Greetings and Salutations everyone. For my first movie review I decided to go with a critique I wrote for my favorite film The Wizard of Speed and Time. This is the same review I posted on Yahoo movies entitled, 5 years in the making, 5 days in the theaters, 5 stars!


There is a fine line between what I consider is the best movie ever made, and what is my favorite movie ever made. Wizard of Speed and Time I cannot say is the best movie ever, but to me, it is by far my favorite movie of all time. The story may not be Oscar worthy, the acting good but not great, but the effects, though considered out dated, still are amazing and rival the best of effects Hollywood can muster today. And is a hidden gem in cinema where the heart put into making this movie goes beyond anything I've ever seen before.

The story follows Mike Jittlov, (The Writer, Director and Star of the movie) as a struggling effects man trying to make his way in Hollywood, finally getting his break when he is hired by the Hollywood studio's to make a short effects real for a televised special on Hollywood's greatest effects, but when the programs director and producer make a bet on whether if Mike can make anything the studio can use for the show, the Producer goes out of his way to stop Mike and prevent him from completing his film in order to win the $25,000 dollar bet.

Mike Jittlov is truly a genius and pioneer in Hollywood special effects and animation. A master of stop motion, both with toys and models and live action stop motion, (Which he uses to do his Wizard film) He is an unsung hero, who for a short while had his work displayed on the Disney channel, including an animation piece used for Mickey Mouse's 50th birthday special. It is unfortunate that because he's not a member of any union and is constantly fighting the system, has become a forgotten page in cinema history.

I have been a fan of television and movies for as long as I can remember, but this movie inspired me to eventually move down to southern California and attend film school. This movie is a perfect family film that will entertain audiences young and old alike. And as I was motivated by this film to get into film making, (still an amateur film maker trying to make it into the business unfortunately) This film, if you can find a copy of it will inspire young film enthusiast for generations to come.

It does make me sad that Mike Jittlov went into an early retirement and left film making due to his ordeals with the Hollywood system, but his film shorts, and full length motion picture the Wizard of Speed and Time are absolutely wonderful. Are there better movies out there, sure, but I don't consider this movie the most perfect film ever made, it is the perfect film for me. And I encourage everyone, if you can find a copy of it, (Unfortunately it never got a DVD release) to view this wonderful yet mostly unknown film about the little guy.

Final Grade: A

The Trailer can be viewed here:
]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSB6ZRC-dyQ