SXSW09 – Moon/Midnight Shorts
“There’s a smell coming from your vagina.”
The second day of the festival was pretty light. I had to work for the first half and got to play for the second…but there just weren’t very many interesting movies filling my slots. (That sounded a bit rude.)
Luckily, both of my choices were wise.
Directed by: Duncan Jones
Written by: Duncan Jones/Nathan Parker
Two men are stuck on the moon in a three year contract with a company that harvests H3 for the Earth’s energy consumption. They are just about ready to go home…but they are the same person. Or are they? And are either of them the original?
Duncan Jones and his star, Sam Rockwell (who is becoming one of my favorite actors these days), came up with this basically over dinner and it ended up being, so far, the best film I’ve seen at the Festival. Like the great sci-fi films of the 70s (Silent Running, Logan’s Run, Outland, etc), they have managed to create a movie with a great story, pretty realistic science and great practical effects that looked SO much better than any digital effects. (The split screening was done REALLY well, too. It looked like to different actors playing these two guys. I never thought, “Ok, that’s a double.”)
I loved this movie. Duncan could have more great films ahead of him. Sam was able to develop two characters who are seeded from the same character and make us care for both of them. And the story is told at times in a very emotionless way, but other times it is full of emotions. It’s kind of amazing how it manages to walk that line.
My favorite of the three characters in the film was actually the computer, Gertie, voiced by Kevin Spacey. They give him a smiley face to show his “emotions” and it’s pretty hilarious. It also makes him more human than you would think. (Shades of HAL, of course.)
Go see this movie. It’s a pretty amazing film that needs an audience.
MIDNIGHT SHORTS
This is one of the shorts programs that I always do my best to go see. They’re always fun, but I think this may have been a better batch than usual.
TREEVENGE (2008)
Directed by: Jason Eisener
Written by: Jason Eisener
–I saw this one before, which means that I’ve already reviewed it. This time, though, I really noticed how cool of a 70s style horror movie it is. Still freakin’ awesome.
Directed by: Tom Kuntz/Matt Dilmore
Written by: Tom Kuntz/Matt Dilmore
Um…I really have no idea what to say about this one. Gramma gets a new puppy and it has quite the gift for her. There’s no dialogue and, in fact, it all seems to be in slow motion. There’s some nice, muzaky music. And then the creepy starts. A minute long short that is long on…uh….yeah.
Directed by: Kanako Wynkoop
Written by: Kanako Wynkoop/Bridget Irish/Missus Sarah Adams
A couple of lesbians do a bit of experimenting. Unfortunately, the receiver doesn’t want to to kiss after the experiment is over. This starts a rift. Shot over a weekend, director Kanako Kyle Wynkoop wanted to show that lesbian sex was just as funny and at times uncomfortable as straight sex. It’s a funny look at the intricacies of trying something new and trying to get comfortable with it.
Directed by: Todd Strauss-Schulson
Written by: Todd Strauss-Schulson
A guy loves his girlfriend. But what does he do when she smells…down there? In the case of Todd Strauss-Schulson’s film, hilarity ensues. I loved his trainer. “Man, you got to tell her about that shit!” Awesome.
Directed by: James M. Johnston
Written by: James M. Johnston
–A couple are going at it in the bathroom of a bar. He bends her over and she sees something that makes her laugh….a lot. A little setup goes a long way in this one joke film. Pretty funny stuff for a short film. I don’t know that I would give the filmmaker a grant for a feature, but that’s not what this was all about. It was about telling a joke in a minute or two. And that he can do.
FISH OUT OF WATER – THE NIGHTMARE (2008)
Directed by: Ben Barnes
Written by: Ben Barnes/Joel Huggins/Gabriel Tigerman
Two roommates decide to take on the monster in their third roommate’s dreams. Will the monster get the better of them? The fact that the third roommate is a fish doesn’t even enter into the picture. The second in a series of films about these guys is pretty damn funny. It sets up the characters, makes us care and then gives us a great ending that actually makes sense. A lot of fun and I can’t wait to check out what Ben Barnes and his crew do in the future.
Directed by: Joe Avella
Written by: Joe Avella
A couple of guys sit at an overhead talking about a hot new disease: Scatterbrain! They’re developing an educational video to warn people against Scatterbrain! The short uses little blurbs, cheesy slides and Mountain Dew make this a pretty funny little skit that would fit nicely into any improv theatre’s repertoire.
Directed by: Will Hartman
Written by: Will Hartman
Two teenagers indulge in their deepest urges. When their teacher catches them in the act, she shows them exactly why they shouldn’t do it. You wouldn’t want to create even MORE brain eating zombies, would you? This was a really cool short with a pretty predictable ending, but that didn’t matter. It was a lot of fun.
Directed by: Max Winston
Written by: Max Winston
–A blue haired man who lives in the woods does whatever he wants, including finding God…and doing some very surprising things to the deity. Everyone seemed to like this one a lot. I thought it was pretty good, but not amazing. It had its moments and the puppets were pretty cool looking. Not much more than that, really. But the character was pretty damn funny.
Directed by: Tony Durke/Toby Gorman/HS Rathore
Written by: Tony Durke/Toby Gorman/HS Rathore
–A good story and good, gross effects in a short? Weird! A couple of guys are walking around a seemingly barren land with only a couple of saltines between them. When they come up on a guy cooking meat, they get excited…but so does the local cannibal. It’s a bit overlong, but it’s really cool and gets a lot across with no dialogue.
Directed by: Will Elliott/Kirk C Johnson
Written by: Will Elliott/Kirk C Johnson
–I usually don’t really dig on the whole “putting words in babies’ mouths” joke, but this was pretty funny. “Osh Kosh By Gosh, where did you get those kicks?” The effects were funny and the dialogue was, at times, pretty hilarious.
Directed by: Ross Wilsey
Written by: Ross Wilsey
Based on book by:
–A bunch of ugly puppets and a Mexican standoff. Not the best of the shorts, but it did have it’s “shock” moments. That’s about all it had, though.
Directed by: Jonathan Milott/Cary Murnion
Written by: Jonathan Milott/Cary Murnion
A slight transformation from a bit from Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Sex and yet, it was still pretty funny. A woman is getting a government issued super-weapon implanted in her breast. Unfortunately, the weapon has a mind of its own, tearing the boob off and going on a killing spree. Funny stuff and bloody as hell. Not amazing, but I liked it.
