Welcome to the 334 Edition of my series. Last week I focused on all
music and this time I decided to focus on short films. It is an art of
film that tends to get overlooked in my opinion. The selections I have
range from maybe 10 minutes to possibly 30 minutes and some are less
than ten minutes. These films do what they can to entertain in the time
allotted. I range these from old to new. I include documentary, live
action, and animation. In the older days of the movie theaters, they
would usually show a couple short films before the feature
presentation. I would really like to see movie theaters or studios do
this more often. The only ones I have really seen do this is the Pixar
films. I recently started watched the show TRUE BLOOD for the first
time and I am liking this show and will stick to it. Now here's my
selections for the week.
Romance of Radium (1937):
This is a Pete Smith Specialty short in which he narrates. I have
featured a lot of these on my blog and most are quite comedic but this
one has a more serious tone to it. This shows the discovery of how
radium was discovered for medicine reasons. This one goes for about 10
minutes and is pretty informative. They run these Pete Smith Specialty
shorts a lot on TCM but most are far more comedic.
The
Public Pays (1936): This is part of the "Crime Doesn't Pay" series
which have quite a few shorts that show the price of committing a
crime. In this one, a protection racket is muscling in on the milk
industry and really putting it to the milk trucks. A local police force
must step in to stop this racket. There was actually quite a bit of
action and even a killing. This series is always sure to provides some
good entertainment and like the last one these are shown a lot on TCM.
There's
a Message in Every Bottle (1969): This was a short film which was
meant to educate on the horrors of drinking and driving but ends up
humoring us instead. This shows four friends who really want to go out
and drink but are only 18 years of age. They get fake ids and want to
enjoy the world. In some ways I think this proves that 21 does not
work. I recall one of them did not want to really do it so that person
should have just been the designated driver since that was all they were
lacking. I found this on TCM and was some pretty funny stuff.
Where
is Jane Doe (1956): This short film shows the NYPD investigating a
missing girl to figure out if this was a murder, suicide, or hoax. The
captain believes that she is faking her death and is determined to find
out. This is a message to show the importance of the police force but
not much more. Still a good eight minutes.
Beginnings:
Paris (2012): This is something I found on Sundance which focuses on
five creative people in Paris. This includes actress/musician Charlotte
Gainsbourg, shoe designer Christian Louboutin, perfume editor Frederic
Malle, film director Marjane Satrapi, and bookseller Sylvia Whitman.
Each of them had their interesting elements but I enjoyed Sylvia Whitman
the most and talking about the history of her bookstore Shakespeare and
Company.
Some Folks Call It a Sling Blade (1994):
This is the short film that set the stage for that great 1996 film SLING
BLADE which I will always feel in Thornton's best work. George
Hickenlooper directed this short film that was written by Billy Bob
Thornton who stars in this and the 1996 film. He plays Carl who has
been in an institution for the criminally insane for 25 years for murder
and is about to be released. He is soon approached for an interview
where the director reluctantly lets a woman interview him. Molly
Ringwald plays the reporter in this film but not the feature length
film. J.T. Walsh plays the same character. This set the stage for what
was to come. This is available on Instant Netflix.
Runaway
(2009): This is an animated short done by Cordell Barker. This one
takes place on a train with all kinds of colorful people on this crowded
train. This short film uses traditional animation and is very fun to
watch. I found this on Sundance Channel.
The Spine
(2009): This one was done by Chris Landreth whose short film RYAN I
really like so I decided to check this one out. This is some very
unusual drawings of people who are in couples therapy. This is a very
beautifully animated short film which is quite worth it.
Vincent
(1982): This is some very early Tim Burton. This focuses on a young
boy named Vincent Malloy who wants to be like Vincent Price and has lots
of daydreams much to his mother's dismay. Vincent Price actually
narrates the story and has spoken very highly on this work. This is
actually available on the extra features for A NIGHTMARE BEFORE
CHRISTMAS.
Porky's Preview (1941): This is my Looney
Tunes short for the week that focuses on Porky Pig. Porky runs a movie
theater and is showing some of his animated movies which have stick
figures and has quite the audience including a skunk. There were some
funny moments with the stick figure animation and the animals.
Donald's
Cousin Gus (1939): This is my Disney short for the week that focuses
on Donald Duck. Donald's family leaves him his cousin Gus saying that
he does not eat much. Donald soon learns that Gus eats everything at
hand. This was very funny showing Donald meeting his match but to my
knowledge was Gus's only appearance.
Six Figures
Getting Sick (1966): This comes from David Lynch and was his first
film. This is some simple animation showing these six figures
continuing to get sick and the ambulance that does not stop. This is
really shades of what is to come from Mr. Lynch and is some very
interesting animation.
A Trip to the Moon (1902): This
is my earliest film in this edition and is credited to be the first
sci-fi film of all time. This shows a group of Men going to space to
to see the moon and then getting captured by moon men. The hit film
HUGO of this year focuses on this movie and its director Georges
Melies. This is something that should be viewed for historical reasons
and to see the great picture of the moon.
Who is
Chelsey Hood (2009): This is the live action short I got from my Roku
app Popcorn Flix which has a category for Film School Originals. Kevin
Sampson wrote and directed this short film which features a guy who is
questioned on the disappearance of the title character by the police.
While he knows nothing about the girl, he is determined to find out her
story and what happened. I do not have much info on this like if
Sampson was the guy but this was still pretty good and even a bit
moving.
Behind (2000s): This is the animated short I
am using from the Film School Originals done by Ga Young. This features
a little girl who is trying to get home but must battle things like
bullies and mean rabbits. She soon sees she has unexpected protection.
This is a rather cute three minutes.
Vive La Rose
(2009): This is another animated short that I got from Sundance I
believe. This uses the stop-motion animation technique. This focuses
on a man who loses the woman he loves and resorts to a melancholy song
as his last goodbye. This is a simple Newfoundland love story that uses
good animation.
Oktapodi (2007): This is another
animated short and is a love story with octopi, which is the plural for
octopus for those who don't know. One octopus is taken by restaurant
cook and the other one rescues his loved one with a comical escape.
This was a good one and is the best octopus love story of all time.
Toyland
(2007): Now I bring you a live action short that deals with the
Holocaust. A young boy is told by his mother that some people are being
taken to a place called Toyland when in reality they are Jews going to a
concentration camp. The boy becomes excited by the idea of a land with
nothing but toys and is determined to get there. He soon sets out for
it while his worried mother searches frantically. This was a very
moving 14 minutes dealing with a very bad period in history.
Kings
of the Turf (1941): This is from The Sports Parade series and this one
focuses on the world of horse racing. This takes a look at a specific
horse and shows how he is breeded. The owners then decide if the horse
is to be a trotter, pacer, or slow horse and how they make their
decisions. This was nothing big but does a good job in educating about
this world.
Sword Fishing (1939): Now I go into the
world of fishing where we take a look at hunter Howard Hill. He is
looking to apply his bow and arrow skills to the fish gliding upon
water. He then focuses on a marlin which is his biggest challenge.
This is another one which is informational. Our former president Ronald
Reagan narrates this and does a pretty good job.
Censorship: A Question of Judgement (1963): This is one deals
with a high school and the reporter wants to report a fight that
happened on school grounds. The head of the paper does not feel this
should be in the school paper as he believes it should only promote the
good news and not bad news in fear of loss of sponsors. The high school
reporter then tries to convince him that the paper should produce the
truth. This was interesting, especially for that time period on
debating what should end up in a newspaper.
Blitz Wolf (1942): This is another Warner Brothers short which
is on the Three Pigs and some great Nazi propaganda. The wolf's name is
Adolf Wolf which and is pretty obvious to a certain dictator. The pigs
at first believe that Adolf is out to help them but realize that is not
true. I always enjoy these war propaganda shorts.
Puppe and Victor (2005): This is another animated short and this
one is a love story on a toy robot and a one legged doll. This is a
Thai short film. The version I saw was in Thai with no subtitles but I
suspected what was being said and was a pretty good story.
Signs (2008): These last four are from a dvd my dad got me for
Christmas called Film Festival in a Box. No, this is not that M. Night
Shymalon film. This is a short film which features two corporate
employees who work across from each other and begin a relationship from
window to window where they make signs to communicate with each other.
This was a pretty fun love story and a unique way to communicate.
Laundry (2009): This is from Danielle Katvan that takes place in
a laundromat. A young man is lured into a daydream while waiting for
the laundry and fantasizing about a woman in the laundromat. This was a
pretty fun film taking place in the laundromat and has good dream
sequences.
Notte Sento (2008): This is from Daniele Napolitano. This is
another love story where a deaf girl misses her train in Rome and must
wait until dawn. She soon encounters another man which makes her change
her plan. This has a great musical score and very limited dialogue but
moves very well.
Pete's Beach (2010): This is a short film from Tate Lown. This
features an older man named Pete who looks for someone to spend his
birthday with. This is only two minutes but a very fun little movie
with Pete at the beach and the people around him.
Well, that is it for this week. Forgive my lackluster writing as
I have only been writing this for a couple days. Next week, I will
return to my usual format and stay that way. I enjoyed looking for
these and while it did not take long, I don't think I'll be returning to
this format anytime soon. Stay tuned for next week which so far
includes John Cusack, Dustin Hoffman, Humphrey Bogart, Wallace Beery,
Jeff Bridges, and many others.
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