Hello ladies and gentlemen, Muldoon here coming to you just hours before Saturday cracks into Sunday with this week's healthy serving of quality shorts. I've been running around downtown Austin all day permit-less and filming like a guerilla madman just begging for a ticket - so sincere apologies for posting so late in the day - not how I like to roll, but this week's been a tad hectic. Anyways, today you have before you another plethora of mixed shorts - no genre theme today - that are just waiting to blow you away. I get it, in this day and age if something doesn't snap you into it in the first 10 seconds it's easy to simply click off it, but this week's got a few gems that pay off quite well if you watch them through. I realize how apologetic that might read, but honestly it's for your benefit (at the risk of sounding pretentious and snobby). Relax a bit and just let the story do it's thing and BAM! all of a sudden you'll be pleasently smacked in the face with some pretty nifty "Didn't see that coming" or "Damn, that was a solid film." Or the flip side is you could hate every single one of these shorts (which if that's the case... no biggy, just don't be an asshole in the talbacks please). Be cool, speak your mind, have some fun checking out (hopefully) new shorts you might not see otherwise, and I just hope you dig what I've dug. I say it every week and I mean it, I'm a legit fan of each short I get to screen here and truly hope people keep shooting them in. It's a blast getting to see so many radically different styles every time I open an email.
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:
LAST DRINKS
TRT: 8:11
Thriller
It's an ordinary night in a downtown bar. Three priests are enjoying a laugh and a drink. But what's really going on? The clock is ticking. The waitress seems awkward. But they've only got one thing on their mind - one last drink.
Directed by Gabriel Dowrick
EXCES DE CARICATURE
TRT: 4:44
Politcal/Absurd Animation
I don't know much about French politics, but I know an interesting experimental flick when I see one and this is it. Might not be for everyone, but I think it's pretty neat and somewhat universal (sadly) of politicians in general.
"It is satirical, messy, strange, funny, and a bit absurd sometimes. The title comes from a 2007 quote of Sarkozy saying that he prefers an excess of caricature to an absence of caricature. The film mixes paper and digital, using various graphic styles, and has no dialog. Even people not hyper aware of French politics should get the idea. More info on the film, the exhibition etc can be found at www.paulpoutre.fr and also on the site of the "Fanzinothèque" (a library devoted to fanzines and independent press), who produced the exhibition : http://www.fanzino.org/evenements/pipo/pipo.html"
LOPRINZI'S IRON
TRT: 7:53
Documentary
This one was shot it with no description. That said, Andrew J. Harris has made a pretty interesting doc about a gym with a lot of history to it.
HER NAME WAS ANNABELLE
TRT: 0:43
Horror
Filmmaker Cole McKee and co. made this 43 second short for a local TV station's "43 Second Film Festival" without a budget and in that 43 seconds managed to hook me in. Fun stuff. Creepy stuff.
A man reflects on another failed relationship.
Her Name Was Annabelle from notifbutwhen on Vimeo.
SYNC
TRT: 9:32
Scifi - Action - Drama
I'm breaking a slight rule of mine - this is the first of an episode of online shorts that all work together. If you dig it, I urge you to check out the rest - if not, no biggy. If you feel like shooting any love at the filmmakers - tweet the guys at @corridordigital. Thanks to Tanner Thomason ("Charlie") for shooting this at me!
"It's called SYNC and it is the story of the world's first computerized human, Undercover Operative Charlie Cooper, and his determination to balance his humanity, violent job, and eventually his challenged immortality. Essentially his consciousness can exist in any 1 of his clone "shells" at a time. The transfer is facilitated by a supercomputer which gets infected by a computer virus, stripping charlie of his infinite lives."
I'll see you all next weekend with some fun shorts!. But hey, if you're in the mood for more SATURDAY SHORTS, click any of the links below:
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