stevergy2000 Reviews

Seven Sins: Sloth (2011)

Interesting take on Inuit Lives

[7/10 · 1 July 2023]

Contrasting lifestyles of the inhabitants of the far north in days gone by with those of the present, this short animated film presents a telling analysis of the changes wrought in the lives of indigenous people by the advent of modern 'civilization'. The grim stoicism of the old timers is brilliantly contrasted with the lassitude and directionless attitudes typified by the title of the film in the present day lay-about life style to which they've now become accustomed.

Very well written and drawn, the theme is certainly a compelling one. Anyone further interested in the changes in these people should check out the same filmmaker's 'Angry Inuk'.

Dinorider (2010)

Fairly Impresive Film School Work

[7/10 · 11 December 2022]

A young boy fiddling at his worktable manages to construct the smallish beast of the title. He then proceeds to engage in several anarchistic actions which place him on the wrong side of bull-headed figures of authority, from which his creation, miraculously grown to quite largish dimensions, manages to save him.

Or, was it all just a dream? Maybe. Maybe not.

Somehow or other, after large buildings being demolished, his pet creation is lying on his worktable with its head severed from its body.

Cue the end credits, in which the artist's name 'Peter Lopes' is featured under several different different categories, including both musical composition and performance.

Then, as a tease, the end shot is of the hero unscrolling a section of scotch tape!

Fun, and rather dark.

Fear Less (2003)

What's the point?

[2/10 · 5 December 2022]

At least this short film was only four minutes long (and about one of those minutes was made up of the closing credits).

It has no dialogue, and focuses solely on the behaviours of a young girl sitting in the back seat of a car while an older woman, supposedly her mother, drives the car.

The little girl opens a plastic case containing what appear to be large scale gummy-worms. She consumes them all. Next, she draws a series of box-like shapes on the windows of the vehicle. These appear to transform themselves into holes in the window, but one cannot be sure. Then, she looks at a round silver ball very closely. A mysterious hole seems to have been burned through her hand.

Then, she is shown smiling while facing forward. The car journey continues and the vehicle appears to cross a bridge over a river made up of drawings of birds.

Can you figure out what the writer was trying to say?

I can't.

Point Point: Life in Grey (2015)

What Was This About?

[5/10 · 13 November 2022]

Despite the high rating (from only eleven respondents) and the pretension claims of the description, I honestly couldn't figure out what they writer/performers were trying to express.

A group of young ballet dancers congregate. They exercise. Then, they go out smoking and drinking. Then, they fall asleep. Then one of them disrobes another. Then, an unconscious dancer is given a pill to swallow orally. Then, several of them, still unconscious, are hung by their wrists vertically, with their feet barely touching the ground. Then, another dancer circles around the inside of their territory, brandishing a couple of swords, one in each hand. Another, who seems to be their instructor, looks on. The sword wielder assumes a crouch, laying the swords extended before her.

Get it? I didn't.

Motel (II) (2010)

Frustating 'Comedy' Failed to Engage

[5/10 · 11 November 2022]

There were A LOT of problems with this short film.

First of all why, in a small part of New Hampshire, do there happen to be three motels all adjacent to one another?

Second, why do they seem to be run by Russian proprietors and all have the same bizarre business practices as charging by the person, not by the room, wanting to know if there are pets, and also, charging for parking?

Third, why do the tired drivers who have fallen prey to this seemingly nefarious plot to shake them down, not just simply say 'Forget it!' and drive off? I know it is the middle of the night and they are very tired, but when a scam is so obvious, everyone knows to simply walk away.

Fourth and finally, what happens at the end? Having no conclusion to a seemingly impenetrable dilemma is just like having a bad dream in which one cannot escape from a situation other than by simply waking up. No conclusion as to why one couldn't escape there is the same as the way this film ends for its hapless men who simply wanted to sleep.

Interesting premise, but a major re-write seems to have been in order.

Kali, the Little Vampire (2012)

Great Graphics, Good Narration, SImplistic Story

[6/10 · 9 November 2022]

This seems like a perfect film to provide a student in a graduating class at film school with a good passing mark: it hits the animation button very well, with a scratchy, distorted and often unclear picture representing Kali's life of relative obscurity, living as she does in the shadows.

Then, there are the sonorous tones of the narration by Christopher Plummer, whose soothing voice sounds as if it had just had a frozen tab of margarine melt in it. Every inflection is used to express sympathy with the poor plight of this young girl, who never wanted to be what she is.

The real drawback, one which knocked this short down to a 6 from a probably 8 for me was the basic one-trick-pony aspect of the narrative: It seems the young girl over and over again is repeating the same saying 'I didn't want to be a vampire. I wanted to have friends. Friend with whom I'd play in the light'. A little more context and/or development could have really worked here.

Still, a very credible effort.

Bad Morning (2019)

Generally Unlikeable Character makde for Offbeat Comedy

[7/10 · 24 October 2022]

The vacuum salesmen are almost vile in their disrespect for their customers, treating them more as marks. The admission by the senior representative that he has sold five vacuums to the same household, the head of which may believe him to be his son, shows that filthy lucre takes the uppermost place in their motivations.

The junior salesman is a dolt. Despite the repeated instructions from his supervisor, he continually insists on sticking with the script, even when the circumstances evolve in ways that would well advise it being altered.

The little old lady is - well, I'll leave that for you to determine with the discovery awaiting them behind the door. The breaking coffee table after the vacuum is set on its highest setting was as funny as it was unexpected.

The final interview with the television news reporter is quite preposterous: not only do the police not release such information, they do take bodies out of buildings while on camera. And no salesman is so dumb as to stick to flogging his product after a murder has been committed.

All-in-all, quirky and entertaining.

Tranny McGuyver (2008)

Fairly funny take-off.

[7/10 · 19 October 2022]

I was actually surprised to see this short film listed on IMDb since it had almost all the hallmarks of an amateur grab-your-friends-and-let's-get-this-shot-edited-and-wrapped-this-weekend type of film.

Still, it's quite entertaining. From the victim who claims 'my clit's been killed!' through the three 'cops' - the lead trans-sexual, the beefcake stud with little to no brains and the grossly overweight but quite analytical real 'girl' - to the prostitute they leave handcuffed to their food truck, the pimp they shake down with the assistance of another cross dressing 'woman' to the perp: an Asian purveyor of wax jobs, vagina soothers, and random other sexual peccadilloes, the story is somewhat convoluted but never gets stale.

Atrocious over-acting, quite cheesy writing in spots, no real concern for an authentic, compelling plot and an overall atmosphere of 'well, here goes nothing' make for a relatively enjoyable 10 minutes.

Great cinema it ain't, but it does stand out from the run of your everyday socially conscientious short films.

Curbside Pickup (2020)

More interesting than engaging

[6/10 · 7 October 2022]

The fact that someone actually was able to make a film about dating during a pandemic while a pandemic was actually going on is a major accomplishment.

That the film was shot in one day makes this achievement even more worthy of praise.

The development of the protagonist's relationship with a potential lover during what appears to have been a blind date is well crafted but relatively brief and open-ended. It is, as is explained, a logical outgrowth of her new job and her new apartment.

The about face of the narrative stream which abruptly occurs towards the end of the film is also very well done simply because it was so unexpected.

But given the five or so minutes allowed for development, the prospect of any true emotional engagement on the part of the viewer was drastically and in fact irrevocably prevented.

Yes, one feels for the not-all-the-full-of-self-confidence protagonist. But even ten or fifteen minutes would have allowed the story arc to have resonated much more strongly.

Maybe one should not shoot so high when one has a very small bow and arrow.

No, No, No (2003)

Amusing Take on a Man's Night Alone

[7/10 · 4 October 2022]

Sure you've got a girlfriend. Sure, she isn't with you tonight. Sure, you've decided to go to a bar. Sure, there's a drop-dead-gorgeous woman in a blue dress that is cut low up top and rather high down low.

You know this means the admonition of the title.

You tell yourself this again and again and again.

But the d-d-g girl seems somewhat friendly. In fact, she seems very friendly.

She asks 'Do you want to come back to my place?'

Again, your body says 'yes yes yes' but your mind says 'no no no'.

Then the funniest line in the video occurs (Spoiler alert): and you compromise on 'okay'.

Waking in the morning in a room that is not yours beside a woman who is not your girlfriend allows you one more chance to repeat the by now quite humorous refrain of the title.

Well done, with an almost rock-video approach and musical background.

Hokees (2000)

Rather Peculiar Way to Highlight a Serious Issue

[5/10 · 3 October 2022]

In the middle of World War I, Turkish authorities enacted what amounted to an ethnic cleansing of Armenian people living within the boundaries of the Ottoman Empire. Around a million Armenians were killed, many of them starved, tortured and raped during forced marches through the Syrian desert. Women and children who survived were forced to accept the Islamic faith.

In this film, a young Armenian woman living in North America has a Turkish boyfriend with whom she has become pregnant. Her anxieties resulting from a story told to her by an older relative of the relation's mother's baby being cut out of her by Turks while she was pregnant and the both of them dying lead to a tense situation. She has previously told her boyfriend to 'stay away' since 'they can smell a Turk from a mile off'.

What actually happens is unclear. Does she lose the baby? What causes her to be in hospital? When her lover is on one side of the bed and her mother on the other, does this mean they've finally met and, presumably, reached some form of understanding?

Why does she go to the church at the end of the film?

This genocide is undoubtedly a significant historical event which requires an increased level of awareness throughout modern cultures. Obviously motivated by such feelings, I wonder why the filmmaker chose such a relatively oblique manner to portray these concerns.

Could have been much, much better.

In the Wings (2001)

Beautifully Done Seniors Drama About Actors

[8/10 · 3 October 2022]

Actors and actresses live for the accolades they receive from their audience. They make a living off the reputations they construct over different performances. Unlike most jobs, their very livelihood and sense of self esteem is intimately tied up with the appreciation they receive from others.

But what happens when they get old? What happens with the viewing audience looks for youthful countenances expressing buoyant enthusiasms rather than mature, experienced portrayals of the subtly nuanced elements of human behaviour?

In this short, a group of such seniors live in a rooming house which is chock full of the personal and professional jealousies that invariably afflict those who have always clamoured for the spotlight.

One of them claims to actually have a job, making the others envious with a spite which is almost too visceral to believe. To prevent him leaving the washroom is a juvenile, not an elderly action.

Tailing the employed actor, the major revelation of the film occurs in a park by the lakeside. Prospero's 'we are such stuff as dreams are made of' speech is a fitting selection for this scene. The final refusal of the spy to reveal what he has discovered is a testament to the essential humanity that underlies all human beings, no matter what degree which they practise elbowing one another out of the way.

Very moving. Very real. (Especially for older viewers, like myself!)

Welcome to My Life (2006 TV Short)

Highly Entertaining Spoof of Self

[7/10 · 24 September 2022]

The writer/lead performer of this short 'romantic comedy' certainly knows how to poke fun at herself. Alternating between emoting on a park bench and being consoled by a man who seems to have seen better times and a rap-type song complete with backup singers, the story is told of an attractive young women who is doing everything right, but just cannot seem to find a 'man to marry me'!

Her gay friend advises her to just forget everything and go out on her blind internet-setup date while she is bemoaning the fact that while she's 30 years of age, her vibrator is broken.

Two different possible attractive men are encountered; one of whom she finds exceedingly toothsome but who is mysteriously replaced by a man who is balding and shorter than her.

Things proceed in this haphazard, rather irreverent, and never all-too-serious manner to the end of the twelve minutes of this highly entertaining and altogether funny short film.

Double Heritage (1959)

Very Well Done Short on Northern Flight

[7/10 · 23 September 2022]

Canada's northern territories are almost tailor-made for conquering by the airplane, as this extensive National Film Board short shows. Sparsely populated, and mostly treeless and flat, there is no economic viability for road construction, while it only takes a little grading to create a serviceable runway.

This is what was done throughout the 1920s and well on through the period of the Second World War, as 'bush pilots' essentially knitted together far flung communities by carrying mail and other cargoes of necessities.

A couple of interviews intersperse the almost continuous shots of plans landing and taking off, almost always against a snow-covered if not a snow-falling background.

One is with a farmer who became a flight instructor even though he had only minimal time aloft as an actual pilot. The need during the war was so great, that they dropped the requirement to a mere 30 hours.

The other interview was really fun: the flyer here bought his plane in rather beaten-up shape for $200: which was 'a lot of money at that time'. Fixing it up, and seeing the lake was frozen solid, he took it out for a 'practise taxi'. Finding he had both gone faster than he'd intended and was at the same time running out of lake, he found himself taking to the air. Thus commenced his first flight.

The NFB is best at focusing attention on little known elements of Canadian history, and this short film is an excellent representation of this being done in a truly commendable manner.

Farewell Packets of Ten (2007)

Seemingly scriptless, but engaging

[6/10 · 19 September 2022]

Two relatively elderly women share a seemingly directionless conversation over their shared addiction to smoking. The title refers to a change in packaging which is about to com into force to supposedly curtail youth smoking.

One smoker confesses to her friend that she was probably about eleven years of age when she started smoking and that her one attempt to give up the practice during the passage of Lent came to nothing due to a relatively boring day by herself.

Numerous cigarettes are lighted throughout the brief span of the short, and one of the two ladies seems intent on using the handy ashtray in somewhat of a ceremonious manner.

If there is a theme to this interesting short, it is that once the addiction has taken hold, it doesn't appear to be at all of either party's mind to try to break it.

Pretty good for what must have been a rather improvisational shot by a cameraman/director.

Sabre and Foil (1967)

Not a Very Good Film

[5/10 · 16 September 2022]

Since the only other reviewer of this short focused on a very small aspect of it and ignored most of its glaring insufficiencies, I have to break my rule of never reviewing a film if there already is an existing review.

First of all, there is NO voice over narration. This means that the viewer has no idea where and when this was filmed, of who the contestants are, of which countries they represent (noticeable in parts from the names on the back of the sweaters of their coaches), of who wins, of how they are scored and of on what basis points were awarded.

What you do get is a lot of foot banging on wooden boards as the contestants move towards one another sometimes with astonishing speed, supposedly trying to strike their opponent's body with their sword (sabre? Foil? Who knows?) Then, they tend to just stand still and look at one another (through their foil masks). What are they doing? We are never told.

Then, there is a disconcerting inconsistency of musical score. Sometimes sombre, it breaks into a honky-tonk jazz type sound while, for no reason whatsoever, the director thought the film should be speeded up so that the contestants were moving way faster than they actually did. Why? Who knows?

As someone knowing almost nothing about this sport, this short could have been much more informative while at the same time capturing the excitement of the encounters which, failing all other indications, I have to feel was what the director was going for..

Succo Pomodori (2006)

Charming. Fun. Interesting.

[11 September 2022]

There is a considerable portion of the population of Toronto, where this short film was shot, of Italian extraction. Old ways die hard, and the traditional activities of women preparing tomato sauce from the home country are continually being carried on in their new homes over the seas.

Even walking home in a relatively new-built suburb just outside Toronto, one often sees women hard at work with vats and bushels full of tomatoes in their garages.

The choice to have this visual display - so much red!! - accompanied by an aria from Verdi sung by a member of the C. O. C. (Canadian Opera Company) was certainly an inspired one, as the vibrant pulses of his melodies suit the squashing, pouring and mixing of the fruits which are shown.

The Italian culture, at least in Italy, has what is best described as a 'joie de vivre' in which they really enjoy life. I've been told by a child of immigrants of that background that it is almost impossible to export that feeling.

But cutting, slicing, dicing, and preparing tomatoes in the way that mamma used to do it back home is at least a creditable effort to do just this.

Well done.

När Elvis kom på besök (2006)

Interesting Cross-Cultural Collide

[6/10 · 9 September 2022]

A father of a small boy is forced to leave Iran. Part of the reason is his supposed appreciation of the music of Elvis Presley.

A father is ill and in hospital. His daughter wishes to visit him, but for some reason fells that she cannot take her young son with her when she does so.

A young men lives alone in an apartment. Judging from the massive swastika tattoo on his back, his attitude to immigrants is probably not all that positive.

There is a knock on his door. A quite inappropriate imposition is attempted, and with scant regard for the niceties of social interaction, carried off successfully.

What ensues is a somewhat awkward meeting of the minds of two strangers: football? Thirsty? Spill? Elvis? Guitar? Finger sizes?

Overall, an interesting, cursory glance at three different people whose lives intersect albeit briefly, and who mutually show that even when strained and touching the limits of what is and what is not acceptable, people can and do get along.

Not too bad.

One Down (2004)

More Questions Than Answers

[6/10 · 6 September 2022]

A very interesting short film, particularly for those who find crossword puzzles a challenging form of addiction. However, several disjointed elements tend to detract from the generally whimsical premise that the puzzle solver seems to be having all of his solutions presented to him by audio effects experienced while working on the puzzle.

First of all, why the gross vulgarity accompanying his making of a cup of tea?

Second, I know lemons can smell and taste good, but really should one lick both sides of an extremely large knife with which one has just cut one?

Third, if the only character is speaking Polish and has a billboard advertisement for a Polish film on his wall, why is he doing a puzzle in which both the clues and the answers are in English? To make matters even more geographically querulous, why was this film shot in Australia?

Finally, and most importantly, is there really a capital crime in this man's past, and one which the successive solutions in the puzzle lead him to admitting to himself? Unfortunately, this question is posed only as the short film comes to its abrupt end.

Still, quite a credible effort.

Eulogy/Obverse (1999)

A Haunting Examination of Filmmaker and Society

[7/10 · 6 September 2022]

Is the role of the filmmaker simply to make a film? Is it to show the society in which we all live, with a dispassionate distance and a thoroughly objective stance on one's subject material?

Or, is it to try to change the society in which we live rather to merely document it, and to engage in making real people's lives better in any possible way?

Trying to capture what it is like to be outdoors on a cold Canadian day in a downtown core of a city, the filmmaker finds what in all actuality appears to be a dead man lying on the sidewalk. Rather than summon help, he obsesses over the camera shots he should take. (One every two seconds, as it turns out). He is impressed by the manner in which passing bystanders seem to respect the integrity of his shots, as they mimic his blissful ignoring of the distress having been suffered by the man on the sidewalk. The man is shoe-less.

In its brief six minute run time, this film gave me enough to sit and think later on. By being so disturbingly uniform in its distant objectivity, it would appear Feldman was indirectly almost screaming at artists to wake up and get involved in the world they are supposedly trying to portray.

Very unique. Very well done.

Safe (2004)

Interesting, but Ultimately a Head-Scratcher

[6/10 · 5 September 2022]

This short film could have gone in so many different ways since, in its twenty-minute run, it managed to develop several story lines quite successfully.

The young lead is an avid baseball player and fan, but his family keeps an impending minor league tryout from him. He idolizes certain (highly fictitious) old time ball players whose character even more than their athletic abilities led to their success.

Then, there is the family dynamic. Both his older brother and his father make his life's path crystal clear for him: he must study law and enter the family firm. While benignly aloof from all their protestations in this regard, the protagonist maintains a charming persona that one can never really dislike.

Then, there is the imposing girl-next-door who makes her presence known by announcing that they are sure to become friends and egging him on both with respect to his baseball obsession and his frustration with the main sub-plot of the story: the safe.

Coming with the room, the safe has not been opened for who-knows-how-long. A summoned locksmith claims that he not only knows this safe, but that he is incapable of opening it. On a fanciful whim, the young man tries a series of numbers and opens it!

To say that the contents are somewhat of a letdown would be putting to casual a dismissal to this fine film. It is just that all of the four major subplots are essentially left unresolved.

Very well done, and exceptionally acted, with Ashmore's diffidence sharply contrasting the brash theatrics of all those with whom he comes in contact.

I only wish that the denouement could have been more compelling and conclusive.

The Little Cotton Girl (2002)

Quite Thin in the Story Department Short

[4/10 · 29 August 2022]

The lead explanations, done with printed overlays at the beginning of the film, tell a compelling story of a mysterious apparition which frequents public toilet facilities in Buenos Aires.

Supposedly this is the spectre of a dead girl who gets the sobriquet 'little cotton girl' from the fact that she appears to have cotton stuffed into her aural and nasal cavities.

Good enough story, particularly when the added data piece is given at the end of the movie that several unexplained disappearances have occurred over the years affecting people going to in public washrooms.

Then, the film falls on its face. Other than a jerky camera, some fuzzing of the edges of the frames and rather subdued lighting accompanied by aminous music, nothing really happens.

A man urinates. He reads a scatalogical piece of graffiti on the walls of his stall. He senses there may be someone in the adjoining compartment. Checking underneath the walls, he sees nothing.

Several shots are presented of a small figure standing still at the end of a hallway.

And that's it! After all that buildup, I can't say that the delivery was at all satisfying.

Delusion (2002)

Strange Film: Had to Watch It Twice

[6/10 · 28 August 2022]

After viewing this short a second time, I believe I now understand what the story line was projecting. When the plot involves the dead realizing the true nature of their new existence, I wish writers could be more explicit. But then again, maybe that's what makes them so cool.

I did get a bit of a clue from the ominous red door at the beginning, which was repeated close to the end. As well, the cars passing one another worked to help explain what had actually happened. But didn't that mean he'd passed himself? I guess I'm still confused.

Why didn't they show the wife beside him in the initial sequence?

And why does he laugh 9in such an unrestrained manner when it appears he's realized what has happened?

Le sang du châtiment (2005)

Not Bad Horror Flick

[7/10 · 27 August 2022]

A lap dancing young woman is drained of blood by one of her customers. The police investigate and find that the crime fits on an ongoing pattern of similar cases. The forensic expert begins to experience strange visions involving blood after deducing that a particular type of snake venom worked as an anticoagulant in the criminal's modus operandi.

Form there, things get kind of strange, as the new cases seem to linked to a problem the expert had with a priest several years ago which involved a poorly labelled container of blood.

I wish it had lasted thirty or forty minutes instead of the twenty which it did run for so that more of the relevant back story could have been presented.

Still, quite chilling, as professionally produced. This is what I've found with almost all Spanish language shorts, even those produced in Argentina, as this one was.

Bbobbolone (2003)

Fair-to-Middling Crime Comedy

[6/10 · 25 August 2022]

Three Italian tough guys supposedly plan to knock off the local post office. The title refers to what I assume to be a corruption of the name of the getaway driver. Or, at least, this is what the two men apprehended by the cops yell as they are led off while their supposed accomplice lies at the bottom of pile of street kids playing soccer. Maybe he shouldn't have indulged his innocent desire to play goal while waiting for the crooks to need his help?

Rather too stereotyped: I know Italian guys are sexist, macho and dismissive of little kids, but there surely must be something else to their persona?

Would have been better with yellow as opposed to white subtitles.