Sundance 2013 (Short Films, with links)

I'm still in that too-lazy-to-watch-a-full-movie mood so I'll be checking out some of the short films the Festival has put on Youtube. I know I'm several months too late, but I wasn't into shorts before. But now I am :) So let's watch! Take your pick, or watch them all... you know you have time for short films. :)

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THE APOCALYPSE

By Andrew Zuchero
Running Time: 5:46

Four uninspired friends try to come up with a terrific idea for how to spend their Saturday afternoon.


Click HERE to watch  :)

MY RATING: 4.5/5 - I would have given this a 5/5 for its sheer humor and WTF moments, but the last part felt like a setting for a cheap porn flick and I wanted to laugh hysterically while waiting for a pizza delivery boy to come a-buzzing. Maybe it's intentional (the porn feel) but I'm just glad there's no pizza boy or Mr. Sexy Plumber. The ending was hilarious though.

Truly, ignorance is bliss. lol. Two words about the film - MIND-BLOWING & BIRDBRAIN. CAUTION: DON'T OVERTHINK THIS FILM. Just enjoy the ride.

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WHAT DO WE HAVE IN OUR POCKETS?

By Goran Dukic
Based on the short story by Etgar Keret  (Click HERE to read the story)
Running Time: 4 mins

A most unusual love story unravels when the objects in a young man's pockets come to life. 

"Author Etgar Keret and journalist and editor Dov Alfon have started a new intiative called storyvid, an attempt to create the literary equivalent of a music video." - Sadie Stein

Click HERE to watch the film :)

MY RATING: 4.5/5 - Storyvid... a music video for literary people. Sounds really nice. :) Looks really nice too. Gives color to an otherwise drab day you are experiencing. Would love to see more of these in cable tv.. LTV (Literary TeleVision), wouldn't that be awesome? lol.

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CATNIP: EGRESS TO OBLIVION?

By Jason Willis

Running Time:  7 mins

Catnip is all the rage with today's modern feline, but do we really understand it? This film frankly discusses the facts about this controversial substance.

Click HERE to watch the film :)

MY RATING: 3.5/5 - NIP TRIP!! this is one funny, satirical, psychedelic trip! LOL.

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BROKEN NIGHT

By Guillermo Arriaga
Running Time:  less than ten minutes

A young woman and her four-year-old daughter drive across desolated hills. Everything looks fine and they seem to enjoy the ride, until an accident sends them into the nightmare of darkness.

This film is shot entirely using Nikon D800

Click HERE to watch the film :)

MY RATING: 4/5 - terrifying in a quiet way. Beautiful and creepy... and sad. Not exceptional, but effectively enigmatic and smart.

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THE EVENT

By Julia Pott

Based from the poem of Tom Chivers

Running Time:  3 mins

Love and a severed foot at the end of the world.

Click HERE to watch the film.

MY RATING:  3/5 - it's interesting to see a mix of 2D animation and real backgrounds, and I liked the narration and all that.. But this is one of my least favorites.

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SERAPH

By Dash Shaw
Running Time:  less than 7 mins

A boy's childhood scars his life.

"Seraph comes as part of Sigur Ros‘ Valtari Mystery Film Project – a challenge to a baker’s dozen of filmmakers to make a short using the music from the band’s new album. The result here from John Cameron Mitchell and Dash Shaw (whose animation work was in Rabbit Hole) is astonishing in its childlike visuals and moving in the story it tells." -FilmSchoolRejects 

Click HERE to watch the film.

Click HERE to check out all the videos included in Sigur Ros' Valtari Mystery Film Project.

MY RATING: 4/5 - a sad & haunting tale of self-loathing, sexual repression, and forced morality, instilled in a boy through violence and religion. OPEN YOUR EYES.

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WHEN THE ZOMBIES COME

By Jon Hurst
Running Time:  less than ten minutes

At a hardware store in the middle of no where fans of the walking dead have turned their love of zombies into an obsession which has warped the way they see the store and costumers.

Click HERE to watch.

MY RATING: 2/5 - I guess you just gotta have some zombie film/show anywhere you go. This has some funny stuff yes, with The Walking Dead references and all, but c'mon, is this really Sundance material? The shaky cam, the "ring leader", the docu style, -- annoying. There's a disclaimer that ACE Hardware doesn't support or affiliate itself with this film - harhar, this smells like a giant advertisement. If you like shows like Doomsday Preppers (I do, lol), you might enjoy this one. It's not super bad, it's just not at par with the other Sundance entries.

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THE ROPER

By Ewan McNicol & Anna Sandilands

Running Time:  6 mins

This is the true story of Kendrick, a young, black calf roper grafting through the local, all-white rodeo circuits in the southern United States. He practices and competes relentlessly, with dreams of one day making it to the National Rodeo Finals in Las Vegas.

Click HERE to watch.

MY RATING: 3/5 - an inspiring, feel-good short worth watching.

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I hope you enjoyed these films. I surely did - well most of them. :) 

Which one did you like best?

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