Short Film Movie Review

Movie Review: RED ROVER (2016)

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MOVIE POSTERRED ROVER, 15min, Australia/USA, Fantasy/Action
Directed by Brooke Goldfinch

Two teenagers from a remote religious community travel to town in search of shelter after being told by their Evangelical parents that an asteroid will soon destroy the earth.

Shown at the September 2016 Sci-Fi/Fantasy FEEDBACK Film Festival

Movie Review by Kierston Drier

 A refreshingly different approach to an encroaching apocalypse film, Red Rover, an American film directed by Brooke Goldfinch, straddles the genres of science fiction, romance and drama. As the end of the world approaches, two teenagers escape their religious community to seek shelter and potential survival. The piece is founded in tragedy when the teens realize that they have nothing left to loose except each other.

Unlike many apocalypse films, this piece does not rely on heavy pandemonium- huge riots, teeming masses of terrified people, big explosions- instead it focuses on the last death throws of a society that has already accepted its’ end. The streets are vacant. The shops deserted. The last remains of society exist in debauchery inhabited abandoned hotel rooms. Red Rover’s focus on realism in this way may be disturbing to some, a refreshingly honest to others.

The theme of this film, however, will pull the heart strings of any romantic. As the world approaches its violent end our heroes must re-evaluate what it means to have lived and been alive. Is a life that is short, yet full of love, wonder and joy, any less lived? Red Rover seeks to ponder that question. To find the answer, you’ll have to watch it and see.

 

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Movie Review: A SHADOW OF DARA (2016)

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MOVIE POSTERA SHADOW OF DARA, 14min., Bulgaria, Sci-Fi
Directed by Kirill Proskura

A leader of a rebellion risks everything to find a powerful commander of an alien world who’s been captured by enemies and put into a fabricated reality for the extraction of valuable information.

Shown at the September 2016 Sci-Fi/Fantasy FEEDBACK Film Festival

Movie Review by Kierston Drier

Science Fiction lovers are a tough crowd. Pleasing them requires so many things; a knock-out, often high-concept story, with an unbeatable twist, compelling and thematic world building and epic stakes. This is on top of the already compulsory requirements of good production value, solid performances and strong story elements.

Enter A Shadow Of Dara, directed by Kirill Proskura, an edge of your seat science fiction that boasts intensity, polish and turns to keep you guessing until the every last frame. Quickly paced and excellently performed, this is the tale of the chosen leader of an alien world who must fight against being trapped in an artificial reality, in order to not reveal important information to his enemies. Once he is able to break free from his false-reality changes, however, he must team up with members of another planet (coming to him from the future) to avoid loosing both worlds as they know it.

If there is any flaw to be had in this otherwise very well composed piece of sci-fi cinema, it is that it’s highly condensed manner can muddle the details and make it hard to follow. Conversely, the piece is strong enough to warrant a second watch. Full of details and gripping good versus evil, the piece has multiple twists and turns. The final moment in the film provides a great ending, and leaves the audience wanting more.

Hailing from Bulgaria, A Shadow Of Dara could be a proof on concept for an excellent feature, where its’ themes will make nods to well loved films like Inception and the entire evil-alien genre. Regardless anyone with an appetite for a good science fiction film would enjoy this film. It will keep you wanting more.

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Movie Review: GHOSTBOY (2016)

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MOVIE POSTERGHOSTBOY, 9min., UK, Animation/Comedy
Directed by Jonathan Brooks

An exciting tale of mystery, mayhem and friendship, ‘Ghostboy’ teaches the very important lesson to not judge a book by it’s cover…

Seen at the August 2016 FAMILY FEEDBACK Film Festival in Toronto.

Movie Review by Kierston Drier

Coming to use courtesy of Jonathan Brooks and Foolhardy films, Ghostboy reminds us that not all ghosts are here to haunt us. Charmingly designed with exquisite musical composition and engaging visual motifs, Ghostboy invites us to take a look at life for a few moments through the eyes of a child.

Whimsical, bright, and full of colorful imagery, this film takes us on the adventures of Alfie, a reluctant young boy moving into a new home with his unassuming grandmother and his perpetually upbeat mother.

Of course, he soon finds that his new home is already occupied by an evil hostage-taking spider, a creepy doll and most distressingly, a ghost-child. Not all ghosts are bad though, as Alfie soon discovers.

This short is one of those brilliant films that fires the imaginations and delights the senses of child and adult alike. With kid-friendly humor and just enough tension to keep the plot engaging from moment to moment, Ghostboy offers a pleasant mixture of fun and games that is enjoyable for the whole family.

The soundtrack and music design is beautifully constructed, the animation is delightful and visually lush and story is delightfully fun.

Enjoy the show!

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Movie Review: LUCY (2016)

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MOVIE POSTERLUCY, 16min, Greece, Family/Drama
Directed by Stamatis Giannoulis

Myrto and Kimonas, an elderly childless couple have just lost their pet dog Lucy of natural causes. The events that will unfold the day they take their beloved pet to the vet will make them reconsider their relations and give them the opportunity to realise that nothing can substitute their love which, they now put to the test for whatever they have left…

Seen at the August 2016 FAMILY FEEDBACK Film Festival in Toronto.

Movie Review by Kierston Drier

This story of a childless elderly couple who loses their family pet may seem like a simple concept, but the beauty in this piece is how much more in communicates than losing the family dog. From writer and director pair Stamatis and Alex Giannoulis, Lucy begins with our elderly couple discussing taking the pet into the vet.

The conversation seems tense, as though the couple have a history of not seeing eye-to-eye. Yet the husband rushes to his wife’s’ side when she breaks down over the animal. Of course, the pet has passed away, and it marks far more to the two of them than simply losing an animal.

Later, as the couple walks home, they pass a puppy in a local shop window, which bewitches the heart of the elderly woman. Good short films leave the audience with a sense that they are feeling something deeper, greater and larger than the sum of the films’ parts. In this case, the last scene in Lucy ties everything together, when we realize the couple’s’ pet of 18 years represented the children they could never conceive.

This animal was the focus in their lives and belonged to the world they built together. Lucy may take some viewers a little while to get into, but it is more than a story about losing a pet- it is a story about the capacity human beings have to love. A beautiful piece about the human heart and what keeps it beating.

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Movie Review: 101 CUPCAKES (2016)

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MOVIE POSTER101 CUPCAKES, 13min, Australia, Family/Drama
Directed by Jane Eakin

Healing comes in many flavours. An uplifting story about love, death and the healing power of cooking.

Seen at the August 2016 FAMILY FEEDBACK Film Festival in Toronto.

Movie Review by Kierston Drier

Grief is by far one the most complex and compelling emotions of the human experience. 101 Cupcakes, written and directed by Jane Eakin, dissects the emotion with an expertly spun tale combining the raw sorrow and comforting simplicity. Grieving daughter Amy, while cleaning out her late mother’s’ home, discovers evidence that her mother knew long before her death that she was ill and did not seek treatment. Amy spins quickly through several stages of grief (such as disbelief and anger) before stumbling across her mother’s cupcake recipe.

One of the wonderful things about this film is how efficiently it distills the themes of grief, loss, love and memory. Beyond the themes of the show, it is wonderfully edited and a special nod must be given to the Director of Photography. The memories, based flash backs, have a unique brightness and subtly that establishes the compassion and human connection Amy shares with her deceased mother.

This piece has a tear-worthy ending, and it comes from a place of honesty and compassion, not cliché. It has strong, human, layered characters and a wonderful sense of community. It is story that is simple, and yet rich. It is about the memories we keep, the lives we build, and the sweetness in even the most bitter moments of life.

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Movie Review: JAILBREAK (2016)

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MOVIE POSTERJAILBREAK, 1min., USA, Animation/Crime
Directed by Alise Munson

Shot in black and white, “Jailbreak” follows the daring escape of a prisoner fleeing his cell and his quest for sweet punishment. The animated short from HouseSpecial Director Aaron Sorenson is a German Expressionist-inspired design mash-up of stop-motion and illustration with a decidedly adult twist.

Seen at the August 2016 ANIMATION FEEDBACK Film Festival in Toronto.

Movie Review by Kierston Drier

Jail Break coming to us from the USA and directed by Alise Munson is a delight for the senses.

The curious duet of stop-motion and art illusion is superb creating a reality and
otherworldliness that is both engaging and visually decadent.

The animation in this piece is detailed, lush and highly satisfying. The story packs of humourous punch for so short a film coming in at just under one minute in length. You can’t help but side with our hard bitten hero, a complex criminal with some choice eclectic tastes.

Jail Break follows our criminal hero as he escapes from prison, narrowly missing guards and various obstacles only to get himself chained up in another, more pleasureably sense.

Comic irony that adults will enjoy, and might just go over the heads of a young audience. (Hopefully.)

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Movie Review: TIME SMASH (2016)

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MOVIE POSTERTIME SMASH, 2min., USA, Animation/Sci-Fi
Directed by Benjamin Reicher

A time traveler goes back 2 weeks to stop himself from going to Cynthia’s new years party. Unfortunately, he brings his cat along and forgets to let him back into the machine when he returns to the present. The cat grabs onto the machine last second, becomes radioactive, and ends up in ancient Egypt. What the time traveler finds when he returns to the present is pretty messed up….

Seen at the August 2016 ANIMATION FEEDBACK Film Festival in Toronto.

Movie Review by Kierston Drier

Time Smash by USA director Benjamin Reicher, is frankly, hilarious. This is due to simple cinematic mathematics. The plot is clear, simple and concise, the visuals are strong and punchy, the story is strong and the punchline is fantastic.

The result is quick, effective comedy.

Our story opens on a young man bent on time traveling into the past by two weeks to tell his past self to avoid going to a party. Yet on his way back he has an unexpected guest in his travel machine his pet cat.

The cat stumbles out of the craft halfway through the journey getting hurled somewhere into the depths of space and time. When our hero returns to the present the future has been utterly altered.

It’s “an Oldie but a Goodie” plot line that nevertheless relies on a killer pay off to make the story really sing. And Oh Boy, does Time Smash deliver. The only line in the entire film, is well worth the wait.

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Movie Review: 1916 (2016)

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MOVIE POSTER1916, 4min, UK, Animation/Drama
Directed by Oscar Lewis

An old man remembers the last time he saw his father, walking with him to the train station in rural England. This short film was made to mark the centenary of men with families being conscripted to the army in 1916 during WW1.

Seen at the August 2016 ANIMATION FEEDBACK Film Festival in Toronto.

Movie Review by Kierston Drier

Oscar Lewis, director of UK film 1 916 has chosen a story that is poetic and heartbreaking and it is visually interesting. The story appears to be the retold memory of that last time a boy sees his father.

The writing is poetic, thoughtful, abstract and heart wrenching as it slowly dawns on the viewer that the charcoal flip book style drawings we are seeing, are the worn and smudged memories of these final moments the child can recall with his father.

This piece is compelling, although slow moving. It is not a laugh a minute, raucous comedy, nor a bright whimsical romp through imagination.

It is a farewell letter from a son to his father, arriving a lifetime later. We know the narrator recognizes now what he did not recognize then that this one moment as his father walks him towards a the train that will carry the father off to war will be their final moments together.

Despite this mournful undertone the piece is not outrightly sad. It is reflective, pensive, and thought provoking.

Perhaps it is meant to remind us that memories can fade, like sketches in a book, and only with careful keeping, can we recall them and keep them close to us.

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Movie Review: SEA OF INK (2016)

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MOVIE POSTERSEA OF INK, 3min, USA, Animation/Drama
Directed by Chenxin Yang

Sea of Ink is a two-minute animation about an artist struggling with his creative block and his journey under the sea.

Seen at the August 2016 ANIMATION FEEDBACK Film Festival in Toronto.

Movie Review by Kierston Drier

Engaging and visually lush Sea Of Ink directed by Chenxin Yang is a stunning visual adventure.

High concept and open for interpretation, it seems to display one artist’s struggles to find the creative inspiration in his work. As he tries to make his hands do what his heart feels he finds himself sucked deep down into the bottom of a creative ocean.

Full of fantastic imagery and beautifully composed animation, this piece could be about a creative struggling with mental illness, creative writers’ block, or some sort of emotional turmoil.

It could be the artist falling deeper into their own mind or retreating into their own creative world. As the viewer, we may place onto the film whatever lenses we like regardless, enjoy the ride that is Sea of Ink it
will take your breath away.

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Movie Review: BOTTOMLESS (2016)

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MOVIE POSTERBOTTOMLESS, 2min, USA, Animation/Biography
Directed by Veronique Vanblaere

A Belgian woman seeks citizenship in the United States, and finds that her experiences are bottomless.

Seen at the August 2016 SCI-FI/FANTASY FEEDBACK Film Festival in Toronto.

Movie Review by Kierston Drier

This comical inversion on the classic fish out of water story is brought to us by Veronique Vanderlaere of the USA. An unapologetic and endearing story of immigration and assimilation, this piece will appeal to anyone who has ever felt the “otherness” of living what they know and becoming engulfed in someplace new.

Bottomless is refreshing! The artistic tastes are unique, the story is charming and most engaging perhaps is that the central story revolves around a tiny detail the nature of North American drinking glasses. It is not always the obvious change in scenery that gives a traveler culture shock it is the small things that remind us how far from home we are.

But our Heroine embraces her new home, and not only accepts the changes but loves them. A delightful story with some upbeat humor that will make you smile and long for an extra large soft drink.

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