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Showing posts with label shorts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label shorts. Show all posts

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Science Fiction Shorts Night 3 - Planetary Paranoia

The Boston Science Fiction Film Festival - This new event connected to the Boston Science Fiction Marathon Feb. 14-15 noon to noon is a wonderful addition. Each night from now until the Marathon there will be a feature or a night of Shorts at 7pm at the Somerville theater. I encourage you to look into getting tickets for these events.

Reminder I recommend anything with a 5 or above rating. I am not the toughest guy to please.


SITA (2008) - Tchaiko Omawale directed this story of a faerie who helps and then loves a mental health patient. She brings him back from the brink with her invisible(to him) arms. As he recovers he begins a relationship with a woman and the faerie is jealous and starts her own journey of acceptance. Artistic and fluid with great music. Rating (6.1)


RATS (2006) - Humans are isolated, each living and staying in their space only interacting through the share computer network. Fear of going outside is strong but when the system is in error one man decides to go. Outside is tainted and he worries about safety. When he discovers the problem, he handles it in an appropriate manner. Filmed in polarized black and white it is a distracting choice but does give the comic feel to the world. Rating (4.8)

1:03 AM (2009) - A man brings his paperwork to the government agency in charge and the papers are approved. His time will be 1 minute starting at 1:03 AM, from that time he has one minute to legally murder his cheating wife. Good reveal and pacing, with a decent turn at the end. Rating (6.1)

The Replicant (2009)- Writer and director David Walton Smith did this short about a man getting a new synthetic body. Now immortality is possible, but what happens to his old body. Well it wakes up and runs of course. A quick chase scene and resolution make this short work. Maybe not the most original of ideas but very adequately executed. Rating (6.0)

Die Schneider Krankheit (2008) - A spaceship with a monkey in it lands behind the iron curtain in post WWII (50's?)Europe loosing a deadly disease. The communist science community works for solutions and cures in this part newsreel part propaganda film. Ending with the facts that the cure had not been found but that life could continue but with wearing gas masks. Rating (6.1)


Under God (2009) - President Eisenhower visits UNIVAC the countries first supercomputer. A skeptic of its intelligence Ike is challenged to as any question. He asks "Is there a God" the computer works and then spits out an answer. Writer Director Richard Farmer wraps that answer into some history of the era creating a cool short that mixes science, religion and politics together into a nice package.
Rating (7.8)


Afterglow (2009) - Two local new militia men investigate a report of surviving aliens from a failed invasion of earth only to find something very unexpected. They run out of gas and in the process of finding some they come across an older couple. The couple is suspicious and soon it become apparent they are hiding something. The reveal is a good showing the depth of their paranoia after the near invasion. Rating (6.5)


Oxygen (2009) - A worker in the maintenance department in an isolated community find out things are not what the government has told them. In a constant storm the people of the community have been told the air outside is poison and will kill them. The worker Xavier find out the truth when he discovers a hole in his apartment wall that has been letting in outside air. The police are on to him though and soon he must flee the city for his own good. New and amazing realizations still await him on his journey. Rating (5.8)


Lifeline (2009) - Animated story of a man attempting to travel back in time to be with the woman he loves. The problem is that in order to have love he has to cut the lifeline back to his own time. Rating (5.5)

Attack of the Nebula-5 Robots (2008) - Amusing seven minute short about a mentally ill man who believes that robots from nebula 5 are going to attack and destroy the planet. Each day about the time he saw for the attack he sits in what he believes is the only safe place. Writer Director Chema Garcia Ibarra does a great job at developing character and a story full of humor. Rating (8.1)

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Science Fiction Shorts Night 2

The Boston Science Fiction Film Festival - This new event connected to the Boston Science Fiction Marathon Feb. 14-15 noon to noon is a wonderful addition. Each night from now until the Marathon there will be a feature or a night of Shorts at 7pm at the Somerville theater. I encourage you to look into getting tickets for these events.


Reminder I recommend anything with a 5 or above rating. I am not the toughest guy to please.


Night two of Shorts...

Perfect Companion (2009) - Story about a lonely woman, Annie (Laurie Slater) who after some reluctance turns to the online dating service perfect companion to meet a guy. The short shows their getting together, dating and love making. One night Greg (Derek Osting) starts to say he loves her but breaks down, literally because he is a robot. The film from shows how the spell is broken and now she can see him as nothing but a robot. Well done the short uses the robot edifice to explore relationships. We could easily substitute a human man with some other character flaw and have the same movie that is not Sci-fi. Connection in humans is so delicate at times and we get into these fantasies about what a perfect relationship is. What real connection is and then a angry outburst, a drunken night, or a program malfunction removes the perfection veil. The Actress came to the screening but Since I get up so early in the morning I could not stay for the Q&A. Rating (7.3)



Escape From Death Planet (2009) - A quick action filled short that has little point or meaning. It quickly drops us into a story of giant centipedes and things going horribly wrong. Three survivors try to find a way off this rock before they are eaten. The car driving through the background at the end was exceptional. Rating (2.9)


TypeA - The Osiris cryonics lab will liquid freeze you dead corpse but they can't guarantee you will stay that way. Workers in the lab are hunted and killed by the frozen. Other than the facility is failing mechanically no explanations are given to why. Three workers hold up in an office to fend off the dead,, for a while. Rating (4.0)


Mr Bojagi (2009) - This was a pleasant little moral tale about gift giving, the two characters were well developed for a ten minute piece. Kudos to writer Kat Wood for that. Mr. Bojagi (Brian Blessed) was over the top but in a Santa Claus kind of way and The Women (Hildegarde Neil) gives a wonderfully subtle performance as a person in need of a lesson. Rating (7.6)


All Systems Go: Neil Armstrong (2009) - A music video with space animation short with a thumping beat by Robert Dohrmann Rating (4.8)


The Kirkie (2009) - The story of three friends who break down on the way to a science fiction convention. The least dorkie one who is not dressed like a Stormtrooper or a character from Tron enters a bar to call AAA. He meets a girl on the date from hell, and is soon drawn into a fight where he must deploy the Kirkie, a two handed chop used by Captain James T. Kirk on Star Trek. The little fantasy that leads into this is funny and the outcome expected but also funny. Done with humor and for laughs with many sci-fi references this one was fun to watch. Rating (7.0)


The Latest Thing (2009) - Should the human brain get added software if it can improve efficiency? After watching the number of patches on my windows box I would say no. This light came to the screening but Since I get up so early in the morning I could not stay for the Q&A.hearted short by Hamilton Scott says the same thing. When a family man is upgraded with buggy software some very funny scenes follow. Shot through his eyes we see him interact with his family and the guys writing and selling the software. The director came to the screening but Since I get up so early in the morning I could not stay for the Q&A. Rating (6.6)


Enigma (2009) - Like last night the best was saved for last. Enigma a half movie 42 mins was the best of the night. Very good special effect and set design surround this story of a military experiment that will help the human side win a war against the alien Cnidarians. A Cnidarian prisoner is transported on a ship called Genesis only to escape and kill the crew. The alien ends up dead too, but how? This is the mystery solved by the unfolding of the story. The acting was good and the story very interesting, like I said earlier there was a cgi budget in place and special effects looked good. The twist at the end was decent and you came away feeling the like this was well executed and exciting at times. Rating (8.5)




Science Fiction Shorts Night 1

The Boston Science Fiction Film Festival - This new event connected to the Boston Science Fiction Marathon Feb. 14-15 noon to noon is a wonderful addition. Each night from now until the Marathon there will be a feature or a night of Shorts at 7pm at the Somerville theater. I encourage you to look into getting tickets for these events.

Night One of Shorts...

Theosaurology (2009) - Animated short about the nature of dinosaurs, and their super powers. Yes that's right superpowers, in fact when dinosaurs realized what they were the awesomeness of them covered the planet and set off a superpowers race that eventually was their demise. In an effort to prove their awesomeness the pachycephalosaurus' used their mental powers to pull a meteor to the planet. Unfortunately it meant the end of these Super cool and totally awesome creatures. Alex Austin wrote this cute, under animated short.
Rating (6.3)

Empathy (2009) - Writer / Director Benjamin Pascoe executed this concise story about a man who learns a hard lesson in empathy. Shot in blck and white a father is having an ideal life with his beautiful daughter. Creating the too perfect images is a good turn in this case, forshadowing quickly that things can't be what they seem. When the little girl is hit by a car and killed Stanley must face the grief of loosing his girl. Cut to Stanley in a program that gives him these memories as part of an experiment to Punish(?) people who have killed others while drunk driving.
Rating (7.2)

The Package (2009) - Ah, the days of VHS tape... Dave (Justin Hosking) and Lisa (Liza Catherine-Dennis) are having a horrible fight, well written and passionate by writer Tim Anderson. Director Oliver Waghorn keeps it simple and when Lisa leaves Dave is standing in what could be the aftermath of his relationship. A VHS tape is delivered to the door and Dave immediately plays it. It is him 40 years in the future, future dave relays how this is the moment he makes a string of catastrophic decision in his life. He is sending this tape back to tell past Dave how to avoid them. Good predictable laugh when the tape breaks in the player.
Rating (6.5)

Destination Day (2010) - Tim (Richard Pappas) travels back in time to fix a relationship before it goes wrong. Only can we really change the past and have it come out the way we want in the present? Writer Chris Lassig references Perth's Destination Day where people in the present invited time travellers to a gathering. No one showed up of course which leads one to believe that in the future 1. There is no time travel 2. Human don't exist 3. They have lost records of this event and thus can't visit 4. Have no interest or can't contact those in the past. or 5. anynumber of other reasons. This story though focuses on Tim and Valerie (Audrey Lamont) who work together and have slept together. This is the day after the intimate encounter where future Tim is trying to change the outcome.
Rating (4.9)

Operation Blast (2???) - It is 2017 and the war with the taliban continues, except now little turban wearing robots are attacking us and we are naturally defending ourselves with our own little GI Joe robots. This stop motion animation short by Jeffrey Hollins is cute but sort of pointless.
Rating (3.7)

VHS Reporter (2009) - Stange little film about a group of people coming together and waiting for a ride. Pretty much some introductions to some somewhat strange characters and then the twist that most of them are aliens heading back to space. Nothing really made this stand out.
Rating (3.7)

Dimensional Meltdown (2009) - Parallel universes where a man's girlfriend dies repeatedly and he can not deal. He travels through wormholes to try to change the outcome. Do these things ever come out well?
Rating (4.2)

Frank DanCoolo: Paranormal Drug Dealer (2009) - by Writer director Andrew Jones, Neo-Mega-Ultra Tokyo is the setting for this stylish story told through the investigating of reporter Holly Malone (Priscilla McEver). She follows leads at crime scenes to the Super Natural pill Pucher Frank DanCoolo (John Charles Meyer). He is sells his phsycic brain fluid but has to deal with the side effects of creatures from the other side crossing into this reality. A wonderful mix of 1940s style ratatat dialog, CGI and stop motion monsters this over the top short was a great way to end the night. Although I loved it this coul really not hit spots for everyone.
Rating (8.0)