Short Film Movie Review

Short Film Movie Review: MOUSSE (Sweden, 40min. Comedy/Crime)

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MOVIE POSTERMOUSSE, 38min, Sweden, Comedy/Crime
Directed by John Hellberg

MOUSSE is a medium length droll and blackly comic tale of an honest criminal and police ineptitude.

MOUSSE was the winner of best film at the 2014 FEEDBACK Film Festival. 

Watch the Audience FEEDBACK Video of MOUSSE:

Movie Review by Amanda Lomonaco:

Absolutely brilliant. I’ve seen this movie 3 times already and I can’t get enough of it. After watching it the first time at WILDSound, I could not stop thinking about how great it was, I even hunted parts of the soundtrack down, until finally I had to hunt down the film itself. This is especially surprising considering this film is one of the longer selections I’ve seen at WILDSound, standing at 41 minutes. Even if you’re not a lover of subtitles, I would give this film a try.

To begin with, the acting in this film is exceptional, particularly for a film with such a wide diversity of cast, and an equal diversity of languages. Every character in Mousse is meticulously developed and well rounded, and every performance throughout the film feels nothing but genuine. The casting of the elderly policemen could equally not have been more perfect as it added a surprising element of hilarity to the film.

It’s hard to call John Hellberg’s picture a “short film” given its ambiguous length, standing somewhere between a feature and a short film, but at no point during the film do you find yourself disengaged or uninterested. Hellberg propels the story forward through a series of juxtapositions that intertwine seamlessly into the main story line, and prevent any semblance of boredom. Moreover, the production quality gives no sense of cutting any corners, giving Mousse an almost feature like quality.

Between the odd translations and awkward pauses in communication, the age and attitude of the policemen, & the jokes the actors tell each other, it’s hard to say what part of Mousse isn’t hilarious. It’s almost as if Hellberg is trying to cover all his bases in the humour category, from visual, to verbal, he even throws a couple of fart jokes in there just in case.

If you haven’t caught on by now, I think this film needs more visibility. Heck, if it were a part of a DVD collection I would buy it right away just to show others. It will take a little more of your time than most short films, but you’ll be laughing so hard the whole time you’ll hardly notice it passing. This is the first of Hellberg’s films that I’ve ever encountered, but I hope to come across many more in the future.

 

Movie Review: CHICKLAND (Short Film) 2015

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CHICKLAND played to rave reviews at the November 2015 FEEDBACK Film Festival

Watch the Audience FEEDBACK Video from the Festival:

MOVIE POSTERCHICKLAND, 11min, France, Comedy/Sci-Fi
Directed by Stanislav Graziani

Bubu and Toufik think they are the next Steve Jobs and Martin Zuckerberg… They have implanted a chip in their brain, which gives them access to the web… giving them instant access to universal knowledge. For their first experiment, they test it on picking up girls…

Review of the Short Film by Amanda Lomonaco:

Chickland left me a little bit on the fence. With the growing dissemination of devices like the Google Glass, and the expansion of Virtual Reality technology Chickland is a bit of a terrifying reminder of a reality that we could all soon be living in. Nevertheless, director Stanislav Graziani did a good job at balancing out the miracles of new technology, with the limitations of our own human psyche, providing  a slightly less dystopic view of the future.

The hardest thing to understand about the film was the age range of the actors involved. The male actors seemed far too young to be approaching the girls they were trying to pick up, although perhaps this was done on purpose, considering the end result of their experiment. The end of the film itself is also a bit reassuring, emphasizing the humanity of even the most technologically oriented minds.

There isn’t much that can be said about Chickland without revealing much of the film’s plot. It’s a peek into the future, into what life might look like if Google Glass ever really catches on. Of course there are certain differences. It’s not likely that the Google Glass “victims” of the future will have no suspicion of the tactics being used on them. Then again perhaps this was what Graziani was indicating in his depiction of the boy’s interaction with the math student.

Students of art might also find this film a little insulting in how easily the one boy was able to fake being a literary connoisseur, while his counterpart struggled to prove his math prowess. Nevertheless both the boys’ reactions to “completing the task” at the end of the film showed a lot of emotional sensitivity, one that most young boys of that age would normally not be so ready to admit or expose.

Chickland is an interesting experimental look into what our future might look like, how our grandchildren might date, find partners, or explore their sexuality. It sparks a lot of thinking about where our technological pursuits are heading, what it might truly bring us in the future. This wasn’t by any means one of my favourite short films to watch, but it certainly carried some interesting ideas that will inspire you to consider how natural human emotion is able to coexist with the calculated patterns of digital technology.

Movie Review: THE LAST POST (Award Winning Short Film) 2015

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THE LAST POST played to rave reviews at the November 2015 FEEDBACK Film Festival

Watch the Audience FEEDBACK Video from the Festival:

MOVIE POSTERTHE LAST POST, 15min, UK, Comedy/Social Media
Directed by Adam Preston

A halfwit is invited to speak at the funeral of a girl he only knew through the internet.

Review of the Short Film by Amanda Lomonaco:

Hilariously cringe-worthy. There’s no other way to describe this one. We all now a girl like her; updating her social media constantly, her life seems near perfect, everything she does is amazing, and fun, everything she eats is delicious, and if you wanted you could find out everything about her. Well, almost everything. As we all know social media and online profiles only give us little peeks into a person’s life. No matter how often you update it, how much content you add to it, it’s hard to know the real truth of who a person really is purely through their social media profiles.

Adam Preston has somehow managed to perfectly balance the tragedy and comedy of our excessively interconnected lives. Using the knowledge you can typically gather from a person’s social media accounts Preston writes a hysterical eulogy for one such social media star. This is certainly one film where credit needs to be highly awarded for performance. The Last Post’s main character had me tearing up with laughter non-stop.

Admittedly Preston could have added to the comedic value of his short by having the funeral attendants accept the eulogy as a sincere tribute to the deceased. Nevertheless his actual choice of direction didn’t  detract from the hilarity in any way. I also feel obliged to question Preston’s choice of the social class of the deceased and her family. It seems a little reductionist to have her and her family be from a region with a certain reputation for ignorance, simplicity, and poverty. It might have been a little more interesting if they had been from a posh family. However, part of the reason for this could have been to increase the threatening demeanor of the two bully brothers.

The Last Post is more than just a hilarious short film; it’s a commentary on today’s modern, digitally centered society. I had a very odd feeling as soon as the film was over because after having laughed the entire way through the film, I found myself pondreing deeper issues as soon as it was over. Comedy is for everyone, and comedy that is pertinent to current issues is all the more worth it. It kind of suits all flavour preferences; if you’re up for something more serious, this movie will work for you, if you’re up for a good laugh, add this to your list, heck it even has a little violence if that’s your cup of tea! I think you can see where I’m going with this one. Definitely give The Last Post a watch, whatever your inclination. It will be worth it.

 

Movie Review: SHOOT GRANNY (Short Film) 2015

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SHOOT GRANNY played to rave reviews at the November 2015 FEEDBACK Film Festival

Watch the Audience FEEDBACK Video from the Festival:

MOVIE POSTERSHOOT GRANNY, 5min, Spain, Comedy/Musical
Directed by Olivier Kowalczyk

Shoot Granny or when an ordinary tea time between three friends turns into an improvised Gymkhana. On a music of Todd Terje.

Review of the Short Film by Amanda Lomonaco:

Shoot Granny garnered a really good laugh from the audience, with great reason. It’s common to hear complaints about loud, partying teenagers, but what happens when those loud partiers are actually your grandparents?

The director Olivier Kowalczyck says he was inspired by his work as a doctor; disappointed by how they seemed to perscribe anti-depressants to help seniors sleep rather than provide them with any real psychological support. He claims to have felt like more of a drug dealer than a doctor, and this thought led him to create the storyline for Shoot Granny.

Thankfully Kowalczyck has managed to turn this upsetting subject matter into quite a hilarious repartie. With the background knowledge of this film in mind it might be easy to reprimand Kowalczyck for his comedic approach, but in actual fact what he has done by injecting comedy into this topic is open it up to a much wider public that might otherwise want to ignore the issue. Kowalczyck also manages to add a stronger element of agency to the elderly, allowing us to relate to them as people who like to enjoy themselves, just as we all do, rather than as victims with no control over their ailments.

Some members of the audience seemed a little put off by the loud music, or by the fact that the film didn’t carry subtitles, but Shoot Granny could very well be played on mute and still get its message across. Someone once told me that a film is only truly good if it is able to be played in black and white, and silently while still achieving the same level of emotional impact. Despite the fact that its bright, psychodelic patterns and blaring music adds greatly to the story, I still believe this film would achieve the same purpose without these elements. I think anyone would benefit from watching Shoot Granny, who knows, it might help you approach and understand again, or your elderly loved ones, with just a little more affection and care.

Movie Review: FAMILY ON BOARD (Award Winning Short Film) 2015

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Family on Board played to rave reviews at the November 2015 FEEDBACK Film Festival. 

Watch the Audience FEEDBACK Video from the Festival:

MOVIE POSTERFAMILY ON BOARD, 15min, USA, Drama
Poetry by George Pogatsia

On his way to report to prison, Mike Petito reflects on his life and anticipates what lies ahead … that’s when catastrophe strikes.

Review of the Short Film by Amanda Lomonaco:

Family on Board encompasses so many different elements and genres that it seems almost impossible to put it all into a few reductive paragraphs. In fact I find it difficult to even fit it into one single genre. Despite all this confusion, or perhaps exactly because of it, most of the audience seemed to really enjoy it. Considering the ominous title and the manner in which the film ends I have a feeling that the mish-mash of genres was very much intentional to make the twist ending even sharper.

People’s reactions to this film seem to be largely dependent on how they interpreted the ending. Like many of the films shown at WILDSound, Family on Board ends quite ambiguously, leaving viewers to imagine for themselves how they believe the story ended. This became all the more evident during the  feedback session, where several audience members voiced a plethora of opinions about the end, that I would have never even considered.

Many people also seemed a bit taken aback by how the film begins. Some were put off by the intense violence depicted, others seemed to find the beginning weak, and the performance of the thieves to be unconvincing. I have the feeling this beginning also weighed heavily on how people imagined the films’ ending. With a film that has so many turns and shifts it’s hard to say which points actually influenced the audience’s reaction the most.

Although George Pogatsia goes through a lot of effort to convince us that the main character is a positive member of the community with nothing but good intentions, at times his benevolence seems a little forced or exaggerated. Despite the crime he committed and his ownership of a gun, the main character seems like the kindest and most caring person in the world, going out of his way to help every stranger that crosses his path. The need for this juxtaposition is understandable in order to attract audience sympathy, but it perhaps could have been carried out a little more subtly and had the same, if not a greater, impact. Nevertheless, the familiar famous faces scattered throughout the main character’s “benevolent” sequence do help distract from this exaggeration, if only a little.

Family on Board is definitely a film for lovers of crime dramas and unsolved mysteries. Certainly Tony Sirico’s presence is bound to bring a smile to many a lover of The Sopranos or Goodfellas. There’s a lot to absorb in this film, and it will take you through a bit of a roller-coaster, but who doesn’t love a good old fashioned roller-coaster ride?

Movie Review: TWISTED (Award Winning Short Film) 2015

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TWISTER was awarded best cinematography at the November 2015 FEEDBACK Film Festival

Watch the Audience FEEDBACK Video from the Festival:

MOVIE POSTERTWISTED, 14min, Australia, Drama/Thriller
Directed by James Hartley and James Shepherd

After a night with the girl of his dreams, Michael has a story to tell. And a favour to ask…

Review of the Short Film by Amanda Lomonaco:

Wow! Is any Australian film at the WILDSound Festival ever going to be bad? I never thought I would have a bias for flicks from the land down under, but I may have to reasses. I promise my preference for these films is in no way intentional. I’ll do my best to keep this one as balanced as possible.

To begin with, the title itself is the perfect definition of the film. The story is, in fact, incredibly twisted. From the very start you can feel something is a little bit off about the film. The shaky camera angle, the slightly unkempt boy in a school uniform coaxing you to do something you clearly don’t want to do. In fact, the very position of the camera is offputting; throughout the film the main character, Michael, addresses the camera directly as his school mate. This allows Jame Shepherd & James Hartley, the directors of Twisted to throw audience members directly into the world of the film, and creates a sense of complicity with Michael’s acts.

Despite all my bias and admiration, Twisted is obviously far from perfect. Since the film is carried almost entirely by the monologue and perspective of a single character, there are some inevitable points of monotony, which I’m not sure whether to blame on the writing, or on the acting. Neither element was poor, which is why it’s so difficult to pinpoint where exactly the film goes wrong at the few moment where it does.

One particular moment that pulled me out of the story abruptly was  when the film’s title was inserted into Michael’s monologue. I’ve never been a fan of playing with film titles inside the actual story, precisely because it removes me from the story world. In this instance the disruption is even more jarring as Michael’s repeated enunciation of the word “Twisted” gradually appears more forced and unnatural. This might have been more appropriately treated with some more complimentary camera movement, perhaps, but as it stands on its own I can’t say I appreciated it.

Regardless of this one instance, I loved this film, even with all its flaws. Some of my reason for this bias towards the Aussies may just be their propensity towards making slightly disturbing and… well… twisted films, which I have already been vocal about preferring. With that said, it would probably be advisable to stay away from this film if horror and suspense aren’t really your genre of choice. For all the rest of you, add this to your bucket list, for sure.

Movie Review of the short film “Redemption”

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“Redemption” is a thriller/prison drama that played at the WILDsound FEEDBACK Film Festival, part of it’s best of horror/thriller short films event in October 2015. 

REDEMPTION, Australia, 7min, Thriller/Prison
Directed by Tom Vogel

A man in jail finds God and asks his son for forgiveness but is karma about to catch up with him before he can seek redemption.

Read the movie review of REDEMPTION by Amanda Lomonaco

One more point scored by the Aussies for proving that simple stage design, just a few characters, and not much equipment can still make for a good horror film. What’s more – they didn’t even pull out the fake blood! You could argue that the very fact that the cheapness of the production was noticeable makes it a bad film, but I guarantee you many a Blair Witch fan would disagree.

Most of the shots in this film were quite tight, and close-up.The wider two shots were mostly in dark spaces, where little to no background could be seen. This really drew a lot of focus on the acting, which definitely lived up to expectations. It’s a gamble to bank so much of your film on the actors themselves, but I would say Tom Vogel made some good casting calls in this case.

Vogel could have done just a tad better in the make-up department, though. Giving his main, most vicious character, what looked very obviously like a stamp-on temporary tattoo on the neck distracted a little from that character’s brutality. Everything else about the film compensates for this minor mishap, however. Particularly when that same character proceeds to kill someone in an incredibly aggressive and violent manner.

Once again the implication of violence proves more effective than the use of violence itself. It might have begun a little slowly, but Redemption‘s pace picked up quickly enough to not leave you bored or confused for too long. The finale was definitely a very satisfying climax for those of us who love vengeful justice (whether we admit to it or not). I would call this one a good film for cathartic viewing.

Movie Review of the Short Film “A Peaceful Man”

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“A Peaceful Man” played at the best of Thriller/Horror short film festival in October 2015, as part of the WILDsound FEEDBACK Monthly Film Festival. It was the winner of Best Cinematography in a short film.  

Australia, 4min, Action/Thriller
Directed by Harrison Norris

Beaten within an inch of his life, a peaceful man has a gruesome epiphany through violence.

Learn more about this short film HERE

A Peaceful Man Review by Amanda Lomonaco

All of us are capable of violence and cruelty under extreme circumstances. At least that’s what Harrison Norris, director of A Peaceful Man, wants to convince us of in his gory short film. His bloody, cringe-worthy, gory close-ups might distract you from that message a little though, or at least it will distract you from the voice-over narrative.

I’m not saying this movie is bad, in fact this was one of my favourite films of the night. What I really mean, is that the cinematography in this film was so brilliant that it almost overshadowed everything else about it. I would venture a guess that the cringes and gasps coming from the rest of the audience indicated they may have agreed with me. Even the special effects didn’t even have to be that great to appreciate this flick, although they were certainly impressive. The very thought of the level of violence being implied in the film was enough to make people curl up in their chairs and look away.

That, to me, is effective filmmaking. Making your audience feel something and react to the very idea of what is being depicted on screen. Even though I’ll admit to only paying attention to half of the spoken narrative in the film, I feel that Norris reserved the most important bits of monologue to the least impactful visual moments. I was able to still understand the gist of everything the narrator was saying while still being able to enjoy the bloody wonder that was being paraded in front of me.

I think Norris makes some really good points in his film. The level of gore and violence simply emphasized how far all of us can be pushed, or in fact need to be pushed, in order to reciprocate with the same level of anger. When it comes to survival, we are all animals, we all have to follow our instincts, and we will all defend ourselves, even if that self-defense involves something we would never imagine ourselves doing. That’s where Norris’ images almost don’t need a narrative. If you simply consider the film’s title, and then focus on the images and how they make you feel, you’ll probably catch on pretty quickly.

By now you’ll have realized that you should not watch this movie if you have a sensitive stomach. On the other hand, if you’re a crazy lover of guts and gore like me, this film should be mandatory viewing. Norris’ cinematographer deserves an award, and  would happily volunteer to make one for him.

Watch the Audience FEEDBACK Video of A PEACEFUL MAN:

Short Film Movie Review: REINVENTING THE REEL

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REINVENTING THE REEL
by Amanda Lomonaco

Review of the short film
Played at the September 2015 WILDsound FEEDBACK Film Festival.
http://www.wildsoundfestival.com/september_2015_film_festival.html

reinventing_the_reel_1
Reinventing the Reel covers some very interesting and topical subject matter, relating to the portrayal of homosexuality in film and television. With so many global progressive moves towards the legalization of gay marriage, and global acceptance of homosexuality, it’s easy to see the importance of this film in today’s world. You would think that with such an interesting and important subject matter the filmmaker would be able to do so much more with it, but I found this film fell short in a few different ways.

reinventing_the_reel_2
While Reinventing the Reel goes a long way towards describing all the different ways in which homosexuality is wrongly portrayed in film, it fails to provide a solution to how it could be better portrayed. For the most part the film seems to simply support the idea of more homosexual main characters, and more homosexual filmmakers in general. While there is nothing wrong with this concept, it’s a little incomplete as a solution, because it doesn’t analyze the numerous positive and normative ways that homosexuals could be portrayed in film.

reinventing_the_reel_4
Moreover, although this film is largely about the film industry, the filmmaker limits his audience by focusing too much on film industry creators. It gives a brief statistical analysis of the popularity of some kickstarter campaigns that focused on the transgendered, and homosexual community, but there is little communication with the every day spectator. As important as it is for Hollywood and bigger commercial studios to make more homonormative films, it’s equally as important for audience members to accept this emergence.

The documentary genre is always a difficult one to tackle, and there is always a lot more that could be done and said to raise awareness to different issues. Reinventing the Reel manages to provide high quality intrviews, with very prominent and important industry members to convey an important message. I may have focused a little harshly on the flaws of the film, but I still believe it’s an important one to watch. For many of us, the media is our window into different cultures, worlds, and ways of thinking, and if we never allow the “different” to actually appear in that window, we’re just lying to ourselves about what “normal” really is.

Watch the Audience FEEDBACK Video of REINVENTING THE REEL:

Deadline TODAY to Submit your Short Film, Screenplay, Novel, Story, or Poem to the festival: http://www.wildsound.ca

Watch recent Writing Festival Videos. At least 15 winning videos a month: http://www.wildsoundfestival.com

Short Film Movie Review: MERKUR

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MERKUR
by Amanda Lomonaco

Review of the short film.
Played at the September 2015 WILDsound FEEDBACK Film Festival.
http://www.wildsoundfestival.com/september_2015_film_festival.html

merkur_1
I’ve never liked the saying “a picture is worth 1,000 words.” I’ve often believed pictures can lie just as well, and just as often as words can. After watching this film I’m not so sure anymore that conviction.

Merkur is quite a simple animation, with simple, humanoid characters, basic chunky background structures, and an intricate play on light to enhance the composition. With these very basic structures, two minutes, and no dialogue, the makers of Merkur create a beautiful short film, that expresses and emphasizes the importance of curiosity, and exploration.

merkur_4
The film itself does not parade a grand act of defiance, nor does it go through great lengths to explain the characters’ internal though process, or even the initial storyline. In fact the film seems to propel your focus almost entirely to the end result of the main character’s unique act. By simply turning and running in the opposite direction of the crowd, the humanoid is able to create something of great beauty, and seemingly release themselves from constraints that neither audience nor character seemed previously aware of.

merkur_6
As it seems to be a theme for this month, and is in fact a general characteristic of short films, this one also has some room for interpretation. Despite the beauty of the ending, it could also be argued that the defiant humanoid’s actions led to its own destruction, as well as that of the rest of the group. But that’s what makes short films so wonderful; they’re not tied to the conventions of traditional cinema, they don’t need to give us a beautifully wrapped conclusion, they let us take from them what we will.

Watch the Audience FEEDBACK Video of MERKUR:

Deadline TODAY to Submit your Short Film, Screenplay, Novel, Story, or Poem to the festival: http://www.wildsound.ca

Watch recent Writing Festival Videos. At least 15 winning videos a month: http://www.wildsoundfestival.com