Short Film Review #10

A new set of short films for your delectation.


Blind Eye

'Blind Eye' from Laura Degnan on Vimeo.
Laura Degnan’s film Blind eye is chiefly so effective because it taps into one of those fears that is so current and real and the reason why most sensible people avoid the top decks of buses that populated by roving youths. Anchored by a compelling performance from Liz White as the mother torn between doing the right thing and protective self-interest for herself and her daughter, Degnan explores the ‘what would you do’ scenario with visual interest and a little imagination. And if it gets a little heavy-handed towards its ending, then it worth remembering that it’s an issue where we’d all need a little prodding to decide where we’d ultimately come down. 


Post
POST (short film) from phil traill on Vimeo.
I wonder if Eddie Marsan ever gets frustrated at the pigeon-hole he frequently finds himself in or if he’s just grateful for the regular work. Either way, even in the lead role as he is for this film by Phil Traill, he’s playing that familiar hangdog everyman that he has parlayed into a highly successful career as a character actor. And here he is perfectly respectable as a hapless office worker in the City whose life is changed and popularity sky-rockets once he discovers a magic lamp-post. It is essentially a bit of light-hearted fun and romps along to its cheesy ending with a skip in its step and though it won’t change anyone’s life, it will put a smile on your face.  


Remember - https://shootingpeople.org/watch/76020/remember
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Mainly relevant to my interests due to starring Dominic Tighe, Claire Duffy’s 2009 film Remember is an odd thing. A horror short, it works a kind of “I Know What You Did Last Summer” vibe with its tale of revenge for schoolboy pranks but never really grabbed in the way that it should. Virtue can come shining out of low-tech low-budget productions if handled in the right way but here, the film never really alchemises into something better.

Shaky camerawork just looks shaky rather than suspenseful in the overly dark outdoor scenes and the too-bright indoor scenes, that contrast strongly, just end up looking overexposed. The clunkiness of the acting is thus too clear, the intriguing atmosphere dissipated and for me, it tries too hard to be enigmatic without actually giving us enough to hook us into the mystery.


No Pressure 

Spotting Lyndsey Marshal’s name in the cast list for the upcoming NT production of Othello reminded me of how much I like her as an actress and so off I popped to IMDB to see if she’d been in any short film and sure enough, up popped No Pressure. Co-written by Franny Armstrong and Richard Curtis, it was part of a worldwide campaign – 1010Global.org – to try and get carbon emissions in 2010 reduced by 10%. Using a spiky vein of dark humour, it admonishes those in schools, offices and beyond who don’t or won’t do their part, not even celebrities escape as Gillian Anderson finds out to her peril. Marshal is amusing as a nerdishly matter-of-fact schoolteacher but the funniest thing about the video is the comments left beneath.


Siberia

And on a similar theme, Justine Mitchell's name on the credits for Children of the Sun got me all excited about her too, though I wasn't able to see the entirety of this film it does look intriguing.

Felicity
I was sent a link to this trailer but haven't actually been able to track down a copy of the film, but it does look good, not least for featuring Harry Melling in a delicious array of white vests and shirtless shots - sorry, I mean it has really good cinematography... ;-)
See the trailer here: http://www.felicityshort.com/index.html 

Baby Boom
No direct link for this so you'll have to visit http://www.euromedcafe.org/lwinner.asp?lang=ing&pn=1&documentID=225 to watch this 3.32 minute short which features Enzo Cilenti as a bamboozled businessman who finds himself unexpectedly lumbered with a suspect package at an airport...

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