Intermission: More Short Shorts

Let’s All Go to the Lobby

If you’re a regular reader, you’re no doubt aware that I’ve been reviewing a fair number of shorts lately. However, I find that it’s probably not worth your time or mine to devote an entire day’s review to a film that’s less than ten minutes long. That said, when scouring the internet for good short films (primarily via Short of the Week) I find a lot of shorts that I do want to take a look at. So, I figured today would be a good day to go ahead and look at some more short shorts. These films are all a bit longer than the last time I did this mostly clocking in in the six to eight minute range.

Epithet

Patrick Stewart stars in this surreal short film about an aging pretentious poet  who puts on a show of being profound in order to bed younger women. The film interweaves three fairly serious segments but does so for comedic effect. Stewart really does a great job of playing a likable cad here. He’s likable, but I still laughed when he ultimately gets what’s coming to him.

[Epithet (2012) - Directed by Angus Jackson - Not Rated]

Assault Girl

This short film by Ghost in the Shell director Mamoru Oshii is the predecessor to Assault Girls, one of the first films I watched for Wednesday Weirdness. This short is probably slightly less weird, due to it’s limited running time not allowing all the bizzareness that would be included in the feature film follow-up. However they do manage to get in some good weirdness though some bizarre (and I’m assuming ironic) product placement for KFC.

[Assault Girl (ケンタッキーの日菜子) (2007) - Directed by Mamoru Oshii - Not Rated]

Fifty Percent Grey

Fantastic computer animation, which is even better when one considers it was made in 2001. In this film a soldier wakes up to find that he’s died and is in the afterlife. It’s certainly not what he expects it to be. The film is ironic and clever. I was going to call it dark humor, but it’s not… I suppose it’d be more appropriateto call it grey humor.

[Fifty Percent Grey (2001) - Directed by Ruairi Robinson - Not Rated]

City Paradise

A strange blend of animation and live action, that doesn’t look anything like what you’d probably think of when you see that phrase. This film is about a young Japanese woman living and feeling out of place in London, then some things happen, and, well I’m not going to even try to describe it any more. It’s bizarre and beautiful, and my favorite film from today’s batch.

[City Paradise (2004) - Directed by Gaëlle Denis- Not Rated]

As a closing note, I’d always intended to end my “Winter Shorts Series” at the end of January, but I really have found that there are a lot of short films out there that are worth taking a look at. While I haven’t decided exactly how I’ll proceed, I’m thinking I may try to keep watching one or two short films a week. I know that at least one of my regular readers doesn’t like reviews of short films, so if anyone else has any input on whether reviewing shorts is worth my while, I’d love to hear it.