Neverwas: part real, part imaginary

Neverwas is a movie that was produced, filmed and completed but not released to theaters (you can find it on DVD).  It's one of the best movies I've ever seen and reminds me somewhat of "The Secret Garden."  Almost halfway into the movie I thought it was mostly about mental illness and there would be a psychological turnabout.  Not so.  The movie ended well and the ending was believable, but by then you liked the characters enough not to care about believability anyway.

This is a movie for people who are open to the unexplainable elements in life and can suspend judgment long enough to appreciate what they're seeing.  The cinematography with light playing around the actors is by Michael Grady and is luscious.  The acting is excellent.  The music is by Phillip Glass.  But mostly the story and its telling take the day -- the film is written and directed by Joshua Michael Stern (I cannot find a bio of him!).

Here is a quote from a review I found at Amazon by Grady Harp:

NEVERWAS, a little miracle of a movie written and directed by Joshua Michael Stern, is an allegory, a fairytale, a dissection of the impact of mental illness on parents and children, and story of compassion, believing, and blossoming of character that was created with a sterling ensemble of actors in 2005, failed to find a niche in theatrical distribution, and went straight to DVD - becoming one of those limited release films that is very elusive even in the megavideo stores. The reasons for this relative anonymity are not clear, but film lovers will do well searching out this little gem: the rewards are immediate gratification and long lasting satisfaction....

 And here is the trailer:

As for me, I'm still working on the 3rd video in Virtual World Tours.  This time we'll be visiting Second Life.

-- Marge