The massacre perpetrated by Hamas against Israeli civilians on October 7, 2023, resulted in the deaths of approximately 1,200 people and the kidnapping of over 250 men, women, and children – the worst single assault on Jews since the Holocaust.
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Director Jonny Caplan’s documentary is probably one of the most outstanding and entertaining crime documentaries of the year. Despite its short run time, he manages to unfold the story of a real underdog hero and anti-establishment mobster whose entire life was spent virtually kicking societal status quos in the ass. “Last Man Standing” is a True Crime Feature Documentary on the life of Myron Sugerman, son of Barney Sugerman, a partner of leading US mobster Meyer Lansky.
Where is the American dream bred? In the heart or in the head? Director-Writer Ziyu Luo’s “American Daydream” is a classic ode to the idea of the American dream and our pursuit of it. Is the “American Dream” an unreachable goal, or something that we each have within us, personally? Recently having its world premiere at the HollyShorts Film Festival, “American Daydream” is a brilliant beautiful short drama comedy that explores ideas about immigration, assimilation and Americanization.
I really have to give it to Jane Kaczmarek who stars in “And Now I Lay Me Down.” She really is a marvel in what is a pretty gut wrenching movie that approaches a serious topic with a tongue in cheek. Kaczmarek is essentially the only cast member in the entirety of Rani DeMuth’s short drama comedy and commands a lot of the screen with such an immense powerful and intense sadness.
Selected to screen at 2024 CAAMFest, Lina Suh constructs what is easily one of the best films of the year. “Meeting You, Meeting Me” is a wonderful chamber piece about two kindred spirits that meet under the most unlikely circumstances. So much of “Meeting You, Meeting Me” is based on whether or not the pair of stars Annika Foster and Sam Yim can spark any kind of chemistry, and lo and behold they have it. “Meeting You , Meeting Me” felt very much in the tradition of masterpieces like “Before Sunset” where circumstances put two people together who didn’t know they needed they each other.
So much credit goes to Joshua Trigg, an ace filmmaker who has delivered one of the most affecting and engaging dramas of the year. “Satu – Year of the Rabbit” is a powerhouse drama packed to the brim with beauty, sadness, and grief, and pairs two people together, both of whom are in search of something. In the tradition of films like “Harry and Tonto,” Joshua Trigg’s film is about two wandering spirits that find a purpose in the middle of the amazing countryside of Laos. This is where “Satu” also acts as something of a travelogue akin to 1991’s “The Inland Sea,” acting as a means of conveying the richness, and vast scope of their home.
Funsize Epics Vol. 2 Shorts Block
Director/Writers Dakota Millett, and Michael Fischer’s horror comedy is a short begging to be made in to a feature film. It’s probably not a coincidence that “Up on the Housetop” feels a lot like a proof of concept short rather than actual short film. I honestly don’t begrudge them for that, because both creators have their fingers on the pulse of what they’re trying to accomplish and what they do accomplish in this short format.