12 :12

By: iStick

"Synopsis; They say that 11:11 is the time to make a wish. If that is so, what would be special about 12:12..? This short film shows the weird, odd and unusual events that happen to a young man when the clock strikes 12:12. Enjoy!
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VideoInformation; This is my first major attempt at creating a creepy type of film, and I hope the video does give out a weird feeling. You'll probably never look at the time of 12:12 the same way again. I hope you like it!
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Music Made By Yours Truly - Jeremy Cathey :)
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#81 Top Rated Entertainment 11/13/07
#56 Most Discussed Entertainment 11/13/07"

Its very difficult reviewing shorts because not all of them are done by professionals. This one sadly is not and while the idea is nice and original, it seems too much inspired by other horror movies in its implementation.

I won’t delve into the story but I would like to the guys making this short for at least trying to create a short for the horror genre. Not many people do this. Moreover, they do succeed in creating suspense and a bit of thrill for the moviegoer. We have regularly seen in horror movies that instead of keeping the camera still they tend to move it around to give us chills and this is exactly how the makers have done it in this short.

The music might not create that foreboding feeling, but seeing this as done by amateurs I am actually pleasantly surprised they remembered even making a soundtrack!

Nice effort, but they could have made it a bit longer to make it scarier for the audience. 

Black Button

 

By: DarkHeartProductions

"PLEASE READ BEFORE COMMENTING
'The Box' is NOT a rip off of 'Black Button', nor vice versa. More details below.

-YouTube Awards 2007 - Top Six Finalist, Best Short Film
-WINNER: Fitzroy Short Film Festival (Melb, Aus)
-WINNER: DearCinemaFest Short Film Festival (Int.)
and more...

Mr Roberts finds himself awoken inexplicably in a white room. A man sits before him at a desk and in between them stands a black button. If Mr Roberts pushes it, he will receive a briefcase filled with millions of dollars. Or he can take the key to the door and leave penniless. The catch? Pushing the button will result in the death of a human being. What would you do?

EDIT 1: Some people have observed a similarity in the premise of this film and an revival episode of The Twilight Zone in 1986. Please note (1) We had never seen the episode and only learned of it long after we'd finished the film. (2) The Twilight Zone weren't the first to do it. There was a short story before that, which was in turn based on an old premise called the 'Faustian Bargain', around since the 16th century (deal with the 'devil'). An almost identical premise exists in several cultures. Richard Kelly is even making a film with this premise called 'The Box'. (3) Our film is similar in premise, but different in plot, characters, dialogue, aesthetics, setting, moral meaning, religious undertone, twist etc. Each version, including ours, aims to bring something new to an old idea. Please have the respect to not accuse us of plagiarism.

Additionally, we have no particular religious affiliation; this is a fictional work and its ideas are designed to encourage thought and debate, not comment on any particular theology.


Our first professional short film. We made it for $200 and shot it on the stage of our old school in Melbourne, Australia. Fortunately, professional actor Robert Grubb agreed to act in it for free after reading the script. This film took nearly a year to put together, working on it in stages and creating the 'white' effect on a home PC. Please note that the younger actor, unlike his father Robert Grubb, has no formal acting training whatsoever.

The Making of "Black Button" is now on YouTube.

Two of our other shorts have been released on YouTube, 'Campsite' and 'The Window'. Click on our profile if you'd like to see them and subscribe for updates on new films. Thanks!"



“God will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able. But will with the temptation also make a way to escape.”

This is how the Black Button starts and this is probably the best way to summarize it too. Black Button is about temptations and how one deals with them.

The script was really nice and dialogues were really powerful. You can tell by the use of the words that the writer had really put a thought to it. However, the acting did disappoint me a bit. It did not do justice to the level of writing. The older guy was good and gave nice expressions and his diction was faultless, but the younger guy (his son I am told) was way out of his depth. His acting was really poor. He should have watched Keanu Reeves in the Devil’s Advocate for pointers. Not once do you feel sorry for his character.

Overall the idea was excellent, the direction good but I do feel that the characters could have been a bit more expressive and tried a bit harder. 10 out of 10 for the idea, 6 for the execution. 

Remains (שאריות)

By: Tal Haring

"Short film about a disfunctioning family and a girl's dream of escape."


It’s been an hour since I saw remains. I am sitting on my rooftop and watching as the sun slowly descends and the shadows start to appear. A cold wind is blowing. And really that’s how I am feeling inside too – cold, shivering and sad. And that’s how Remains wanted me to feel.

This short creates a desolate scene showing a girl who is having a hard time with her family. I won’t go into detail about the storyline but what I would like to talk about is the atmosphere generated by the movie. Its gloomy, its depressing, its melancholic and yet its amazing! The director doesn’t create this sense of despair with cheap tricks, but he makes it happen through the little details, the very lightly played soundtrack in the background and specially the sawdust!

Yes, the way sawdust has been used as an expression of despair in the movie it really speaks volumes about the direction of the movie. You don’t often find such creativity in a short, but Remains excel at it.

The acting while not brilliant, cannot be criticized either. Its not going to win any awards, but it’s not going to deflect the moviegoers’ attention either.

Yes its sad and despairing at times, but that’s what the maker wants us to feel. And now as the sun has completely disappeared and the cold wind blows I still sit here feeling very low. And frankly I am loving it!

Nostalgia - Young Love

By: wildcardpix

 "Directed by Matthew Toffolo"

Thing is I don’t like romantic movies. I would rather watch paint drying. But, this job means that I have to go out and watch shorts belonging to different genres just to please my readers. And that is why I watched Nostalgia. I won’t talk about the story because I hate romantic stories and the storyline wasn’t much different from any other romantic movies.

But, to add to my misery the movie was poorly done too. Flashbacks are a good way to do a movie, but this movie went overboard with it. Why have them in black n white? Surely the moviemakers didn’t think that the audience would be dumb enough not to distinguish between the scenes happening in different times!

On top of that the acting wasn’t that great. The actress did all right and tried to do her job honestly, but the guy did not seem up for it! He lacked passion of any sense through out the movie and a love story devoid of passion makes a horrible experience for the moviegoer.

You won’t shed any tears while watching this movie, you might shed a tear or two for me who had to watch it and on top of it review it. The great Roger Ebert, in his famous review of the movie North, used the word “hated” ten times in the space of three sentences. And that’s exactly how I feel about this movie.

Signs

By:steveymcdonald

“A man can stand almost anything except a succession of ordinary days” and that seems to be the problem with our protagonist who is called Jason. He is bored with his routine; life is monotonous until that fateful day when he sees the sign.

Thing about short movies is that rarely its been done by professionals. That’s why you tend to see many little irksome mistakes. And mostly this has to do with the soundtrack and camerawork. However, Signs stand out because of its likeable camerawork and great soundtrack. The music continues to play through out the movie and most of the time this isn’t a bright idea, as it can get a bit irritating. But, not in Signs. The moviemakers take the risk and it pays off very well. The music is splendidly done and really plays to the emotional ups and downs of our hero (who doesn’t utter a word) and the general mood of the story.

I also have no complains about the acting. Its good. However, I do feel that Jason is keeping his mouth open a bit too long at times, which frankly doesn’t look too good on the camera. He is supposed to be shown as someone nervous and shy, but shy people don’t look like mentally retarded you know :)

Overall, this is one of my favorite shorts. Cinematography is superb and the build up to the climax is pretty well done. People tend to make shorts with grave tones and all that but sometimes you want to watch something light-hearted, something nice, something to bring a smile to your face, and this short does a great job on all of these fronts. Highly Recommended! 

Teeth

By: heroesforzeroes

"Directed by John Kennedy & Ruairí O'Brien. Produced by Divamedia in association with the Irish Film Board."

This is one of the toughest shorts to review. I really didn’t know where to begin. Should I talk about the story – nah – its just 2 minutes, should I talk about the actors – nah, there are just 2 old men, should I talk about the action – not much there either. I really really loved it, but I didn’t know where to start. And then it hit me – why do I love this movie. It’s because of the aura, the ambience generated by the movie. Shot in black and white creating a nostalgic feeling, the soft yet reminiscing music, the scenic beauty and in the middle of it, two old men reminding me of my grandpa! : D.

It might not leave you enthralled but it will certainly leave a smile on your faces. Recommended for the gloomy afternoons when you are feeling down :)

Sikumi (on the ice)

By: Sikumithefilm

"An Inuit hunter drives his dog team out on the frozen Arctic Ocean in search of seals, but instead, becomes a witness to murder. Winner of the Jury Prize for Short Filmmaking at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival."

Hearing that Sikumi or “On the Ice” had won awards I was very excited to watch this movie. My expectations were really high, what could it be, what could it be. What turned out was a touch disappointing. It’s a nice little movie no doubt, but an award-dinner at Sundance…that can’t be right. The start is promising – as the protagonist Apuna, rides his sled through the icy terrains of Arctic he finds a murder taking place. But, what transpires next is well nothing much actually. With such a great start the story could have evolved into something better, but the writer just didn’t want to take any risk it seemed. Moreover, the acting was rather poor and dialogue-delivery shoddy.

While saying all this I do want to mention that the place where this movie is shot is one of the hardest places on earth to make a movie. So kudos to them for trying and actually managing to get some great shots of the landscape. With snow and ice all round you it’s very difficult for the cameraman to maintain correct exposure…but you won’t find any such faults here.

Lastly, I think my expectations were a bit too much. If I had watched it without knowing it’s an award winner I might have enjoyed it more, and since I have told you that….ooops!!! :p

Replay (Animated)

By: aniBOOM

"In a destroyed world, the only glimpse of hope is the memory of a forgotten past. But be careful not to let your dreams control your mind...This is Replay an amazing animated short film."

Great thing about short movies is that if you hate one you might still go ahead and watch it, knowing its only going to last a few minutes. Well, that’s also the bad thing about them – sometimes they are so good you feel this could be a feature length movie. Replay falls into the second category. The storyline is great and the animation isn’t too bad either – though I did think that the characters were rather stiff in their expressions.

The setting is an apocalyptic world caused by who knows what where two siblings are surviving in some underground cabin. Outside, there is doom and destruction everywhere – they even have to wear oxygen masks while going out because of the polluted air! One day, the older of the two siblings, Lana finds something that’s going to change their lives forever! And now I shall shut up about the story – you will have to watch it yourselves :).

People who are thinking of watching it to have a light-hearted time – this is not for you! Its intense, its emotional and you might find yourself weeping. Its no Twilight (Thank God!) but its certainly worth the watch (unlike Twilight :)). Ohhh…. and its French (I think), so if you can’t understand French bring your reading glasses for the subtitles. 

Fifty People One Question

Before the end of today, what would you wish to happen? (New Orleans)
By: separatethis

"The Story:
Around two months ago when we set out to film, it was another New Orleans day. A sure sign was the radiating humidity that made your entire body feel like it was covered in a sort of sweaty film. Once you get past the initial fear of the inevitable grime and heat, you feel a certain energy or "atmosphere"- like a kid throwing himself without reserve into a mud fight.

We had an idea: ask as many people as possible the same question. We didn't know exactly why- I guess we were hoping to expose a slice of human emotion (maybe). Just the simple act of reaching out and asking the question is such a enthralling experience in itself. So go ahead, ask yourself....." 


Fifty people 1 question is a short video rather than a film and the title says it all really. The only suspense that I can try and create here is what that question is. Saying that the question they pose really makes you think. The question is not like a riddle nor does it have one right answer. But it does give an insight to what the person is thinking at the time and maybe the best answer one can give is the one given with least bit of consideration.

To say this video is captivating or amazing would be wrong – it’s neither. Its good, yes, but the camera work does make even the 7-minute video seem long. There was just too much playing with the camera focus for my liking – it was getting a bit distracting. Apart from that it’s a nice, all-around video. 

New Boy

By: NITV Shorts

"A young African boy with a haunting back story starts school in Ireland, and finds out quickly exactly what it means to be the new kid. Winner of Best Narrative Short at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival and nominated for an Oscar."

Short in length but certainly big in character, New Boy makes a lot of good points and pulls you in with its simple yet mesmerizing storyline. Even while featuring a lot of young actors, acting remains good through out the movie and all the kids do a great job. The director does not over-complicate things and that’s the best thing about the movie – its simple yet gripping. As the title suggests this movie is about a boy with a haunting past who is trying to adjust to a new environment. Through flashbacks the movie delves into Joseph’s past and tries to explain his behavior.

While all the actors do a good job some extra credit must go to the director who presents the whole tale in just 10 minutes in a very nice commanding way. No scene seems out of place and no dialogue seems inappropriate. The story might not blow you away but it will certainly touch you and make you think.