AFI SHORT FILMS ROUND 1

By Shane Morton

SHUT EYE HOTEL directed by the infamous Bill Plympton (The Fan and the Flower, Guard Dog), is a gruesome animated tale where cops who are investigating murders at a mysterious hotel become the victims themselves. It is a wonderful masterpiece of animation!  As always, Plympton shorts never let you down.  This is a film I would not be surprised nominated for an animated Oscar this year!

t.o.m. by Tom Brown is a cartoon about a young man who shows you his daily routine of getting ready to go to school. It is a very short film and cleverly done. The animation is a little crude and I was left scratching my head....BUT! For some reason I did love it.

EVERYTHING WILL BE OK by Don Hertzfeldt. A crudely but nicely animated film with semi stick figures was quite funny, witty and charming. It kept me laughing for quite a while and the starkness of the situation the lead finds himself in becomes disarming. It is his everyday life that is driving him crazy. Nothing else. The film captures the quirks and futility of a life very well. I understood the pain of this stick man. Nicely written narration kept the film moving.  Once again definitely a contender for an Oscar this year.

ROCK POCKET directed by Trevor Anderson is a fun little film about being at the fair and watching all the head bangers (hard rock people) walk around. It is the reminiscense of a ten year old boy and how he made his childhood fantasy come true as an adult. A cute gay film about making childhood fantasies come true! 

YOUR'S TRULY by Osbert Parker is a pop painting come to life. This animated film noir is a delicous piece of filmmaking. It has all the makings of your classic noir story. However, in this twist to the classic it is her cooking that brings about her downfall. GO SEE THIS! I will keep my eye on this director.  This is one of my favorite shorts of the year!

I MET THE WALRUS by Josh Raskin is an animated pen sketch film set to a recording of an interview with John Lennon made in 1969. I love the pro peace message and it could not come at a better time.  It is a message that we cannot hear enough. What a very nice film.  It has been playing festivals all over the place.  I have seen this film in at least five festivals in the last five months.  It also could be a nomination at this years Oscars.

PSYCHO HILLBILLY CABIN MASSACRE by Robert Cosnahan was a film I knew I was going to love.  I am such a huge fan of horror and this film promised a whole lot in the title.  I was so surprised when I watched this film.  It started off in the first few minutes with a nice surprise twist before the gore even began.  Well acted and extremely well directed I truly enjoyed this fantastic film.  I expect to see Robert Cosnahan’s name on a big horror film soon!

NAKED directed by Albert Jan van Rees and Diederik Ebbinge is an adorable film about a mother taking her young soon to the sauna for the first time.  Every patron is nude and enjoying what the spa has to offer and the young boy cannot believe his eyes!  It is cute and very funny to see the world through this young boy’s eyes and how ridiculous the human body can sometimes look.  As he leaves he falls in love with a young woman and imagines himself on a see-saw with her.

KIDS + MONEY directed by Lauren Greenfield is a fantastic documentary about how LA Teenagers see the world through the almighty dollar and the “style” it can provide for them.  We see rich kids and poor kids speak about their need for stylish clothes in LA’s very money driven culture.  Where to be popular you need a bag worth at least $1000.  It was eye opening and I hope that parents who see this film realize what consumerism is doing to our youth.  A truly great small film.