The Vern likes Shorts Shorts (Films that is)

Well folks, it’s that time again.  Time to look at a few more short films from some upcoming and established filmmakers. I do enjoy watching these and I hope you enjoy with what I haft to share with you this week too.   It would be great if theaters would show more of these then those damn commercials before the feature.  But those ad companies do pay more so I guess that explains why they don’t..  Maybe one day big companies will help fund these shorts and for having them be shown in big theaters.  They can maybe feature their products in one of their productions. It’s only a thought,but enough about that. Let’s see what’s in store for you all  this week. If you want to watch each movie, just click on the name of each title above the cast.

Scattered

Cast: Keaton Makki, Simon Norbury
Writers:Kevin MacLeod(Story) Joshua Bergman(Screenplay)
Director Joshua Bergman

Set in the year 2030.  “Scattered” tells the story of a young man getting to meet his father after he’s been in prison for the past few years.  The man’s crimes involve working on a project that would help rewrite history.  Therefore making the future a much nicer place.  The cinematography and the performances by the cast is really good.  My only issue is that it feels like a scene in a much longer movie rather then a complete story.  I wanted to know more about what this father did to alter history and a little more about the world that this is set in.  I do hope that someday this will be adapted into a longer feature because it does present some good ideas, but as a short it feels incomplete. Still if this was a test footage to help get more funds for a bigger project.  If I had the money I would totally invest.

 

 

Little Red Riding Hood

Cast: Christina Ricci,Timour Bourtasenkov
Written and Directed by David Kaplan

This adaptation of the famed fairy tale puts the character of Little red Riding Hood in a whole new perspective.  The basic storyline stills stays the same.  A young girl comes across a wolf on her way to her grandma’s house.  But the tone conveys more of a sexual tone that was only hinted at in other versions.  This one also seems to suggest that the young girl enjoys the advances of the wolf and explores the fetish of being submissive as well.  Christina Ricci takes some risks with this role, especially concerning on how old she was at the time.  The use of Black and White photography and only narration as the spoken parts helps in making this story stand out.  It’s unsettling and yet somewhat humorous at times.  Although I could have done without the extended dance sequence of the wolf near the beginning .  At around ten minutes it does get pretty long, but it wasn’t anything too annoying.

 

 

Bad Girls

Cast:  Brenda Anderson, Alex Coulombe
Writers and Directors Jen Soska, Sylvia Soska

The Twisted Twins helped create this short for the 2009 Bloodshots Fast Filmmaking compition. After watching their other great features like”Dead Hooker in a Trunk” and “American Mary”  I was very thrilled to see what they could do with a shorter time span and they killed it(no pun intended).  “Bad Girls” is a seven minute revenege flick about two girls who witness their Grandma getting beat up on webcam.  They, along with their friends help find out the culprit and the result is bloody but satisfying.  What I love most about this short is that despite all the violence and dark things going on.  The tone is somewhat light and playful, especially at the very end.  Being that this was shot and edited in just under 48 hours is also really impressive.  I wonder if The Soska Sisters have any other shorts out there and if they do. I hope they release a collaboration of all their work very soon.

 

 

If you have a short you would like me to feature on this site or you know of any I should watch please let me know in the comments below.  Thanks for reading.