Director Mark Slutsky’s science fiction short “The Decelerators” really is an ambitious short that ponders on the more complex minutiae of life that we don’t often explore. While the movie itself could stand twenty more minutes, and exposition, that doesn’t completely destroy director Slotsky’s intent to create a meaningful genre entry that tries to build conflict with time travel. It’s by no means a masterpiece, but “The Decelerators” is definitely above average.
The crux of “American Mary” depends on the performance by Katharine Isabelle. While the film itself is a unique and very entertaining tale about revenge, madness, and masochism, the lead performance of Mary is most important. Almost any other actor probably would have played the character of Mary Mason completely over the top, but Katharine Isabelle’s turn as a slowly unraveling sadist with revenge on her mind is incredible. Even brilliant.
Director David Mech’s documentary about the ins and outs of the porn industry takes on an especially powerful resonance, when director Mech explores the argument of condoms versus no condoms in filming porn. Now in the midst of the 2013 porn industry debacle involving the AIDS outbreak among a slew of porn performers that began after an orgy scene featuring unprotected sex, the segment involving the condom debate will serve as an especially dire and powerful omen. I was never quite aware there was such a debate, but lo and behold it’s an actual issue in the adult industry.
Director Derek and Dan Morrow’s short film “Comet” has potential to really be the next fun kids film about two unlikely friends. Made on a small budget, and a limited crew, “Comet” is a short claymation film with very limited budget qualities, but great potential. The classic tale of a visitor from another world stuck on Earth, the Morrow brothers manage to plant the seeds for a wonderful narrative that they hope will blossom in to a feature film.
Much as I enjoy a movie about the apocalypse, the one disadvantage that D. Erik Parks’ short film has it that it needs much more exposition behind it. I loved the notion of doing whatever one can to survive, but I was never sure what to make of the premise for “Thieves,” in the end.
According to the epilogue of the film “Shame,” 53 percent of all domestic violence cases were reported by men. And yet we’re still living in a society where domestic abuse on males in intimate relationships are not only shrugged off, but aren’t even considered actual crimes by most people. Though society has built this idea that almost all domestic violence cases have been on women and children, men are often the abused that have to suffer through physical and mental abuse from their spouses.
It’s no easy feat to create a new dedication to “Night of the Living Dead” that doesn’t feel rehashed or regurgitated from other documentaries. Rob Kuhn’s documentary had every chance to be just a summary of “Document of the Dead,” but thankfully is a fresh and very entertaining look at the horror film that changed the world. Director Kuhns doesn’t just explore how “Night of the Living Dead” changed horror films, but how it changed the pop culture and American landscape for fifty years after its release.