Eric J. Liddle’s second short Sunshine Periphery is in the same surrealist vein as his first, Mister Swolo. What distinguishes his second is the sheer magnitude it tackles, exploring a bewildering and as Liddle describes, fevered dream of a man at a crossroads in his life. Two things stick out about Sunshine Periphery from the… Continue reading Sunshine Periphery: Treating Introspection With Surrealism
Tag: Short Film Reviews
Buttons: Feel-Good Holiday Film
Eric Andresen’s Buttons is a tearjerker, deliberately so, and despite its potential, turns itself into the kind of mush that is hard to enjoy without considerable suspension of disbelief. Starring a broke father and daughter duo, who are so poor that they cannot afford heat on a wintry Thanksgiving, the film also adds in another… Continue reading Buttons: Feel-Good Holiday Film
Le Choix De Sofia: On The Two-Fold Effects Of Capitalism
Alain Deslongchamps’s Le Choix De Sofia (English: Sofia’s Choice, interesting choice of title) runs a double narrative, wildly different from each other on the surface: a marketing specialist fatigued by her commitment to the job, and the worldwide devastations of climate change. Yet the metaphorical comparison that Deslongchamps draws (rather skilfully) is a sensible one.… Continue reading Le Choix De Sofia: On The Two-Fold Effects Of Capitalism
Like Animals: The Inescapable Hells Of Happy Childhoods
Leland Montgomery’s Like Animals is a tense family drama revolving around three sisters who live in their childhood home and their brother who comes in from LA to announce that their life plans are about to be shelved indefinitely. The characters are first introduced on the day of their mother’s funeral. Irene’s internal monologue serves… Continue reading Like Animals: The Inescapable Hells Of Happy Childhoods
Distance: The Bittersweet Poignance Of Toilet Paper Today
On the subject of COVID-19, during COVID-19 (production followed strict guidelines), it goes without saying that Jesse Edward’s Distance is a timely film. Which sometimes hits and sometimes misses, but that’s a story for another paragraph. At the core of Jesse Edward’s Distance is the lemonade spirit, i.e., it turns gloom and even doom into an… Continue reading Distance: The Bittersweet Poignance Of Toilet Paper Today
Push Up: On Love Within Hate, And Vice Versa
Bryan Enk’s Push Up is named, on the surface, on one endearing moment between a couple: one drunkenly asks the other to do pushups and he complies, enthusiastic and affectionate. On the surface, nothing much happens in the film or to its two characters, Matt and Maggie. And yet this is a moving film, brimming… Continue reading Push Up: On Love Within Hate, And Vice Versa
Unseen: A Timely Pandemic Sci-Fi
Grace Goen’s pandemic sci-fi Unseen, seen at this time in history, is giving shape to some of our worst fears and paranoia. And there is a non-real but eerie parallel to boot: the virus in this film is transmitted by eye contact. This basiliskian nature of it may not be real and even sound absurd… Continue reading Unseen: A Timely Pandemic Sci-Fi
A Helical: An Experimental Sci-Fi Entrenched In Philosophy
Marcus McMahon starts out by hooking the audience in with the very title graphics of his 30-minute sci-fi A Helical. Which then progresses to graphics in the 80s and 90s style: chunky, pronounced shapes and bold colours. And enter our protagonist, A Helical, played by McMahon. This is an experimental film, and A Helical is… Continue reading A Helical: An Experimental Sci-Fi Entrenched In Philosophy
Furthest From: What A Good Screenplay Can Do
Jessie is 8. But sometimes, it does not show in her behaviour. With only her teenage sister around, it is clear who she is trying to emulate. Kyung Sok Kim’s 19-minute Furthest From (screenplay by Rex Reyes) delves into and demonstrates the character with such subtle detailing, it affords a moving look into a child’s… Continue reading Furthest From: What A Good Screenplay Can Do
Reading Gaol: The Ballad Of Oscar Wilde
Aymeric Nicolet’s honest portrayal of Oscar Wilde and his days in prison, leading up to the composition of De Profundis, is simply named Reading Gaol. And appropriately, it reflects as much on Wilde’s experiences as it does on the almost alive beast that is Reading Gaol. And yet again, this is not a surprise; the… Continue reading Reading Gaol: The Ballad Of Oscar Wilde