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Common: The state of here and now
by Ron Foley Macdonald (infomonkey.net)
One of the most powerful - but neatly restrained - indie flicks I’ve seen for the 2007 AFF is Kansas director Jeremy Fiest’s Common. A road movie that deconstructs the friendships of three twentysomething men on the cusp of adult careers, Common is a playfully formal, mesmerizingly shot and beautifully written film that firmly examines the state of here and now.
Using the dusty landscapes of middle America and shooting through a fluid video lens that plays up the yellows, browns and greens of the US heartland, Common combines a curious compassion for its characters with a love for the healing balm of wide open spaces.
And while the film’s visuals and structure reference great American road stories like The Grapes Of Wrath, On The Road and even Easy Rider, the actual narrative is strangely calm and understated. As two of the characters drive to the west coast to meet up with a third friend who is newly married, the travelling duo attempt to repair a friendship that has gone rather badly off the rails as adulthood slowly eats away at their boyish inclinations.
There’s far too much wit, plot development and concentrated action for Common to be considered part of the latest trend in American indie filmmaking, Mumblecore. And yet the film could be considered the movement’s heartland cousin, reflecting the muted ambitions and over-analyzed self-awareness that marks Mumblecore’s most salient points. It’s a trend that sees relationships, short term goals and transience as the be-all and end-all of twentysomething life.
Still, there’s a sweet openness to Common that distinguishes it as an American Original. Announcing onscreen in frame-filling fonts the act endings, turning points and other sundry structural points gives the film a humorous, self-conscious point of view that matches the character’s own mirror-phase machinations.
With a punchy alt-country soundtrack by mid-American indie artists OK Jones, Common is a rigorous but affectionate snapshot of the muddled youthful aspirations of a generation that hasn’t figured out yet just what comes next. Bittersweet but ultimately deeply satisfying, this is a film that aptly displays the deep bench strength of American Indie Filmmaking.

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See "Common" in Kansas City!!

Hello all!Good news (if you don't already know) "Common" has been selected as part of this years Kansas City Filmmakers Jubilee.The screening will be Saturday, April 19th @ 5:30 PM at the 41 Penn Thea...
Posted by COMMON on Sat, 12 Apr 2008 12:20:00 PST

UPDATE: From Here to Awesome

First, thanks SO MUCH to all the people who've gone and voted on our submission for our little movie in the groundbreaking From Here to Awesome virtual film festival.Now, the super amazing people at F...
Posted by COMMON on Fri, 18 Jan 2008 06:14:00 PST

From Here to Awesome

Today's a really cool day for us (and presumably you good people), because it marks the opening of a new kind of film festival...It's called From Here To Awesome and WE NEED YOUR HELP.It's an online v...
Posted by COMMON on Thu, 10 Jan 2008 01:53:00 PST

5 star review of Common

Hey everybody,The good people over at the Myspace Film Community caught Common and posted a review of it. Apparently they liked it since they gave it 5 out of 5 stars. Thanks go to Anthony Thurber for...
Posted by COMMON on Wed, 19 Dec 2007 04:53:00 PST

Four Eyed Monsters

Done your good deed for the day? Well here's your chance. And you even get something in return, no cost to you...So there are these two filmmakers from NY who self-financed a digital film called Four ...
Posted by COMMON on Tue, 20 Nov 2007 01:20:00 PST

Review: Common: The State of Here and Now

So we're back from the Atlantic Film Festival, and the screening went great. We're overwhelmed by all the positive feedback, and we want to thank everyone for coming out. It was a lot of fun spending ...
Posted by COMMON on Sat, 22 Sep 2007 03:21:00 PST

Review of Common

The Atlantic Film Festival blog posted a review of common. you can read and leave comments here.Here's a fe bits:"Common portrays a world of easy normality where characters reflect the endlessly dizzy...
Posted by COMMON on Tue, 11 Sep 2007 12:52:00 PST

BIG NEWS!

Well... it's been a long time since our last transmission, but good things are happening. We've been holding it in for a while, but as of today we can officially annouce that COMMON will be playing th...
Posted by COMMON on Thu, 30 Aug 2007 03:00:00 PST

COMMON in the Salina Journal

Filmmakers Jeremy Fiest and John Johnson were chased off a rural Kansas farm by a woman who thought they were secretly trying to film her beans."She thought we wanted to make farmers look bad," Johnso...
Posted by COMMON on Mon, 21 May 2007 10:59:00 PST

"Common" Screening & After Party

The moment we've all been waiting for has arrived!!Event Info:Friday, May 4, 2007 at 8:00pmThe Fox Pavilion1202 Main Street Hays, KS Contact InfoEmail: [email protected]'ve seen the trai...
Posted by COMMON on Mon, 16 Apr 2007 12:14:00 PST