User reviews

On one hand, a local guy came back to Portland and made a feature film set in the city I live in and love; he made it on a low budget, wrote it and directed it himself, got it made and *released*! (And Portland looks gorgeous in the film.) This is an impressive achievement any filmmaker should be commended for. Many aspiring filmmakers never get their film finished let alone released.

On the other hand, the film is woefully lacking in basics like character development and an interesting story. Many plot points simply don't ring true or seem plausible; even character interactions seem forced and a bit scripted, giving the audience precious little to relate to or care about in these people; we're almost *begging* for something to latch on to as we watch the film, but there's almost nothing. The dialog is usually wooden and forgettable, and it's hard to see how it advances the story much or helps us understand the relationship between the characters (or makes us laugh). And there's rarely any tension between characters (hint: *conflict* in movies is interesting!).

I get that it wasn't supposed to be a thriller but it isn't effective as a "relationship film" either. Too much "reading between the lines" and "willing suspension of disbelief" is required. "Cold Weather" kind of plods along to an unexpected conclusion, making us wonder what kind of movie it *could* have been. Unfortunately, it compares poorly to similar films made on a low budget by young directors.

This is an interesting indie film by auteur Aaron Katz. I had not seen any of his previous work but had heard the film was well received at SXSW in 2010. Similarly, I had seen a review that compared it to the film Brick (2005) that I had enjoyed immensely.

Plot wise the film introduces us to a forensic science college dropout Doug who idolizes Sherlock Holmes and his Slacker sister Gail as they move into an apartment together in Portland Oregon. Doug lays about and searches for some direction in life, eventually finding a menial night job at an ice factory. We are then introduced to one of Doug's co-workers Carlos and Doug's ex-girlfriend Rachel who is in town for business. The four start hanging out together, playing cards and board games, drinking coffee, going to clubs and enjoying each other's company. Rachel's sudden mysterious disappearance from her hotel room spurs the other friends to action and ignites Doug's inner Sherlock Holmes.

This film is considered by many critics to be part of the mumblecore movement. As such it has lots of long shots, a slowly evolving plot and realistic dialogue between lots of slackers. In some respects this film is more about the brother sister relationship between Doug and Gail than it is about the mystery of Rachel's disappearance. It has an arty independent feel to it and it was obviously shot on a low budget. Cold Weather is certainly not going to be for everyone's taste, especially the abrupt ending. However, I really liked its quirkiness and indie feel probably because I've got thing for overly educated layabouts.

Since this is available on Netflix instant streaming I would suggest you give it a viewing. That is if you enjoy small independent films with a grungy vibe. I found it inspiring that the writer/director was able to get this made, I plan on checking out some of his previous films. O and I think I would like to take a trip up to check out Portland Oregon it looks amazing.

This movie really makes it. It grips you to the characters and especially to the story, nevertheless the end is unsatisfying... and I literally mean unsatisfying. The story is gut, the character feel so real, and the movie itself is filled with fantastic suspense and many laughing moments This film is like a detective story. First we are introduced to Doug, a drop out of high school with studies in forensic science.He is a fan of Detective stories and especially of Sherlock Holmes. He gots a job in an ice factory and there he meets Carlos. Doug borrows Carlos a Sherlock Holmes book and he also starts to like detective stories. One day Doug's ex-girlfriend visits Oregon and Carlos goes out with her. She suddenly disappears and Carlos. Becomes worried about her. Both, Doug and Carlos get int the adventure of finding her.

I saw the film in the Filmfest of Munich and after the film was over, the audience had the chance to make questions to the director. Mr. Aaron Katz told us that he wanted to write a story that dealed about the brother and sister relations, which according to him wasn't a very used theme and that most of the times that this theme was used were stories of rivalry. If there is something that you will like about the movie is the scenes of Doug with her sister. Doug uses her car, makes her steal a book from the library, asks her to drive him to every he wants, etc. He also added that the end was like that because he wanted to deliver the message that everything was solved and that the characters would continue their lives.

I recommend the film, even though the ending is not what many people would like, this film rocks. This is the type of film sticks you the feeling of: "I wanna know more, I WANNA KNOW MORE!"

I've always been a fan of low-budget films. They always seem to do so much more with so much less. But the problem is that the acting is often bad, or the lighting, or some other technical aspect that fails due to the low budget.

But such is not the case with Cold Weather. It succeeds on all accounts, while still managing to be a fun, stimulating, and entertaining film. It tells a great story and is a pleasure to watch. It's not for everyone, though, and the typical indie-haters should steer clear of this one. But if you enjoy a good story and a fun movie, check this one out!

Cold Weather (2012)

Indie films with their low budgets can turn a couple of basic directions to distinguish themselves. One is sheer inventiveness or surprise. The other is low key realism making ordinary people seem relatable, and that is where this movie goes. There are dozens of these, often with young casts appealing to the twenty-something generation somewhere between college and career.

So we have a young man, Doug, living with his sister in Portland just as he finds a job in an ice factory. And then his ex-girlfriend arrives in town on business, and they see each other as old friends. The fourth character is a co-worker at the factory who befriends Doug and falls for the ex-girlfriend. And we see the basis of a relationship drama, not quite a romantic movie but not a serious probing drama, either.

But then the movie turns abruptly, and the comic aspects get interwoven with an apparent crime that these amateur Sherlocks can't quite get their finger on. But their efforts make a great game. It's super low key, and any other movie would hype up the facts with guns and scary soundtrack music and real (or cheesy) fear. Not this kind of Indie film. This is about the people, and the "crime" they are pursuing is a just way to learn more about the protagonists.

Which is pretty fun. The acting holds together pretty well, regular people being regular people without affectation. Easier said than done, but also leaving the audience less to really work with or care about than you'd prefer. By the very end, the last few moments, there is a final realization that's rather sweet and rewarding, and the movie turns back to what it's best at.

See it? If you have an open mind for lower budget but reasonably well made modest movies (known as Indie films), you might just find this one clicks. Within its limitations.

Be prepared to exert a LOT of patience if you're going to make it through this film.

For the first 45 minutes, I really did wonder why on earth I was watching it. A brother, sister, the brother's ex-girlfriend and his best friend sit around various locations not talking or doing anything. Seriously. I understand that a film need not be packed with action in order to be engaging, but the number one rule of character studies is that the characters must be interesting for the film to be. Not so here.

And the characters never really do become interesting, but the film does, after a mystery involving the ex-girlfriend's disappearance begins to unravel. The final twenty minutes or so, devoted exclusively to the brother and sister, and especially the film's final scene, make the viewer realize that the whole movie has really been about the brother and sister all along, and only makes one wish that it had delivered more sooner.

In general this is a film I would recommend, but with the qualification that its engaging second half doesn't completely make up for the tediousness of its first.

Grade: B

I was excited for this movie because I live in Portland, OR. While the scenery is beautiful, this is the only thing good about this movie. I didn't expect great acting because of the low budget, but I was hoping for something of a coherent story. I didn't receive this. The only tension and excitement I felt while watching this came three minutes before the movie ended, and went nowhere. It is almost as if the writer had the script half finished and got bored of writing, so he just went with what he had. None of the characters or reactions are believable.

This is probably the worst movie I have seen all year, and I watch a lot of movies.

'COLD WEATHER': Four Stars (Out of Five)

Director Aaron Katz, who was born in Portland, OR, returned to his hometown to film this mystery / drama / Mumblecore film. Mumblecore is a term used to describe a genre of indie film, that began about a decade ago, that features non-professional actors (usually in their twenties) in extremely low budget productions about relationships with dialogue heavy improvised scripts. Katz's previous feature films ('DANCE PARTY USA' and 'QUIET CITY') were both critically acclaimed Mumblecore films. This one tells the story of a man who moves back to Portland, and into an apartment with his sister, and becomes obsessed with finding out what happened to his ex-girlfriend when she goes missing. It stars Cris Lankenau (who's only other acting credit is Katz's 'QUIET CITY'), Trieste Kelly Dunn, Paul Castillo and Robyn Rikoon. The film is a great example of how much you can do with very little.

Lankenau stars as Doug, a former forensic science student, who drops out of school in Chicago and moves back home to Portland, and in with his sister Gail (Dunn). He gets a job at an ice factory and befriends a co-worker named Carlos (Castillo) who's also a part time DJ. His ex-girlfriend, Rachel (Rikoon), follows him into town on a supposed visit and then goes missing. Doug is a big 'Sherlock Holmes' fan and finally gets a chance to put his fascination and education to the test. He enlists the help of both Carlos and Gail in discovering Rachel's whereabouts. This gives him more of a chance to bond with his estranged sister.

The movie is extremely and very deliberately slow-paced. It's very aimless at times and features several dialogue scenes that do very little to advance the development of the characters and absolutely nothing to propel the story line. It takes a good 37 minutes (of an hour and 37 minute movie) to get to the film's plot. This didn't bother me. While it wasn't exciting or involving it also wasn't boring. Watching this film is no less interesting or entertaining than hanging out with a group of friends, really. When something does finally happen it's worth the wait too. There's no action or sex or anything really fascinating, when you think about it, but it's entertaining all the same. That's thanks in large part to Katz's directing, an extraordinary and memorable score (by Keegan DeWitt, who also worked on Katz's other films) and some great performances. Three of the four leads were all good screen presences I thought. I didn't care much for Rikoon, she did have the smallest part but even when she was on screen she wasn't very interesting. Dunn is beautiful and should have no problem continuing to find film offers, Castillo was very natural and likable and Lankenau was especially good in my opinion. He reminded me a lot of Ryan Reynolds in the way he talked and sounded. He should have no problem finding more work as well. The film is especially impressive when you think about the emotions and interests it provokes by doing almost nothing. I couldn't find a listing of the budget to this film but Katz's previous two films both reportedly cost between 2 and 3 thousand dollars. I can't imagine this one costing much more. All in all I thought the movie was pretty interesting and entertaining. It's sure to bore some while highly amusing others.

Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4CvTM3jrK4

Both written and Directed by Aaron Katz (Dance Party USA, Quiet City) Cold Weather tells the story of an underachieving forensics graduate, Doug (Cris Lankenau), who upon moving in with his sister, Gail (Trieste Kelly Dunn), quickly finds himself thrust into a real life who-done-it when his ex-girlfriend suddenly vanishes. Being an admittedly big fan of Sherlock Holmes, Doug, along with his his sister and his new bestie, Carlos (Raul Castillo), set out to play real life detectives in a case that just might be a little over their heads.

The film is described as a thriller, which I though I was going to see. To be honest, the film wasn't that thrilling at all, at least when compared to good thrillers. I mean, it's no Polanski. My first impression upon leaving my seat was actually that of disappointment. It wasn't until I was on the bus heading home when it suddenly hit me.

The point of the movie had little to do with the thriller aspects and everything to do with the brother and sister relationship. It's like one of those 3-D puzzles that were popular in the mid-90's. You know, the ones where in order to see the complete picture you had to let your eyes relax, otherwise all you would see would be squiggly lines and repetitive shapes.

Here the squiggly lines were clearly the missing girlfriend subplot masquerading itself as the film's main design. The full picture however, was Aaron Katz's beautiful portrait of one sibling's bond at a particular moment in time.

I recommend this film to anyone who likes to laugh just as much, if not more than they liked to be thrilled, or just simply anyone who has a lot of love their sibling

It took me a while to like this film, a long while, so much so I nearly gave up as the promised story from the one paragraph outline that MUBI sent mentions a brother and sister duo investigating what may or may not be a crime. In the end I did like it - just, and then suddenly it was over... when the standard Hollywood film would have revealed the payoff.

The film starts out as a slice of mundane life of a young man unsure of what he wants out of life, we get to meet his sister, his parents, and then a co-worker all set in a dreary cold city. At about half way through the story finally engages with the arrival of an ex girlfriend who then disappears. Slowly the protagonist is finally convinced that something isn't right by the co-worker who was getting friendly with the ex-girlfriend, and about the last third of the film is the solving of the mystery surrounding the ex-girlfriend.

I thought the performances were realistic, the mundanity was completely believable, and also bored me, because it was so true to life.

Well shot, so that you are barely aware of the camera, which adds to the slice of life style.

This film was described by Spin Magazine (in a 3-and-a-half star review) as a mystery that takes its time. I'm all for that. But did it have to take SO MUCH time to resolve a mystery that was UNINVOLVING and BORING? Just another bunch of aimless 30-somethings in the damp upper Northwest who apparently never shave or wash their hair, mumbling their way through life and never doing anything even remotely interesting. Believe me, I've sat through plenty of quirky indie films with little complaint, but I was literally shouting at my TV screen when this DVD ended. An hour and forty minutes of my life utterly wasted. I will avoid this talentless filmmaker like the plague for the rest of my days. SKIP THIS MOVIE!!!!!

Cold Weather is an American mystery drama written and directed by Adam Katz, with Ben Stambler and Brendan McFadden co-writing and producing.

The film is set in Portland, Oregon where the piece is set with additional scenes shot at Cannon Beach, Oregon.

Beginning with an introduction to the main protagonists, Doug (Cris Lankenau), a forensic science dropout and his sister Gail (Trieste Kelly Dunn)with whom he has recently taken up residence with.

Doug soon begins work at an ice factory, working the night shift where he meets Carlos (Raul Castillo), a part time DJ of rare 60's tunes and avid Star Trek fan, a peculiar dichotomy granted, but why not?

A friendship ensues, with a little help from Sherlock Holmes novels that Doug turns Carlos on to, and then we meet Dougs ex girlfriend Rachel (Robin Rykoon), who is in town on business. The aforementioned group proceed to hang out, play cards and share milkshakes.

Then the film takes a left turn, switching from what I assumed was to be a fairly pedestrian Indie flick about life, relationships, aspiration etc into a odd little mystery movie.

What makes this film interesting is the subtle way in which the plot develops, as well as really good acting from all involved that is at all times sincere and believable. The slightly unorthodox story line, as well as precise, well crafted dialogue affords the film some comedic moments, too. The tone of the flick is quite characteristic of Indie films, with long shots and mood enhancing settings and scenes.

I really enjoyed this film, in large part due to it's great writing and sublime performances. The plot almost takes a back seat to the characters and their nuances. In fact the film as a whole feels like it's more about two siblings bonding than it's story arc.

Solid production values see this film at a thoroughly decent 96 mins worth of viewing.

How did this film EVER make it to theaters. Sophomoric, self-indulgent, and simply silly do not begin to describe it. A ten year old must have written the script. Well the ten year old had then another ten year old to do the filming and editing. Some nice scenes of Portland and surrounding areas; lots of head shots of people driving (Hmm must have watched Wallender on PBS) – well those are the best parts of the film, but WHERE is the obligatory shot of Mt Hood? . We get to the point 40 minutes into the film after what presumably passes for character development and relationship building. WOW –a scruffy underachiever continues to underachieve. He meets another underachiever who – WOW, this guy, gets turned on by a Sherlock Holmes book and.... The "twists and turns" of the plot from there on defy belief – so many co-incidences. But, then in the world of the ten year old, these happen. Every single patron in the theater would have demanded their money back if that were possible. This film must have been made by 8th graders for a class project–actually, that is kinder than the film deserves. As an audience we were laughing and comparing and commiserating with each other for staying to the ...well I guess end?

This movie was fantastic. Others have commented that it was slow, it was boring. Yes, to begin with it was slow, but never boring. I really liked the slow pace where scenes would last for what seemed like minutes and you got to observe the various emotions playing over the characters' features, plus the outside panning shots showed some pretty interesting scenery. What a contrast to many films that go at such a pace one has difficulty catching one's breath.

The actors, all of them, were totally excellent, especially the lead character, Doug. His life seemed to be destined to one continuous drudgery, and then up pops a mystery that reawakens his forensic skills.

And then the second half of the movie starts, almost without one realising it and suddenly we are thrust into a cat-and-mouse situation, which is one of the best I've ever watched. I've only two gripes: why did they not stop as soon as convenient and screw the plate back on, so as not to attract attention from the law? And second, it was a shame in a way that the movie finished so abruptly. But in hindsight, it was all done and dusted by then and we knew that our heroes had all won, so at that point there isn't really anything much else the director could have done except switch off the camera. There are plenty of loose ends, anyway, for one to ponder on what came next.

Marvellous!

First off..NOT A MYSTERY..I almost never post a review on here but I feel like I'd be doing a disservice to fellow movie watchers alike if I let them see this junk without fair warning as to what they were about to embark on...ITS SLOW BORING. AND to those who claim its a beautiful portrayal of the brother sister relationship? Hmmm I can think of ...ohhh...about 20 billion other portrayals far better for critical and entertainment purposes. Save your 96 minutes and watch ANYTHING ELSE!! It tries to be artsy and indie and also makes feeble attempts at quirkiness and humor but all efforts fail miserably...when it ends you will be left wondering where the money u spent to watch it went. Nothing but disappointment and head scratching will happen and not in a deeper meaning higher thinking kind of way...just plain nothingness

Very slow, boring movie. Not well written at all. There were two saving graces for the movie. One that it finally picked up about the middle of the movie. Secondly, the acting was fairly good. But taking about lack of creativity. This writer must have never written anything before. I don't mean to sound so critical but I agree with another poster here. It was one of the worst movies I've seen. What surprised me most about the movie is that it was not rated, which I thought mean decent. It wasn't a decent movie that a family could watch. There were at least 6 F words and lots of other profanity. There were frontal shots of women stripped to the waste. That may be OK for the bulk of the population but it wasn't what I expected for a non rated movie. Do not waste your time on this slow, boring, poorly written movie.

"Cold Weather" wasn't just written and directed by Aaron Katz but edited by him as well and while it does give off that 'labour of love' vibe, it also feels more than a little self-indulgent, too. Katz is a very 'indie' filmmaker who uses actors we don't know, (hence they feel like 'real' people), in good, off-the-beaten-track locations, keeping his plots reasonably thin. So far, so interesting. Unfortunately, he isn't much good at writing dialogue and his 'unknown' actors aren't strong enough to deliver it and make it...well, interesting. In fact, you might go so far as to say "Cold Weather" is a boring film about boring people leading boring lives.

However, a few things go some way, if not quite to redeeming the film, then at least to giving it a little lift. There's always the hang-dog face of leading actor Chris Lankenau who looks perpetually spaced-out, I wouldn't go so far as to call what he does 'acting' but at least he does look like a real slacker. Then there's his excellent use of those locations and finally there is something resembling 'a plot'. Katz obviously felt he was making a kind of indie neo-noir about a disappearing girl and a couple of amateur detectives. It doesn't really go anywhere but it just about holds our attention before the film evaporates before our eyes, which is a pity as I have a feeling Katz might have talent; maybe he just needs someone else to write his scripts.

We just got home. Never has a film produced such anger inside me as this awful movie. I refuse to go into the details, only to say if you ignore my review and go see it, you deserve the pain you are going to endure. Possibly the the worst script, acting, plot and certainly the ending, (if you want to call it that), I've ever seen. On more than one occasion, I had to control myself, as I wanted to yell at the obscenities screen. I have sat through some bad films in my life, and have to say this is the worst. The main character is so dis-likable that I was hoping he would be killed off in the first 15 minutes. Spare yourself. DON'T GO!

If you enjoy watching a series of long, protracted establishing shots with very little story then this is the film for you. For the first forty minutes it's as if the director waltzed away from the camera and forgot to yell cut, as the same screen image continues into a oblivion. These drawn out shots happen frequently during the film and it is about as entertaining as staring at a wall for five minutes.

Eventually, a mystery presents itself when the main character's ex-girlfriend disappears. There is one specific series of clues he follows involving a set of numbers. At first glance it appears to be a clever twist but, on reflection it is such an obscure reference and does not relate to any of the personality traits of the characters.

The rest of the amateur detective work is rather pedestrian, there are really no surprises. The acting here isn't bad, it's just the script which doesn't contain any surprises or twists.

The mystery portion ends fairly abruptly and by that time if you're not fast asleep you will be wondering why you ended up watching this film. There are some nice establishing shots, of waterfalls Oregon scenery but, otherwise an utter bore. How the critics gave this good reviews I will never know. Perhaps they all fell asleep as well and dreamed they saw a good film.

They put all the work into the trailer and not the movie. There were only 5 minutes of anything interesting (dialog or action) happening.

Bad dialog, Bad acting, Bad, bad bad...

Nothing realistic or interesting at all.

Bad film school techniques. Trying too hard to be quirky that it was painful to watch. No consistency in filming techniques or obvious logic in why the bad mix of "jittery cam" dolly and fixed shots.

3 of us debated whether to leave the film several times during the film. We should have and saved ourselves the time and would have had much more interesting dialog ourselves sitting in the lobby.