Fantastic Short Film Friday - First Birthday (live-action)

And we are back with another installment in our Fantastic Short Film Friday series, as we continue to showcase films released in the "lesser" known form of cinema- the short film.

It's time for another Sundance nominated short from this years film festival. Like the short Arm, the organizers of Sundance have given all short film lovers the pleasure of checking out their nominees and deciding for ourselves which are our favorites. So again, I wanted to take the time and share the love. This one is a 12-minute drama called, First Birthday from filmmaker Andrew Ahn. It's a deceptively simple story, about a gay man going to the first birthday celebration of his brother's son, but there's a hidden sadness in the actor's performance that understates what this story is really about, the loss of man in a conventional world..

Here's the synopsis from Sundance:

A gay Korean-American man years for a family life that is just out of reach.

Now I can't embed it here since you can only watch the full short at Sundance's short film site on yahoo, but lucky for all of us its free! Check the film out here.

I'm Asian myself, and Asian culture can be tough on those that they view are on the outside. I've never had to face the trials from families that other Asians have faced, but I'm always fascinated by how we all treat one another. Here, the family is supportive of the main character, although to be fair we never see how it was when he first came out to his family. However that's not important. What's important is that regardless of how his family feels about him, he still feels lost, alone, saddened by the fact he can never have the life of what he perceives family "should" be, and in our lives, isn't it all about perception?

Check this out if you like meditative takes on the everyday lives of people. Check this out if you've ever felt out of step, out of place in the world as you continually look for the solace of peace. Enjoy this weeks dose of short form goodness in, First Birthday.

Fantastic Short Film Friday - Arm

And we are back with another installment in our Fantastic Short Film Friday series, as we continue to showcase films released in the "lesser" known form of cinema- the short film.

As I mentioned in my last post, it's Oscar time and my favorite part of Oscar time is seeing which short films get nominated. However unlike last year, it's almost impossible to see the current nominated crop. Unless you went to the film festivals these shorts played at, chances are you missed out on your opportunity to see them (since many aren't online). This makes me sad because by the time they're finally released on dvd (1, 2, even 5 years after) most will have forgotten all about them. So yeah, these Oscar nominated short films, not many people get the chance to watch them. However The Sundance film festival have given short film lovers the chance to see the shorts that are being nominated for their festival awards. So I wanted to take the time and share the love. The first of the bunch I'll be taking a look at is a 9-minute screwball comedy called, Arm from filmmakers, Brie Larson, Sarah Ramos, Jessie Ennis. I found this funny in a slight kind of way, a very British comedy of happenstance and manners about the prevalence of technology and how it's taken over our relationships in every facet.

Here's the synopsis from Sundance:

To keep up with social pressure in a technological world, Chance starts a texting relationship with Genevieve. But tragedy forces Chance to realize that he was never in a relationship at all.
Now I can't embed it here since you can only watch the full short at Sundance's short film site on yahoo, but lucky for all of us its free! Check the film out here.

It's a modest short with some wonderful teenage acting that has some real high moments when you're watching it, but will quickly fade from your mind when done. However that doesn't mean that there's no substance here, no real charm. Chance feels like how I feel at times in this modern tech driven world, this tech first based human interaction - alone, confused and lost (shh, don't tell anyone that I'm a technical project manager for a major record label). I don't get it sometimes. I get the fact how sites like Facebook, Twitter and texting have changed our lives. What I don't get is why people place such importance on such forms of communication. But I'm an old man so there is that - turn off the rock and roll whatchamacallit you whippersnappers.

Check this out if you or someone you know fuels their days living mostly in cyberspace. Check this out if you remember young love, but want to see what it means in our modern age (it's scary). Enjoy this weeks dose of short form goodness in, Arm.

Fantastic Short Film Friday - I'm Here

I'm Here is the new "short" film by Spike Jonze. It debuted at this year's Sundance Film Festival and is about 30 minutes long with daily caps on the number of viewings. Tre exclusive.

I must say I watched this the other night when I was very tired, about to nod off but the story really captured me. It's a world where humans live side by side with robots. And these robots do not look high tech, they actually remind me of the old Apple computers of the 80s. But these robots are oddly human. Cliche yes but the story works. This is a love story of two robots, and one so giving, while the other seems almost destructive. I was so touched by the film and want to sing it's praises to anyone who will listen. Please take the time out and watch.

Here's the trailer if you needed any more enticement:





- Penny