A thoroughly funny comedy, Mean Bread

Missing is an atmospheric thriller backed by a compelling story and chilling dialogue. Mike Storch both borrows from and departs from the style of his previous thriller, Gnomes. Like Gnomes, Missing relies less on flashy animation and more on music and dialogue to propel the story forward. Missing employs a strong story penned by Andres de la Hoz, that follows two parallel stories that seemingly go together. The main story is of a prisoner, and a sadistic kidnapper, who establishes atmosphere early on with a chilling monologue about what kinds of torture he will inflict on his victim. The second story involves a wife searching for her missing husband, presumably one of the two characters involved in the first plot. These stories flash back and forth, building tension as we discover that the outcome of one story will ultimately determine the end for the other story. There are some holes, or unclear moments. Why has the man been kidnapped? What are the motivations? While these may have been purposefully left out to allow for interpretation, they leave the viewer slightly confused at the end. This is Mike Storch's strong point. Every camera angle was added for a reason. Storch doesn't resort to frivolous camera moves, or splashy scenery, because he doesn't need it. His camera work is atmospheric, evoking a claustrophobic, doomed feeling that serves the film wonderfully. I'd also like to note the chilling montage of torture tools shown near the beginning. This caused my stomach to drop, and set me up for the entire rest of the film. I've already mentioned that Storch doesn't indulge in splashy effects. His scenery is believable, consistent, and solid. Some effects are a little out-dated, such as the explosion-based rain, and some lacking textures. Otherwise, Storch's visual style of Gnomes returns in many of the outdoor scenes. The inclusion of suburban and domestic scenery does allow some departure from the constant rural setting of Gnomes. Andrew James Thomas has once again come through to arrange and produce (correct me if I'm wrong, please) a suspenseful, atmospheric score. Thomas is a fan of Silvestri, but it doesn't get boring. The score is one of the strongest aspects of the film, so strong that when I had to pause the movie, I rewound back to the music cue to experience it fully. Voices were well done. The torturer's speech stood out as a delightfully terrifying bit of dialogue. All the voice actors did Andres' script justice. Though the payoff at the ending was not as satisfying as one may have liked, Missing is a strong outing from Dark Gnome Productions. From the suspenseful story, to the atmospheric staging, Missing was well worth the download, and a movie that fans of Storch's work and thrillers should definitely take the time to see. Did I mention it's atmospheric? Review by Andrew Salter.

Moderately Confused is an enjoyable feature-length caper comedy following on the heels of Slightly Confused. It's clear that Quicksell has gone through much improvement since Slightly Confused, as this sequel expands and betters the first several times over. With well developed characters, a good, sometimes suspenseful, plot, and plenty of outstanding voice acting, Moderately Confused was for the most part an hour and a half well spent. The story of Moderately Confused is a familiar enough premise to anyone who has seen any of the great caper comedies of the past 50 years. Moderately Confused takes its inspiration from Ocean's Eleven, but adapts the formula to create a unique experience for anyone whose seen these movies. The plot is straightforward: thief gets out (read: escapes) from jail, meets up with fellow organiser, hatches scheme, finds partners/fiancee, and the plot rolls forward from there. It's not all straightforward, I must add. There are several plot twists and interesting devices that Quicksell uses to complicate his story, with the plot picking up steam when the thief's crush turns out to be the museum curator. This sets a whole lot of actions in motion that propel us through the end of the movie. There are several plot points that didn't work out. The Taxi-scene ran on a whole 5 minutes, but nothing came of it except a drive across town. The sodomy scene also didn't click. Basically, it didn't make sense to be thrown in to these otherwise well developed characters. It just seemed... out of place. Part of the fun of this film was the use of creative camera moves. I'd like to highlight the incredibly cool opening titles as particularly representative of this skill. The camera, for the most part, behaves as a real camera would, and Quicksell's use of zooms and pans is effective, but never distracting. The robbery sequence, particularly, is backed up by smart, smooth camera movements that closely mirror the atmosphere of the scene. Incidentally, that's what a camera is... supposed to do... moving on. Moderately Confused boasts some impressive examples of expansion textures, text-based scenery, and clever use of the built-in 3dmm props cabinet. The scenery isn't perfect. There are several examples of blank land and bland-looking locations, but not enough to be truly distracting. Overall, the visuals were well thought-out, and skilfully implemented. There are some areas that could have done with a bit of polishing, but in the grand (1 1/2 hour) scheme of things, those moments don't stick out. Plot and sound are the highlights of the movie. Quicksell has compiled a worthy score to back up his movie. From the smooth jazz rifts of Ocean's Eleven to the classic Mission Impossible theme, to Queen's legendary, and still kicking after all these times played in football stadiums classic "We are the Champions," Moderately Confused' music design matches the action spot-on. As far as effects go, Moderately Confused uses a good, though far from perfect implementation of sound effects. There are many scenes where lack of sound is sorely apparent, one occurring at the very beginning (helicopters are pretty loud, right?) The voice acting makes up entirely for this lacking. All the voice actors, and James, knew their parts well and pulled them off to flatter the comedic script. Most notable is Klaymen as the terret's affected insider, providing some very funny moments, and Quicksell himself, as the bank robber. His use of comedic timing, especially in the closing monologue, are hi-lights of the movie. Some of Quicksell's characters do begin to sound alike, a discrepancy that could have been remedied. Though slightly confusing (haha, I'm so witty) at first, these characters don't last very long in the story. Also of note are several throwaway lines from 3DMM's line of default dialogue. Moderately Confused runs at a hefty hour and a half, so expect to spend some quality time with your computer screen. Though the length is a triumph, it can be daunting and could have been cut down with the elimination of scenes that just didn't flow with the film. Overall, Moderately Confused is a great character-driven comedy. The movie's character development should be studied by aspiring directors looking for ways to connect the audience to the characters in ways that are extremely difficult to do in 3d Movie Maker. A worthwhile download, for a nice comedic experience. Review by Andres Salter.