Mancattan

Was hooked immediately when I saw the trailer on youtube. Apparently now the whole film online on dailymotion. And boy...thank God else I don't think I would be able to see it via the DVD route.

An film lecturer turned aspiring filmmaker, a camera guy - both suffering 'quarter life crisis'. Phil is in love but in true woody allen-ish manner can't say it to the girl - or doesn't say it because she is with someone else. There are relationship problems between Colin and his girlfriend. Frustrations - love - monologues- manchester - DV camera - beer- Tea- talking to camera - meta filmy- meta life - meta cinema- intellect- emotions - quotes - trivia - geeks.... everything allen embodies and yet this film is unique. Has its own voice. Many nods to famous scenes from Annie Hall & Manhattan

And to think that they made it completely DIY. Hats off to the effort. Had lots of fun watching it. It doesn't bore you or preach. Pretty good performances from Phil, Colin & the rest. Highly recommended.

Short and sweet yes, but a review non the less. I LOVED this film, I loved the art imitating life imitating art feel to it; the wonderful homage to Woody Allen - clever, witty and very enjoyable n its own. The sheer blood, sweat and tears it took to make it. The ADVENTURE of going to America, to Manhattan and the home of those fab films was just a wonderfully sublime idea.

A film shot for £500 at the start of their careers? What an absolutely brilliant corner stone to build upon, ambitious and brilliant in its lo-tech approach - an approach that works perfectly for the film. And wonderful to see the films revenue donated to charity, an admirable action on behalf of the makers who show their love of film making for art's sake by doing that - not to say that every project they create should be this way, we have to feed ourselves.

'Better films than ours have been made on less money... And worse films than ours have been made on more money.' Says Colin Warhurst - I'd agree but that is no slight against the lovely MANCATTAN, the first steps...an by the age of 27 these guys had a feature film to their name, YES!

From such little acorns mighty oaks grow.

The whole thing works for me, fab idea, fab execution of idea, fab nil budget, FAB FILM...Joe O'Byrne 5 Stars...*****

Hello. First of all, my name is Colin Warhurst; yes, the same one from the film. This 'review' may not be the best place to write this, but I see no other way of trying to add balance on IMDb to a rather hurtful and anonymous 'review' which has been on here for many years.

Of course folks are entitled to an opinion, and 'iamchob' is certainly passionate in his. However, I have reason to believe that person may know us 'in real life' and as such has a vendetta against the film, and the Independent Film Scene happening in the North West around the time 2007-2010. I could be totally wrong about this, and don't wish to appear as a conspiracy theorist, but the tone is rather vitriolic and there a few hints in the text which makes me suspect this is the case.

Regardless of this, there are also some really crude and offensive remarks in the review which poke fun at various mental illnesses, and suicide; all of which are totally uncalled for in any public forum.

There are just enough references to technical film qualities that 'iamchob' alludes to in order to convince the reader that his diatribe still looks like a review. But I don't believe it is, I think regardless of his opinions of us or the film, his writing is just plain offensive and meant as an attack; it is not a piece of criticism, constructive or otherwise.

But to answer his apparent 'critiques' and provide some balance (and of course I am biased; I made the film!) Mancattan never, ever, claimed to be anything but an indie short. We shot the film for about about £500, just to see if we could 'have a go' at the very START of our careers. Inevitably, Mancattan was always going to be very rough around around the edges.

The tone of 'iamchob' and his 'review' seems like that of an angry cinema-goer, who was promised and sold a ticket to a something he wasn't expecting. I don't know how to answer that assumption, because it would be a false one; the film was distributed for free online, and from the very beginning, advertised itself as 'Low budget, independent, British Film.' We never wanted to even try to make money from it; rather, we wanted people to see our work however they could, and that is why we chose a free online distribution platform. We even donated the film's advertising revenue entirely to charity.

The question that each viewer will have to answer for themselves, is whether Mancattan should be judged harshly because it does not match up to a 'real film' in terms of it's budget and appearance, or if it should be given extra appreciation precisely because the film was completed despite it's financial limitations. I suspect the answer is somewhere in the middle of these two extremes.

Better films than ours have been made on less money... And worse films than ours have been made on more money.

All I know is that we got the film made. We spanned two continents to do so. We spent two years working on it, had it shown at two festivals and released it online where it received over 20,000 hits. It meant by the time I was 27, I had a feature film to my name.

It also means we've apparently upset a few anonymous people who obviously don't like independent low/no budget film. For this, we can't (and won't) apologise.

The film is still online for free viewing, and for any of you who had seen it, or may do so in the future, I would encourage you to form your own opinions, and to be wary of vitriolic anonymous reviews. If you like, or dislike, the film then please do share your views, opinions and criticisms; but doing so in a constructive way is better for everyone.

Finally, I'd encourage anyone thinking about making their own features,(DIY, independent, funded or otherwise) to do so and not be put off by reviews, nay-sayers or anyone in the industry who tells you to stop. If you feel the urge, then you must create, and the fates will fall where they may.

All the best, I hope you give the film a chance and enjoy it if you do. Many thanks to the 20,000 people who have watched (and enjoyed?) it so far.

Colin Warhurst

I saw Mancattan at the Salford Film Fest; and, just like the rest of the audience, I really enjoyed it. It's not only been made on no budget at all, but also with hardly any crew. But the main thing about it is that it's deceptively clever. It's full of references to Woody Allen, and Phil Drinkwater delivers lines full of flurries of 'Woody-isms' whilst still being a real character - a film studies tutor teaching a 'Rom-Com' module who's tongue-twistedly in love with a someone else's girlfriend - and to desperately shy to do anything about it. Meanwhile his best mate Colin's become a bit moody and depressed about his own life. Trapped in dead-end job that he's over-qualified for, tied down by a relationship, Colin just plain needs to get away and take serious stock of his life. So they both head off on a short break to New York with the idea of making a bit of a documentary about Woody Allen's take on the city - but, as it turns out, when it comes to this 'film within a film' they haven't got a clue. Warhurst and Drinkwater are making a subtle but serious point here about how the aim of so many British filmmakers is to end up working in America making American films. They, though, go home. Let's face it, if you're British you can't strip American movies from your consciousness, but you can recognise the similarities and differences - I too was struck by the similarities between the two great cities when I went to New York - and use them in an attempt to forge a new aesthetic. To their credit they bring this off. OK, so a film like this could benefit from a Woody-sized budget and some crisper editing. But the UK is almost totally dominated by Hollywood and London. No-budget is pretty much all you've got otherwise. So look at Mancattan as a piece of real, inventive, indie-film-making and you'll see something miles better than any piece of mumblecore.

This film was apparently made with very little to no budget, and it shows. From the laughable opening shot it is clear the team behind Mancattan are not so much stifled by a lack of funding but by a general lack of ability.

One of the fundamental ideals behind SIAB studios' production methods has always been 'breaking the mould' (according to their numerous self- evaluative press releases and rambling blogs) and this film really sets out to prove that. Firstly, the classic Hollywood 'mould' of using trained and believable actors has been well and truly smashed in, the producers deciding to cast themselves in the main roles in what can only be described as the worst casting decision since Rosie O'Donnell played Betty Rubble.

Colin plays his entire role in the guise of someone reading their lines verbatim on a large sheet of paper two metres from their current 'acting' position. He seems to have somehow become even more bored with his film than his audience, which is quite an accolade in itself. The only reason it may be hard to criticise his performance is that many parts are often missed through periods of deep sleep.

Colin however is not the worst actor in the film. I fact if everyone but the two main actors happens to be killed in some horrific, large- scale natural disaster Colin will by default become the greatest actor in the world. Meet Phil Drinkwater. I honestly thought there was something mentally wrong with the actor until it is revealed (through direct mention in the script only) that he is doing an impression of Woody Allen. I can only imagine that Phil has never actually seen Woody Allen act, only having heard about his mannerisms in some sort of Chinese Whispers style storytelling from person-to-person where the tale eventually becomes so distorted that it materialises way down the line in the form of a gibbering, stammering imbecile waffling his way through the worst script ever written.

Which brings us nicely on to the script. It's hard to tell at times whether the script was written beforehand or is simply being devised 'live'. The producers advertised the story as reflecting the trials and tribulations of John Everyman. I can only assume that Colin and Phil do not live in the same universe as me. If the story was actually good (it isn't) or even original (it definitely isn't) it would still struggle to have any discernible impact on the audience. The main problem is that most of the characters are just generic off-the-shelf nobodies that are usually found drinking at the student bar in Hollyoaks. There's about as much depth to them as any one of the number of faces you find on a Guess Who board. In fact it might have been a better and more subversive film if the key actors had been replaced with life-size cut outs throughout the entire film.

The reason most people tackle any kind of film is to tell a story they hope will in some way educate, inform and entertain it's audience. Mancattan rarely does any of these. It educated me on how not to make a film and informed me on how not to make a film. You could argue that the film makers have the right to make the film they want to but when it's as bad as this you just have to wonder why anyone bothered in the first place. It's the equivalent of allowing Stephen Hawkings to play football, a bad idea.

The random compositional choices the director makes (or more likely doesn't make) mean you spend most of the film wondering if the camera operator is a midget with Parkinsons. Surely even a rookie film maker understands that choice of shot and mis-en-scene can go a long way when working on such a low budget. Clearly not. Where some film makers might use a 20 minute window to grab a bit of extra coverage the Siabs team appear to have shot entire scenes in theirs. If you enjoy your films shot by a hobbit then Mancattan is the film for you.

On the whole Mancattan is simply an irritating film. The ethos is to do the best with what you've got but I'd argue that if the best you've got is this you might as well retire to the Cotswolds and cut yourself.