose Walton for the evils that he is committing in Uni-Terra. Edwards’ girlfriend, Richelle Dalaba, even made an appearance in the film as one of Walton’s bodyguards.

    The film received loud applause from the audience, and actors cheered each other on as their names appeared in the credits.

    “I loved watching him grow up and seeing his films. It was great,” Edwards’ father said.

    “Being in Joseph’s film was a learning experience for me. This was the first film that I have ever been cast in. I have been cast in multiple roles in musicals and plays throughout the past few years, but the intense feeling of being in front of a camera is very different and pretty scary,” Ploetz said. “There were some ups and downs while filming, which made it even scarier to be in front of the camera, but I wouldn’t change it for anything. I feel as though this experience has made me grow as an actor.”

    Uni- Terra has been entered into a handful of film festivals, including The SUNY Wide Film Festival and The Boonies International Film Festival.

    Check out the trailer here: Uni-Terra Trailer by Joseph Daniel Edwards.

  • Film Review: Dumb And Dumber To

    Long awaited sequels have a bad reputation. Especially movies like Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of Crystal Skull, and Best Man Holiday are examples of sequels that never should have been made. The Farrelly Brothers broke the terrible long awaited sequel trend with the release of Dumb And Dumber To which hit theaters on November 14.  So how do you make a faithful sequel all these years later?

    dumb and dumber toDumb And Dumber To doesn’t exceed its 20 year predecessor by any means, but it follows a similar formula like the original with a well written script, intriguing story, and Jeff Daniels and Jim Carrey reprising their roles of the goofy but lovable Harry Dunne and Lloyd Christmas that could never be portrayed by anyone else. Their demeanor, their silliness, their chemistry, and their jokes aren’t something that any actor can wake up one day and get into character. (Which is why 2003’s dreadful prequel Dumb And Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd was doomed from the start) Bottom line, this is a solid sequel. Plenty of laughs, silly slapstick jokes, some familiar faces to appreciate, and a whole lot of dumb.

    It’s mindboggling that both Jeff Daniels and Jim Carrey could pull these roles off again, especially 20 years later.   To be fair Jim Carrey hasn’t stopped appearing in comedies, however Jeff Daniels is known as a serious actor, not to mention has kept a low profile the past decade, which makes you appreciate this movie even more.

    The Farrelly Brothers nailed it with their directorial work in this movie, and penned a great story and script. In this movie, we find Lloyd and Harry on a another road trip, this time, they’re out to find Harry’s daughter that he never met, because he’s in need of a kidney, and again, Harry and Lloyd find themselves in the way of another criminal plot in their journey. So it has the same formula that original movie had that made it work, yet it doesn’t try to copy or duplicate the first movie.

    You can’t go into this movie expecting it to be better than the first, because you are just going to be disappointed. But if you’re a fan of true slapstick comedy, have love for the characters Harry and Lloyd, and appreciate a good story, then you and all your friends will love this movie. And be sure to figure out which character Bill Murray is before the closing credits roll.

  • Horror Film Review: V/H/S Viral

    vhsOctober 23 saw the early release of V/H/S Viral, the third installment of the V/H/S film series, which has been praised by horror fans everywhere.   But how does a horror series such as this strike lightning three times?

    Like the previous two, there are multiple stories in an anthology style with an additional framing segment that wraps around throughout the movie filmed in the style of found footage. Those who are sensitive to camcorder movement or not a fan of found-footage films such as “Cloverfield,” “The Blair Witch Project,” “Cannibal Holocaust,” then this movie is not for you. Those who enjoy the thrill of a shock and twisted plots are sure to get a kick out of this movie.

    Each of the four stories (originally planned for five, the segment “Gorgeous Vortex” was cut for unknown reasons) share one common theme, in each story the main character is seeking to be famous or famous on the internet by filming their own video.

    The first segment is entitled “Vicious Circles” which follows a man trying to film a car chase through Los Angeles of an Ice Cream truck causing disasters. It was hard to get into at first because of all the camera splicing seemed a little obnoxious at first. But once the focus of car chase began, it got interesting. This is the framing segment that comes full circle at the end. A respectable job from director Marcel Sarmiento.

    The movie then takes a completely different direction with “Dante The Great.” It moves into a fantasy direction, but still keeping the horror element. This story revolves around a magician named Dante, who does magic tricks from his trailer park home before discovering a cloak that gives him magical powers giving him superstar fame. But with the magic comes a price, and of course dead bodies. Very intriguing performances from Justin Welborn and Emmy Argo. The special effects of this story was a real spectacle to watch.

    “Parallel Monsters” is where this movie kicks into insanity. Adding a bit of the Sci-Fi element, the story revolves around a Hispanic named Alfonso played by Gustavo Salmeron, an inventor who successfully builds a machine that creates a portal link to a parallel universe that mirrors our universe, but makes the mistake by taking a visit to what seems to be a mirror universe yet turns out to be a nightmare. This one will make you squirm a little bit. There is a little bit of horror cheese to this one, but it gives it a B-Horror charm. But it’s still very much twisted. This story deserves an award for originality.

    The final story “Bonestorm” follows a group of mischievous skateboarders who decided to film their skating videos in the middle of a cult’s holy ground which turns into a very bloody massacre. I found this story a little less inspiring and it had an ending that made you scratch your head. Kind of disappointing compared to the other stories in the movie.

    Overall, this movie is great popcorn horror flick. It’s no masterpiece by any means. Anyone who is into The Twilight Zone or just looking for a cheap thrill should enjoy this movie. The editing is choppy which can be annoying. The acting is quite well considering the level of talent that this movie is working with. All four of the directors did a great job keeping the suspense in all the stories and not doing any cheap jump scares either. But the real talent is in the writing of this movie. The ideas and plots that they came up with in each segment is really the magic of this film.

    Definitely worth a watch, especially with a date or group of friends, V/H/S Viral is available now on Video On Demand or you can see it in select theaters November 21.

  • Film Review: St. Vincent

    Bill Murray is at the age where he can play a grandfather, a wise old sage or a lovable curmudgeon, ala Walter Matthau, but less jowly. In Theodore Melfi’s feature-length directorial debut St. Vincent, Murray takes the lead in stride, giving a wonderful performance as a retiree who reveals through the simple act of watching a neighbor’s kid, much to his disdain, more and more of his true character while being a prick on the exterior.

    St. VincentNew neighbors Maggie (Melissa McCarthy) and son Oliver (Jaeden Lieberher) move in and after a rough introduction, Vincent offers to watch Oliver as Maggie has no other recourse with a pending divorce and full-time job. Vincent, never having children and not seeming to care for them at all, gives Oliver a place to do his homework and learn about life, while making $11/hour from Melissa. When Oliver is bullied, Vincent bears witness and puts the fear of god – he, the local who knows their mothers in more way than one – into the bullies, then gives Oliver a lesson on how to defend himself and break a would-be attackers nose. 

    St. VincentLieberher stands out more and more as the film progresses and reminded me of Abigail Breslin when she starred in Little Miss Sunshine and stole the show. Lieberher is in the same league as Breslin, shining from the periphery. Poignant quotable observations such as “It’s gonna be a long life” provoke thought and sum up scenes quite well. Oliver is given the task of not only following along with Vincent’s lead – whether to the local bar, the racetrack or the bank, where Vincent stashes track winnings in an account under his ‘grandson’s’ name – but to improve on the situation in the only way a 9-year-old can, through honest observations.

    Through the course of the film, and via the directive of his teacher Brother Geraghty (Chris O’Dowd), Oliver is assigned to look for living saints – less Mother Teresa and more ‘people you know’ – and make a presentation through his research. Seeing through the surface that Vincent wears like a coat of armor, Oliver unlocks the mystery of this ornery individual that few would consider a saint without delving deeper into his character. It is through Murray’s acting and Melfi’s writing that we get a well-composed character that is far from superficial but could be categorized as ‘a drunk mean old man’. The only weird part of Murray’s portrayal of Vincent is his Brooklyn accent, as I cannot recall a film where Murray used an accent, let alone in a convincing manner;  at one point it sounded like a weak Woody Allen impression but overall, it grows on you.

    McCarthy makes a strong jump into a dramatic role with far less humor in what is simply her finest film role yet, better than Bridesmaids. Trying to keep it all together through a pending divorce and custody battle, Maggie is strong and focused on doing the best for Oliver, even if it means leaving her with Vincent on a regular basis. Maggie appears as the left brain to assist the right brain that is Vincent, both providing balance to the other in a symbiotic relationship. When Vincent goes to the hospital, Maggie, Oliver and Daka (Naomi Watts) tend to Vincent and get what parts of his life straightened out that they can. Watts falls so deep into playing the Russian Daka, a ‘lady of the night’ as Oliver is informed, that you forget it is Watts behind the pregnant belly and large sunglasses of a stripper.

    Making sacrifices and putting others above yourself when you don’t want to are part of being a saint. Vincent’s experience with Oliver is heartfelt and provides one with guidance and the other with purpose, something both parties are able to work off of symbiotically. St. Vincent is yet another great film for Bill Murray to shine while sharing the spotlight with Jaeden Lieberher.

  • Film Review: Ouija

    ouijaOuija was released on October 24, 2014 and I was one of the millions of people who was looking forward to this movie. Ouija is directed by Stiles White, known for his work on The Sixth Sense (1999), Knowing (2009) and Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994).

    I now regret spending money on this film. The film was done rather professionally and the effects were great. But the plot and cast were terrible. The only good thing was Ouija had a few good scenes where the audience jumped. I closed my eyes a few times because I was predicting when to be scared and when I thought I was about to be scared something would jump out on the screen. But that was one of the many cons of the movie: it was rather predictable.

    The movie starred actors and actresses that no one knows about, a rather young cast trying to make an impact on the Young Hollywood scene. These stars included Olivia Cooke, Ana Coto, Daren Kagasoff, Bianca A. Santos, Douglas Smith and Shelley Hennig.

    Ouija began with younger versions of Cooke (Laine) and Hennig (Debbie) playing with a Ouija board. It flashes to the present of them as teenagers and Debbie is seen burning a Ouija board and Laine calls her and says that she has not seen her in a few days. Debbie denies wanting to hang out with Laine and that she is fine and that she was using a Ouija board and it freaked her out. Laine let her be and the next thing we know, Debbie becomes possessed and hangs herself by a string of lights.

    For the rest of the movie, Laine and her friends are using the Ouija board to get into contact with Debbie to see why she killed herself. The group of friends figure out that while they are using the Ouija board they are not talking with Debbie, they are talking to an evil spirit(s) and a scary ghost child with her mouth sewn shut. As you can guess, people become haunted and are killed off one by one by this haunted Ouija board.

    The plot was just overall terrible. The movie could have ended multiple times but it kept going on and on. The one thing that I could not stand was that the casting director decided to make Laine’s sister, Sarah (Ana Coto) a rebel child with the skulls and leather. Sarah is seen leaving a mysterious car and the audience is told by Laine that it is some older guy that Sarah has been seeing. That was it. The story did not go into any further detail when the car shows up multiple times. Sarah brings this up to Laine when she is caught sneaking out, saying, “You’re not mom.” The sisters are brought up by their dad but nowhere in the movie do they bring up what happened to the mom. What was the point of having these scenes if they were no way relevant to the plot?

    Ouija was not worth the hype that it caused. It is literally a movie that middle school kids would brag about seeing because they saw a horror movie. It reminded me of the Scary Movie series. Most of the movie was laughable. But if you’re looking for horror, you will not find it in this movie.

  • Film Review: Annabelle

    Dolls have always been a fear of many people around the world, but a doll named Annabelle can make every person get a chill down their spine. The horror movie Annabelle was released worldwide on October 3, 2014 and is directed by John R. Leonetti. The movie is a spin off of 2013’s The Conjuring. 

    Annabelle-2014-Movie-Banner-PosterThe movie is about a young married couple around the ’60s/’70s that is expecting a child and the husband (John) being a nice guy, buys his wife (Mia) a new creepy doll for his wife’s weird doll collection.  Slight spoiler alert, so beware; early in the movie two craze cult members come into the couple’s house and tries to kill them. The male of the cult is killed by the police but the female commits suicide with the Annabelle doll in her arms; this was one scene that stuck to me. The event was foreshadowed when Mia was watching TV and Charles Manson’s court case appeared on the screen, giving the audience a heads up that some suspenseful scene was due. After the suicide, strange things started happening in the house like random fires, the doll being moved from room to room and laughter of children. Mia is the one that takes notice on all the events which quickly start driving her insane.

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    Going into the theater, I was expecting Annabelle to be full of blood and gore. But to my surprise, I got a mind-boggling experience. The movie was more like a thriller and had the audience on the edge of their seat the whole time. Annabelle had a perfect balance of horror and things popping out and scaring you. The movie did not need any excessive blood and gore scenes to make it a great movie. The plot did amazing on its own, but the thing that leaves people in shock is that Annabelle is based on a true story and a real doll! Annabelle is located in the Warrens Occult Museum.

    For all you horror fans that do not need blood and guts to satisfy your movie cravings, I recommend this movie!

  • Film Review: Love is Strange

    The various capacities to love and the relationships that can contain love are explored throughout the film Love is Strange, an accurate film title if there ever was one. Directed by Ira Sachs, the film explores the bounds of love when distance of varying degrees is placed between two individuals.

    love is strangeBen (John Lithgow) and George (Alfred Molina) get married after 40 years together, once New York State legalized marriage equality in 2012. Soon after they return from their honeymoon, George is fired from his job as music director at a Catholic school, causing a disarray of finances, with Ben a retired artist, who has hair reminiscent of Bruce Dern in last year’s Nebraska. Without money to afford their apartment, Ben and George have to rely on separate family and friends to provide them with temporary accommodations, after decades of being together. With their living and lifestyle fundamentally changed, these two men in their 60s and 70s face a difficult transition as they adjust to their loved ones who welcome them willingly into their lives.

    George takes up at the house of two gay cops, who introduce George to Game of Thrones, have party nights (a little too often, even for cops) and leave their guest without a place to lay his head some nights; he is treated as a peer and not a recently fired school teacher in his 60s. Ben meanwhile takes up with his nephew Elliot (Darren E. Burrows), his wife Kate (Marisa Tomei) and their teen son Joey (Charlie Tahan), with whom he shares the lower bunk in his room. Relationships develop under extenuating circumstances for all involved, as both Ben and George are all but imposing on their friends and family, left with no other option but to rely on their loved ones, for they are quite homeless without them. Thrust into family situations – arguments, work and parenting aspects – Ben has to mind himself, and does so at times but at others interrupts the work and daily life routines of Joey and Kate in particular. Even when presented with the option of government assistance to find housing doesn’t seem to pan out for them, and with only a niece in Poughkeepsie as an option, a true lack of income and shelter makes the reality of the situation even direr and ultimately heartbreaking.

    With a soundtrack full of selections from Chopin (most notably Chopin’s Nocturne No 8 in D Flat Major Op 27-2 in an emotional scene between George and a student), Alfred Schnittke and Henryk Wieniawski, the mood of the film is kept hopeful, never dark or foreboding. Even while Ben and George are getting on with their respective lives – apart, for the first time in 40 years – they show signs of separation and the physical and emotional toll that it takes upon them. George looks sad and dejected while Ben looks distant and finds a muse in his art – beginning a painting of a lone teen standing on a rooftop on the Upper East Side. In one of the limited scenes Molina and Lithgow share together, George makes his way across town to see Ben, and following a tearful embrace, take over Joey’s room, splitting bunk beds. Eventually, separated by mere feet, Ben says to George, “I missed your body next to mine and I won’t let bad engineering get in the way”. Of all the moments in the film that exemplify love, this is one of the truest moments.

    Love is Strange portrays the many various ways that love is unique, odd and strange, amazing and beautiful, separately or all at the same time. Through the numerous relationships that develop over the course of the film, we see connections between characters are various levels – friends, family, spouse, co-worker and student – each demonstrating a different facet to the grand scope of love. While love is strange, Love is Strange is a fantastic romance film set in a present day reality that is accessible and moving.

    Love is Strange is rated R. 

  • Film Review: ‘What’s In My Baggie?’ a Look into the Bunk Police and the ever Growing Drug Culture

    For years there has been a significant presence of drug use at live music concerts and festivals. Rules and regulations may be placed in attempts to crack down on the buying and selling of illegal substances, but like it or not the drugs do not stop flowing. Up until the past few years there was really no safe way to know what you were purchasing. The main idea behind the “Bunk Police” is that people are going to take drugs no matter how many rules, laws or restrictions the general public are given. If there is going to be drug use, why not make sure it’s safe?

    Firefly Festival 2013

    Recognizing the extreme lack of awareness with recreational drug use, Bunk Police founder Adam Auctor took a near death experience to realize that life is short and should be handled with the utmost care. Up until very recently Auctor has remained completely anonymous, not out of fear for repercussions through law enforcement, but instead the backlash from drug dealers for taking customers and money out of their pockets. In some ways Auctor is a true revolutionary amongst the music scene for creating a way to reduce the overdoses and deaths and increase the knowledge when consuming potentially harmful chemicals. No matter how seasoned or knowledgeable one may think they are in the world of illicit substance, it only takes one bad batch to put you over the edge. The Bunk Police is setting out to eliminate that constant “what if”. In some ways The Bunk Police has completely revolutionized music festivals world-wide.

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    The documentary “What’s In My Baggie?” gives a first hand look from the perspective of patrons, law enforcement and members of the Bunk Police. Numerous times throughout the documentary you are shown many individuals who purchased what they thought to be Molly or MDMA, and after testing their substance with their Bunk Police test kit found they had Bath Salts or an unrecognizable drug. Recently national news has picked up on the unsafe conditions of music festivals nation wide. From Electric Zoo to Bonnaroo, there are overdoses and deaths and there is no shortage of finger-pointing. Festivals that have been around for years are slowly slipping into the shadows after they make national headlines for having patrons over dose and die on what was thought to be MDMA. People are now beginning to question if music festivals are even safe to begin with. Many believe that by handing out drug testing kits you are potentially influencing individuals to take drugs, where in reality by taking away the drug testing kits the room for fatality and injury due to substance use is immeasurable. One way or another people need to know what they are putting into their bodies. At any given point an individual could find any drug they wanted any where they wanted almost instantaneously. This is why the work that The Bunk Police has done with its readily available test kits is astronomically huge for the safety of patrons at music festivals.

    From start to finish the documentary is nothing short of phenomenal. It does a great job of getting a broad spectrum of different perspectives as well as showing the ins and outs of drug trade throughout festivals. It is refreshing to finally see these issues that are plaguing the music scene be brought to light to hopefully raise questions and awareness to the drug culture that is ever-growing.

    [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYzmZ1IU4zY]

  • Film Review: ‘No Cameras Allowed’

    Sneaking into music festivals is a dick move. Artists and patrons pay to attend while vendors, staff and volunteers go to great lengths to make the festival run with as few preventable glitches as possible. And a (very) few try to attend without contributing either through money, performing or factoring into the machine that runs a music festival. No one wants to be glorified for sneaking into a festival, but James Marcus Haney thrusts himself into the spotlight in his documentary No Cameras Allowed.

    No Cameras AllowedHaney claims his film is “a love letter to these festivals, in a way. And it shows them in such a great light that my goal is that people will see my film and then go and experience live music on their own.” And while there might be some who are inspired to go to these festivals as a result, how many will follow his lead and sneak in, use old/fake wristbands and not support the artists by buying a ticket? It’s the hardest aspect of the film to get around – is Haney doing damage to future festivarians or is he just pointing out flaws that need to be patched?

    Along the way he gets to see some incredible music – some of it onstage and in the huddle before the headlining set (with Mumford and Sons) – and later goes on tour at an age that makes you envious of his youth and jealous of his opportunities. Sure I went to festivals at his age but damn he makes it thrilling and with the added degree of difficulty of greater surveillance, with which he gets away with it, usually.

    The film is a double-edged sword with breaking into festivals, and while it is not Almost Famous for 21st century, you do get some nods to the Cameron Crowe film. With a good soundtrack – Jay-Z, Young the Giant, Mumford – No Cameras Allowed follows a journey of a 20-something through the world of music festivals. Haney doesn’t set an example that anyone should follow, but it is interesting that only large festivals were the appeal. Sure, they have the big name, but smaller festivals not being shown is both a good thing and a snub. The best festivals aren’t always the largest names, and that is proved year in, year out. Yet showing how to sneak into festivals that live year to year on ticket sales and not extensive corporate sponsorships would have been a slap in the face. Overall Haney snuck into 50 festivals but we only see the large ones. It would be interesting to see what was left on the cutting room floor/recycle bin and what didn’t make the cut.

    We get to see Haney make his way into 4 large festivals – Coachella, Bonnaroo, Glastonbury and Austin City Limits, documenting them along the way and getting his photos into Rolling Stone while blowing off his graduation from USC to follow Mumford and Sons on the Railroad Revival Tour. The thrill is palpable and you may end up rooting for Haney, or maybe just surprised he got through security so easily, so many times and caught just as well. The relationships back at home are tested between friend and girlfriend.

    Is Haney a dick? Is he a millennial getting what he thinks he is owed? Is it just for the thrill or is it to show off on camera? Watch for yourself and decide.