It’s been an interesting year and we’ve manage to cover a few of the usual film festivals and found some favorites along the way. We were thankfully able to compensate for last year by really digging our heels in to the indie movies and festivals, and we’ve combed over some really talented directors, and writers.
These are five of the best short films we saw in 2023.
In 2013, pop music artist Robin Thicke released a massive hit song alongside music producer Pharrell called “Blurred Lines.” The song became almost iconic, but it also instantly became infamous. Robin Thicke was accused of stealing the tune to Marvin Gaye’s “Gotta Give it Up” by Gaye’s family estate. Despite their initial denial, Robin Thicke and Williams were taken to court and forced testify, leading to a startling musical precedent that also ruined Robin Thicke’s career momentum.
“Max’s was where punk was a movement; CBGB’s is where you went to get a record deal.”
I’ll admit that while I’m very well versed in the history of rock and roll, I almost never heard of Max’s Kansas City. I always heard about CBGB’s throughout my life, but almost never heard about Max’s Kansas City. The club was known as the premiere scene for not just rock and roll stars, but movie stars, celebrities, tabloid makers, and anyone that the alternative scene could produce. There’s a very fascinating story behind Max’s Kansas City and how it set the template for the punk rock scene, but never really got the credit it deserved. All the while CBGB’s was almost universally heralded.
Oliver Harper’s origin of the iconic “Street Fighter” video game is just the right rush of nostalgia that gamers and nineties kids just might end up loving. As someone who was notoriously bad at the game but still loved it, “Here Comes a New Challenger” is a wonderful deep dive in to the making of a franchise that impacted pop culture greatly. While some may be put off at the notion of this documentary Harper spends a lot of time on exploring what inspired the initial video game, and shockingly a lot of it is derived from the movies.
Before the video game age, arcades were one of the biggest social spots for mainly kids and teenagers to commute, compete, and share their passion. Once home video game became a mainstay allowing kids a more personal and intimate video gaming experience. This prompted the unfortunate collapse of the arcade industry for a very long time. That is until the last twenty years when many folks that fondly recall the arcade age and the joy it brought them sought to revive not just the arcade, but the social experience of the arcade.
A hitman who took over the family business from his father ends up taking a young woman after she’s witnessed a hit. There is something more to her that is making him care about her survival.
You have to give it to Wesley Mellott. He brings his A game to what has been a pretty fun set up for a potential series of films or even a feature. While I’m always a Sam devotee, I could see The Magician becoming one of the many Halloween horror icons. He’s just such a great character. Donning a top hat and tuxedo, he also dons a great skull visage that may or may not be a well detailed mask. Either way, The Magician takes Halloween deathly serious and doesn’t mind offing anyone that doesn’t respect the rituals of the holiday.