Hello ladies and gentlemen, Muldoon here with this week's selection of short films, your weekly short film festival here in the heart of AICN. This week we have a mix of "super fucking creepy," "hyper stylized violence with talking animals," and a film that is sure to give you warm fuzzies, a rather eclectic block of films for your weekend viewing. It's always my goal to present you folks with something you've never seen before, or a spin on something familiar that's presented in a way you have yet to experience. This week is packed with what I consider to be genuine talent, an array of artistry. Of course that's just my singular opinion as there's no team of folks who democratically decide what goes up here - it's just me and what I think is cool. Hopefully you can enjoy each film, but if you don't - well that's okay, because next week might magically be everything you want in a block of shorts. So be sure to full-screen each film, crank the volume up, and give each short a fair shake. (They deserve it and you'll get more out of it that way.) Provided the bulk of SATURDAY SHORTS films are created by filmmakers in the AICN audience, feel more than free to share your thoughts in the Talkbacks below - you could find yourself getting a question answered by the film's creator right here on the interwebs... Kind of cool how that works.
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:
THE LAMP
TRT: 14:33
Writer/Director Trevor Juras has our first film of the week, a very simple, yet bizarre as hell film involving two individuals on a first date (via the internet). It's a well acted slow burn of a film that feels real. Kudos to the film's two leads, Andrew Hayes and Shaina Silver-Baird for "feeling real" rather than feeling like I'm watching someone remember their next line. " Internet dating... How can you really know who you've spent your evening with?" Trevor also has his first feature film, THE INTERIOR, premiering this next Monday at Fantasia Fest. If anyone out there is able to check the film out, I'd love to hear your thoughts. In the mean time, here's THE LAMP:
The Lamp from Trevor Juras on Vimeo.
TIME TO KILL
TRT: 10:01
Let's change gears a bit and check out a comedy from Director Justin Rettke about a man who is paid to murder people. "For years, we've seen that moment. The hit man, sitting in the chair, moonlight slicing across his face, his gun pointed at his sputtering victim. Harris (Christopher T. Wood) is such a man, so very good at what he does. What he’s not so good at is filling the time before the kill. Time he spends questioning his life, wondering if he even has one. Harris can kill anything that moves... except time."
Time to Kill from Cindy Hong on Vimeo.
WOODCHUCK CITY
TRT: 5:02
Time for some animated insanity, thankfully I know just the man for us: director Matt D. Lee. I've been fortunate to have screened a few of Matt's films here and I just can't help but eat them up. They're so packed with imagination that I can't not like them. This one's got two badass cops, a tortoise and a hare, who have to deal with a hostage sitaution being purpotrated by baddies with Coffee Cups for heads. "Officer Tommy Tortoise and Officer Harry Hare attempt to takedown a crime ring at a coffee shop."
WOODCHUCK CITY from Matt D. Lee on Vimeo.
A GOOD FISH
TRT: 8:37
Next up is a film that doesn't rely on crazy violence or creepers, it's a drama that knows exactly what it is and does a damn fine job with hooking us in to something that might otherwise seem mundane. Director Nicholas Payne Santos presents a film that feels straight out of real life, people dealing with death. "Left with nothing by their recently deceased father, two aimless brothers head home to face his funeral." Be sure to swing by Santos's website for more info on the guy! He's also raising money for a new film: BREAK, so feel free to check out his Kickstarter Pitch Page if you're curious.
A GOOD FISH from BullMoose Pictures on Vimeo.
THE UNTRAINED
TRT: 3:51
Let's go out with a bang, possibly from a hitman. In a truly odd coincidence, you might have noticed this week I was sent two films involving a hitman waiting for an individual to come home so that they splatter their braings on a wall. I like them both for different reasons, which is why I decided to not "hold on until next week" with either one of them. Steven Vitale has our last film, a film absolutely full of energy - a great film to end this week's block on. This film's over the top, silly, but still cool as hell. It's short, sweet, and doesn't wear out its welcome. Be sure to check out Steven's website (which is full of his shorts) for more info on the guy!
BAM! That's it for this week, ladies and gents. I'll see you fine folks a week from now with yet another handful of fun films (and possibly sad, but damn good films as well). If you've got a great idea for a short, there's nothing stopping you from making it. So go out, make something insanely awesome, and remember your buddy over at AICN who's always watching short films... Have a good week. I'll see you all later.
SATURDAY SHORTS 2012
SATURDAY SHORTS 2013
SATURDAY SHORTS 2014
The Off Season; Why Does My Girlfriend Text So Much?; Landscape; The Magician (1/3/15)
Atropa; Good Conduct; Ulla; Blackouts; Pizza And Bullets (1/10/15)
Vicki; Strange Thing; Kill The K-Cup; The Grandson; The Dark Walk Backward (1/24/15)
Leonard In Slow Motion; A Good Man Is Hard To Findl The Baker; Certified; Chloe (1/31/15)
Old/New; Alexia; The Beating; Temblor; Royal Blood "Out of the Black" (2/7/15)
Hibernation; Good Morning; Refrigerator; Bar Talk; A Lady & A Robot (2/15/15)
Fish Friend; The Outer Darkness (Part 1); Bus Stop; Don't Look There; Valentine (2/21/15)
The Gold Sparrow; The Brain Hack; Blood Drinker; Meet Your Maker; Al Pacino As Han Solo (2/28/15)
The Pavement; Breathe; The Black Rock Mountain; Plain Clothes; Whispers (3/7/15)
Sequence; Teasers; Static; I do; Point Of Interest (3/14/15)
Moonwatch; Robert's Circle; Tongues; No more Tomorrows; Slit (3/22/15)
Terminal; Windscreenwiperman; Ringo; Sunglasses; Sundays (3.28.15)
Trunk Troubels; The Last Time I Saw Richard; One Thousand Years; Tourists; Tides Of Change (4/4/15)
Moments; SBCR | The Grid; If One Plays Music; One In A Million; Don't Hug Me I'm Scared 4 (4/11/15)
Burnt Grass; Manicorn; Dear Friend; L'invitation Au Voyage (4/18/15)
Bad Guy #2; State Zero; No Help; Attack of the Brainsuckers; Super Mario Taken (5/23/15)
Predator: Dark Ages; Imprints; Back To The Fuhrer; Crime And Punishment (5/30/15)
Frames; Crow Hand; Streamline; Good Treatment; Remains; Scorpion Vs. Jason (6/6/15)
Dollar Night; A Modern Marriage; Hideaway; Jurassic World Trailer Parody (6/13/15)
Waterborne; Gotcher; Bloomers; Savage | Like Michael Jackson; A Killer Of Men (6/21/15)
The White Wolf; What You Can Burn; Pedal; Domestic Protocol; Grady Franey - Safe Word (6/27/15)
Meltdown; Blood From A Stone; The Gate; Memorize; Abe; The Visitant (7/4/15)
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
