After the very entertaining “Power Rangers” tribute “Super Task Force One,” I like where director Steve Rudzinski’s head is. He seems interested in delivering audiences good old fashioned genre entertainment, and he has the talent to back up the ambition. Even with the obvious rock bottom budgets, he can churn out some amusing and charming indie films. If he’s ever given a huge budget, I think he could blow audiences out of the water.
If there’s one really negative criticism I can lobby at “Daniel” is that it feels more like a prologue to a larger film, than a short film. And I’d love to see Peter Dukes create the long form narrative to this shot film someday. “Daniel” is a very good and creepy short film that centers on its big hook, and once it comes, it’s tough to forget.
One of the aspects of “Isa” that I enjoyed beyond the predominantly latino cast, is the fact that its heroine “Isa” is a strong individual. When we first meet her, she’s a brilliant tech wiz who sells jail breaking cards on the side for extra cash. She always seems one step ahead of everyone, even at her most vulnerable, and uses a troubling dilemma as an opportunity to find out about her shady past. She has memories of parents she barely knew, and is living a life she doesn’t quite trust to be her actual one, and she’s capable of finding out and giving the villains of the film a damn hard time working around her brain.
You know your cast has done a great job with their respective roles when they’ve successfully turned three dumb, ignorant, gun loving red necks in to charming heroes you root for until the bitter end. Surely enough, director Barry Battles’ grindhouse redneck chic romp isn’t an easy sell as, after the first ten minutes, I was ready to toss this aside and look for something better on my plate. But surely enough after spending time with it, “The Baytown Outlaws” eventually won me over, completely. In fact, I kind of fucking loved it, all things considered.
One of the bigger problems in “Zugzwang” is the intent behind the premise and concept. I was never sure if this short film was supposed to be a whimsically sweet tale of an underdog pursuing love, or a disturbing tale of a young boy out of touch with human dynamics who can’t take a hint. I found the ultimate resolution a bit uncomfortable and unsatisfying, but thankfully those caveats don’t bog down “Zugzwang,” completely. True it sounds like I’m down on the short film but despite its hazy intentions director Yolanda Centeno’s short film is charming and inventive.
I like how director Mathilde Dratwa’s short tale of coming of age and growing up doesn’t try to be anything but itself. Right until the very end, it’s a cute and very bittersweet tale about accepting adulthood, and the grim realities of being an adult. Sometimes we have to forgive, sometimes we have to forget, and a lot of times running away from problems solves nothing. Martine Moore is adorable as young Sophie, a teenage girl who breaks in to Garden Grove old folks home to break out her grandmother Faye. Faye is a bit eccentric and somewhat odd, but Sophie only feels solace in confiding in her and her alone.
Crew B and Freddie Wright’s short film about a seemingly sentient hangman game is probably one of the more creative short horror films I’ve seen in a while. Normally directors are prone to sticking to the classic devices of a Ouija Board or other oddities, but director Wright sticks to an odd game of Hangman to paint the future. And surely enough it becomes a Pandora’s Box that doles out terrible fates.