A few weeks ago, at MoPA in San Diego, a group of filmmakers working under the production banner of 2AM Burrito and their friends gathered to screen their most recent shorts. It was an evening with red carpet and cast and crew in attendance. Without further ado, here is what I thought of each short presented.
Alien Story (2016)
Hot, as in “model hot”, aliens have infiltrated the female population of Earth to kill or render sterile all human males, thus slowly eliminating the population. The only way to save themselves is for men to not have sex. Which is easier said than done. Alien Story was directed by Luis Martinez who co-wrote it with Brian Higginbotham. The story is fun and a bit ridiculous, while the acting is on mostly on point for a low budget, super indie film about aliens fucking humanity into extinction. The theme song by Jose Iturriaga is a fun 8-bit throwback most should enjoy.
Cemetera Fairy (2016)
A cemetery-dwelling fairy brings light to grieving people by bringing back to them items reminiscent of their lost loved ones. Written and directed by Claudia Y. Robles, this short is sweet but feels like the story was lacking something, perhaps a bit more magic. The acting was decent and the effects were a little too much. They didn’t feel like they belonged in the film but more in a cartoon-y story or an Ann Gedes photo shoot.
Local Redux (2016)
2 friends at lunch are talking about life, men, their plans for the future. Most of the conversation is made up of pop culture references and quotes. Written by Brian Higgenbotham and directed by Luis Martinez, it comes off a bit odd. As this short is all dialogue, the acting is rather important and in ok in most cases. However, a few actors ham it up and it distracts from the better performances. This short about nothing and everything is definitely not for everyone as it can come off as “talky” or a bit boring if the plight of two college students do not interest the viewer or if all the pop culture references miss their mark.
Runn (2014)
A behind the scenes view of a political campaign filled with opportunists and backstabbers who will do whatever it takes to win, if not for their candidate then for themselves. Written by Paloma Velasquez and directed by Oscar Velasquez, this short is a well-timed (now) piece on the state of elections and politics. Decently written and acted, with a stand-out performance by Rachel Barker as the young wide-eyed girl learning the ropes from her idol. Technically speaking, Runn looked good but had some sound issues that should have been fixed before the screening.
Family Business (2016)
A young woman goes on a date with an older man and things go terribly, terribly wrong, but for who? Her inventor father steps in to help and they bond over this possibly very negative experience. Directed by Ray Gallardo who also co-wrote with Jamey Bush, this short was the most fun of the bunch to this reviewer and has some of the strongest acting by Savannah Bush as the daughter. The effects are good while not super original. The only issue here really is how did they even manage to clear the rights for the music and background film sound? Fair use helps a bit, but this was a lot. Nevertheless, this one keeps things short and sweet with a side of monster makeup.
Girl Unburdened (2016)
Kara El and her cohort find a pedophile and make him regret his life choices. After some research, it became clear that this was a pilot or episode or part of an episode for the series (web?) Girls Unburdened about Supergirl trying to have a regular life away from her superhero responsibilities. Written by its star Crysstal Hubbard who also directed some episodes with Oscar Velasquez and Ty Mabrey, the story in what was presented felt very incomplete and like a teaser of something to come. The acting was fairly good and the political jabs very timely once again. Full judgment is hard to do on such a small piece of a bigger project so I reserve the right to change my mind about this on when/if I see the rest of the project in the future.
Slap Worthy (2016)
When a man gets his female best friend to slap him in front of the office hottie to attract said hottie, things work out in his favor. At first. The longest of the shorts presented, Slap Worthy was written and directed by Luis Martinez. The story is interesting as a take on rom coms, however it was supposed to be a parody which is does not feel like at all. The acting here is good for most of the film, with the exception of a few scenes which may be due to actors’ range or directorial choices. The editing here could use an extra pass on some scenes and segments that feel long and overstay their welcome.
Also, the framing of scenes needs a bit more attention; heads cut off at the top to focus on something is one thing, heads often cut off at the top without any reason that could be seen gets really aggravating. Slap Worthy is entertaining, has some funny moments, and a few touching scenes, but it suffers from a few issues that keep it from being a much better film.