Hello ladies and gentlemen, your pal Muldoon here with this week's lineup of badass short films created and submitted by AICN readers like you and me. 100% of today's lineup were made by normal folks (with talent) who peruse the pages of AICN for info/scoops/etc... You'd think it would've sunk in already the idea that we have some wildly talented filmmakers out there in the audience, as in after doing SATURDAY SHORTS for the past few years, I'd have hit the ceiling somehow and "seen it all." That's just not the case. When I catch an email from a person I've never come across before and see that they've built a solid short film that captivates and kills it - it's like a well deserved smack to the back of the head. Today's films are an onslaught of awesome in that sense given they're fresh and fun. Clearly this is all my opinion and your tastes might not align with mine, but hot damn am I pumped to share these films with you ladies and gents. There's terror, laughter, and a handful of truly "wtf" moments in the films below, so let's hop on in and get this film loving shindig going, eh?
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 ITCH
TRT: 6:50
Let's kick this party off with an animated film from Patrick Schoenmaker. Patrick created this film back in 2010 and just recently put it on the net. "A promising young love turns into a dragging marriage, unbearable for everyone involved, including the dog. He is bored to death in the squeaky-clean house of his neat freak mistress. But an uninvited guest might bring some welcome playtime around the house." With such energy, cool character designs, saturated pretty colors, and an overall mood that'll leave you in a better mood than you started with, I can't wait to see more from Schoenmaker. He's got an animated Indiana Jones fan film in the works, which certainly has me excited. Be sure to check out his personal website and the Youtube page for the animation collective he's a part of!
TEDDY BEARS ARE FOR LOVERS
TRT: 9:40
Hot damn is our next film something special. Director Almog Avidan Antonir and Producer Matthew Hawksworth bring us a short in the vein of GREMLINS or SMALL SOLDIERS. The short follows "a 20-something Casanova who becomes haunted by the teddy bears he gave to his ex-girlfriends." Antonir utlized numerous animatronics to bring these teddy bears to life, a load of practical effects with vfx as cleanup, the best way to do it (well, for the most part). I'm over the moon for this one, it's as absurd as it is brilliant - I love it and not only want to see what short the two make next, but hope these guys do a feature sooner than later!
DEAD BIRD POCKET
TRT: 1:48
Joe Estas and Lloyd Estas are back with another solid slice of "wtf." You may remember their past films, like BLOOD DRINKER, DEATH MASTER'S HOUSE, etcc... These guys have a style that feels unique, something next to impossible. (It's like a funnier version of Wes Anderson with input by Jared Hess and hints of Edgar Wright.) "Finish a drink, rewind some tapes, vigilante practice and settle an unexpected score. Morton has a busy day ahead of him before he can go to watch his favourite film at the cinema." Head over to their production blog to stay up to speed with their work!
DEAD BIRD POCKET from Holomax on Vimeo.
Armand Van Helden: WINGS
TRT: 3:15
Boom! Next up is another solid music video from James Chappell, a guy who consistently delivers badass visions of style and energy, but rarely repeats himself. I'm always down to see what James is working on and hope he continues to push the envelopes of the music video world. Again, I'd love to see him do a feature - it'd be something truly unique. Do yourself the solid of hitting up his website and catch his work.
ARMAND VAN HELDEN | Wings from James Chappell on Vimeo.
A GAME OF NUMBERS
TRT: 3:14
To wrap us out, we've got a fun animation from Mike Scott. "What if the sports business was run like any other? Players during the middle of a football game find out what it's like to be in the normal working world." It's just my speed of dry humor. If you like what you see, then think about clicking over to the Happy Fatties Facebook Page!
BAM! There we are, ladies and gents - a taste of pure imagination from five talented folks and their teams of creatives. I hope you caught a film today that you really dug and simply wouldn't have seen otherwise. I'll see you all next week with another selection of fun films! In the mean time, travel back in time with the links below to past SATURDAY SHORTS articles!
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)
Trial; Star Struck; Color TV, No Vacancy; Notifications On; One Sunny Day (5/14/16)
You Are Not Alone; Giraffe Soup; Brother; Bury Tomorrow - "Last Light"; Rain (5/21/16)
The Group; The Trap; The Echo of Small Things; Alison Blaire - "The Sight of Sound"; James (5/28/16)
Blinking Lights; Dédalo; Invisible; Identity Crisis (6/25/16)
Schackled; Miss Nobody; I Hate Mondays; Jefferson; Mary's Passion (7/2/16)
Swap; Ghostbusters: All Manned Up Edition; The Invisible Man; Sleep Tight; Defining Fay (7/10/16)
Carl; Flat Tire; Loree's Crazy 'Bout Kittens; Chum Zone II: Shark Fin Soup; Archetype (7/16/16)
The Chaplain; Bump CLassique; The Listener; Timelike; Fantasy Hospital Episode 4 (7/23/16)
Trial Run; Thick Air; First Date From Hell; Rise; God, Me And The Salty Peanuts; Graves (7/30/16)
Deathly; The Hope You Promised Love; Surrender; Crumb; Deep 6 (8/6/16)
Broadhurst "Take Me Down;" Prungen; The Paris Syndrome; Foxed!; Ecstacy Boulevard (8/14/16)
Heartburns' a Killer; Draft Eight; Versus; Chainsaw; Injustice For All (8/20/16)
Sebastian; Where You Are; Xenos; The Line; Sand Boys (8/27/16)
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
