Short Film Saturday

Short Film Saturday: Bedfellows

Posted on by bernardovillela

Introduction

No, Short Film Saturday is not over. When scheduling in advance I had horror films slated for the 61 Days of Halloween slot, and wasn’t watching many other shorts so there was a hiatus. When I watch some more I’ll keep the schedule filled. Enjoy. 

Bedfellows

At this point it’s likely you’ve discovered this film. However, one of the issues that the Internet presents is that “If it’s not new, it’s not worth it” seems to be the mantra. This is a highly effective, creepy short worth your few minutes.

Short Film: Headlong

Posted on by bernardovillela

Introduction

Quite a few notes before this one.

First, since this post I’ve shaken up the schedule a bit so it’s a rare non-Saturday short film.

Second, this is a post that is a repurposing of an old-school Mini-Review Round-Up post. As stated here I am essentially done with running multi-film review posts. Each film deserves its own review. Therefore I will repost, and at times add to, old reviews periodically.

Lastly, it’s also the rare occasion on a Short Film Saturday where I will not link directly to an upload of the short film, but you can rent it for $0.99 for three days, link at the very bottom (below the trailer). Enjoy!

Headlong (a.k.a Corps perdu)

Typically in January when the release calendar is light of things really worth taking too long and hard a look at I get to browsing the IMDb for upcoming releases from the previous year’s standouts. That’s how I came to learn of the existence of this short film which stars Young Actor nominee Jelle Florizoone and co-stars Thomas Coumans, who worked with him in North Sea Texas.

Now being a short of about 17 minute I don’t want to discuss it too closely, but I can share two thoughts; one of my own and one from the film’s director. My biggest takeaway from Headlong is that it’s a lovely portrait not just of a fleeting encounter, but also of how a souvenir earns significance in a person’s life. The second is from the film’s director, Lukas Dhont, in an interview:

The main thing I tried was to make a film that could be interpreted as a love story but just as easily as something else. This tension between characters and openness in interpretation is the thing I’m still most happy with. I don’t really like gay shorts that evolve just around the gay eroticism.


8/10

You can rent it here:

Boys on Film X from Peccadillo Pictures on Vimeo.

Short Film Saturday: Trevor (1994)

Posted on by bernardovillela

For June, at least in the short film department, I will be featuring gay-themed films for Pride month. 

Here is what I wrote about Trevor when I featured it in My Year in Film: 1994.

This film I first saw only last year. It’s the only short on this list. It’s almost more important for its significance than the film itself for this film is what spawned The Trevor Project. Perhaps what’s most impressive is that it really was ahead of the zeitgeist in terms of a hot button issue. It deals with a youth struggling with his sexuality and is suicidal. It won an Oscar after it was made and was re-introduced in a TV special hosted by Ellen DeGeneres but now it has a third incarnation as The Trevor Project is one of the most notable and active NGOs in the nation right now. Granted its a film buoyed by its message and its significance but few films, especially shorts, have this kind of track record so far as reemergence and staying power are concerned.

It’s a bit of a somber piece, that’s bittersweet at best, so “enjoy” seems an inappropriate sign off. I hope you find the film as enlightening as I did, at the very least as to the origins of a very worth cause.

Short Film Saturday: Hoje Eu Não Quero Voltar Sozinho (VIDEO – Subtitled)

Posted on by bernardovillela

Being June now the shorts will be fitting for LGBT Pride month and if you read the blog regularly the first selection will not be that surprising.

This short eventually was expanded into last year’s BAM Award Winner for Best Picture, Best Foreign Film and Best Director, titled in English The Way He Looks.

As fate would have it I saw the feature first, but having seen them both I can assure you there are surprises in store for those who have seen either of the two. The longer version adds conflicts, expands on themes and has a few different surprises in store. Whereas there are some different surprises here.

Click the “CC” icon for myriad subtitle options.

Short Film Saturday: Minnie the Moocher (1932)

Posted on by bernardovillela

This is a pre-Code/Depression era short featuring Betty Boop. I’m not much of an authority on the character. I knew some of the shorts when I was a kid before I saw Who Framed Roger Rabbit I’m sure. Those were likely the more sanitized Code era shorts. So, yes, the imagery here will be a littleut even animated shorts felt the power of the Depression.

An interesting pre-cursor to The Three Little Pigs that features similar ideals if a different vibe. It takes some of Cab Calloway’s songs and dramatizes them well. I almost snuck this on to a Music Video Monday post but decided against it.

Enjoy!

Short Film Saturday: Alma

Posted on by bernardovillela

It would not do too well to set this one up too much, but here’s a teaser: there is no dialogue, a simple, well-rendered premise and one brilliant cut that says it all. It’s visual, jaw-droppingly well-rendered in its simplicity, and memorable even down to the score.

The short has been optioned by DreamWorks Animation to be developed into a feature. See the short now to get a leg-up; and was created by a Pixar animator. Proof, yet again, that animation is a medium and not only for kids’ stories; but kids with an ability to deal with the macabre can see this.

Enjoy!

Short Movie Saturday -Roundhay Garden Scene (1888)

Posted on by bernardovillela

Yes, you read that right. 1888. This is the oldest known surviving film fragment. While the YouTube claims it’s 65 seconds long that’s because of replays and slow-motion replays. It’s actually two seconds long. Sure, that’s not much to go on, but in such a young art something so old is noteworthy. Furthermore, Movies Silently, where I discovered this snippet brings some humor to its brevity:

That’s where the fun really comes in. Put on your best know-it-all voice and proclaim that the second half did not live up to the potential of the first. That you feel the film could have done with tighter editing. That the symbolism of the garden scene strikes at the very meaning of life itself.

Welcome to the in-joke! (And a very important milestone in the history of cinema.)

Enjoy!