BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

Cortechba Overrated

RipDelight This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

ThedevilChoose When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Maurice Spees I saw this film a week ago at the Bangkok Film Festival and I was impressed. Life is this spiritual journey, and there is where it starts, waking up dreaming! the film amazes me because I have been trough the same experience in my life. Constantly searching for a balance between work and nature's harmony. Because of the Netherlands economic mess, as a Video Artist, I ended up working as a croupier in a casino as well. Constantly in the dark (no windows), the same horrible lost people, and yes every day the same, life becomes a habit and you become an habitual animal, forget that you are truly alive. I tried to get people out of their in stead! You expressed this wonderfully, You really experience in it in your film in such a way that it irritates you, and every scene of nature is a harmonious way out of it! that is life exactly. As a croupier for 6 months I needed to get out of that black hole and flew to Thailand. Where I live ever since as a freelance FREE documentary maker and lives observer. I lived here now for 4 years and am completely free. let's all do that!!!! I live in the most beautiful part of Thailand in the North. But love to observe the lost man in Bangkok, where I saw this film too.. I was impressed, the film is the experience! is the wake!!! And the use of dream archetypes like a serpent impressed me, because they are ancient ways to express deep rooted emotions, but in this time we almost forgot about them. getting closer to the deep rooted instinctive drive and sexuality, marvelous expression. Great expression of truth One thing which always strikes me with films or performances like this is that most people that are stuck in similar habitual unconscious world, are only able to see what it means, and means to get out, become aware, once they get out by themselves, and then they will recognize the film again! The film is a reminder of how dead we are alive. She won AWARD--BEST ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENT FOR PHANTOM LOVE! at the Bangkok Film festival, which is well deserved!!!

jpopev-1 As a fan of Ms. Menkes' films, I didn't quite know what to expect from her new feature film, Phantom Love. I have been a fan since seeing her six previous works--Soft Warrior, Great Sadness of Zohara, Magdalena Viraga, Queen of Diamonds, Bloody Child, and Massakre. What I love about Nina's work is that it is utterly brave, bold, and original! Nina dares to tap into something spiritual, mystic, subconscious...something undefinable, something magical... Her new film, Phantom Love, a stunning feature shot in black and white 35MM, seems even more daring and unique. From the opening frame, Nina steadies her shots with a hand-held, "raw" edge. She abandons some of her more formal static shots in favor of a roaming eye...an eye that seems to dig down into her subject, dig a hole...pierce and burrow into the depths of the alienation and repression of her female characters. Her central character, a blackjack dealer living in Los Angeles, is somewhat reminiscent of Firdaus from Queen of Diamonds; but unlike Firdaus, this protagonist struggles with "family problems" such as an overbearing mother and psychotic sister. At one point, the "sister" disappears and seems to fuse into the psychic space of the protagonist/blackjack dealer. Typical of Nina's work, specific elements can be debated...and often the literal is less important than the subconscious space or the internal sensations awakened from a particular sequence... In the end, it seems a weight had been lifted as butterflies encircled the main character and she stood naked in the window of her medieval-style apartment. Perhaps this is a sign of hope...perhaps Nina will simple leave it up to the viewer to decide... No matter, I have rarely been so moved from viewing a film... Way to go girl!!!

Peter_ManX Why did I waste my money on this on the last day of Sundance? I want a refund... Can I have my $16 back? While I was watching this film I kept waiting for something to happen, nothing did happen. The only way I even knew what it was supposed to be about was by reading the plot, which was not really like the film. why did the director zoom in with their handy cam and then zoom out? It was not very artistic. Why did the director show Lulu filing her nails for fifteen minutes? Why is it when the actors tried to speak they sounded like they were reading? Or was that the point? I felt like Phantom Love had no story at all, and to be honest I felt like my friends vacation videos had a much higher entertainment value than this film.

Cro_s I caught this 'movie' on the last day of the Sundance Film Festival. I caught this 'movie' like one catches a cold- unwanted, and cursing the propagator of such filth. This garbage is the excrement of self-hating emo cutters with nothing to outlet irrational anti-emotion but a camera- suffering from a visual stagnancy of thought, this 'movie' drives through one overly-long shot devoid of any discernible art or cinematography to the next. The 'clever' lack of dialog for the first third of the film establishes the consistency of vacant material. I 'believe" it was the directors motive (because there is nothing to tie anything together, and no rational thought or clues given as to what is happening or why anyone would care) to make viewers feel the same nothingness and self-propelled despair as the wooden characters. Of course see this film will leave viewers wondering, I wonder why it was accepted into the theater, I wonder why the whole theater did not leave with the other half. Nothing in the movie was coherent enough for one shot, let alone establishes continuity between two.I must beg the director to answer one question: Was anything thought out before production?This movie is painful to watch- not for the subject matter- for the un-motivating characterless characters- the excruciating long shots attempting at some rejected student art- the poor camera angles- the amateurish zooming in and out incrementally- the lack of story- the lack of detail- the lack productive dialog- the un-relatable situations without explanation or reason.I have never seen anything this bad attempt to be a movie or art.*Spoiler alert* The synopsis has NOTHING to do with this film- none of those purported events could be interpreted by anyone who has not read the synopsis- the soundtrack was 'masterfully' accomplished by placing a mic on the road and various machinery, there was no score-The only positive commenter shares the same first name as the director, a coincidence or shameless self promoter with a not so clever pseudonym?