axapvov
I think I'm gonna join the mumblecore hating club. It really is only good for those who make it, watching it is too often a vain effort. This one is the worst I've suffered, not much more than an uninspired home video without a script: the ultimate waste of time. Random events and improvised dialogues, redundant and irrelevant, a bunch of friends playing to be actors. If a line or two might be interesting, it's by pure chance. Character decisions are pointless, now I like you now I don't, they could be doing just about anything else and it wouldn't matter. I can't believe I watched the whole thing. I remember a time when low budget films weren't necessarily an endless self-absorbed rambling and characters would actually do things, go places.
thesar-2
I admit I am not a Woody Allen fan, and I'm sure I'm not the only one out there that feels that way. But his movies have been consistently made for decades. Obviously someone has a thing for him to continuously produce and distribute his versions of comedy and life. So be it. Unfortunately, it's happening again with this group of self-proclaimed, non-actor nobodies, Mark Duplass, Joe Swanberg, etc. How anyone continues to release their "thoughts, ideas and everyday life shots" is beyond me. But, I guess, to each his/her own. I've now seen three of them: 'Baghead' seems to be the best of the bunch. Then the soft-porn excuse: 'Kissing on the Mouth.' And now, 'Hannah Takes the Stairs,' the worst of the three. That's saying a lot, considering 'Kissing' wasn't any good either. But, here we have even less acting, less plot, more face-close ups and more unintentionally hilarious scenes (both appear in the closing, yet another break up where the actors themselves seem to have a hard time from cracking up, it was so unreal. And a naked bath/trumpet scene – really?) Once again in these so-called "Mumblecore" films finds reasons to take women's clothes off for full-frontal nudity (along with the occasional full-frontal male shot, I guess for good measure/balance) and film EVERYTHING in sight. What makes me laugh in these movies is the extras – where they actually have deleted scenes. Seriously? Something was left out? The basic, and I mean they (no joke) had no script, synopsis is a terrible person (Hannah) who "doesn't know" herself/path (you'll hear that a lot) so she uses men and crushes them to "find" herself. Unfortunately, the actors' desire to "not act" in these films pays off and you get no emotion or creditability when she consistently breaks up with men. Advice: Show/Don't Tell.
napierslogs
"Hannah Takes the Stairs" is a really low-budget, independent film. Congrats to the filmmakers for getting it made and out there for anyone to see.They started out with a great simple boy and girl storyline which fit their means perfectly. They respected the audience by making all of the plot points quickly, and effectively moving through all the scenes. However, they did not seem to show this same respect for the main character Hannah. She was self-absorbed, irritating and completely unrelatable. By the end of the movie (if you make it that far) you just don't care if Hannah finds what she's looking for or not.Should you see this movie? Probably not. But I do believe that all independent films deserve our support. Here's hoping their next effort is better.
doug1967_1
What's the cheapest way to make a movie? Have two actors in a room talk to each other. That seems to be the case with "Hannah Takes the Stairs", an ultra-low budget film making the rounds in the art house theatres.The film is rather claustrophobic since most of the action takes place in just a few rooms, with what appears to be the occasional "stolen shot" outside. I say stolen because filming permits in a big city are rather expensive and the outdoor set ups have a "quick, get the shot and get out before the cops see us" feel to them (these shots only run a few seconds, which is the main indication).The characters talk about their lives and work, talk some more, have sex, talk some more, talk, talk, etc. The occasional nude scene keeps the audience awake, but with no real story to propel the film along I found it to be quite a snoozer.Not too surprisingly, all dialog was improvised—-and it shows. Scenes ramble on for quite some time and even though the film is less than an hour-and-a-half, it seems quite longer.Filmmakers, please write a script and actually have a plot. Without it, the most attractive actors and locations in the world aren't worth much if you can't keep your audience interested.
AD
