Slave Girls On The Moon (2014)

Starring Madelyn Wiley, Devin Dunne, Tomi Heady, Joshua Kennedy, Jeremy Kreuzer
Directed by Joshua Kennedy
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A young woman is sent over 6,000 years into the future in order to rescue another time traveler who's gone missing, and both of them end up incarcerated in a nearly impenetrable prison on the moon.

Joshua Kennedy nods his cap towards classic films of the 1960s and 1970s in this madcap sci-fi comedy, but at the same time, it's one of his most original films, and a surefire crowd pleaser.  While the movie employs some familiar plot devices (such as women in prison bonding together against a cruel warden and a talent show put on to cover a jailbreak), it flows with a wild energy that embraces the outlandish and discards the ordinary.

Taking a page from Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey and its classical music score, Kennedy peppers the soundtrack with a wide variety of familiar selections ranging from Also Sprach Zarathustra to The William Tell Overture along with some more contemporary choices to drive the film forward.  With fast-paced scenes matching the tempo of the music, Kennedy sustains excitement and keeps the mood light, despite some grim moments throughout the picture.

The dark tone underlying the comedy is set primarily through Kennedy's own performance as the evil warden, a clear tribute to one of Josh's favorite performances, that of James Mason as Captain Nemo in Disney's classic 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea.  One does not have to concentrate hard to hear Mason's distinguished and cool but bitter inflection in a striking imitation.  The young filmmaker's costume, complete with wispy beard, navy blazer, and white turtleneck adds to the nostalgic recapturing of the image of Nemo, while a futuristic eyepatch enhances the character's villainy.

Opposing Kennedy's villain is a bevy of lovely ladies playing the inmates of the prison, led by Madelyn Wiley's wide-eyed and spunky Chloe Trustcott, Devin Dunne's slightly off-balance Genevieve Fonda, and Tomi Heady's clever and determined Mai-Ling.  The young ladies do a fine job of settling into the familiar prisoner film archetypes, but making the roles their own, and co-stars like Brianna Gentilella, Carmen Vienhage, and Traci Thomas add some daffy humor to the mix.  Jeremy Kreuzer stands out among the male leads as the silver skinned android-like Lobo, whose hysterical laugh and darting tongue adds character to another sinister adversary for the ladies.

I presume this was Josh's first production filmed nearly entirely at Pace University, and although we can tell university halls and common rooms are standing in for his sets, Kennedy unleashes a cavalcade of special effects and optical shots to sustain the illusion of the future setting.  It's more than impressive for a young student filmmaker to have been able to insert so many visual effects in a film (there must be at least 50 optical shots if not more), and although no one will mistake his work for Industrial Light & Magic's, the end result is certainly successful.

This film recently won an award for best comedy at the Miami Science Fiction Festival and it deserves that accolade and more.  Josh's theater background in mounting productions of The Ten Commandments and 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea in high school surely came in handy here, in uniting such a wide variety of actresses into an entertaining ensemble, most of whom he probably had not known before he arrived at Pace.  The film might have been improved in some ways here and there-  I'm not sure Wiley's voice-over narration works quite as well as it should, and the talent show may have benefitted from some stronger acts to balance out all the weak ones- but the movie remains a jewel in Kennedy's filmography, one which I hope many audiences in the mood for a good time will soon discover.
 

The Menace With 5 Arms (2013)

Starring Joshua Kennedy, Ayssette Munoz, Devin Dunne, Jorge Chapa, Kat Kennedy
Directed by Joshua Kennedy
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A small-town sheriff teams with a marine biologist to investigate the mysterious disappearances of people in the nearby desert, and learn a gigantic starfish is behind it all.

Joshua Kennedy's tribute to the giant creatures of 1950s monster movies offers more of what we've come to expect from the young writer/director, a savvy homage to films of the past that also showcases his talent in front of and behind the camera.  Filmed partly in his home state of Texas, and also near Pace University in New York City, the film school which would become his new home, the movie features familiar faces in the cast from Kennedy's past productions, as well as some fresh new ones.

Josh himself, having grown a beard since his last production, graduates to an adult role as Joseph Kerwin, a promoted deputy under stress from dissatisfied locals after the death of the town's popular sheriff, as well as from a breakup with his long-time girlfriend.  He hasn't written for himself an easy character to play, seemingly patterned after the roles of familiar 50's leading man John Agar, a good and decent man who's not perfect and makes mistakes, but doing the best he can, he struggles against simmering anger building up in him.  When his temper finally boils over, it's real and believable, and a worthy accomplishment of acting for a young man still in his teens.  When the film's leading lady enters the picture, he's also able to channel considerable charm and self-confidence despite his character's problems.

That lady is played by Ayssette Munoz, a lovely and self-assured actress who projects a sweet innocence as well as a chip on her character's shoulder after a blunder that damaged her academic reputation.  Her scenes with Kennedy genuinely build rapport and warmth between their characters, even when at odds, with dialogue so reminiscent of the movies 1950s sci-fi fans know by heart.

Those looking for references to their favorite classics will find them in characters like Tommy Green's, representing the teller of tall tales who's the first to warn Kerwin about the starfish, Michael Albeis' defiant promoter who ignores Kerwin's warning to stay out of the desert, and the young girl in shock from her experience with the creature (Erin Alexis Cantu), who comes out of it in a scene paying tribute to 1954's Them!

Kennedy has come a long way in just a few years since the limited special effects of his first production, and is able to stage some impressive technical visuals, sending crowds fleeing across the screen from the giant projected starfish, and helicopters reeling towards their destruction as the menacing creature scales an actual Pace University building.  Still, those nostalgic for Kennedy's creative use of miniature toys in his past movies, will smile when they find those employed here too.

In another sign of the director's growth, Kennedy also composed the music that accompanies the film and although the score is fairly elementary, it's remarkably effective, particularly during the monster scenes.  The sound recording and use of sound effects is also a step up from his past efforts, convincingly creating the bustling background noise of an airport, and the slurping of the creature when attacking its screaming victims.

Kennedy's creativity shines throughout the picture with his only limitation being his budget, and he again finds unique ways to counter that shortcoming.  Not every scene is all that it could be, but that could be said of any film, and like his character of Joseph Kerwin, he endeavors to make a picture that's not a perfect replica of those made by his predecessors, but one that will recall fond memories in an audience appreciative of his efforts.