Commercial or Movie???

The Chase  

 Intel Nexus Productions and the Uk-based animation due Smith & Foulkes join forces for one of the most action packed 2 minute film my laptop has ever seen! Though I've many chase scenes in various cinemas, this one approaches the classic situation by mixing reality with the virtual world. The Chase begins with a beautiful woman who has something a group of goons want badly. Throughout the movie we follow her as she goes through video games, file windows, graphic programs, quick time video and even Facebook. The mere creativity behind the cat and mouse like chase is what I find to the most entertaining element to this short story. Since I am an 90's baby that grew up in the the 20th century computerized world, I find this film located in the virtual world to be very appealing. I was surprise to see the movie end with a bumper from Intel which lead me to believe that this was a commercial! What the case may be, The Chase is adventurous, creative and brings a new look to the classic chase seen. 

http://www.shortoftheweek.com/2011/10/03/the-chase/

Femme Fatale

British born photographer, Greg Williams, takes the classic Femme Fatale to debut his first dramatic film. Tell-Tale gets its inspiration from Edgar Allen Poe's The TellTale Heart, this film tells the complicated story of a couple's crime and the guilt which follows afterwards. It uses visually striking shots in a produced by Red One Mysterium X and prototype Epic Cameras and significant lighting techniques to create a world of mystery and adds to an all around impressive mise-en-scene. The film starred notable talent such as Carla Gugino, Adam Arkin and Clifton Collins Jr.

That fact that Williams was able to direct such an entertaining and suspenseful piece in only eight minutes was very admirable. On shot in particular at 1:18, caught my eye immediately. It was an OTS but the person in which the shot uses for a shoulder is a sort of medium close-up of the character's face looking to the gentlemen across from her. This was the portion of the film where the femme fatale suspect was being interrogated and I thought this shot seemed to add to the intensity of the moment.  With the help of the incredible talent of Carla Gugino, Williams was able to use the limited amount of time presented by a short film and tell the story of a plan that went wrong that drove the main character to guilt then eventually to insanity. And at the end, the viewers are left wondering what will happen next after their is a possibility that the couple had been caught. The mysterious is never truly solved!


http://www.shortoftheweek.com/2010/09/07/tell-tale/

Runaway

I must admit. I am a big Kanye West fan. The Chicago rap artist makes unique music that often ranges in it's subject matters while others in his profession can become vaguely repetitive. The same can be said for their music videos. But in Runaway Kanye attempts to do something new with his music genre and creativity.

After discovering a beautiful phoenix/woman as he drives in the woods, Kanye begins to fall in love as he introduces her to his world, our world. But Phoenix, however, can't continue in this new strange place and has to return to her world by burning. Throughout the short, we are faced with a Scottish bands and a large Michael Jackson like figure, ballet dancers, an acting debut from Kanye and a host of other fantastical elements. Though I admire his film for it's creativity and effort, I have to admit that I thought, at times, that it was doing too much that unfortunately distracted it's viewers from some of his music. His songs were all good and entertaining in their individual way but once he puts them together to tell the story of the George Bush infamous criticizer and a beautiful leading lady, we felt a little lost and drug along as this unnecessarily long music video took 34 minutes of my life.

I will note that their were some impressive things that caught my eye throughout the film as well. One was the way in which the director, Kanye with the help of fair Spike Jonze, used a red filter in the sky in the beginning. The graphics were fairly nice as the Phoenix came to earth and a stream of fire. The costumes and set designs all work perfectly with each scene. For instant, the part in which Kanye takes his new found love to a dinner party, we she a garage like area, with a large dingy painted teal door, white ceiling, a long white table with delicious foods scattered among it and his guest all wearing white. When he enters with the Phoenix, who is basically naked with skin tone feathers on her breast and private areas and a collection of them on her back, she stands out from her surroundings creating a picture perfect scenery. The cinematography was the most important element of this film but its ability to properly tell a story and its attempt to mix its ideas into a music video seemed to be its biggest conflict.

http://www.shortoftheweek.com/2010/10/25/review-of-kanye-wests-runaway/

Did You Hear About The Terrys?

"The Terrys are the especially wicked blight of the dunnersville trailer park. Violent, Drug-addled, sex-crazed, and mutually abusive, the couple Terry Grutt, played by Tim Heidecker, and Terry Brovart Played by Eric Wareheim, are a terror of unbridled love/hate. When they aren't rutting like animals in a drug-induced stupor, they are threatening to kill one another. Things look belak for their lonterm surviaval,, let aloe happiness and self-actualization. Now a baby is coming, and in a weird twist of fate this life that they are supposed to take care of ends up taking care of them."

The Terrys is a combination of crude humor and a inspiring love story. How might you ask? Well the Terrys, played by Tim and Erica from Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job on adult swim, are a trailer park couple who's addicted to crack cocaine. The wife, who is actually played by a man, sells herself to buy drugs and her abusive and deranged husband cheats on her and verbally assaults her on a daily bases. One day they conceive a son who is a puppet boy that sets his parents straight. In their old age, they become better cleaner individual and comes to the point in their lives where they are ready to "pull the plug." When their puppet son does so, his tears send a magical plant to heaven and on the top of it, a flower blooms and the flower petals open to reveal a real-life digitally animated son.

I thought this short film was hilarious. It reminded me of something I would see on comedy central or adult swim. If you find yourself offended then I think the movie's point has been made. It's rude, crude, filled with profanity and disgusting but all this works together for an entertaining variety to Kyerra' Wonderful World of Blogs. It was shocking and absurd but in the end. You'll find yourself holding your side laughing at the male and male leading roles.

http://www.shortoftheweek.com/2011/07/21/the-terrys/

Video Home System

All My Dreams on VHS by Timonthy X Atack, is a British awkward comedy about a first date and how the main character has the ability to put his dreams all on video home systems. He makes the mistake of leaving his date alone with the VHS and she discovers a dream about her. He is nervous when he finds her looking at the tape but is surprised to learn that she was actually flattered by the dream and then the date gets a intensely romantic until she knocks some more videos down and find that he not only dreams of her but many other women. When this happens, she is embarrassed and fleas without hearing any explanations.

I thought the films was cute and funny. However, I was disappointed to see that I couldn't see the dreams myself. I would of liked to see what it would look like to have a dream on VHS! But other than that, I thought the concept was new and interesting. The characters chemistry worked well on scene and the scenery and cinematography wasn't anything notable but it all work well in setting up the mise-en-scene of the 13 minute long film. I felt bad for the man when he discovered his intimate dream of his date had been watched and I felt even more sorry for him when she finds the many other videos like hers. All and all, it was a good movie and I think I would like to see a possible sequel. Maybe of the dreams on DVD or YouTube.
http://www.shortoftheweek.com/2011/12/01/all-my-dreams-on-vhs/

Le Petit Dragon

Bruce Lee is reincarnated as an adventurous rubber made toy, in this stop motion real-life film mixture. Le Petit Dragon which means little dragon follows the mini-Bruce Lee as he magically comes to life in a young man's room and explores the contents of his environment. The audience follows the character as he goes from the desk to under a dresser where he finds old broken toys hidden under spider webs. He soon makes an enemy with a robot and has to fight for his life. He is victories but ironically, when he sees a Bruce Lee video game and tries to karate kick the image, he ends up breaking himself into pieces. But the spirit of the little dragon lives on and finds a new home in a t-shirt Lee on the back.I liked how this movie re framed from using dialect and used scores and sound effects to tell the story. The motions of the rubber toy were steaminess done and each second caught my attention.


http://www.shortoftheweek.com/2011/11/24/le-petit-dragon/

Let's Get Fucked Up And Die (LGFUAD)

This movie by Kelsey Stark goes beyond being an obscene and graphic story.  It reminds me of a 90's MTV cartoon like Beaves and But-head. At first, you are taken back by some of the things the movie brings up. It begins with a girl eating pizza express desires to be a ghost. She gives reasons why it would be fun and though are explanations are grotesque and almost disguising, there is a short of art behind it. I'm reminded of the youth's revolt throughout passed times. Specifically, the hippies in the seventies. It was a culture with drugs, nature and self-expression all entwined collectively in a generation. This film almost seems like somebody on some short of trip but instead of getting lost in the natural world, it ventures off into the surreal supernatural one.


http://www.shortoftheweek.com/2011/09/30/lgfuad/