Hello ladies and gentlemen, your pal Muldoon here with this week’s handful of interesting short films from across the globe. Fingers crossed you’re in the mood to check out some comedies, science fiction fun, and a very dark/twisted short that just might leave you feeling a little less peppy this weekend. Whatever your weekend plans are, I’m glad I’m able to share in a tiny bit of it with these films below. While I typically like to limit the films that screen here to films submitted from AICN readers, this week includes two films that I found so wildly interesting, I just had to share. So whatever type of shorts you’re into, hopefully you’ll catch one below that just blows you away or changes your perspective a tiny, tiny bit. I’m just a happy guy getting to watch short films and share them with likeminded folks, so whatever you’re opinions on the movies are – feel more than free to throw out your own take on them in the Talkbacks below!
Go grab yourself some popcorn, lock your kids in a closet, kill the lights, relax and check out this little weekly film fest we've got ourselves here!
TRIAL
TRT: 15:56
To kick this week off right we've got a mindswapping short from David and Keith Lynch, The Brothers Lynch, that simply rocks. Here's a film that's been making waves across the internet, being featured over on shortoftheweek.com and getting that lovely Vimeo Staff Pick stamp. Of course awards aren't always thrown upon the best of the best as you'd expect, but in this case they are all super well deserved. This short is a proof of concept almost for the brothers' feature film RESIDUAL which is expected to shoot at the end of this year. If you're a GAME OF THRONES fan, a DOWNTON ABBEY fan, a fan of just well made short films - you'll be glad you hit play... "TRIAL is about a pioneering mind transfer procedure offering a quadriplegic soldier the chance of a new life... but at a terrible cost." Be sure to check the film's website out, where it features a pretty cool breakdown of how they pulled off one of their more impressive shots!
STAR STRUCK
TRT: 21:37
Next up is a film from Writer/Director/Editor Cheese Whiskers. With a name like Cheese Whiskers, there's got to be a larger than life personality attached, and fortunately that comes through with this solid film about a boy with a meteorite stuck in his head. Of all the directions that concept could go, Whiskers does the opposite. This is one of the more bizarre, yet incredibly sweet films I've seen in quite some time. The meteorite in the head is what gets you in the door, but the solid writing and excellent perfromances from such a young cast are what keep you watching until the credits pop up and you're left wanting more. Whiskers is in a league of his own... just take a look at his website or Vimeo Page to catch a whiff of what he's cooking.
Star Struck from Magnetizer on Vimeo.
COLOR TV, NO VACANCY
TRT: 11:38
Aronofsky eat your heart out (I kid, I love ya!), but our next film is on a whole other level. Here's an example of a short coming across my desk not by the filmmakers, but by a fellow short film enthusiast (cjohnston) and just rocked my world. The visuals here are almost illegal in that I had to stop and question whether I had accidentally taken any illicit substances before watching this, images that transcend the cinematic artform. High praise, hell yes, and I can't expect everyone else out there to feel the same as I did watching this - but holy hell, someone give director Daniel Brown a truckload of money and let him loose on a feature (please). Feel more than free to float over to Brown's Vimeo Page as it's full of stellar shorts, music videos, and more. I'm slightly taken aback at this guy's aesthetics. [MATURE CONTENT]
Color TV, No Vacancy from Daniel Brown on Vimeo.
NOTIFICATIONS ON
TRT: 10:28
Next up is a genre shifter, an interesting film from Director Justin Maine, featuring a score from Joe Kraemer. "After an unsatisfactory departure from her boyfriend, Lara visits her friend Megan in the country for a girls’ getaway. Although news notifications persistently warn them that something unusual may happen, the girls are too busy trying to sort out unfinished business to notice… until their ‘unfinished business’ comes to call in a way they can no longer ignore." Justin and his producing partner are currently workign on a TV series about Craft Beer in New York called, BREWED IN NY, as well as are in production on a cool doc about the game "Dragon's Lair" called INSIDE THE DRAGON'S LAIR. Be sure to check out what Justin and co. are up to over at their website for more info! [MATURE CONTENT]
ONE SUNNY DAY
TRT: 13:27
To wrap us out, we've got a film that is sure to (pantomime) a smile on your face! Adrian Masiello has created a fanciful film featuring pantomine, a film that has no dialog, though has no issue holding your attention for the 13 minute run time. "A circus clown named Sunny Day is finding it hard to be funny and ends up feeling blue. The Boss Man tells her that if she doesn't pick up her act by tonight, she'll be fired. Then a wandering street performer named Billy Bonkers enters the scene and resolves to help make her laugh again, by any means necessary…" The setting, complete with loud yellow circus tents and clown makeup perfectly detailed almost forces you to remember the joys of going to the circus as a kiddo (before you realized how horribly the elephants were treated and more). I'm happy to include this film as the last short of the day, especially given some of the more "downer" style flicks above. Definitely check out Masiello's Vagrant Films website to see more from the man!
One Sunny Day - A Comedy Romance in Pantomime from Adrian Masiello on Vimeo.
That's it for this week, ladies and gents! I hope you were able to catch a film that will be with you for a while, possibly a film you just wouldn't have seen otherwise. I'll see you fine folks a week from now with another handful of movies that I think are rather special. Monday's my birthday, so in that spirit - Everyone have an awesome Monday! In the mean time, feel free to click a link below if you'd like to take a trip into past SATURDAY SHORTS articles. Have a great week and whatever you do, just make sure you're takign a stab at whatever you're passionate about - like... say, makign a short film!
SATURDAY SHORTS 2012
SATURDAY SHORTS 2013
SATURDAY SHORTS 2014
SATURDAY SHORTS 2015
Hank & Honey: A Holiday Horror; Black Christmas; Grammy; Pick Ups (1/2/16)
Lilitu; Auld Lang Syne; Chronoshred; Ash Vs. Lobo Vs. The DC Undead (1/9/16)
Believe; The Dragon's Blade; Native Immigration; The Problem With Friends (1/23/16)
Harbinger; Hyperthermia; The Chickening; Head (1/30/16)
Erebus; Boldly Gone; Cupcakes; City In Crisis; Vandalaze "Great Big Things" (2/6/16)
Blurry; American Virgin; Azarkant; The Homing Bird; Sex, Lies, And Terminators (2/13/16)
Connected; Terry And Brenda; Fuck Buddies; Audrey; BigHead Walking Dead Parody (2/20/16)
Absence; The Adept; MAT ZO - "Sinful;" Dreamco; Hoot (3/12/16)
Pop Music; Tumble Dry Low; Rooms; Promise; Darth Maul: Apprentice (3/19/16)
Status Update; Kafka's Little Fable; Ghoster; I Got Your Nose; Creature Feature (4/2/16)
Steve; The Good Survivor; Field of Screams; Mirrored; Jack Edwards - "Falling In Love" (4/16/16)
Rest Stop; The Technician; Romp; Who's There?; If Joke & Harley Quinn Were A Normal Couple (4/23/16)
If you have a short and think it belongs here or are on the fence about whether to send it in, please do send it in - I'd love to see what you've put together. I've already seen hundreds of fresh new filmmakers' shorts and like any good addict, I need more!
Shoot me an email at "Mike@aintitcool.com"
In the subject line include:
“SHORTS” + “Your film’s name” + “The film’s genre”
Then, in the body of the email, please include a synopsis of the film and any contact information you might think I need or would want published. The more info you send my way, the more info there is to put with your short.
Please don’t feel the need to submit multiple times.
Remember, the filmmakers might still be in the audience, so feel free to share your thoughts in Talkbacks below. (JUST DON'T BE AN ASSHOLE). I picked them, so you know I think highly of all of these, but how about you fine folks? How'd you like 'em?
BY THE WAY: If you've had a short featured here, that means that I personally am a fan of your work, so feel free to shoot me any kind of news on new projects/films/whatever. I can't say I'll be able to help or in what capacity, but I'm interested in your work and am always down to see more! (Keep making cool stuff, everyone!)
- Mike McCutchen
"Muldoon"
Mike@aintitcool.com
