Category Archives: Short Films

All Movie Reviews, Like It, Long Reviews (>400 Words), Short Films

Birthday (2016) Short Film Review

Birthday, the narrative short film from director Chris King, feels stylistically as a documentary. This adds to its weight. In a tightly framed set of reverses, we are privy to a grin-filled conversation between two people over Skype. One, a marine (Chris Gouchoe) 43 days away from the end of his tour. The other, his schoolteacher wife (Mandy Moody) anxiously awaiting his return.

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The next three minutes are told in montage over what is perhaps an overly sentimental string score. We see the soldier step on a landmine. We see his wife’s response. We see his slow, grueling recovery.

He returns home on his birthday. As he enters the threshold and surveys the home, as if it is Continue reading Birthday (2016) Short Film Review →

All Movie Reviews, Long Reviews (>400 Words), Short Films

The Kidnapping of a Fish (2016) Short Film Review

“Live longer or die faster.” With a gun to your head, what would you choose? If it sounds like a trick question, that’s because it is. “Do you think this is funny?” the man with the gun (Vasile Flutur) asks after the captured Alex (Stephen Friedrich) makes light of his dire situation.

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And, yeah, it kind of is. From the lovable loser romantic subplot to the at first anachronistic interrogation sequence, the understatement in Alex’s character is comedic. It is also Continue reading The Kidnapping of a Fish (2016) Short Film Review →

All Movie Reviews, Horror, Like It, Long Reviews (>400 Words), Short Films

Holidays (2016) Movie Review

Holidays is the latest in the line of horror anthology films that have been surfacing on online streaming sites in recent years. The conceit of this particular film is to take eight short films from eight different creative teams. Each film focuses on subject matter related to a different holiday of the calendar year. For this review, let’s dive into each short separately before making final judgments on the film as a whole.

 

Valentine’s Day

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High dives are scary. It combines the fear of heights with the fear of drowning. Bullies are scary, too, I guess. As is Continue reading Holidays (2016) Movie Review →

All Movie Reviews, Animation, Love It, Short Films

Piper (2016) Short Film Review

Piper is the latest in a long line of pre-feature Pixar short films. This particular animated short debuted ahead of Finding Dory, and, while Finding Dory is an all right time at the movies, Piper may blow it out of the water (apologies for the pun).

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The film is simple enough in narrative with a sickeningly adorable conceit: Continue reading Piper (2016) Short Film Review →

All Movie Reviews, Indie Films, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Short Films

An In-Depth Analysis of Sunspring (2016), The Short Film Written By A Computer

Note: Spoilers for Sunspring are in this in-depth review. The video is embedded below if you want to watch before you read.

 

In Sunspring, director Oscar Sharp engages in a cinematic experiment. The goal: to create an award-worthy short film using a script written by an artificial intelligence. The result: glorious sci-fi chaos. Feeding the A.I. with dozens of science fiction script .txt files and a series of prompts given for a sci-fi filmmaking competition, the small cast and crew used the resulting script to shoot the short in one day.

“In a future with mass unemployment, young people are forced to sell blood,” Thomas Middleditch’s H begins, upon pulling a book out of a drawer and thumbing through it. “It’s something I could do.”

This is perhaps the most Continue reading An In-Depth Analysis of Sunspring (2016), The Short Film Written By A Computer →

All Movie Reviews, Horror, Indie Films, Like It, Short Films

Heir (2015) Short Film Review

A father (Robert Nolan) takes his son to spend a day with an old college friend (Bill Oberst Jr.), but the activities they engage in are far more insidious than simply “gone fishing.” The father, on top of the strange goings-on in his friend’s home, experiences a stigmata-like wound that oozes a sticky pus.

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The short quickly deviates from reality, surreal imagery and special effects work becoming Continue reading Heir (2015) Short Film Review →

All Movie Reviews, Comedy, Indie Films, Quickie Reviews (<400 Words), Short Films

The Talk (2015) Short Film Review

The Talk, from director Joe Otting, is a two-person short depicting a conversation between a father and his young daughter. This conversation begins with an innocent confession, one that every child needs to hear at some point in their life, but then it takes a nosedive into a frank, awkward realm.

The short features performances from John Hoogenakker and Isabella Crovetti-Cramp, who is most recognizable from her appearance in Continue reading The Talk (2015) Short Film Review →

All Movie Reviews, Indie Films, Like It, Quickie Reviews (<400 Words), Short Films

Over (2015) Short Film Review

Over, the short film from director Jorn Threlfall, begins quietly. We get static long shots of a suburban street. At 11:45 pm. Then at 7:30 pm. The first two minutes are silence, save for ambient noise, as we see a couple park their car and cross the street, where they see a letter and a bouquet of flowers near the median. They speculate that someone has died there.

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The story soon becomes clear. In reverse chronological order, we get to see Continue reading Over (2015) Short Film Review →

2016 Academy Awards, All Movie Reviews, Award Ceremonies, Short Films

2016 Academy Award Nominated Animated Short Films Review

The five nominated short films in the animated category are diverse in animation style and narrative content, but they all have clear ups and downs. Below are my mini reviews for these five mini movies.

Sanjay’s Super Team

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Sanjay’s Super Team, from Pixar, opens on a dichotomy of old and young ideals in an Indian household.

The animation sports the usual Continue reading 2016 Academy Award Nominated Animated Short Films Review →

All Movie Reviews, Animation, Indie Films, Love It, Quickie Reviews (<400 Words), Short Films

World of Tomorrow (2015) Short Film Review

World of Tomorrow, the Oscar-nominated short film from Don Hertzfeldt, follows the journey of a young girl Emily (Winona Mae) as she is shown through the memories of the future by her clone (Julia Pott).

The short is a densely-packed 15 minutes that meanders through complexities of time travel, artificial sentience, and love. The simplicity of the Continue reading World of Tomorrow (2015) Short Film Review →