on January 21, 2010
Sundance kicked off tonight in Park City, Utah. I hadn’t heard any advance buzz about the 10/10 online series, a recent Sundance tradition that we covered last year, and so I sadly concluded that the festival had moved away from online distro for short films to instead focus more on its much-heralded pay per view partnership.
Not the case though! YouTube seems to have scored a coup, stealing the series from iTunes. Coup of course might be a bit strong of a word since, as usual, there seems to be no advance buzz or fanfare for the presence of these films, but the quality is high— I recognize several of them as winners from various worldwide festivals.
This move probably wouldn’t have happened without YouTube’s new video settings—many of these short films are available in drop-dead gorgeous 1080p. 5 of the films seem to reside in the Screening Room, while another 5 can be accessed via Sundance’s channel. For convenience though the film’s are linked below. I haven’t watched them all yet, but I’ll pour through them in the coming days. Let’s try and outsource this a bit though, please go ahead and tell everybody what to watch and what to avoid with your own mini-review in the comment!
Mr. Okra — 11 min — A portrait of the beloved New Orleans vegetable salesman.
Please Say Something — 10 min — Cat and mouse tale set in the distant future.
Dock Ellis and the LSD No-No — 4 min — See our prior review here.
The S From Hell — 9 min — Doc/Horror about the scariest corporate logo in history.
Voice on the Line — 7 min — Experimental animation on Cold War hysteria.
old fangs — 11 min — A young wolf decides to confront his father. Animated
Para Fuera — 9 min — Documentary about a man turning 100.
Charlie and the Rabbit — 9 min — 4 year old decides to hunt a rabbit.
Thompson — 10 min — Doc about two friends on the verge of adulthood.
Let’s Harvest the Organs of Death Row Inmates — 2 min — An animated “Provocation”
I’ll kick it off: Thompson—Winner at SXSW, this short doc is a slice of life piece. While in its own way fascinating because of some honest subtext underneath statements in the interview, it also showcases why short-form docs can be difficult. The themes of jealousy, confusion and drifting apart are there, with a subtle elegaic mood, but they are just not presented in a comprehensive manner due to length. A moderate recommend from me.
Dock Ellis and the LSD No-No—I love this short. We featured it as a short of the moment a few months back and it made my top 10 list of 2009. It’s the true story of an MLB pitcher who, in the 1970s, pitched a no-hitter game while high on LSD. The story is fun and wild and the animation is there to match it in a psychedelic fashion akin to Ryan Larkin. I strongly recommend it.
I liked “Let’s Harvest the Organs of Death Row Inmates”. It was very similar to an op-ed piece, making a straight-forward and rational argument. The animation is so-so, but it’s short. Good film
[...] Animated by James Blagden. The rest of the 2010 Sundance shorts are also available on YouTube (conveniently compiled at Short of the Week). [...]
[...] Sundance 2010 Shorts Hit YouTube | Short of the Week Sundance kicked off tonight in Park City, Utah. I hadn’t heard any advance buzz about the 10/10 online series, a recent Sundance tradition that we covered last year, and so I sadly concluded that the festival had moved away from online distro for short films to instead focus more on its much-heralded pay per view partnership. [...]
[...] Note from Sondhi— “This was one of the 10 excellent Sundance offerings this year. Check out the other 9 selections here“ [...]
Please Say Something gets featured review:
http://www.shortoftheweek.com/2010/02/16/please-say-something/
Never got around to finishing the Sundance mini-reviews. Here we go
Old Fangs — Gorgeous animation, looks like nothing I’ve seen. A hipster wolf has daddy issues: simple plot heavy on the atmosphere. I was impatient at first but was won over at the end and surprised at how deeply I had fell under its spell. Watch when you have some time to yourself to think and feel deeply.