tim-952-869118
Whitestone Motion Pictures does it again. As with everything Whitestone does the production value is excellent. This is a great film about an important topic. Glad to see there is a motion picture company that's willing to develop a compelling story around important and often ignored issue. We went to the premier of the film with a 16 year old kid from our neighborhood who's 18 year old sister has been prostituting herself since she was 13. He left the film with a sense of responsibility that he like the boy in the film needed to rescue his sister from the evil that is in her life. I can only hope there are more films like this that help people look at issues we don't like to talk about.
Peter Cunningham
I completely support what this group of inspiring filmmakers are up to. This film is so beautiful to watch - the production design, the costumes, the colours, the make up - each element works so well in telling the story. Each element has a defined purpose, and that's one of the many things that make this film so special.You can just see the passion that went in to making this film. It's in the dialogue, the characters, and the overall metaphor. All executed so artistically. Doug Jones is sufficiently creepy, and Mattie Liptak as young Jimmy makes a role that could have been very cheesy, very heroic and believable. The production itself is outstanding, I think we could all learn a lot from these guys.I can't sing the praises of Whitestone enough. I am a young filmmaker in Australia and I follow all their work and spread the word throughout my community here about them. Keep going guys, you're already making a huge difference in the world of film-making. Next stop, Oscars.
geoweb904
Candy Shop is a wonderfully placed film set in a depression era common. The muted tones of the film in the outdoors helped to express a melancholic drudge of life. The store keeper was well executed and the pre-makeup makeup gave you a helmet-less Darth Vadery understanding of the underhandedness of him and the industry. The set was well shot and the steamy belches in the back rooms antiquated surfaces helped to sell the mechanical inevitability.The fruit seller as a buyer standing in the rear of the crowd of onlookers was thoughtful as were the pieces of candy that couldn't be fixed.I've enjoyed everything of theirs I've seen so far but this was the most important without question.
E Brandon Dean
Last night I had the surreal opportunity to attend the premier of a short, beautiful and deeply disturbing independent film at the Fox Theater in downtown Atlanta. The Candy Shop is self-described as a fairytale about child sex exploitation and truly I can think of no better way to describe it.As a low-budget, independent film it is quite excellent and I suspect it will get noticed when it is taken to the film festivals. The imagery is darkly picturesque, reminiscent of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, giving the viewer a sense of foreboding amidst an otherwise pleasant outlook. The characters are superbly portrayed by a fine cast of actors. Of course, the most notable performance came from Doug Jones who brought the creepy, demented, and hauntingly familiar Candyman to life – instantly he is hated, and yet one gets a sense that underneath this character has his own tragic story that is, perhaps, not so far distant from our own. Brandon McCormick, the director of this film, has created a story that is a bit transparent for an allegory – but I believe this was intentional. The title tells us it is a story about child sex exploitation – we are never given the opportunity to truly believe that this is just a harmless fairytale – and when we see the delicious looking lollipops and our mouths begin to water it creates a disquieting sense of wrongness as we are pulled into the story. In no way is this film gratuitous, explicit, or graphic, yet the true horror of the issue comes through. This film is a triumph of storytelling.It is tempting to say that this is a story about a bad man, who hurts children, and who ultimately gets his due. However, as I mulled it over, it became more and more apparent that this was not the Candyman's story; the idea is not simply to show us that evil exists. Rather, it is the story of the paperboy who first warily watches, and then with growing consternation realizes that something is wrong eventually being brought face-to-face with the reality of the issue and realizing that he no longer has the option of idly standing by. We, the viewer, take the same journey – so be warned! – I defy any sane-minded person to leave the theater without a sense of responsibility to take action.What makes the film so utterly horrific is the knowledge that child sex slavery is not fiction. Nor is it something that only happens overseas in third-world countries. It is happening everywhere in the United States. Atlanta, Georgia is one of the largest hubs for child sex trafficking. And nearly half of perpetrators come from my neck of the woods, the suburbs north of Atlanta. These are OUR children! This is OUR issue!Doug Jones said afterward that when he read the script he knew he wanted to be a part of the film, but that "the cause came with it." So it is with me, and so it will be, I truly hope, with you. Please support this film, as it is entered into the Atlanta Film Festival, and please become an abolitionist – you can visit stopthecandyshop.com or streetgrace.com for more information. Original Review found at: http://ebdean.com/archives/221
