Purely Joyful Movie!

From my favorite movies..

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

On my binary scale of Yea or Nay (ie 10 or 1) I give this flick a Yea meaning I didn't have to fast forward through any of it. Of course that doesn't mean you will like it. Maybe you hate it as many other reviewers seem to. Somebody said there's no likable characters. I didn't find that at all. The kids are all really nice, ordinary student types. I've been around University life for forty years. I can see normal when I see it. In fact, unlike most of these types of movies, I felt bad when so many of them got murdered. I really did. Of course the protagonist kid is a dweeb alright but so what? Aren't we all? In the old days we all would have been cheering at the end when he came through and did his thing. The evildoers are a couple of real rat bastards. I hated them thoroughly. Christian Slater did such a good job as a slimy rat psycho that I think I'll never be able to see him as a hero type again. Good character acting. I really dug the monkey too. That was great. The other psycho is such a putrid punk I was yelling at the monitor when he was doing his disgusting rat psycho stuff.

Rites passage is a low budget film directed by a screen writer and filmed on single camera on location in a small Californian beach town. Considering the budget and limited man power the movie depicts modern college students in the correct way, especially those from the infamous Isla Vista party scene. For having a few big and upcoming names involved in this feature the acting was a little sub-par. All in all the plot quickened quite fast and I personally hoped it would have been slightly more drawn out. I found it not as bad as many of the other reviewers described, although I took into consideration the budget and limitations etc.

This film is by no means an amazing film. However, it was pretty funny and I left the theater ultimately satisfied. This film was made in Santa Barbara which is my home now and it was cool to watch this movie knowing that aspect. It was a cheesy popcorn thriller but if you watch it knowing that, you will be pleasantly impressed. Overall I did enjoy this film. I can't say it was my favorite movie but definitely worth seeing at least once. It was definitely a breath of fresh air having the comedy mixed with the thriller. I did happen to see the premier of this movie and it made my experience a little more exciting. The directors and some of the actors stayed after for a Q and A, which made me enjoy the movie a little more because you got to sense their passion and how much they enjoyed making the film. This gave me a lighter opinion of the film.

This may contain SPOILERS please read with CAUTION!!! (SBCC student) Rites of Passage is a movie for the Isla Vista student community. I went to see this movie because I got the chance to meet the director before the premier. The movie was describe as a thriller with some connection to the Chumash culture. I have to say that for his first movie he directed he did a good job.The movie will not win any Oscars but it will win the hearts of the Santa Barbara student. I think in order to understand better the movie you have to be part of that community. Which the director did explain that it was intended for them. I give him 10 Stars for making the film for the I.V. Community (Film Student) Now I also believe that the movie could of been clean more. What I mean by that is that I notice some rough cuts with the editing. The characters need it to be develop more. There was no real connection with the audience and the characters. The main story wasn't explain clearly. For the Chumash culture it was more of people or in this case students who didn't understand the culture in its full. Therefore it was an interpretation of what they believe it meant. I give him 6 Stars for the movie in its self. But for his first film he directed in a low budget I say Good job!!