The Black Hole

source: The Black Hole

I'm going to go against some of the earlier tide here. This, for me, is a brilliant film. It takes the concept of quantum entanglement, which is a mind-bending, yet very real scientific theory, which has been empirically proven, and runs with it. Yes, the film is, at times disjointed and confusing, but so is Mattie's life. Think how she must feel. Don't like it? Tough. Live with it. She has to. Call this film strange? Well, so is our universe. Quantum mechanics is very strange. It is so strange that many theorists, well-versed in it, have difficulty understanding it at a gut level. Mattie has to live with this strangeness. Why can't we? The interludes between the two friends (Mattie and Jess) are extraordinary. Crossing the stream holding hands; the one-sided pillow-fight in the tent; making the heart shapes with their hands in the planetarium to show their friendship. Simply beautiful. This all makes the apology-forgiveness-death scene with Mattie and Jess in the hospital so deeply moving. The use of music in the film is brilliant. For me the highlight was the use of The Paper Stars' song, "Walking Shadow" during the slow-motion car crash scene. This is an incredibly creative combination of cinematography and music. The visuals are very powerful - the multiple images of the broken violin; the bloody "Best Friends Forever" heart necklace; Mattie in the throes of her agony; and the sight of critically injured Jess being cared for by the emergency team, who, themselves hit you in the gut because they have dual roles. Finally, the song during this slow-motion scene is stunningly beautiful. This IS a science-fiction film because it embodies fiction based upon REAL science. It is also humanistic, dealing with love, anger, responsibility, guilt, forgiveness, death and, I'm sure, many other emotions, and issues I have left out. If you watched the film and liked it enough to give it another go, please DO SO. I find that you get even more out of it with added viewings. Some may argue, "You shouldn't have to watch it a second time or more." I would argue that this simply points to the depth of the film, and the complexities with which the film is trying to deal. Producer, Meryem Ersoz, (she also helped with writing the story) has given us a gift with this film. It is a gift because it is beautiful and intriguing while viewing it. It is also a gift because it is something to seriously contemplate, over time, after the film has finished.

Its a low budget indie movie, I would say; brilliant. it got me thinking, and that's hard to do...thanks to real movies like this I have hope for the future of movies.

High school violinist Mattie Carver (a perky and appealing portrayal by Izzie Steele) discovers that space and time appear to be collapsing all around her. Mattie teams up with a few misfit teens and teachers to figure out what's really going on before it's too late. Director Mark Stephen Grove not only relates the compellingly tricky story at a steady pace, but also adroitly crafts and maintains an intriguing enigmatic tone throughout. The thoughtful script by Mark Daniels offers a poignant and provocative examination on the themes of guilt, denial, and the basic need for closure. The sound acting by the able cast holds this film together: Dean Cain as astute nice guy science teacher Mark Willis, Natalie Distler as Mattie's nerdy gal pal Jess Selvy, Migina Tsai as wannabe helpful therapist Toni Carloftis, and Andrew Trainor as decent dude Riley Hayes. However, Malcolm McDowell is wasted in the nothing role of the gruff Mr. Simms. Moreover, the dialogue boasts some gnarly pop cultural references while the alternate realities run the gamut from fun and trippy to sad and tragic. Both Joe Firestone's sharp widescreen cinematography and Jeremy Christopher's delicate melodic score are up to par. A nice little flick.

My only questions after watching this are; why was towering talent Malcolm McDowell used so very little? And why change the title of the movie from the great one Mind's Eye to a stupid one like The Black Hole seeing there was no Black Hole and this whole film was about a fractured tortured mind after a car accident? I enjoyed the movie but the title and dvd artwork are totally misleading.

I don't even know what I watched. Time I'll never get back. I wasn't sure if it was supposed to be a dark comedy or what.

As some of the other reviews stated, the script was a bit convoluted as if written in segments by different people. First, the school stuff changes. Then, the EMT's appear as of they're some kind of saviours. They skip around what she is encountering without coming to the point. Then the science teacher gets involved... all like different chapters. Yup, I really was expecting some sort of real Black Hole to be involved, but it's not almost to the end that you start to suspect what is happening. About 3/4 of the way through, I was hoping they would get on with it and reveal what was happening. Little hints throughout would have been nice. Not a terrible movie, but I wouldn't pay for it. Good to watch ONCE. The acting is okay... but Izzie Steele's acting was pretty darn good. Not the large actions but the little things. The facial expressions, the rolling eyes, smirks, and so on. That really adds to the detail of the character. I hope she shows up in a better picture. I would have loved to find the Soundtrack, esp THE WALKING MAN.

I quite liked this movie. It is slow. very slow. The middle, in particular, taxed my patience and i'm glad i saw it at home and not in a cinema. There is a great sound track. The tale itself twist and turns around and morphs and evolves and keeps you guessing, before leaving you wondering. Its not a blockbuster, the loose ends are not resolved, but it is thought provoking. Indeed, i'm starting to wonder about the type of movie i've been watching recently. Is the universe trying to tell me something? Maybe my 42 odd years have contributed to the enjoyment i got from this? Other found the acting bad, i found it OK. The looseness of the timing was refreshing. Bad points? apart from the slow slow pace there are a number of volume problems that showed the more budget production values. Voices were not properly balanced and go from too quiet to too loud a few times. There's a lot of visual information, so quite a hard one to watch while you are doing something else, so perhaps save for a long cold evening when there's knitting to be done ;)

The story centers are Mattie Carver (Izzie Steele) who is a high school student with reality issues. Scenes, as well as people and places change around her. An explanation is offered at the Revelation Church, but it may not be complete. This is an odd production that would be a 60's acid film. The film is science fiction, but only as a background to the events. The film is self described as "A sci-fi/thriller centered on a high school violinist who witnesses the collapse of space and time." This explanation may be correct, but it does not exactly come out in the film itself, but other explanations are offered. The original title of the film was "Mind's Eye." There is a movie theater poster with this title as Mattie says she would like to see that film. This surreal comic reference is lost with the title change. In fact the title alters the explanation to the collapse of space and time from the explanation offered in the film. I suggest the title change and time/space collapse explanation was done for marketing and does a disservice to the film and Mark Steven Grove, director and writer of the film. 8 stars for the bizarre. Not for everyone. If you like this type of film, check out "Foxfur" which may be free on line somewhere. DVDs were never produced for the market. Guide; No swearing, sex, or nudity. Natalie Distler is short plaid skirt.

Awful, yes, just after 1 hour. Before that time you are mislead in believing that it is a Science Fiction movie about space time fragmentation, but in the end you recognize that the writer got no clue how to end the story. My advise: write a story with a beginning, middle and end. Do not experiment with alternative story writing. Indie movie is not all about holding a brand new camera with 4k resolution.