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Doodlebug and Incident Review

"Doodlebug" Review

The first thing I noticed in the film was the name and the eyes inside of the O's. The title was doodlebug, which didn't really have anything to do with the subject of the film at all.

The film was really creepy. It was made in black and white and reminded me of a scary movie my dad would watch when I was a kid and was supposed to be sleeping. Everything was just really creepy. The sound, the shoots, the man, and especially the bug (or the little man).

The man never said a word, but the audience understood what he was going through after we saw him slam his shoe on the ground for the first time. We have all been in a situation where we have happened along a bug and felt the need to smash it with out shoe.

I didn't really understand why he had to go as far as dunking the phone into the water, why couldn't he just unplug the thing? Some of the shots also felt weird when we were looking at the situation from above the man. Even after we see the bigger man trying to squish the original man, it still felt strange.

Overall, I think this film was just all around strange and creepy. I am really neutral about it. I didn't like or dislike it. It just is what it is.

"Incident" Review

When I first saw the time code for the film I wanted to die a little bit on the inside. I didn't want to waste 30 minutes of my life on another short that I probably wouldn't like. BUT, I actually liked this short.

I think this short is so great because the audience can truly feel sympathy for the man. We know that what happened was a complete accident, and that he had never murdered before because he had no clue what to do.

At first I thought that he was just going to leave the guy there, but then he drags him under the bridge. He continues to visit the dead man; he even quits his job to do so. The dead man, in a way, becomes his only friend.

The short took place in the fall, which could be a metaphor for dying. The dead guy literally, and the main character metaphorically. Also the use of weather. The short began during a sunny day, but one time when he visits the dead man it is pouring down rain, which represents his feelings about what happened.

I liked the credits and how we saw everyday people walking over the bridge, having no idea what lies beneath their feet. I think that's a crazy idea, that we never really know what lies out of our line of vision and out of our hearing range.

Overall, I really liked this film.

this is the largest stop motion project ever! it's really cool and less than two minutes!

watch it :)

Bean Cake and Post-It Love Reviews

Bean Cakes:

This short wasn't amazing, but it wasn't that bad either. I enjoyed the music at the beginning and end of the short. I like that it was the same, because it made the film come full circle.

I think the idea of a kid sticking out on their first day of school is really over done. Come on about any movie you can think of that involves school age children is about not fitting in or trying to fit in. (Mean Girls, Easy A, John Tucker Must Die, Ect.) I think that this theme is so common because it is something that we can all relate too, but I still think it wasn't a very creative idea.

This short did have an unusual culture aspect to it, because it was based off of a boy living in Japan instead of in the United States. The culture between American schools and Japanese schools is evident throughout the short. A teacher in the US would never make a student kneel out in the hallway all day, or make them have an opinion that is not their own.

In the end the kid got through his first day of school by making a new friend (so overused) and he discovered that he can like the emperor and bean cakes at the same time.

This short was alright. (And the theme was REALLY overdone)

Post-It Love:

This short was so cute. My sister would probably say that it was "totes presh" and honestly it kind of was. Who doesn't love a good office romance? Or post-it notes?

This short wasn't just cute, but it was also really well made. The camera work was very well done, and the shots were always framed to perfectly fit the post-it art. Because there was no dialogue, the music played a huge roll in the short. It was extremely happy and made the audience want to see a rainbow at the end, or the couple walking away together into the sunset.

Using post-it note put a modern twist on the age old question, How do I show someone I like them? In this short the characters didn't even have to say a word for there love to be known to each other, which makes the entire film cuter.

I absolutely loved the sign hanging next to the door to the office supply closet. "Can you please make sure that stationery you take is solely for work purposes, thank you." It was the perfect little thing to give the audience an extra laugh, without having to try too hard.

Overall this might be my favorite short film. 1) It was super cute. 2) It was about something happy. 3) It wasn't thirty minutes long. 4) There weren't any random naked people. 5) There was no cussing. 6) I just really like post-it notes.

For Our Man Review

Why? This is the question that we are asking throughout the entire short. Why is the man going to die? Why write about a mans death? Why is the old man writing at all?Why does he look like a monk? Why does he write with a quill instead of a pen?

Why is this a short film?

I did not like the short at all. I was very confused almost the entire time. After about five minutes I literally said (out loud) "this can't be that much longer," and then I looked at the time on the bottom... It was that much longer.

This short was just all around weird and mostly confusing. It was about a writer who was trying to create the perfect story line, and he created a crazy story.

I sound like a hater so I'll try to think of something I liked...

I liked the camera work. The shots were sometimes clear and sometimes crazy, but I think that was just showing how the writers mind worked. Some of his thoughts were clearer than others. And some of his ideas were crazier than others.

I honestly don't have any idea what the film is about. But if I had to guess I would say that it was about living life to the fullest. We see that he is trying to create the perfect death for a man, a memorable death, but in turn he creates a vivd story of the life of that man.

I didn't like the old man. He was a little bit too crazy. I don't think some of his characteristics fit well with others. He almost looked like he was living in the past, because he was wearing a brown robe, but his ideas and memories were from a more present time.

Overall, I'm pretty sure this was my least favorite short, and that's saying a lot because I haven't liked many of them. Oh well.

Cashback Review

I wouldn’t say I loved this film, but I did like it. The short is about a guy named Ben who works at a supermarket during the night shift (or graveyard shift). He seems a little odd, but overall a good employee. Ben doesn’t really like his job, but he puts up with it because he needs the money.

The main focus of the short is how to pass the time. Some people goof off and some zone out to ignore what is going on. Ben mentally stops time, undresses the women in the supermarket and draws them.

From the open of the short we learn a few things about Ben. One, he is an artist and he is working at the supermarket to put himself through art school. Two, he has an odd way of viewing the world. For example, he views working as giving the business your time in exchange for cashback. Finally, he is fascinated with women. We notice this from the beginning, but we don’t fully understand his obsession until he starts to draw the women.

There were a few things that I noticed and/or liked about the short. First, I loved the opening shot. I wasn’t truly paying attention at first and thought that the setting was a hospital. Ben said that working the night shift was like living in a dream, and you don’t really know what is happening until you wake up. I thought that he was waking up from surgery or some traumatic event. Even though it turned out to be a grocery store I like how the eerie feeling of a hospital kept me on the edge of my seat. Second, the music was put together extremely well. The cheery and upbeat music at the beginning showed how time was passing, even though it was passing slowly. When everyone froze the music did too, which made the entire scene more unnatural. Then piano music began, and we were put at ease while Ben did what he was made to do, draw.

Overall, this film was unusual, but good.

Morning Fall Review

Morning Fall is a short film about a motorcycle accident. The film starts with establishing shots of the surrounding landscape that slowly evolve into shots of the man. We are with the man throughout his journey of figuring out what happened to him. I loved the mystery this film presents and how we are forced to make the journey along with the man, which brings us closer to the story.

We receive clues as to what happened as the man does. We see a motorcycle boot and then a motorcycle helmet, which means he was most likely driving a motorcycle. Then we see the hole in the tip of the helmet which implies that some sort of accident has taken place, and that the man is probably injured. This assumption is confirmed when the man has a great deal of trouble getting up and even more trouble walking.

Next we arrive at the motorcycle. While the man is looking for a lighter he starts going through his bag. We see a women's hair brush, which implies that either a woman was with him or he is in a close relationship with a woman. After not being able to find a light, the man chases (to the best of his abilities) a car on the road and trips over a dead deer. That tells us the cause of the accident, but we are still left with questions.

The man takes of his jacket to cover the deer's face and walks into the road. For the first time we are able to physically see the extent of his injuries (the white shit made the red blood stain show up extremely well). He finally finds his light, but chucks it into the woods when he couldn't find his cigarette.

Then he blacks out.

When he comes too, we see someone helping the man into a truck. Then we see the man all bandaged up in the passengers seat. Next he is at a pay phone calling his significant other, saying that he wished she was there.

We are left with the image of the lighter, then a cell phone, then a woman's hand (with a ring that matches one on the man's hand) and finally the woman's blank face inside of a motorcycle helmet.

Overall I loved this short. It was extremely well made. Every shot accomplished something and I was never bored. The ending was foreshadowed just enough for you to know it was coming and still be surprised when it did. This has been my favorite short film thus far.

Gridlock and The Lunch Date Review

Gridlock:

Are we ever going to watch a film that doesn’t have a ton of cursing? Every other word out of the man’s mouth was a curse word, which was distracting to me, but it does add to the character and the stressful mood he is in. The film starts off showing the wintry setting and the audience can see the snow on the man’s car. It creates a cold feeling for that lasts throughout the rest of the film.

Although I didn’t like the plot of the film, it was very well made. Every shot had a purpose and accomplishes something, which quickened the pace of the film. My favorite shot was the close up on the man’s mouth when he was telling his daughter to go spy on the mother. The shot showed the seriousness of the situation.

Along with every shot having a purpose, every action had a purpose as well. One example is that the man pops pills to show that he is stressed. This stress makes the man’s certainty that his wife is cheating on him more believable for the audience.

I am still very confused on why the man’s wife and the “uncle” both died. I found it extremely unrealistic and strange that the man would believe such a crazy story from his daughter. Is this the man’s daughter? I feel like a father should know their daughters voice, and that he would be able to know if it was his real daughter or not.

Overall, I didn’t enjoy this film and the questions that it raised but refused to answer.

The Lunch Date:

I liked this film better than Gridlock, but it still wasn’t my favorite. Throughout the entire film I was wondering why the director decided to shoot the film in black and white. Maybe he thought that black and white would look more dated and that he was trying to set the film in an earlier time period. Or he could have been trying to show that even in a black and white world not everything is truly black and white (there is a lot of gray).

On the way to her train you can tell that the woman has a few racist thoughts, and she believes that it is the black man’s fault that she is going to miss her train. She gravitates towards people like herself, and strays away from people nothing like herself. I think the director put this part into the film to show how much the woman had grown after sharing a meal with a person very much unlike herself.

After the woman does miss her train she decides to go and get a salad for lunch. She places her bags in the seat next to her and realizes that she forgot a fork. When she returns from the counter she thinks that a man stole her salad, but really she sat down at the wrong table, and it was really his salad. Her stereotyping to the homeless-looking man made her believe that he could not afford a salad on his own, so he must have stolen hers.

This film is about growing as a person, and realizing that we are all people, no matter what we look like.

Both:

Both films are very different, but they both have a theme of being mistaken. The Man in “Gridlock” dialed the wrong number and the Woman in “The Lunch Date” sat down at the wrong table. Both films also had a small focused on the stress can lead you to different/wrong conclusions. The man stuck in traffic and his stress causes him to believe the little girl on the phone. The women misses her train “because of the black man” and that causes her to stick to her beliefs that she is better that people with a darker skin tone.

Get That Number Review

"Get That Number" had a very similar theme to "The Crush." They were both about liking a girl that is out of you league. The main character, Scottie, couldn't get any girls numbers because he was being to straight forward about it. I thought that the film was pretty unrealistic, especially how the girls would fall all over the one guy, and they would all tell Scottie that he was creepy. Who would ever get someone your number because they asked you for some change and had a silly pick-up line? And does anyone really say "Yo man" that much?

With that said I still think there were some parts of the film that were well made and interesting. First, the film was actually funny at times. At the beginning I thought it was just going to be dumb, but there were moments that I legit laughed out loud. Also there were some heart warming moments, like when Scottie talks to a girl after he was dancing, and you think that he might actually get her number, but then his friend ruins it by making him be a creep and ask "Oh, can I have your number and s**t?" Second, the camera work was very well done. The shot changed extremely often and kept me from getting bored. The majority of the shots were also interesting, like the transition from the bridge to Central Park, and the shots of Scottie while he was rapping. Lastly, the mock Rocky run was fantastic. When he first started running I thought that this was going to be so cliche, but the director added his own flare to the run. Scottie ended up getting onto a skateboard, which was very comedic, and riding to the next subway stop.

Overall this wasn't the best film and in some ways it was very unrealistic, but I enjoyed it for the most part. It had some very funny moments and others that were truly heart warming. I enjoyed the irony of the Scottie's situation. He could get numbers just being himself, but he felt the need for help from his friend. When his friend did "help" him Scottie could no longer get any numbers.

Side note: Did anyone else recognize Scottie's friend as the guy from CSI (like old CSI)???

The Crush Review

The Crush directed by Michael Creagh, was a very enjoyable film to watch. It is about a child's crush on his second grade teacher. At first I thought it was going to be one of those cliche films that are all, "love is the answer... blah blah blah," and I was glad to see that wasn't the case.

The film starts with sweet, happy music, and we see the boy get out the ring. I honestly thought he was going to formally propose to the teacher, but he just gave her the ring and said he would think about marriage. It was very nice that the teacher took the ring, there was no way that she would have known the extent of the boys crush or the lengths he would go to for her. After he gave her the ring there was a montage of shots telling the story in a faster manner, which I really liked. I hate when I have to wait around for five minutes just to know something that could have been clear in a single shot. I loved the shots of the boys planner. They were really cute, and they got the message across quickly.

Then the creepy fiancé comes in the picture and you automatically hate him. His appearance makes him look sleazy, he is wearing a black shirt with a black leather jacket and has long greasy hair. The hate of the fiancé makes you support the boy even more, and keep supporting him even when what you think he is doing is wrong.

I loved the shot of the boys face looking up into the closet. You think that he is contemplating killing the man, but really he is just trying to figure out how to reach his birthday gift.

When the man entered the concrete room I was legit scared for him. I really thought the boy had a gun and that he was going to kill him, even if it was just an accident. I agree with other people who said that the scene was very unrealistic. After the teacher came into the room, she just stood there. Isn't she supposed to be in love with the man? Why didn't she fight for him? Or at least try and take the gun? I thought the man initial reaction was on the mark, but I thought it was unrealistic for him to go from extremely cocky to really scared so fast.

The shots after the gun went off were very effective. They lasted long enough for you to think the boy literally killed the man, but not to long that you begin to hate the boy for what he did. After the audience realizes the gun was fake, we could finally take a deep breath and watch the teacher and the boy walk into the sunset together.

tabuga-blog

askaar-blog

I really agree with your comment "the irony of Jean laughing when she talks about the first thing that anyone says when they walk in is 'Oh, what a lovely home you have,' because that is the total opposite of what this is."

I didn't really notice the irony when I first watched the film, but after reading your review I went back and saw what you were talking about. The line refers to the willingness for people to only see the physical things in a home, but not the people and the lives they live inside of that home. A home can look nice on the outside, but not be "a lovely home."

tabuga:

I really enjoyed this film. I totally thought I knew where it was going, too, when Zen started sneaking glances as Jean slowly extended her leg out of the car door. The scene of her banging the groceries in her trunk made me very cautious of where it was going to go, however. This unease was...

Zen and the Art of Landscaping Review

Although the film seemed to move slowly at first, I really enjoyed Zen and the Art of Landscaping. I thought that the beginning was kind of strange, like when Jean banged the groceries up in the trunk of her car. I was very confused when Jean invited Zen into her house, and then everything started to fall into place as the pace of the film started to pick up.

The beat when Jean’s son, Andy, walked into the house was the major turning point of the film. Jean was expecting Andy to be her husband, Richard, but when it wasn’t everything starts falling apart. The audience starts to piece the complex back-story that connects Jean’s entire family to Zen.

In the end the family finally became united, even though they were only united in hating Zen. Witty and timely writing is what made this film so successful. The different background stories of each of the characters quickly lead into the other characters, which helped quicken the pace and create that fast-paced comedic feel.

The Big Shave Review

I did not like this film because the guy is basically cutting his face off and doesn’t seem to care. Watching this film made me extremely uncomfortable and a little nauseous. I don’t understand the real meeting of the film. Yeah I get that he was a man in a bathroom, but why did he feel the need to get such a close shave? And why did he not feel any pain, or show that he was in pain?

Although the meaning of this film is lost on me, there were some positive things I noticed about the film. The shots in the beginning combined with the music set a generally happy mood to begin the film, which contrast well with the ending of the film. Another thing I saw was the contrast in color. Everything is white (or silver) from the tile, to the sink, and even to the man’s shirt. When the blood starts pouring, the white surroundings contrast well with the deep red.

Another large quality of the film is that there is no dialogue, so the music has to do a lot more work. I loved the opening music, and the dramatic change when the man began shaving and cutting himself. The music went very well with all of the close up shots and the film was edited to the beat (which is one thing, probably the only thing, that I really like about this film).

I might understand the film more if I knew the reason it was made, and what the film makers intentions were. But all in all, this film was really disturbing, and I would never recommend for anyone to watch it.

It defiantly gave me the heebeegeebees, but maybe that was the point. I honestly don't know.

Omnibus Review

Omnibus is a french short film by: Sam Karmann. It was made in 1992. The film tells a story of a man getting on the wrong train, and tries to convince workers on the train to stop at the next station, so that he will not be late for work. The main character was an ordinary businessman, who was easy to identify with because he made a simple mistake that anyone could make. The man just got onto the wrong train. There are a few dramatic beats in the film: when the man realizes he is on the wrong train, when he figures a way off the train, and when he gets pulled back onto the train. The conflict is figuring out how to get off the train, which was resolved for a short time, but then the man got pulled back on. There are a lot of establishing shots to show the audience the setting is a train, but there weren’t any particular shots that I thought helped to better tell the story. Overall, I liked the general idea of the film, but I felt like I think it was a little bit too long, because it started loosing my interest about half way through. I especially liked the twist at the end, but again I think it would have been more effective it the film was shorter, and the man didn’t spend so much time arguing with the train workers to let him off.

This is a short film about the children's sex traffic trade through Atlanta, Georgia.

visit stopthecandyshop.com to find out more

I liked this short film because it focuses on a real issue. The makers of the film used color and lighting to intrigue the audience, by changing them with the dramatic beats of the film. I found that the story was easier to follow because the girls costumes matched the lolly pops they became. The metaphor between the girls and the lolly pops was very well done, it got the message across without smacking you in the face with it. Overall this is a very good short film, and I would recommend watching it. :)

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