I was looking forward to this feature, and I took time off work, headed out and fought traffic to get to see it on the big screen at Madstone-- as in Madstone Theaters, the exhibition arm of Madstone Films, which was responsible for Rhinoceros Eyes.
After watching it I came back and reread the comments and looked at the user votes again. Somehow these people must have seen a different item than the Rhinoceros Eyes I saw-- even though the cast and crew lists matched, the comments didn't jibe with what I saw. The clarity, content, and tonal range of the image was pathetic; what could have been an astounding set was crunched by some capture method or seriously degraded in post and turned into. . . into this, whatever it was. The lighting may have been some of the worst I have seen on a large screen, but even so, the image on the screen far outshone the story. At least, they called it a story, even though it was missing major elements, didn't really make sense, lacked continuity, refused to actually go anywhere, or come to a conclusion. One of the supporting characters seems to be smoking a lot of weed during this production; perhaps he was not the only one.
Maybe, just maybe we have a new generation of video only kids who don't know colors, or contrast ranges, the importance of a storyline-- a plot-- or any of the other things that make up a modern "movie." That is the only reason I can see anyone allowing the public to see this; the makers just don't know better.
This hurt. It comes off as a couple of kids, a camcorder, a great location, lousy lighting, half a story, and some actors who really, really tried.
The actors have my most profound sympathy. .
