Indie Film Podcast Review: Nuclear Cookie

One man's good fortune is profoundly affected by another man's misfortune.

Written by Chuck Norton.

Nuclear Cookie: The Indie Film Podcast Review

Ed Wood, the famously inept 1950’s Hollywood director, was not afraid to use stock footage in his films. In fact, in his cult classic, Plan 9 from Outer Space, he shoehorned unrelated footage of Bela Lugosi into the film in order to posthumously give him an acting credit. Well done, Ed!  Not to be outdone, producer, writer, director, and (yes, AND) actor, Peter Rios, leans heavily on stock footage, b-roll, and a stock sound effects library in the 21 and a half minute short film, Nuclear Cookie.

“Why, if I had half the chance, I could make an entire movie using this stock footage!” - Ed Wood (1994)

In the film, we watch the fluctuating luck of an unnamed protagonist. After a lonely dinner highlighted by various b-roll, stock footage, and what I think might be hidden camera video, the protagonist opens a fortune cookie that foreshadows a windfall. On the way to buy a lottery ticket, he ignores the message from the second fortune cookie, which predicts mayhem. The mayhem was foreshadowed by Peter Rios in the opening title sequence, using a series of b-roll/stock footage shots, along with heavily miss-timed ADR and foley. The film reaches its climax at the half-way point, when the unnamed protagonist loses his winning lottery ticket. Will the protagonist find Fortune, or will this story end with Fatal Fission?

I scratched my head a lot while watching Nuclear Cookie. It’s a 3 to 5 minute story stretched over 21 minutes. The time is filled with stock footage, b-roll, and lots of fake titles that I think are meant to wow the audience when the final screen reveals that this film was, indeed, a solo Peter Rios endeavor. From what I can gather, the aim is either awe, or simply to troll the audience. Either way, there is a lot of time spent playing credits over stock footage.

Indie Film Podcast Recommendation: Wait Until It's Free

If you are a connoisseur of stock footage and would like to see a modern day Ed Wood attempt to weave a story around seemingly unrelated shots, then definitely watch this film. If you’re an indie filmmaker and are craving a unique wtf experience, then definitely watch this film. I’m 100% serious. There are an infinite number of ways to make a good film, and an infinite number of ways to make a bad film. Very rarely are we surprised with the bad films. Nuclear Cookie is surprising.

Learn more about Nuclear Cookie at peterriosfilms.com