Hello ladies and gentlemen, Muldoon here with this week's edition of SATURDAY SHORTS, a weekly shindig here in the heart of AICN where filmmakers submit their shorts for you fine folks to check out. I'll admit, when I first kicked this column off a few years back - I was in love with genre blocks (grouping similar films and screening them all in big weekly chunks). Now however, I'm enjoying shuffling them together, so you really never know what you're in for. What I can tell you is you're absolutely in for a treat (or at least I think so). This week we've got some science fiction, comedy, action, horror, and drama all crammed together in the embedded awesomeness below. So, for example, if you're dying to see some fun space craziness, congrats - by clicking on the title with "spaceships" in it, you've landed one step closer to getting exactly what you wanted. I've got a (sick) sweet spot for horror, so you can rest assured you'll find that here, I just won't spell out which one/ones, in hopes that you'll give each film a view. It's my hope that you're able to go ahead and full screen each film - as well as crank the sound up to eleven. Some damn fine talented individuals worked their butts off making these and who knows, maybe you could find a film here today that'll change your life. (Who knows?) While I'm 300% certain my opinion/tastes might not always match exactly with yours, at the end of the day - I just hope you caught something you wouldn't have seen otherwise, maybe something that'll inspire you to go out and make something all your own. (Clearly, if you do - then be sure to send it my way!)
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:
ATROPA
TRT: 9:46
And to kick this week off right we've got a fun scifi film from Eli Sasich. "An Off-World Detective investigates the missing research vessel Atropa, and is met with a much larger mystery than he ever expected." Elie created this film as a taste for a much larger story, a full feature he's hoping to do set in the same universe as this short. If you like the film, then go hit up his Vimeo page (filled with robots and all sorts of craziness!).
ATROPA -- Sci-fi Short from Eli Sasich on Vimeo.
GOOD CONDUCT
TRT: 7:16
Next up we've got a film from Patrick Rea of SenoReality. This is one of my favorite dramas of the last few months. It's slightly bleak, but incredibly well done. This short's screened all across America and even took home "Best Kansas Short" at The Tallgrass Film Festival.
Good Conduct from Michelle Davidson on Vimeo.
ULLA
TRT: 6:37
Our next film is from director Colin Garcia and writer Tora Eff. "Withdrawn from the sentient world, a disturbed woman’s fiendish subconscious presents her with a choice to accept or refute the truth surrounding the brutal murder of her fiancé years prior. Through this confrontation with the self, Ulla obtains the key to psychological salvation." It's all in Danish, but was actually shot completely in and around Louisville, Kentucky!
Ulla from Colin Garcia on Vimeo.
BLACKOUTS
TRT: 3:28
Okay folks, so our next short isn't exactly a short - it's more of a handful of great sketches shoved together, but they're pretty well done and made me laugh a bit, so I think you'll have some fun with it. Eric Richter shot it in, but I believe it's from a group of young comedians who call themselves "Dandy Boy." I could totally be wrong (and if I am - Eric, please correct me!), but they're just great. I hope they keep coming up with more bizarre scenarious. Good stuff.
PIZZA AND BULLETS
TRT: 45:30
Boom! Our last short of the week, and this one's a tad on the long side. Nick Murphy's created a fun short out of two things I love "pizza" and "bullets" (ergh - I mean stylized action). Nick's spent four years building this film, something I can more than understand. So while this film might not be for everyone, it's fun, imaginative, and is unlike anything I've seen in quite some time. I just like stories where filmmakers kept at it, kept fighting the current to get their film made. Congrats, Nick!
Pizza and Bullets Official Movie (2010-2014) from Nick Murphy on Vimeo.
All right, ladies and gents - that's it for this week's SATURDAY SHORTS. I'll see you fine folks in a week with a handful of interesting films I think you might be interested in. In the mean time, you've got three full years of shorts to check out - if you're in the mood for awesomeness:
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)
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
