Hello ladies and gentlemen, Muldoon here with your weekly fix of kickass shorts. Now it's no secret that horror and action seem to make up the bulk of my short watching diet and if you've been following SATURDAY SHORTS at all - I assume you might fall into that category as well (I could be wrong, so don't troll me bro), but every now and then you've got to remember to have some drama - some real passionate healthy morsels of intensity to balance your movie watching out. That leads us to this week, a solid chunk of drama, a first for SATURDAY SHORTS and while Ain't It Cool isn't really known for it's love of drama and I'm sure a handful of you fine folk might not be in the mood today, I strongly urge you to give these shorts a shot - doesn't have to be today (we catologue, so no biggy if you come back later) - but as always these are my picks for the week and I think they're all great.
I get all sorts of interesting shorts sent in and cannot express enough how lucky I am to get to see so many fresh visions/different takes, but honestly drama gets sent in possibly 5% and a good drama in my mind is a tricky beast. Horror/Action/SciFi/Comedy, you can always fall back on genre staples to keep your audience hooked, but a drama really has to suck you in and make you give a crap without adding a few extra gallons of blood or a few composited explosions from Andrew Kramer's Action Movie Essentials 2 (Bam! Not a plug - but if you get that reference, know this - I've seen my fair share of canned booms - though I've seriously got nothing at all against using them if it makes the film better.)
Okay, let's do it to it. Time to relax and prep yourself for a slew of great dramas. 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 HARD WAY
TRT: 6:54
Up first is Travis Thompson's meaty short where "Clay, a troubled high school senior, grapples with addiction following his father's death. His grades have plummeted, his relationship with his mother has become strained, and he now finds himself in the hospital following a life-threatening accident."
STRANDED
TRT: 22:03
Here we have director Luther Bhogal-Jones's day at the beach, a film packed to the brim with great preformances in a relatively tricky arena. Luther shot this thing over the span of two years and clearly stuck to the same vision throughout such a long and difficult time frame. Bravo for sticking with it, man.
"A violent man, his disabled brother, an estranged middle aged mother, her teenage daughter, a troubled man in his late 50s and a flamboyant pensioner sunning herself alone on the beach. All 6 people will find themselves - emotionally or physically - stranded."
Check out the making of blog HERE or follow the film on facebook, HERE.
HELP WANTED
TRT: 12:28
This next film was submitted by the film's editor: Ira Flowers and was directed by Teo Guardino. It was shot in a week for the Elevate Film Festival where it took home a bevy of awards. "HELP WANTED is an uplifting story about a down and out auto mechanic who finds inspiration in a new employee." Check out the film's IMDB page HERE.
THE TOUGH ONES
TRT: 16:20
Director Konish Dutta gives us his own take on bullying, a topic I think everyone in the universe, especially folk here on AICN can empathize with. (Yes, I realize how dickish you might interpret that, but seriously who here hasn't been bullied for something or other at some point in their childhood? I sure as hell was, it's not easy being the most attractive and awesome person in your high school, where everyone's jealous of you and all... I kid, I kidd.) THE TOUGH ONES = "When Gary gets bullied at school, his oldest brother Adam teaches him to stand up for himself. Despite their middle brother Vince's pleas, the three brothers follow the bullies into a forest where they try to deliver an act of revenge." Great film.
So there we have it, this week's SATURDAY SHORTS. But hold the phone, you want more? Four just wasn't enough? Even with the amazing speed of a faster load time? It's cool man, I've got you covered. Check out some of the past SATURDAY SHORTS in the list below. There's a bountiful supply of some really great stuff in them, so if you're new to SATURDAY SHORTS and have some time, check it out. - Who knows? Maybe you'll finnd something that blows you away - there's no shortage of unique and talented visions:
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.
Please don’t feel the need to submit multiple times. I swear to each of you I truly check every email I get, and sending the same short a few times just makes it a bit messier.
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?
- Mike McCutchen
"Muldoon"
Mike@aintitcool.com
