I was really interested in watching Eric Rich’s “Stalled” during Slamdance 2023 but sadly didn’t have the chance. I’m glad I was able to catch up with it now, as it’s such a darkly demented and funny short film. “Stalled” watches like an episode of an anthology series where audiences will be glad they’re not the main character.
Tag Archives: Indie Film
99¢ Pizza (2022) [CINEJOY 2023]
I don’t know if Director Lucas Ansel was attempting to mimic a dream, if so, he comes damn close to the general feeling of being in one. Created with some striking stop motion animation, “99¢ Pizza” is a bizarre short but sweet thriller that works as some really trippy animated fare.
Back to the Drive-In (2023)
In 2020, when the pandemic hit America and the government was demanding strict social distancing laws, the sudden need for the American Drive-In signaled an incredible renaissance. What was once considered an antiquated facet of movie going suddenly began thriving once again. Everyone in desperate need of the experience of movie going took their vehicles to the lots again, and it indicated that no matter what happened, you couldn’t kill the movies. Then the pandemic loosened its grip on the country.
Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey (2023)
One of the things I hate worse than a bad horror movie is a boring one. I can take that the producers of the film took the IP of “Winnie the Pooh” and turned it in to a slasher flick. People have been doing that for decades, and now with “Winnie the Pooh” in the public domain, we’re going to get so much more Winnie the Pooh iterations. The problem with “Blood and Honey” is that it’s boring. It’s so woefully boring and uncreative. How do you have a chance like this and blow it on such a dull run of the mill slasher flick?
An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It (2022)
Director Lachlan Pendragon’s “An Ostrich…” is probably one of the more inventive shorts about creating, the idea of a higher being, and what happens when our creations take on a life of their own. “An Ostrich…” utilizes interesting filmmaking mediums and a collaboration of two art forms to unfold a very self aware and entertaining meta-satire.
Satisfaction Guaranteed (2017)
Director Yue Ma’s short horror comedy watches a lot like a gory version of “The Stepford Wives.” Much like its predecessor, it’s a movie that centers on domestication and chauvinism, as well as the idealized image of women. All of it is packed with a dark sense of humor, and some great turning of the tables. Much of “Satisfaction Guaranteed” garners an admirably dark sense of humor with a satirical and warped tone from beginning to end.
Fever (2022)
Director Brian K. Rosenthal’s “Fever” is a short but sweet spooky tale that uses a parent’s anxiety against them. He accentuates the anxiety with the introduction of a spooky creature, one that has absolute feature length potential. Fingers crossed. “Fever” does what most spooky stories do by taking a real world anxiety and completely elevates it in to a horrifying tale.