The Upper Footage (2013)
'THE UPPER FOOTAGE' is the first film experience of its kind. The film is an edited version of 393 minutes of recovered footage documenting a young girl's tragic overdose death and subsequent cover up by a group of affluent socialites. What started as a blackmail plot played out over YouTube, became Hollywood's biggest drug scandal, turned into a heavily controversial film property that was rumored to be held by some of the biggest names in Hollywood. Now, after playing itself out in the media for 3 years it is finally making its way to the public.
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terrible... so disappointed.
Perfectly adorable
One of the worst movies I've ever seen
It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.
"The Upper Footage"It wasn't just bad, it was annoying.Had it been made prior to "The Blair Witch Project" and just a short film made by a group of friends with a good camera, it would be OK.I want to state all kinds of negative one-liners but that's not being objective and will get ignored. s in the Found Footage genre were was, "The Blair Witch Project." Quite a few of my co-workers thought that Blair Witch was real. That was due in part to the multimedia campaign elements such as the website.The Spanish film, ".REC" was great. It was engaging from beginning to end. Not that a real budget necessarily matters but it had about $1.8 million and the money was widely spent.I found V/H/S to be better than this and that movie received poor reviews. It was crudely filmed but then so was The Blair Witch project but it wasn't dishonest.I was misled by the list of positive reviews by Internet critics on the Vimeo site as well as the user reviews.I'll stop short of accusing the film makers of using their own people as shills. For all of the dishonesty, lack of creativity and lack of entertainment value, I'm giving this a 4.Only because the male anti-hero actors were good. Not being sexist. The females were just one dimensional.If "The Upper Footage" entertains you then great. I can't stand Ranch dressing, avocados or curry but don't criticize others who do.If you enjoy found footage films and never watched ".REC" have a look at both the Spanish original and the American version with Dexter's sister, Jennifer Carpenter. The American remake did justice to the original.If you watched this on Vimeo, the Joss Whedon film, "In Your Eyes" is a better choice for your first Vimeo rental. A nice romance, low key, great acting with characters you liked.Roger Ebert was the last of the educated and credentialed, objective professional critics. The rest have zero credibility whose one-liner reviews are from a copy/paste cheat sheet.
The Upper footage is a movie that blurs reality and fiction. It reminds us the monsters are not always scary men lurking in dark shadows, nor are they the creatures of childhood nightmares, more likely they are the people we may think we aspire to, who maybe we all could too easily become. It is a riveting story of an all too familiar reality, that is so believable director Justin Cole was able to use the real media to help further blur the lines we cling to in order to feel safe as we sit back and get our fill of our favorite genre.The film is billed as being an edited 90 version of 393 minutes of found footage covering the events of one night in the lives of a group of affluent young socialites. It is a story of privilege, money and affluence gone horribly wrong. We watch as this group shows their colors, in overindulgent petty behaviors that eventually lead to an accidental death and that's where things get really interesting.So many things about The Upper Footage are done incredibly right. Justin Cole starts with a story that we have all heard, and gives us an all access pass to the entire event. That in itself wouldn't mean much if the acting was flat, or if the dialogue felt scripted. Somehow, everyone comes together to make this feel very organic, lending incredible believability to the film. The marketing is another point that needs to be mentioned as Justin Cole effectively used our ceaseless desire for dirty news via tabloid TV, getting shows like Entertainment Tonight to bite on the "leaked footage" resulting in a blurring of the lines between art and reality. He further plays into that gray area, by not naming any of the actors involved in the film and has even pixilated his own image on the net, giving a true air of mystery to the entire production, and leaving you questioning what you just watched.I found that all of this played together beautifully well. I was beyond impressed with The Upper Footage and would highly recommend you take the time to check this film out. The film shows how effective the found footage genre can be. It pushes boundaries, and our sensibilities by taking it to the ugly but real conclusion. This film had me literally shaking with anxiety for a moment at the end, I have never before had such a reaction to any film I have watched and I promise there have been a lot. I am already looking forward to what Mr. Justin Cole has in store for us next!
when i first heard about the movie, i was immediately hooked to the idea and followed it all the way to the recent release. i followed the ups and downs with all the news on the film and to finally see it, there's a great sigh of relief and accomplishment the whole time, i was at the edge of my seat. it was definitely worth the wait, and the amount of publicity this movie gained was just awesome. I'm not going to lie, it had me going the whole time with the plot that bordered the line of fact and fiction. UPPER was like a mixture of The Blair Witch Project and Cloverfield. it was great! hopefully one day, i can watch this one the big screen to better enjoy this movie to its full potential.
Blake, Taylor, Devin, and Vlogger Will drive around New York City looking for cocaine and women. Devin finds a young woman, Jackie and all five of them go back to Blake's apartment and an accident happens.I know this is a very brief overview on the film, because I think it is far better to know as little as possible going in and then after the film look on the internet at the marketing and recent issues. If you wish to know more a quick Google search should give you a wealth of information.I first saw an article about Upper on Bloody-Disgusting almost two years ago and was intrigued. The marketing campaign was top notch and left me wanting more. I finally have got to see the movie and I was really not sure what to expect. The first half of the movie is a little on slowish side, plus I knew what ultimately was going to happen because of the marketing, but it does a fine job in establishing the young adults for what they are, rich and only worried about drugs, hooking up and themselves. After watching the movie the next day I talked about it with co-workers and wanted to talk even more but I did not want to give anything away so I just encouraged them to view it. It has been two days since I saw the film and I am still thinking about it, which as far as I am concerned is the definition of a good film, to make you think and keep thinking after the film is over. Upper is not an easy movie to watch nor is it an easy movie to review. The best bet is to watch it and decide for yourself. The ending of the film left me angry over what had transpired because these rich spoiled young adults had not taken responsibility for their actions. The film is a commentary on the socialite/"Upper" society and media. It might be a love it or hate it film, but love it or hate it the film should spark some great discussions.