Mona (Kosovo) (2016)
This interpretive dance short by Lorena Sopi is a beautiful haunting piece about a dance reflecting on life and the accident that changed it. This short has fantastic, dreamy lighting and makes good use of Christmas lights and snow fall. The acting is soft and appropriate while the dancing is fascinating to watch.
Tag Archives: Foreign
They Call Me Jeeg Robot (Lo chiamavano Jeeg Robot) (2015) [San Diego Italian Film Festivale 2016]
A small time criminal, Enzo, jumps in the Tiber River to escape his pursuers. Little does he know, the river hides a secret and he gains super strength. With this new power, he starts off looking out only for himself until he gets to know his neighbor Alessia. Written by Nicola Guaglianone and Menotti and directed by Gabriele Mainetti, They Call Me Jeeg Robot is an interesting take on the superhero myth and how a person who is at the basis bad would take the powers and run with them. The characters built here are majorly flawed people, starting with the hero, Enzo Ceccotti who finds himself with this super strength while also being completely broke and in need of something to get him out of the hole he dug for himself.
Yo-Kai Watch: The Movie Event (2016)
After storming the box office in its native Japan, “Yo-Kai Watch: The Movie” comes to America in a very limited run for hardcore fans of multimedia series. If you haven’t had enough of the TV series, the video games, and the toy line, fans will get to watch the big screen adventure of hero Nate, and his friends, the Yo-Kai. For those unaware, Yo-Kai are spirits in Japan that can be good or evil. Nate has a magical Yo-Kai watch that allows him to summon, catch, and catalogue the various Yo-Kai. And they’re a massive variety that stem from nature, the city, and literally anywhere else.
Demon (2015)
Piotr moves to Poland to marry his long-distance girlfriend Zaneta whose immediate family is less than thrilled with the situation but still supportive. As the wedding day approaches, Piotr finds bones in the yard of his marital home. Things take an odd turn and a restless spirit, or dybbuk, possesses the groom. Co-written by Pawel Maslona and director Marcin Wrona, Demon is a slow burn drama with horror elements. The title leads one to believe it would be more straight up horror film but the reality is that it’s a drama about a wedding or marriage that may have been a bad idea to start with and as the film advances and the spirit manifests itself it becomes a battle between people’s feelings and beliefs and people searching for the truth.
Level Up (2016)
A group of masked thugs grab Matt and tell him to do as they say or he’ll never see his girlfriend Anna again. As they give him orders by text message, Matt is pushed to see how far he’s ready to go to save the woman he loves. Based on an original idea by Andrew Orr, written by Adam Randall and Gary Young, and directed by Randall, the film is like a type of scavenger hunt/chase through London through which the lead learns about his tormentors and about himself. The bad guys created here are never really explained. The chase the film creates is interesting and how the lead deals with everything thrown at him is in a realistic manner while keeping the attention of the viewer.
Horrible Imaginings Film Festival 2016 Comedy Shorts Block: Part 2
Stained (UK) (2016)
Everything that could go wrong at tea time. A man is encountering minor annoyances in an otherwise fine afternoon. As he goes to the loo, once he’s done, he discovers that he is completely out of toilet paper. As he hobbles to the corner shop to buy some, he is haunted by his poo, taunting him, threatening him with a stain. Written by Mark A.C. Brown and directed by Phil Haine, Stained takes a basic life event, running out of t.p. and turns it on its head. The film is funny and it’s due in big part to the leads played by Michael Shephard and Chris Spyrides who keep a straight face throughout. Thefilm takes this situation and pushes it to its absurd limit and it works beautifully well.
Horrible Imaginings Film Festival 2016 Comedy Shorts Block: Part 1
The Phantom Hour (USA) (2016)
A group of people is called to a mysterious castle for various reasons and odd happenings abound. Written and directed by Brian Patrick Butler, this short pokes fun at vampire tropes with a classic dinner invitation set-up and a touch of modernity. Butler’s character of Bryce shows his sense of timing and his humor, being a perfectly awkward and funny assistant or Renfield to Nikolai. The actor playing this vampire, Luke Anthony Pensabene, is nicely impressive while not entirely scary which works in this setting. The film is really funny and goes for it, holding no punches, its old school, classic horror look ads to its fun with its credits in front of the film and nice cardboard décor in some parts. It’s campy, it’s funny, it’s a bit ridiculous, and mainly it’s a lovely horror comedy short, a difficult sub-genre to work in.