Elephant

A few years ago I heard of an indy film that got rave reviews and was renown in the indy community. After I got the chance to watch it, I can see why. Not because it's a good movie, but because it's full of that stuff that amateur film makers love: long, drawn-out camera moves that turn 20 minutes of script into a feature film. I was so disappointed by the endless following sequences, when you stared at the back of someone's head for five minutes as they walk across a field, or a hall, or a room.

The closest thing I could gather to a reason why this movie gained such attention was the touching subject it covers (although you don't realize it until you're ready to turn it off, and even then it doesn't come into play until the last 30 minutes). The rest is just filler, setting the scene for what's going to happen. In retrospect, you can gather some meaning from the plotless scenes, but the meaning is so lost to the casual observer (or even not-so-casual) that it loses my vote as a worthwhile use of time.