Killing of John Lennon, The

Plot Outline:
John Lennon is known by most people, the Ex-Beatle who was assasinated December 8th 1980. Shot at five times with hollow point bullets from a .38 revolver by Mark Chapman. This film is about Mark Chapman & the three months that preceeded the shooting.

Mark Chapman's chilling words: "I was nobody until I killed the biggest somebody on earth." hold pretty much the weight of the film in it's very meaning.

Overall Impressions:
In the opening titles we are told that all of Mark Chapman's words in the film are his own, giving us a clear insight into the film's narrative being very much 'real'. What follows is how from merely being a disturbed young individual, his path wavers all over the place and soon finds focus in the assasination.

With an outstanding performance from Jonas Ball, who is hardly off screen, this presents the story of Lennon's killer in a way that is quite worrying. It taps the viewer with things they can easily relate to, things that people think but don't say, the more unstable kind of psyche that has to kept in check. At the surface of it, this guy is a human being just like you, me, the people we know.

The fact he coudn't keep it in check and that he became so focussed and determined to kill Lennon is probably the point where he's no longer one of us, but upto that point he has the human parallels that make the latter half quite chilling. As the story unfolds towards inevitable tragedy, you really do find yourself hoping that he won't do it, but he does. The film probably should have ended here, however it carries on and explains the words from the opening. He practically became famous over this, he even promoted the bok that supposedly inspired him to take the actions.

This whole stint in the last twenty minutes was uncomfortable and irritating. The guy was making excuses of God telling him to kill Lennon, later being exorcised for demons, it was all a bit of a mush. He couldn't make his mind up about the 'why' he did it, the only thing he was clear about is 'what' he did. The closing of the film tells us he's still locked away in maximum security.

Incidentally, the actor reminded me of Cillian Murphy quite a bit, and the character had vague resemblence in personality to Patrick Bateman, perhaps he was in creation inspired by this, who knows?

Possible moral of the story:
When I become rich & famous, I'm going to have private investigators after anyone that hangs outside where I live & someone watching them too, just in case.

A disturbing and chilling look at a mind of a killer. Very well done, but I'm pretty certain, this won't be for everyone.

Hors De Prix (Priceless)

Plot Outline:
Jean (Gad Elmaleh), a shy waiter at a luxury hotel, pretends to be a millionaire and awakens the interest of Irène (Audrey Tautou), an adventurer who makes wealthy men pay for her bills. When Irène discovers who Jean really is, she escapes. Problem: Jean is in love and goes after her, finding her at Côte d'Azur. Rapidly ruined, he adopts the lifestyle of whom he loves. Step after step they get closer...

Overall Impressions:
Such a silly plot, yet such a good film. Why? Well, it sets out to do one thing only, entertain. Logic for this reason has been thrown out of the window. As the story is set up in the initial ten minutes, we already know where it is going with this. What we don't know is how and how far he will go with this.

It's from here on that it progresses by making you smile while she test the waters of his dedication & this is exactly where it scores. Even the viewer will think, "wow, this is too much" & "what a cow", but in the end its all balanced out.

Possible moral of the story:
Money can buy happiness. Money can buy love temporarily, for a more permanent position, you'll need a good source of money. Like gold-digging, perhaps. (Though I prefer the being Bruce Wayne option).

A very unpredictable romantic comedy, which climax aside skips out over-used cliches and is all the more better for it. One of the best films I've seen at the festival. 'nuff said really.

Evan Almighty

If you take the ark away from the equation don't you think this looks quite similar to the poster for Weather Man??

Plot Outline:
The last time we saw Evan Baxter (Steve Carell), he was being tormented by rival Bruce Nolan onscreen, live from their Buffalo TV station. But as time passed and Evan has made up with Bruce, he's gone onto bigger and better things.

Newly elected to Washington D.C. as a congressman, Evan has left Buffalo, New York in pursuit of a greater calling. But that calling isn't serving in the illustrious ranks of America's politics, but being summoned by the Almighty himself (Morgan Freeman), who has handed Evan the task of building a new ark, much as Noah did before.

With time passing by and his family belittled by Evan's newfound realization, Evan will have to do the work that God has given him in what promises to be an unusual adventure for a man who just wanted to serve his country, might actually be serving humanity.

Overall Impressions:
My expectations were almost Nil. I did enjoy Bruce Almighty thoroughly, but having seen the trailers for this, I did think, perhaps they've gone too far, and they have but it's not as a bad a thing as I had dreaded. Much like Bruce, it holds as a strong family entertainer. Suitable for all ages and all levels of film viewer. An enjoyable experience that has its mushy moments, layered with ample laugh out loud moments.

It opens up with Evan in his new post, getting used to the ropes & realising, if he wants to change the world, he's going to need all the help he can get. As he makes a small and rare prayer, asking for just this, he gets in return more than he'd perhaps initially desired. It takes him quite a while to come to terms with what is happening to him, but as he does & what he does forms a lovable little story, which roots back to the very simple acts of human kindnes that we sometimes seem to forget about while lost in our routines of self-maintenance.

Possible moral of the story:
One 'Act of Random Kindness' at a time. Collect stray animals, people & suchlike whenever you can, be kind & loving to your family if you have one, etc, etc, but what's perhaps not stated but common sense is that obviously you do this stuff once you can afford to.

So realistically, putting yourself in a position where your day-to-day routine actions are lucrative would be a good start. So get yourself into politics, medicine, law, computing or any other power bearing position & then try to change the world. Finding the time when you are ready will probably be the hard part.

Better than you might expect. Very much a family film that can be enjoyed by all.

Gedo Senki (Tales from Earthsea)

Plot Outline:
Something bizarre has come over the land. The kingdom is deteriorating. People are beginning to act strange... What's even more strange is that people are beginning to see dragons, which shouldn't enter the world of humans. Due to all these bizarre events, Ged, a wandering wizard, is investigating the cause.

During his journey, he meets Prince Arren, a young distraught teenage boy. While Arren may look like a shy young teen, he has a severe dark side, which grants him strength, hatred, ruthlessness and has no mercy, especially when it comes to protecting Therru. For the witch Kumo this is a perfect opportunity. She can use the boy's "fears" against the very one who would help him, Ged to open the gates between life & death thus gaining the immortaility she has long been waiting for.

Overall Impressions:
Well, with Prince Arren stabbing his father & stealing his sword in the opening scene, I wondered where they were going with this, especially considering he is the main 'hero' character, but it all pans out well. Quite a philosophical film when looked at as a whole.

It maintains the humour that I would expect from a film of this genre, while adding some beautiful visuals to be enjoyed by the viewer too. If I were to try & fault this film, it would perhaps only be in its strangeness at times, but I can't really fault it here for this is where its charm lies. In fact, this is rather toned down if compared to either Howl's Moving Castle or Spirited Away.

Admittedly I haven't seen any of the other works, but it's certainly on my huge to-do list.

So, in the end I guess this would be a good step for someone new to this style of film, to then work up to its predecessors.

Possible moral of the story:
Magicians & sorcerers are cool, they should however ensure that they only use their powers when required though, for the balance of the world depends upon it. Human nature however is prone to misuse this for gain of power and immortality & so basically we're all doomed. No wonder why we have no mystical powers left.

I mean if the option of immortality with power was held in front of us, would we try to take that or embrace that Death is the equal & opposite counterpart to Life, without which life is incomplete?

An enjoyable ride, perhaps not quite up to the level of Spirited Away or Howl's Moving Castle, but never-the-less not to be underestimatd. Well worth a watch.

Lili et le Boabab

Plot Outline
In Richard's much-feted autobiographical film, Romane Bohringer gives a captivating performance as Lili, a French freelance photographer who is hired to document her town's sister community in Senegal.

The sisterly relationship between the two towns reflected in the film's shifts between Cherbourg in Normandy and Agnam in the Sahel is also reflected in the bond Lili (a 33-year-old unmarried woman) forms with Aminata (Aminata Zaaria), a young unmarried woman with an illegitimate child.

Overall Impressions:
Well, for someone like me who doesn't travel much, it's good to see the foreign locales in their raw natural element. (I'm used to seeing them in a vibrant & colourful muse in the Bolly-world) but I wouldnt say that the film quite fits the criteria of entertainer.

It's quite a simple story of a better off by comparison French woman who helps one of the slaves out in Africa, which has a bit of drama, but it's hard to find drama when it's all so real. The African's only seemed quite surprised, disgusted and in some cases jealous of her generosity. That whole a slave should be treated like a slave, and a bastard child is the responsibilty of it's grandfather, who is embarassed and ashamed.

Yes, to the western region I can see how this is harsh & intolerable, human life being precious in all avenues & all that, but out there they don't have help from the local
government, in their poverty that have to find their own set of rules that govern & find some balance.

It's a harsh reality, but it's fact, like the armed forces as an extreme example, if they worried about the life of others out there on the battlefield, theyd be screwed. If some child is between you & a shooting enemy, what's to be chosen as your action? It's not quite the same with the film, but it just felt to me that the outsider though trying to be helpful was violating their environment balance.

I bet they didn't thank her for it, which would explain why she then made a film about it, so others would compliment her works. Just knowing that this film is autobiographical is also a strange thing to me. It's quite a self-indulgent feature. Though visually refereshing I couldn't really get past this.

Possible moral of the story:
I you want people to know how kind and caring you are, make a movie-film about it. Someone's bound to watch it & be inspired.

Visually a treat, the story was less depressing & preachy than I anticipated, but possibly because it was lost in being self-indulgent. Watchable, but not a must.

Disturbia

Plot Outline:
After his father's death, Kale Brecht (Shia LaBeouf) becomes sullen, withdrawn, and troubled -- so much so that he finds himself under a court-ordered sentence of house arrest after a run in with the law. His mother, Julie (Carrie-Ann Moss), works night and day to support herself and her son, only to be met with indifference and lethargy. The walls of his house begin to close in on Kale. He becomes a voyeur as his interests turn outside the windows of his suburban home towards those of his neighbors, one of which Kale begins to suspect is a serial killer. But, are his suspicions merely the product of cabin fever and his overactive imagination?

Overall Impressions:
Didn't read the tagline, don't see the trailer or know anything about the film? You're probably better off, and in that case it's a total winner. Unfortunately the marketing for this has been done in such a way that it reveals all too much. I was lucky enough not to have seen anything, but I guess a lot of people may not be.

The stup is simple but effective. The film opens up with the fatal accident that scars Kale deeply with the loss of his father. One year later when he hasn't done his homework and sleeps through class, his teacher disgustfully asks him what he thinks his father would have thought of him? As an instant reflexive action he punches the teacher in the face. As he gets prosecuted, the judges appreciate his mental scarring through a loss of a parent & give him a small sentence of 3 months house arrest. He s warned that it may seem lke a breeze but after a few days he may suffer from disturbia and strange thinking.

(Now anyone that knows me & my friends knows, this is no big deal, all you need is your xbox & an internet connection & and you'd be set, for this reason we have a scene specifically showing he has had his xbox live subscription & iTunes account revoked by his dear mother.)

With his new constraints with the addition of ample spare time he soon finds himself bored. So, he picks up his binoculars & does that whole people watching thing. As a perfect resolution to the first act, a hot single girl moves in next door, just as he picks up this new found hobby.

The second act continues quite smoothly. It's from here that the fun begins, as he stalks his neighbourhood, as well as finding out numerous amusing little secrets, he also stumbles into what would seem to be a potential murderer. His car has damage that seems to match a news description connected to a missing girl.

*Spoler Alert*
See its here that you have your doubts about whether it's real or his imagination playing with him. Are the clues all fitting together to prove that his neighbour is in fact a serial-killer or is his paranoia getting the better of him & this is exactly the feeling I got. The ambiguity really does work for it, alas the publicity tells it all to you.

From here knowing how it's all panned out, there can only be one real resolution really, and so the final act becomes much like the third act of a slasher flick. Chase here chase there, screams of pain, screams of terror, a few dead people & finally a dead bad guy. The good guys win, woohoo! Let's just say everything special it had gathered was thrown away at the latter part of the second act.

Now the way I would have handled it would probably reflect something like the end of American Psycho, leave the ambiguity pending, they still could have used the exact same third act, but with an additional spin of him perhaps dealing with his paranoia on a subconscious leve or something of that sort.

Anyway, that's just me, its an enjoyable film as is, I merely though it could have done with that little bit more.

Possible moral of the story:
Being paranoid is probably a bad thing, watching your neighbour's each & every move, learning their dirty little secrets, not so bad, just don't be idiotic enough to get caught. If you decide to take on such a sport, you should be in the power position where you have the information you can use to get these people into trouble. Don't risk reversing that position, else you & yours become victims & that is definitely bad.

Enjoyable, modern day thriller, which probably had more potential to be a smart film rather than a generic money-spinner, a pity in that sense, but as I said, enjoyable none-the-less. Would recommend.

Screen East
Digital Shorts'

Title: Blood on his Hands
Runtime: 9 mins
Directed by: Justin Coleman
Synopsis: James must make a decision about his brothers killer....
A drug addict, should he be allowed he chance to be rehabilitated or should he get the harshest of all penalties through the law? A thought provoking little short, that leaves the resolution open to the individual.

Title: Monoculture
Runtime: 9 mins
Directed by: Jason Cuddy
Synopsis: Harry grows a magical plant and finds happiness, but can he keep it?
By far the best short I have seen here so far. In black & white we see the monotonous lie of a young man, late o work, day & night at work, ending up home, only to rise another day to a similar routine. Until he gets his hands on some seeds that he decides to plant. As the plant flourishes it brings colour to his life & everything that he allows.

He finds himself, living the colourful life with a partner, decorating every aspect of hs life, until the plant itself gets neglected and wilts. Slowly he ends back into the monotone that he originally began in. There is a message here. It's the little things in life that make itcolourful & worth living. It's crucial to remember that these roots need watering, whatever they are.

Title: Guilty?
Runtime: 8 mins
Directed by: Nic Cornwall
Synopsis: Have you got a secret you want to confess?
Visually, not much but a screensaver, but it covers some interesting little stories. It's a montage of confessions & how they are not as big an issue once divulged. Is guilt simply a factor of hiding things? Well I think its quite variable

Title: Under the Stairs
Runtime: 7 mins
Directed by: Mark Wickham
Synopsis: Eve befriends a hungry monster living under the stairs - but can he be trusted?
A sweet little animation, I think its quite straightforward as far as its little plot goes. No, wild things can not be trusted. (Not that humans can either , in fairness)

Title: Mummy and Baddy
Runtime: 7 mins
Directed by: Keith Wilson-Singer
Synopsis: Freddy is an evil super villain living at home with his mum - with disastrous consequences.
It may remind you of Family Guy's Stewie in its execution, but it ends up being a matter of maternal love being endless & without conditions. A nice little mockumentary style animation.

Title: 21st Century Male
Runtime: 7 mins
Directed by: Alex Tweddle
Synopsis: Documentary - John has escaped an abusive relationship, what does the future hold?
About a guy scarred by his relationship. With the aid of a psychologist, it shows some interesting insights into how much mental torture women-folk can put us through as men.

Title: Tsuru
Runtime: 6 mins
Directed by: Tim Edwards, Matthew Reeve & Tristan Brittaine
Synopsis: Tsuru is fighting the darkness... will she survive its grasp?
A bit f a Deja Vu syndrome going on with this one. Many origami animal are consumed by the darkness in the corner of the room, until they combine powers and fight back. It kinda reminded me of Power Rangers in that sense.

Title: Al-Baghdadi
Runtime: 10 mins
Directed by: Maythem Ridha
Synopsis: Ali arrives from Iraq and finds that the UK is not all that he thought it would be..
The struggle of a child in a new country, as well as his experiences of bullying and change, it also covers a more positive adventurous aspect to his move. It simly states it's hard, not too preachy & so it gets my thumbs up.

Thoughts Overall: The best set of shorts I've caught here so far. Pick of the lot is definitely: Monoculture

Eagle Vs Shark

Plot Outline
Fresh from Sundance (Grand Jury Prize nominee), this wickedly offbeat comedy, is New Zealand's wink to US indie hit Napoleon Dynamite. Jarrod (Jemaine Clement), is a lonely oddball and video game clerk who has spent the last decade plotting vengeance on a bully from his high school past.

In spite of himself, Jarrod captures the attention of hopeless romantic Lily (Loren Horsley) at a 'dress as your favourite animal' party, that she slyly gets herself invited to. He an Eagle, she a Shark. A funny fractured romance between two total misfits, woven into an all-consuming quest for revenge.

In addition, it's about two half-eaten apples that find themeselves on a mission to find each other and hangout & enjoy the morning sun.

Overall Impressions:
Well, stating that it's a nod to Napoleon Dynamite is fair in that the feel is very indie, the characters are quite strange all-round and the sense of humour it has probably won't appeal to all, that said those it will appeal to, it will appeal to greatly.

Looking at the structure of this film, it is when broken down to it, a romantic comedy, with a man on a mission. The fact that they don’t overly complicate the characters or the storyline from the given synopsis warrants merit. The simplicity of it leaves ample scope for the character and action to take its cause and this is where it scores highly.

Right from the get-go with dreamy Lily trying her best to get our questionable heroes attention, inviting herself to his party, right through to the climax where the protagonist meets his childhood nemesis.

Leaving the viewer in hysterics by the character’s quirky behaviour and actions, this one I would say deserves a definite credit to the star cast. It appears that it has been left to the actors how they represent & interpret the writing. The dialogue between Lily and Jarrod works very well throughout, particularly in the beginning portions, if I were to take a guess, I’d imagine some of this was probably improvised.

Their interactions do take a backseat as emphasis then moves to the training and preperation for the big fight, but it’s only for the better. Meanwhile Lily gets to know the family as do we. It's all very well balanced, allowing you to enjoy the scene rather than get caught up in trying to work out what is going on.

Possible moral of the story:
Contrary to what they tell you, gatecrashing is cool, it allows many missed opportunties to flourish. Dressing up in wierd costumes and playing video-games, also, cool. Overall I'd say the moral behind it for me byrns down to all the strange things you dont do on a regular basis: Don't knock it til you try it. Oh, perhaps one more thing, working at some burger joint - not cool.

Though aimed at a niche, I'd say its very much worth a watch, if the climax (amongst numerous other moments) doesn’t have you laughing out loud I’d be very surprised.

Short Film Fusion
Straight 8'

one super 8mm cartridge, no editing.

Overview of the program:
straight 8 is a super 8 film event open to anyone brave enough to shoot a three minute film on a single cartridge of super 8, editing only in camera and then creating a separate soundtrack - never having seen their film. Successful filmmakers see their films for the very first time at straight 8's screenings - together with a huge and expectant audience!

A unique opportunity to see the first projection of straight 8's crème de la crème selection from their 131 worldwide entries received for the 2007 event. These are the ones they showed at Cannes Film Festival in May - and Cambridge is proud to be next on the list.

My thoughts:
I don't have the names of all the films & directors this time, as they merged them into one big fusion, played one after the other. The one that stook out to me as my favorite involved a guy with his ipod sitting in a cafe, enjoying the music & reading his paper entirely oblivious to the armed robbery happening just behind his back. Ignorance is bliss & all that. :)

There was one that followed a mime and another man that take up a battle that end up under water with water pistols and super soakers. It's probably a lot funnier to see than here described.

There was one that followed the history of a cigarette butt on a regular street floor through multiple art works of vehicles & machinery, makes you think how the history of the tiniest things around you can be so deep. So much of the things around us that we take for granted.

There was one about a Frenchman on a mission to find the source of English wine and fix it. There was a very surreal one about the similarities between a game of golf and sex, with a song about it & everything. There was one with early morning scenes of an empty London with soothing music, climaxing in a couple of guys rising imaginary horses. There was one annoying one where they just kept repeating the word Cannes in a wierd pitch.

..and that's just the ones I can remember of the top of my head.

Oh I do recall the final one, it was about a driver having Deja Vu about driving on a road and encountering a naked woman which steered his attention just enough to allow his car to be driven off a cliff. Seeing this repeatedly was actually quite a chore. What was interesting was they followed the film up with the making of it. That loked far more interesting than the film itself. The number of cars destroyed, the lighting, the planning, so much can go into filing a 3 minutes film that you never would have thought of, it shed some light on this fact.

This batch funnily enough was more entertaining than the batch I saw yesterday. It's amazing how the higher constraints people have, how their ideas can find further focus. Reminds me of a conversation I had with another writer about why Prison Break & 24 are doing well.

Anyway, overall the lack of editing was hardly noticable, even all the sound was amazingly in synch. Some used music that would be quite unversal, some must have timed their shots very well.

Black Gold

An in-depth look at the world of coffee and global trade in documentary form. If you didn't already know that coffee is big business, then this film film put things into perspective for you. Quite a lot of numbers are thrown at you that will amaze you.

It follows Tadesse Meskela, a high-level representative from the Oromia Coffee Farmers Co-operative Union through majority of the film. He gives us a lot of information with regards to how things are out there and where the black gold fits into the picture. Only now do I understand what all this fair-trade malarky is all about. It means 6 of the middle men are cut out between the farmer & you, hence the farmers get more for their harvest. Good on them.

What I did think it got preachy about is how Ethiopian coffee is better than all other coffee, I mean surely that's a matter of opinion. Yes the poor Ethiopian farmers deserve far more than they are getting for their beans, but surely so do the other African countries in a similar boat.

Another factor that they have to realise is if one big corporation changed its ways, another would merely take advantage or take over. It's true and sad that the farmers out there are in the state that they are, but here it is all about the profit, as harsh as it sounds, it like being in a queue for money, if you step aside there are 1000 others behind you to take advantage of the fact that you for a moment felt guilty.

Anyway small glitches aside, it's a very good insight into the coffee making process and its true worth. What can we do? Well I'll keep my eye open for fair trade products as a prefernce here-on, but no I'm not going to stop going to my regular corporation coffee outlets.

Macbeth

Plot Outline:
Based on the Shakespeare play, this is a modern day interpretation of it set in the ganglands of Melbourne.

In a nutshell it's about Macbeth (Sam Worthington), who after encountering prophecies from 3 witches that hail him as future King, takes up with his wife Lady Macbeth (Victoria Hill) the plan to make the propechy true, by wiping out the King. His tragedy is that though he becomes King, the next King after him is prophecised as the blood of another.

His wife commits suicide out of guilt, he goes a bit nuts himself, and then gets killed for his deeds by a man who wasn't born naturally, but 'ripped' from his mother premature. The witches made Macbeth feel he was immortal by telling him he could not die from anyone born.

Obviously, theres a lot more to it, I merely summarise for those who mayn't be familiar.

Overall Impression
Well, if you look up Shakespeare on imdb you'll see there are 100's of adaptations of his work, and I get it, his work is extremely well written, so it makes sense. Personally must admit, these modern day adaptation are pretty nifty, it's good to see a well wrtten story modernised for the current day audiences.

What is a little strange though is using the original lines that are three centuries old. I mean dont get me wrong, it's poetic and surely something that fans of his work would enjoy on-screen, but as a film being a standalone piece, it sticks out as quite a bit odd. In addition there is the whole King thing, it doesn't quite work in the underworld, maybe they should have replaced it with the word Godfather or Don :). I think it'd be better either set in the correct era, or if the modernisation was done 'fully'. I'm sure it's not intended, but it comes off as a bit half-hearted if they don't.

Okay, putting that aside, the film overall stands pretty mediocre, watchable, even enjoyable, I mean who doesn't enjoy a good shootout in a mansion??, but little you'll take away as spectacular, except the performances, in paticular that of Macbeth & Lady Macbeth. Since she also wrote the screenplay I wonder if it was merely a medium to showcase her talent. Shakespeare adaptations do seem good for that, that's for sure. Oh and about 75% into the film I realised that Malcolm was the 'mouse' in the Matrix.

Possible moral of the story
If you get blood on your clothes and on your hands while killing someone, you're an idiot. You should have worn a raintcoat, but anyway dealing with the matter at hand, take it to the dry cleaners, and if questioned claim it's cranberry, cran-apple, that way you know it'll be cleaned properly.

Praiseworthy performances, style & direction, but little else

Short Films
Birds Eye View - UK Shorts'

Birds Eye View is a creative platform for women filmmakers.

Title: One Hundedth of a Second
Runtime: 6 mins
Directed by: Susan Jacobson
Synopsis: A young photojournalist is forced to face the consequences of her work in a war zone.
Nicely done. It flashes between current day and the day her award winning picture was taken. Alternating between the reality of war with the reality of today, a ceremony to celebrate her success out there, leads to an expected climax of much impact. One of those films that makes you double think your choices, stating the obvious here, that every action has a react.

Title: Ordinary Magic
Runtime: 10 mins
Directed by: Deborah Anzalone
Synopsis: Ordinary Magic consists of a series of interviews with six Londoners in their seventies and eighties, each of them offering intimate observations on their lifelong quest for meaning and knowledge.
You can always count on the old to impart some wisdom as well as some total non-sense to the young of today, the issue is merely filtering the correct batch out. I'd say the same holds for this one, a little lengthy for what it is but interesting..

Title: Desires
Runtime: 2 mins
Directed by: Kate Jessop
Synopsis: Desires is a composite of stop frame and drawn animation and live action footage. A delightfully tender adaptation of Gaia Holme's poem.
Short and sweet animates visual attached to a poem & appropriately. It questions what happens to the desires that we don't succumb to. A very good question & a good little rant about it.

Title: A Moment
Runtime: 5 mins
Directed by: Valeria Ruiz
Synopsis: In this touching and poignant portrayal of grief we view a moment of sexual intimacy through the eyes of an elderly woman grieving her lover of a life-time.
As John Cage in Ally McBeal would say "Let me take a moment", a moment extended beyond a moment is more the way it felt, but it makes a point. Sometimes a moment needs to be taken to grieve before you can continue your routine that is living.

Title: The Girl with the Short Hair
Runtime: 3 mins
Directed by: Maryam Mohajer
Synopsis: A little girl has to 'prove' she's a girl to some boys at a party. Recounting the episode to her mother, we discover that a five-year olds' logic can bring about hilarious results.
This is a sweet & sinister little film, amusing as well as cheeky. The pick of the lot from what we see hear so far.

Title: Tingel Tangel
Runtime: 2 mins
Directed by: Kathryn Ferguson
Synopsis: I found an old photograph of a wooden dance machine from a Weimar Berlin Cabaret show. It inspired me to build a wooden dance machine that parodied the old chorus lines of the 1920's.
In B/W, this one is quite surreal, the old scratched record music does add quite an authentic touch, you may find yourself smiling & swaying as you watch this, in the end you may wonder what was the point though.

Title: The Other Man
Runtime: 15 mins
Directed by: Dictynna Hood
Synopsis: Winner of both the Edinburgh International Film Festival and the UK Film Council Kodak Best Short Film Award, The Other Man, starring BAFTA nominated Anna Maxwell Martin (Bleak House), is a brilliantly observed story about a husband's reaction to some shocking news.
Blimey, maybe I'm not clued up on short films as I think, with a number of awards behind it, I must admit I found this quite stretched out and boring, it may just be my attention span though. My interest was peaked when the woman breaks news to her husband on the phone that she had been raped, but then the way she would let nothing else be shared was to me pretty stubborn & irritating. I can see why he got annoyed, but from this point it just extends this moment of irritation another 5 minutes, with no resolution. I was not pleased.

Title: Sleep with the Fishes
Runtime: 4 mins
Directed by: Belle Mellor
Synopsis: A flotilla of imagined vessels glide across a bright blue sea, struggling to stay afl oat. This bizarre and wonderful animation is set to enchanting music of the Tiger Lilies.
I really can't say much except, the music is pleasant & the visuals plain wierd.

Thoughts Overall: As a set of shorts, that are advertised as Bird's Eye view, I was kind of expecting shorts shot from helicopters, hot air balloons or planes, alas they are in the view point of birds (women-folk) rather than birds (that fly). It was okay, two or three standout shorts amongst others that were plain mediocre. Pick of the lot has to be The Girl with Short Hair. I guess I do look for entertainment even from the shorts, while some are simply out to send a message. My advice either way to shorts makers is to keep them well, you know, short.

Rock, Paper, Scissors:
Way of the Tosser

Plot Outline:
Throughout history people have used their body, mind and soul in their never-ending quest for power. Gary Brewer uses his hands. Rock, Paper, Scissors: The Way of the Tosser follows Gary Brewer, a die hard RPS professional, along with his girlfriend Holly Brewer (no relation) and best friend Trevor Morehouse, as Gary quests to reign supreme at the 2006 RPS World Championships!

As Gary trains to be the best we learn that being a true tosser involves a lot more than just tossin'. We're talking karaoke, cup-a-farts, tin foil helmets and, of course, karateoss. Oh yeah, there's also the Ludlows, (Gary's infertile, die hard fans / next door neighbors), the sage yet drunken guru Finnegan O'Reilly, and the hot dog eating arch nemesis Baxter Pound.

Most importantly there's the test of true love. Will Gary's heart lead him to victory or will he suffer the same fate as so many tossers that came before him?

My Thoughts:
Well, I came down from London on the Friday night to catch this one at 22:45 so in my head I felt I was likely to be quite disappointed. The alternative was to come here on the Saturday morning getting ample sleep in the interim.

Thankfully the film was good, actually very good, simple in its execution and plot but it did what it set out to do, it amused & entertained, the applause after the film is something I haven't experienced in a long while & as y'all know I've gone to see my fair share of films. The applause was well deserved. These are the kind of films that make a point. Independant films aren't to be under-estimated as they too frequently are.

In case you don't know, a quick overview of what RPS is: Rock, Paper, Scissors is a two-person hand game. It is often used as a selection method in a similar way to coin flipping or drawing straws to randomly select a person for some purpose. However, unlike truly random selections, it can be played with skill if the game extends over many sessions, as a player can often recognize and exploit the non-random behavior of an opponent.

Review
Moving on to the film, it is a mockumentary, even though it comes off as an entirely fictional work, it shows a reality which to many will have been unthought of. The sport hasn't been made up for the film. There is in fact a WRPS tournament where a part of this was shot. The RPS enthusiasts, especially the ones that take it seriously, clearly must know that they're mocked for it; in a tongue-in-cheek fashion it is a hobby that mocks itself. Making a film that is mocking a sport that mocks itself must have been a challenge in itself. Kudos for achieving that.

Yes, there are hints of Dodgeball - A True Underdog Story, in that there is a common ground between them, we have the protagonist underdog and his supporters and friends, we have the opposition who we root to lose from the very get-go and they compete at a sport that is kinda difficult to take seriously. The comparison ends there.

There is distinct and pleasant flavour about the characters as soon as they are introduced, Gary (Tim Dorion) and Holly (April Mullen) Brewer are instantly likable. They definitely have a good chemistry. I'd say its notable that they look like they enjoyed making this film. Baxter 'the chump' Pound is instantly arrogant and dislikable. The competition between them is clear cut and simple. Shot over a tight schedule of only 9 days, this low budget film shows that good films aren't about budget, they're about content & this is entirely where it scores.

Then there is the unforgettable character of Trevor (Ryan Tilley), their best friend and supporter, like my friend Demon, you'd probably be dubious about befriending him, for he is certainly strange. He seems to have a strange sixth sense and seems quite connected to what would be considered 'beyond' reality, but once you get to know him he's just as lovable, if not more. Some of lines did come across as perhaps a nod to the Napoleon Dynamite, I'd say this is more the way the character has been written but I do have to admit, it was very strange listening to Ryan in the Q&A after the film speaking in a 'normal' fashion. So, unlike Jon Heder, I come to the conclusion this guy can act different parts too.

The story sets us up a few days before the tournament, and the following scenes bring us closer to the characters as the training montages begin. You wouldn't imagine this number of jokes about tossing was actually possible. By the time we reach the tournament we have been educated with the weaknesses & strengths of our protagonist. We've met his Guru, we;ve met Little Stacey his disciple, we've met the mighty Intimidator (the best scene in the film!!) and so I won't go into how it all ends, but I will say you find yourself rooting for him the entire way.

In the end, though you'll realise you've learnt a fair thing or two about the art of tossing, but the overall film is about love & friendship and treasuring those close to you.

Possible moral of the story:
Tossing is a crucial part of life, you could deal with all your daily issues in this simple manner. So many wars could be stopped if people were to take up tossing instead. It's not that hard to understand the rules, two pre-tosses for streetwise, three for qualified professionals. ;) What's hard is knowing your opponent.

I recommend this to anyone up for a laugh. You'd find it difficult to walk away from this film without a smile. Keep your eyes open for it.

As some of you already know, for the next 9 days as of tonight I shall be attending Cambridge's 27th Film Festival. In between showings and some of that limited yet precious sleep stuff, I shall cover everything that I do see.

In addition, myself and Simone will be covering the news stories published on Filmstalker over the next week or so (as of tomorrow night), as the Highlander that runs it on a day-to-day basis needs to go into seclusion and train his mind and soul in the craft of deep relaxation, (probably followed by some ninja training sword action too), for only then will he be truly be ready to conquer the HD world that comes before us. Hope to catch some of you over there.