Three minutes long, writer-director Chelsea Devantez’s Basic is a very short film. Certainly very short for a film that so effectively demonstrates who its characters are. Basic hits at a primary instinct in people: to come out superior to everyone else, especially a perceived rival (emphasis on perceived). Devantez dives right into it: a beautiful,… Continue reading Basic: A Sharp Critique Of People
Category: Reviews
A Leg Up: Lesson In Surviving A Rigged System
Playing by the puns in the title, Joe Jennings Jr.’s A Leg Up is a neatly knit together piece on the drug menace in Atlanta, the detrimental capitalistic system of the United States of America and the subordination of the African-American population in one string. If that seems too much, Jennings does a good job… Continue reading A Leg Up: Lesson In Surviving A Rigged System
Chomp: Love Letter To A Good Boy
Navjot Kaur’s animated short Chomp has a very simple look, using only the basics of animation styles. The story it tells is simple too, even a little lost in the “minimal” look, but underneath that, it is heartwarming, a feel-good story through and through. Simran has opened her own pharmacy, away from home in a… Continue reading Chomp: Love Letter To A Good Boy
If I Rise: Allowing Protagonists A Real Choice
One would think a film such as this could not surprise you. For, even if it is moving, what could a writer change in a story whose central question is whether the protagonist would rise? But Ian Stoker-Long’s If I Rise, co-written by Francesca Ling, does offer something new: a protagonist’s real agency in choosing… Continue reading If I Rise: Allowing Protagonists A Real Choice
Bummer: Juxtaposing Family Squabbles In The Larger Scheme Of Mega Asteroids
You are celebrating life and the news of impending, inescapable doom shatters the spell. How do you feel? Barry Worthington’s Bummer comes with a smack-you-in-the-face premise: life, all life, on all of the Earth is about to end in a matter of hours. Worthington keeps the focus of this mammoth catastrophe on a mother-daughter duo,… Continue reading Bummer: Juxtaposing Family Squabbles In The Larger Scheme Of Mega Asteroids
Be Your Own Kind: Three Acts; One Tale
Inspired from a personal experience, Be Your Own Kind is a montage of sorts, an experimental short of 7:57 minutes in duration that brings together three strangers and their star-crossed destiny. That it leaves you clueless by the end of it with its open-ended segment is one thing, but with its honesty, it offers an… Continue reading Be Your Own Kind: Three Acts; One Tale
Boomslang: A Perfect Ensemble For A Dark Comedy
Director Trevor Ryan’s 14:13 minutes long Boomslang is an even-paced, sinisterly comedy of a serial killer and his ambitious venture into a new town. Ryan Vincent is Erik Boomslang, the charming protagonist who doesn’t take a minute to let you into his thoughts. As facinorous as they might be, his soothing voice makes them seem… Continue reading Boomslang: A Perfect Ensemble For A Dark Comedy
Overcast: Inside The Mind Of Abuse Victims
Anthony Kalmeta’s Overcast is a harrowing 25-minute experience (although not always to its credit) detailing the unstable life of a 13-year old boy with his father, following the disappearance of his mother. It is an oppressive house; Eric’s father, Harry (Lane Wray) does not have a job, entertains no questions and always appears to be… Continue reading Overcast: Inside The Mind Of Abuse Victims
Self Servers: A Relentless Satire On Millennials
It is human nature itself to be conceited and self-obsessed while consistently attempting to outshine others, perhaps even obliterate their achievements in order to emerge superior. In his 22-minute short film Self Servers, Eliezer Vergara puts forth a clever satirical portrayal of the pomposity of people at a semi-formal soiree, turning the focus this time… Continue reading Self Servers: A Relentless Satire On Millennials
Lucy: A Moving Story Of Two Unsuspecting Characters
James (James Aaron Oliver) is an electric scooter collector in Los Angeles. His achingly lonely life is evident right from the opening shot. As the camera follows him around, we go about his routine as he does. The emptiness unbearable beyond a point, James is perhaps the silent voice to the countless battling depression amongst… Continue reading Lucy: A Moving Story Of Two Unsuspecting Characters