Sleep Dealer [Blu-ray]
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Sleep Dealer [Blu-ray] Information
Product Reviews Post Time
Feb 06, 2010 02:53:53
Average Product Rating
4.5 of 5.0
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Sleep Dealer [Blu-ray] Reviews By Customers
4.6 stars
Saw this one on the blu-ray wall at the local FlockCluster, and when they only buy one copy of a film, it tends to be much better than when they have 30 of something (huge studio push vs. some rare guy at corporate hq who knows quality making sure they have at least one dvd of a sleeper; Deliver Us From Evil, Bashir, and many many others fit this mold). Sleep Dealer also certainly falls into this category.
Alex Rivera is a true auteur, having written SD ten years before it was made, and making it with very little money, just a Sundance grant (Redford’s social conscience lives on!). But what a difference between this and the endless big budget crapaganda we get out of Hollyweird. SD has heart in every frame, and intelligence behind that heart.
The basic story is very PK Dick, a big compliment, coming from my pen at least. Dystopian but with redemption as its spine, like all great sci-fi, SD transcends its genre and becomes truly fine political commentary. So many solid scenes here, and the two principals are excellent. It’s funny: I believed in every frame of this movie, despite its very low production values, or maybe because of them. Most 100 million dollar films I don’t believe a word of. Gloss can never touch what creative cost-cutting can, do if its heart is in the right place.
Best of all, it is a tight, sinewy 90 minutes. No wasted scenes or lines, just a good story that keeps moving until a satisfying conclusion. I cared about the characters. I laughed at the many sly digs at corporate culture and US military imperialism. The premise of water being hoarded from farmers by the gov’t is so dead-on that much of this film felt like a present-day documentary. The fake Fox violence/reality show was perfect; we are already using drones like video games and killing civilians frquently with drones in Afghanistan controlled from Langley. Scary stuff.
One of the best surprises I’ve had as a film fan this year, I can’t recommend Sleep Dealer highly enough to any fans of sci-fi, social insight, and/or quality movie making in general.
Alex Rivera, take a bow.
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Politics disguised as sci-fi – bernie – Arlington, Texas
Memo (Luis Fernando Peña) wants to escape his hard agricultural life caused by the US damming of their river. He does so with the aid of a radio interceptor. Little did he know that his hobby would lead to an unusual interaction and unique communication of three lives Memo, Rudy (Jacob Vargas), and Luz (Leonor Varela).
One scene that I can relate to is where Memo and Luz are at a rivers edge discussing life with his head in her lap. Even though this takes place in Mexico, I spent some time with my girl in a similar riverbed (Los Angeles) where it crosses with the San Jacinto River near a small park named Ford. Therefore, this had a more personal flair for me.
This is not a simple movie as not only stories overlapping but also the technology needed to tell the story is a collage of many sci-fi movies from before. I was interested in the main characters as a story however according to the voice over it is more of a political movement using technology against its self. They bend the system.
You will find a message for everyone on different levels. I think you will get the Memo.
You definitely need to see the two DVD extras “before the making of Sleep Dealer” which is almost a mini-tutorial on how to build and market a movie, and the voice over (in English) which tells all the nitty-gritty details of the movie including a more intricate use of resources. We learn that the war strike scenes are real footage from the net as are many of the other scenes and some verbiage is modeled on apache helicopter kill communications from u-tube.
Future of outsourcing – Albert F. Yuen –
Unusual premise of a future where US jobs are outsourced to Mexico without having to cross the border. But to have this privilege, one has to have a medical procedure done — “nodes” have to be implanted in the body to be “connected” to these outsourcing facilities. Most of these nodes are implanted by shady grey market dealers as I’m sure the fees for having them done at certified facilities are out of reach for the majority in search of work. Worth a watch.
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Great low budget movie – Athos G. Colon – Lubbock, Texas
This movie is a great movie for a low budget movie. With availability of lower price super computers, the gap between big mega blockbusters and movies made by smaller groups is getting smaller.
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Add comment February 6th, 2010