Hello ladies and gentlemen, Muldoon here knee deep in some incredibly interesting films at Fantastic Fest. While I love all the familiar faces and really dig meeting new folks, it's a bummer that the thing doesn't seat 50,000 or that it's just not practical for everyone who wants to attend to take off work and head down here. Well, that's where Saturday Shorts comes in. This right here is the film fest that comes to you and admission's free. No lines. No ticket screw ups. No smelly dude/dudette next to you. This week we've got films from all over, covering all sorts of interesting and bizarre filmic styles. So if you're in the mood to get down on some genre bending slices of shorts, then let's just hop right to it, 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 OFFERING
TRT: 4:55
Straight from New Zealand and into your homes, director Elizabeth Crummett brings this kickass compact action film to help start this week off right. "THE OFFERING stars Jed Brophy (who plays "Nori" in THE HOBBIT) and award winning long sword fighter and stuntwoman Samantha Swords. The 4 minute short features a woman being held captive as a dragon sacrifice by an evil landowner. She must trick him into untying her and then fight her way to freedom.. and then, just spoiler, a massive dragon shows up and I'll let you find out what happens next. All shot and produced independently in Wellington, New Zealand. Much of our crew also worked on The Hobbit."
LIGEIA
TRT: 13:01
ANd next up is a lovely black and white love letter from director Paul Kramer to the king of goth, Mr. Edgar Allen Poe. "The short story, “Ligeia,” by Edgar Allan Poe, suggests that not only is life sustainable through the power of one's will, but a strong will could bring someone back from the dead. In both the classic story and in this film, a writer obsesses over the memories of his dead wife and longs to “restore her to the pathway she had abandoned.” Though the film is set in the modern world, it looks, sounds and feels as though it could have been made long ago."
Ligeia from JJ La Britt on Vimeo.
THE RED VALENTINE
TRT: 15:02
How about we shift gears a bit? Feeling like a damn fine film noir? Ah, me too! From writer-director Glenn Stewart we get this Australian made modern film noir that's well acted, and perfectly executed. (What more could you want? It's great.) "Australia, 1944… After a pair of young lovers are discovered dead, a tangled web of deception unravels, revealing that behind the passionate tragedy lies a dangerous truth."
"The Red Valentine" -- A Mindscape Films Picture from Glenn Stewart on Vimeo.
MEME COMES TO LIFE AND IS PISSED
TRT: 1:35
Random! That's exactly what I thought with selecting our next film. From the UCB Comedy gang, we have ourselves the other end of a meme. As someone who frequents reddit daily, I've seen my fair share of images with text on top in the attempt to be funny and welp, they can't all be gold... But hey, I don't see meme like this vanishing for at least a year... I kid, becuase I figure something else will pop up, like vining or something. At any rate, check out the video if you're in the mood for a harmless chuckle. (Thanks, Caroline M.)
FRONTIER: THE RISING SHADOW
TRT: 19:00
Here we our with our last title of the week, a full CGI story of starships and bad guys. "In the 23rd century humans have ventured into the stars. Two empires vie for power along the known sectors of the Milky Way - the Terran Imperial Union and the Dakota Republic. Marcus Caine has been called into action to defend his family from a Dakonus attack on the planet they were holidaying on." This piece was created by two hardworking "not going to stop until it's done" badasses named Gerrard Southam and Lewis Roscoe, so if you like what you see and want to see more, go hit up their new webseries and (if you feel inclined) pop in on their indiegogo to show them some love. *I really do my best not to just post kickstarts/crowd sourcing things, but damnit if the folks behind it are creative and not asking for an arm and a leg, there's no harm in it.*
BAM! That's it for this weeks ladies and gents. My apologies to the filmmakers if the the intros weren't as ellaborate and detailed as I typically like to do - this week's been slightly hectic... (Separate from the fest and anything with AICN), but to all the folks out there at home who got to check these projects out, what'd you think? Dig 'em? I'll see you all next week with a new batch of quality films from AICN readers.
And if you're at Fantastic Fest and feel like chit chattin - email me! or just look for the shortest guy at the bar wearing flip flops.
But hey, feel like more shorts? Check out any of the links below and time travel back to through all the bizarre ways I tried to format SS... (If only <center> transferred over from the big shift! Argh.):
Supernatural Goodness (6/30/12)
SciFi Explosions With Aliens (7/14/12)
Dark Comedy Extravaganza (9/8/12)
Goofy Comedy Laughsplosion (10/6/12)
Genre Basket of Awesome (12/1/12)
Horror-ish Creepfest (12/22/12)
Assorted Bits of Genre (2/16/13)
Laughter in Film Form (3/9/13)
The Sphere; Montauk; Meth; Anamnesis (3/30/13)
Stan Lee Parkour; Mediating Kidnapper; Red; Bullet Head; Shadow (4/6/13)
Carrot & Stick; Queen of Hearts; Paintwork; Trophy Wife; BFC: Big F*ckin Chicken (4/13/13)
Victorian Undead; The Glitch; Saw Misgivings; Dave Vs. Death (4/20/13)
Gratitude; Boo!; Game of Dim(Wits); How I Met Your Father (4/27/13)
Allure; Titans of Newark; The Knightswoon; The Magic Box (5/4/13)
Don't Move; Experimental; Blackout; Birthday Boys (5/11/13)
Abe; Judge Minty; Robto; The Bubble (5/18/13)
Unsaid; Time; Spare The Bullets Not His Life; The Forge; The Mortician (5/25/13)
Ice Cream; Giraffic Park; The Spell Book; Pop; Chris' Wire (6/1/13)
The Tea Party; Dawn; The Earth Rejects Him; Hangin; Faces: Why Do We Have Them? (6/8/13)
Dead-Funny; Dead Reel; Buckles; So Dark; Secret Identity (6/15/13)
A Killer Surprise; Hitchcock Assembled; The Arsehole Gene; Kill Him; Only in Dreams (6/29/13)
Mirage; Laundry Night; Kiss; Mathilda (7/6/13)
Machete Get Ready; En Passant; Eg Anda; Fade To Black; Shocker (7/13/13)
PostHuman; The Flying Man; Departure; Lucy; Nemesis (7/20/13)
I shot JFK; List; Ten Thousand Days; Sick Day; Bolero (7/27/13)
I'm Such a Carrie; Motherland; Mutt; Falling Apart; Save The Kiss (8/3/13)
The Olympians; Land Of Giants; Genesis; Melissa!; Vaccine; Promotion (8/10/13)
The Video Dating Tape of Desmondo Ray, Aged 33 & 3/4; White With Red; Sinkhole; The Autumn Girl; Melt; Ghost Train (trailer) (8/24/13)
Nitro Warriors 2; Vindicate; Ashtray; Three Legged Horses (8/31/13)
Sleep Walk; Star Drunk; Obsolescence In Love; Sunisoid (9/7/13)
Neon Killer; Future Duck; It Felt Good To Have This Pain; The Golden Age; Minotaur (9/14/13)
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 capactiy, 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
