GOD OF LOVE

GOD OF LOVE is produced by Gigi Dement, Stefanie Walmsley and Ryan Silbert. It stars Matheny, Marian Brock andChristopher Hirsh. Director of Photography was Bobby Websterand original music is by Sasha Gordon. 

God Of Love was one of the best short films that I have ever seen and is nearly perfect.  I first saw this gem when watching the 83rd Annual Academy Awards Ceremony where is won Best Live Action Short Film.  The Academy Awards had also been advertising on their website and throughout the show that all of the nominees for Best Live Action Short and Best Animated Short Film could be purchased on iTunes and so I was soon curious to know what made these films win an Oscar so I went on-line to purchase them.  One day after-school I watched this film with Dream Catcher and after it was over almost played it again it was that good.  The thing I loved most about this film was that it told a perfect story in only 18 minutes.  In every second of the short film I learned more about the characters and felt more connected to them and their problems.  This is an aspect that I almost never find in professional movies on the big screen. Hollywood has seems to have lost the idea of having a good, believable plot and it is all about special effects.  With God of Love you can tell that the production team spent a long time on the script and making sure they cut out every line that didn't drive the plot forward in some way which is something every screen writer should do. 

for more info go imdb.com. Here is the trailer, have fun!

THE DOOR

     The door is an emotional and beautifully told short film made in Chernobyl contaminated lands. The short starring Igor Sigov (Nİkolai), Juliette Gering (Anya), LiliynGrechk (Lena) was written and directed by Juanita Wilson. It was written based on the 'Monologue about a whole life written down on doors, the testimony of Nikolai Kalugin'

     Being a 17 minute short film, it has been nominated for Best Live Action Short Film at the Academy Awards 2010. It couldn't won the Academy Award, but it has already had huge success having won the Best Film Award in both The Irish Film and Television Awards and The Foyle Film Festival in 2008.

     The short explores events associated with the 1986 Chernobyl disaster through the eyes of Nikolai, Anya and their daughterLena.
   
     The film opens with an interesting act: stealing a door. The question raising in the viewers' mind is not answered until the final shot. Only at final shot, can we understand why Nikolai retun home. To steal a door?

     I think The Door is masterfully scored and powerfully acted . So it is an exciting and interesting dramatic short. I hope you like it like I do!

     For more information on film and its director go imdb.com

     Here is the film!

EDUCATION FOR LEISURE

     Here is another multi-award winning short film 'Education for Leisure'. The film won awards in Coca Cola Cinemagic Film Festival 2010 and No Limits Awards: No Limits Film Festival 2011, and many other awards in different festivals. It was released in 2010 in UK. Dan Allen was the director of the movie. he is also the producer and the editor.

     If you know the poem by Carol Ann Duffy, 'Education for Leisure', the story can sound familiar to you. Inspired by the poem, the short is about a troubled boy.

     This movie focuses on a very delicate issue in a family: parents can not or hardly find a few minutes to spend some time with their kids. And this short shed light on how this influences kids psyhologically.

     In this movie we can see that small things can make big differences. In this short, there are two different cases; in the first one mother left home without even a 'goodbye', and this lead the kid to murder, but in the second case, she says 'have a good day'. This small sentence changes everything.

     This is an extremely well made movie with great editing, background music and special effects are just so good. Also conveyed the message in a very effective way. Hope you enjoy the movie as much as I did! 

     Here is the trailer, you can find the full short on youtube.

PRESTO

     Presto is a Pixar computer animated short film. It was produced in 2008 by an American Pixar animator Doug Sweetland.

     This short is full of witty humor. It lasts only 5 minutes. It is about a magician who is trying to perform a show with a rabbit. He decides to pull his magic trick. But the rabbit refuses to cooperate with the magician, because it is hungry. The magician tries to take control, but instead he becomes the magic act.

     In 2008 it was nominated for Academy Award, Best Animated Short and Annie Awards. For more information on film go imdb and presto official page. If you are looking for a great Pixar film, then you won't go wrong with 'Presto', here is the short:

THE CRUSH

   An oscar nominated Irish film 'The Crush' will capture your heart! It is written and directed by Micheal Creagh and produced by Damon Quinn. Creagh cast his eight year old son in the lead role of the story. Its runtime is approximately 15 minutes.

   The film was awarded Best Irish Short of 23rd Foyle Film Festival. On 25 January 2011 it was nominated for the Academy Award for Live Action Short Film at the 83rd Academy Awards. But, another good short film 'God of Love' won the award.

    Ardal Travis is in love. However, there is just one problem: He is eight year old schoolboy and he has a crush on his school teacher, Miss Purdy. But, when Ardal see her boyfriend, his heart is broken. His reaction, though, is a little unexpected. He challanges Miss Purdy's boyfriend to a duel. To the death.

      It is certainly deserves nomination and arguably better than 'God of Love'. If you want to see what a little boy can do for his love, spare your 15 minutes and watch this short. Enjoy the film!

 

THE BLACK HOLE

   Our next short is a must see! It is absolutely nothing short of brilliant. Human nature is perfectly displayed in all its greedy glory...

   There is a saying: 'Greedy is a curse.' This short film shows us how greed makes people irrational... A man is working in an office at night. He is tired and frustrated. While he is copying documents, he finds a black hole embedded in a blank paper which comes out of the machine. He discovers that it is indeed a 'black hole'. He decides to use it to his advatages. That is, until his greed gets better of him...

   Starring Napoleon Ryan, This short is created by Philip Sansom&Olly Williams in 2008. It won Virgin Media Short Competion in the same year.

   This is one of the best short films, I've seen. I also like the general idea of the black hole and the fact that it is something anyone would love to have, but it brings out peoples dark sides.

   Another good thing about the film is that it takes only 3 minutes to watch. Here it is, I hope you will enjoy it, too!

For more info on film go imdb.com

OUR TIME IS UP!

Our time is up is such a great short fim that has a beautiful script. But before moving on its storyline, let's talk about its director director and cast.

Rob Pearlstein

   Our Time Is Up is written and directed by a young director; Rob Pearlstein. His short recieved an Oscar Nomination for Best Live Action Film for the 78th Academy Awards.

   Kevin Pollak who is famous for the movies like The Usual Suspects and Casino, can be seen as a therapist in this short. Frankie J. Allison and Vivian Bang are seen as patients. And I should admit that it was really good to see Lost's Hurley, playing the pot-enthusiast gardener.

   The movie has an interesting storyline. The therapist Dr. Leonard Stern is a precise, neat and well-scheduled person. One morning he recieves a call from his doctor and he learns he has only six weeks to live. Then, he tries to change his life; he tries a new system on his patients: brutal honesty! And also he changes his own lifestyle; he quits his routines.

Vivian Bang

Kevin Pollak

 

 To be fair, it's initially a bit reliant on some cliches about patients and therapist; but, it's disarmingly warm and funny! The ending is touching as well.

   What will it cost? 14 minutes. Enjoy it!

MIRACLE FISH!

     This week I have a short film from Australia. This film was written and directed by Luke Doolan whom you can remember from the movies Animal Kingdom and The Square. It is an oscar nominated short film starring Karl Beattie. You can remember him from X-men Origins: Wolverine.

     Of the live action nominees in 2009, miracle Fish was my favorite; but, 'The New Tenants' won the Oscar.

     The film is about an 8 year old boy, Joe, who has an unforgetable birthday. On his birthday Joe comes to school. He is rediculed by his friends because his mother is on welfare. Then the boy takes a nap during recess, he wishes everyone in the world disappear. When he wakes up, he find the school completely abondaned. The reason why isn't clear until the film's closing scene.

     So, as it is written in The Dependant, Miracle Fish is a film that will keep you on the edge of your seat until its final moments.

     I think you will like it too. It lasts only 17 minutes. Enjoy the movie!

     For more information about the short film go imdb.com.

LIGHTHEADED: A JOURNEY TO BE AN INDIVIDUAL

Freedom?

   Lightheaded is a very interesting award-winning animated short film by Mike Dacko. In this short film we witness the efforts of candle drips to know who they are.

This short film tells us about drips of waxes worshipping the fire from which they have originated. While they are dancing around the fire, a mysterious object lead them a journey at the end of which they hope to find their life purpose. Like Mike Dacko himself said 'they sacrifice what they know to become who they are' 

way to find meaning...

   It is obvious that these creatures symbolize  humans: they live their lives; but, there is always one who have the brass of taking the first step. And others follow his footsteps. And of course, there is always one who will succeed in any case. 

   This film was first released at Rhode Island International Film Festival in 2009, and won its first prize for best animation. Film won many awards apart from this one from different branches like best director and best short film.

   If you have 5 minutes, this is worth watching. Here is the trailer: