Short Movies only
 

I've been watching a lot of short movies the couple of years, and there's some really quality stuff out there. Plus we're taking a course about it, so it has become a weekly thing for me, as it is the only thing I'll be doing the next three years.

So I felt Short Movies should have a thread of their own. It would be a cool place to recommend some stuff, right some sort of review and give a link to their videos, cause it can be easily watched on youtube (Not high big screen quality, but I think it can work for a 15 minutes movie).

I'll be recommending my share whenever I remember a good one, and today was one of those days:

TRUE (2006) by Tom Tykwer

A short movie that was then compiled with others in Paris, Je t'aime (named in the movie "Faubourg Saint Denis") starring Nathalie Portman. It's one of the subtlest things I've seen, so simple and so heartfelt. It's a simple boy meets girl story, but so nicely done.



Or just watch it full screen on youtube: YouTube - Paris, je t'aime - Tom Tykwer


Another completely different one that I felt like talking about:

THE HEART OF THE WORLD (2000) by Guy Madden

A short movie that gives homage to German expressionist films and Silent movies in all, so it's one of those silent shorts. It's got a bit of an absurd plot, a bit reminiscent of Melies' "A trip to the moon" (1902). It's about Anna, a scientist, just discovering that the heart of the world is going to stop (a kind of a heart attack) in exactly one day. I don't want to tell much of it, cause it is only a 6 minute movie.

Here's the link for youtube: YouTube - GUY MADDIN - The Heart of the World

or just watch here:



These are two short movies that I never was able to forget. Replies would be appreciated.

Enjoy!

What's In The Box? - Tim Smit

Little is to be known about this short little film besides the fact that it was made with a little over $250. Pretty amazing considering how good it looks.

^ Thanks for sharing, really nice short.

I remembered this one today.
Great imagery, great story in a surreal industrial world. It's the first movie by Juan Diego Solanas, a really successful DOP, that's trying to start his directing career. An 18 minutes short, that took him 3 minutes to finish ... The result is fascinating.

L'HOMME SANS TETE (The Man without a Head)-2003
by Juan Diego Solanas

PART 1


PART2


Enjoy!

Edit: Damn! just noticed it's not translated to English, just a sec and I'll edit the link.
Re-Edit: There's no English translation, but it still can be understood.

i'm going to be hipstery-y and say David Lynch and that old school black and white 15 second clip which I'm too lazy to look up right now

I got you

Many good short movies by David Lynch, his finest work I feel. So raw, without the good cinema touch ups.
He has so many, so I don't know which you mean.

Here are my favorite David Lynch short movies, in chronological order.

First: Six men Getting Sick (1966), his first short movie.



Second: The Alphabet (1968), his second short movie, based on his Ex-wife's nightmare (She's also the actress in the short).



Third: The Grandmother, a short movie made with the money of the AFI grant. His best!
Some twisted surreal story about a boy growing his own grandmother.

** I was putting the 5 parts of it, but seems one of the links don't work.

So here's an extra one:
David Lynch for the Lumière project, a very interesting, very Brief short movie.



And finally another one, segment ABSURDA.



Enjoy, the extremely Lynchy post.
When "The Grandmother" link is fixed, I'll post it ASAP.

STORY TIME (1968) by Terry Gilliam



A really funny animated short movie ... from the earlier works of the 6th Monty Python.
Enjoy.

La Jetée - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Probably my favourite short film but too long for this thread :(

A Close Shave by Scorsese is another fave but no YT for that.

Click on short films here: shanemeadows.co.uk for Shane Meadows. I have a few on various DVD'S and he made some great stuff especially with Paddy Consindine.

I totally forgot about that one, tho I kind of made this thread to share this movie in particular.
Not too long at all, one of the most influential shorts that I had to watch on youtube many times for some Stop-motion inspiration.

Here is the movie that inspired Terry Gilliam's 12 Monkeys

LA JETÉE (1962) by Chris Marker

A fantastic poetic short movie I discovered yesterday. One of Tim Burton's finest works, made in 1982. It's about a boy called Vincent, obsessed with the macabre world of Vincent Price. The short is even narrated by actor Vincent Price himself, an actor that later starred in many other Burton projects.

Here is, the long awaited Vincent:

VINCENT (1982) by Tim Burton



Enjoy.

A very enjoyable short, specially for a John Lennon fan:

I MET THE WALRUS (2008) by Josh Raskin

Description: In 1969, a 14-year-old Beatle fanatic named Jerry Levitan snuck into John Lennon's hotel room in Toronto and convinced him to do an interview. 38 years later, Levitan, director Josh Raskin and illustrator James Braithwaite have collaborated to create an animated short film using the original interview recording as the soundtrack. A spellbinding vessel for Lennon's boundless wit and timeless message, I Met the Walrus was nominated for the 2008 Academy Award for Animated Short.

I have to say that I am thoroughly enjoying this thread! I absolutely love short films, and short stories as well, there's something about them and the drilling way in which a message has to be conveyed in such a short period of time that I find very captivating.

I especially love I Met the Walrus, which you just posted. Had never seen that before; a very interesting way of utilising the recorded interview.

I will try to post some of my favourite short films as I come across them/ re-remember them!

This is my favorite thing I've stumbled across on youtube. Now Cameron Diaz is going to come along and ruin it for me (though they claim there's no intentional similarity).

great 10 minute movie with a great message...

At the beginning I was just truly annoyed by this man even "thinking" of pushing the button. At the end, well it all makes sense. I really liked it.

Ah! Dark Hearts Productions - they went to my uni! I remember watching this when they brought it out... it's fantastic, I love it too.

It's been a long time since I last posted one of my favourite videos:

Today's share goes to:

AND THEN THERE WAS BOWIE by Will Kresch

Stumbled on it when searching short-movies by Terry Gilliam. A great surreal stop-motion animation. Not really much is understood, you can just explain it the way you want ... I don't want to spoil the fun :D

Here you go:



Enjoy!

An animation this time, from one of my favourite animation creators, Alexander Petrov. From only handmade oil paintings merged together to create this breathtaking new take on Ernest Hemingway's classic The old man and the sea. A magical experience.

Enjoy.

OLD MAN AND THE SEA (2008) by Alexander Petrov

I love Petrov. His art is mesmerizing. I have all of it on DVD.

More amazing animation, La Maison en petits cubes, the Oscar winner for best short feature for 2009, one of the most poignant films I've seen:
Part 1

Part 2

Another short movie I stumbled upon by pure chance...

The hedgehog in the mist, a classic Russian animated short film from 1975. Based on a story by Sergei Kozlov, directed by Yuri Norstein. In 2003, "Hedgehog in the mist" won the "no.1 Animated film of all time" at "The Best 150 animations of all time in Japan and Worldwide " contest in Tokyo, Japan.

THE HEDGEHOG IN THE MIST (1975) by Yuri Norstein



Such a great short, so beautifully done. Subtly surreal, very magical and innocent. Typical of Russian animation.
Enjoy.

Wow, that was pretty good. Weird, but good...thanks...(:

Recently I've discovered this clip, 7:35 in the Morning. I didn't know it was nominated for the Oscars (best short film category). Interesting. It's both comedy and drama:

Let's go back to the Walt Disney we all loved and enjoyed.
A macabre short film from 1929, The Skeleton Dance, showing the greatness of what has become the biggest symbol of childhood and innocence (and I'm not being sarcastic here). In that little animation, you can see the grain that led to Disney's great success... incredible!

THE SKELETON DANCE (1929) by Walt Disney



Enjoy.

For the ones that enjoy a well made animation, here's the original version of Shane Acker 's 9. Nominated for an Oscar for best Animated Short, in 2006. A short animation that took Acker more than 4 years to finish.

9 (2006) by Shane Acker



Enjoy!

I thought I'd post the short film animations that were nominated, and hear your opinions. I'll post my opinion in a comment under each video, just 'cause I can yo!

Best Short Film, Animated
Nominees

• French Roast (2008): Fabrice Joubert
  
  

I didn't like that one at all. It wasn't funny, though they were trying too hard to be. It's like the usual Pixar shorts, but even crappier. The whole actions didn't really have a reason to happen, they just happened because they might trigger some giggles, and some people might even find it "cute". It's definitely the least one deserving to win, or even be nominated.

• Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty (2008): Nicky Phelan, Darragh O'Connell
  
  

I liked it, that one was actually funny. However, it's very lacking in plot. The characters are funny, that grandma definitely has some unresolved issues, and the way the Brothers Grimm story was modulated to show the Granny's anger can surely trigger some laughs. But at the end, the girl is terrified and it all ends here. The story of the little girl in the bed was stopped in midway, and so was the story of Sleeping Beauty. I think it ended too soon. It felt more like a sketch than a story. Not a winner, but very amusing.

• La dama y la muerte (2009): Javier Recio Gracia
  
  

The story is very nice, the editing is really good, the music and sound design were to my liking and some sequences in there were pretty interesting. Unfortunately, the choice of the style of animation didn't work very well with the story. I think this short film would've been far better if made in good old 2D animation, sadly 2D is vanishing from the theatres since the whole Pixar revolution. The physical comedy in this short, was flagrantly reminiscent of the Tom & Jerry chasing scenes, and the surreal worlds the characters were immersed into, would've been expressed much better with a Disney-esque 2D à la Fantasia, thus opting for 3D seems unjustified. This short could've been exceptional, but after a lot of bad decisions, this short is just fairly good. Still better than the previous two, though.

• Logorama (2009): Nicolas Schmerkin
  
  

So the videos are no longer available due to copyright claims, so here's a link to the official website, where you can watch a part of it: http://www.logorama-themovie.com/

That one is by far my favourite. Finally an animation that isn't made for 5 year-old kids. The Tarentino-esque dialogues, the thrilling action scenes, and the whole concept of Logos that was milked so extensively in every second and every frame of the short as a reflection of the absurdly commercial world we live in. When watching Logorama, you can't stop yourself from trying to notice all the brands in every inch of the screen, and all of them are so wittily inserted (that "Nickelodeon" blob made my day), every detail is so neatly worked on.

Of course, it's not perfect, some scenes look useless, and there's not really a logic for the story. However, I feel if this animation is given the amount of praise it deserves, it might encourage future animations to be less childish, and maybe take this Media more seriously.

• Wallace and Gromit in 'A Matter of Loaf and Death' (2008) (TV): Nick Park
  
  

I only found a Trailer of the animation, but I think we all saw enough Wallace and Gromit animations to have some kind of opinion concerning the next one. I hope it doesn't win although I'm a fan (I even have the figurines), but Nick Park has already won 4 Academy Awards for his previous 4 Wallace and Gromit works (3 shorts, and 1 feature film)... so comes a time when we just feel that, enough is enough.

I hope you read through my very short reviews, and took the time to watch the short animations. I'll try to post the nominated Live Action short films, but I'm having a difficult time finding them. Comments will be sincerely appreciated.

Hope you enjoyed the lot.

Logorama (2009): Nicolas Schmerkin
is re-uploaded to youtube. Hope it stays long this time.

Here ya go:



Edit:
Damn it! It's gone again.

I don't know how I only noticed that for now, made me remember Don's other short. A classic that I'm pretty sure most of you have seen, many times.

REJECTED (2000) by Don Hertzfeldt



So cruel, so hilarious, so unique. One of the greatest short films I've ever seen... and people still can't understand that unjustified "beautiful" aesthetics aren't always a good thing. Sadly, Rejected didn't win an Oscar that year, it was only nominated.

Speaking of Rejected, I thought I'll continue to the short movie that actually won the Oscars that year.

FATHER & DAUGHTER (2000) by Michael Dudok de Wit



I don't know if I can choose between Rejected and Father & Daughter, both are so different, yet both are great at what they're doing. Father & Daughter is the story of a daughter left by her father when she was young, and follows her through her sorrow, missing her father everyday, till the end of her life.
It's not the kind of short I'll be wanting to see on my own, still, I really loved it. The music is very good, and it is the narrator in this animation. It illustrates so very faithfully what's going on in the screen, and overwhelms you with emotion. The drawings themselves, are so neatly created, with great simplicity, it creates a unique world for the story.
... and here's the 2001 Oscar winner, for Best Short Film -Animated. A film so transparent, that hits you in the core with no artificial additives.

Bump.

I just love the anecdotal quality that a lot of the more light-hearted shorts have about them, including this one - fascinating little film about racially/class-motivated perceptions with a nice, heartwarming ending. Enjoy...



Anyone who's into short films, Nokia ran a competition for 15 second movies shot on camera-phones, which saw a lot of wonderful pieces submitted. Pretty sure they're on youtube somewhere too, and definitely worth a watch.

^ Very nice film.
Turns out it was the 1989 Academy Award winner. I wonder why the writer/director Adam Davidson, didn't write anything else after that.

A very creepy, hallucinogenic, psychedelic, psychotic short film, from the early 60s.

URSULA (1961) by Lloyd Michael Williams



Here's the description written next to the uploaded video. I don't think I can add much to it:
The titular heroine of Lloyd Michael Williams' Ursula (1961) is also trapped in a horror film. Unfortunately it's one of those scary-old-lady films that were a mainstay of that decade (to be fair, this film predates Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? [1962], Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte [1964], and Die! Die! My Darling! [1965]). Little girl Ursula, disturbingly voice-dubbed by a grownup, tears her pretty dress and oversleeps, to the chagrin of her psychotic mother, who punishes Ursula by chopping up her pets. Ursula goes insane in a slow parade of hallucinogenic film effects that call to mind early Mario Bava.

Enjoy.

A Martin SCORSESE special...

If you want to understand a director, you should see where he started and how he evolved, that's why I'm going to talk about the first 3 short movies of the great director Martin Scorsese.

• Episode 1:
  What's a nice girl like you doing in a place like This (1963)
  
  

His first short film student project.
Plot: A writer named Algernon (but called Harry by his friends) buys a picture of a boat on a lake, and his obsession with it renders normal life impossible. He attempts to function again by consulting an analyst and becoming married, but eventually succumbs to his strange anxiety by disappearing into the picture.-IMDB

You can notice from this film, the distinct Scorsese characteristics that will pop out in many of his later features: The narrator, the jovial music, the introduction to the main character's past in the first person, photo montages...
The very contrasted Black and White is definitely a great add to the cinematography, reminding us of the signature Antonioni b&w aesthetic.
One of the weak points of this movie though, is the redundancy, between sound/narrator and image. Although it adds some humour, after a while, it just gets old.

After watching that short, you can't but notice how peaceful and poetic the story is, even the ending can be considered as "happy", something that will rarely happen in Scorsese movies to come.

NEXT
Episode 2: It's Not Just You, Murray! (1964)
Episode 3: The Big Shave (1967)

Description (from youtube):

"A film by Torill Kove
Narrated by Liv Ullmann

Can we trace the chain of events that leads to our own birth? Is our existence just coincidence? Do little things matter?

The narrator of The Danish Poet considers these questions as we follow Kasper, a poet whose creative well has run dry, on a holiday to Norway to meet the famous writer, Sigrid Undset. As Kasper's quest for inspiration unfolds, it appears that a spell of bad weather, an angry dog, slippery barn planks, a careless postman, hungry goats and other seemingly unrelated factors might play important roles in the big scheme of things after all. "

A LETTER TO COLLEEN (2007) by Andy London



A short I stumbled upon, on TV last night and thought I need to share.

Plot: Andy London is haunted by the events of his 18th birthday. In this animated autobiographical short, he writes a letter to Colleen in an attempt to make peace with his demons. -IMDB

The animation is simple, raw in some places, giving us a taste of the animosity of the characters. It's just one of those shorts that get hooked in your brain, and that alone makes it a must.

Enjoy.

So I've been reading this very long informative article, I found in some thrown out cinema magazine at Uni, and it's about the beginning of Chinese animation, so I had to search for the videos on the net. Starting with the beginning:

A Chinese Animation special.

It all started with the Wan Brothers, by adapting Chinese myths, stories and poems, inspired by the traditional Chinese painting techniques. The first animation was called Uproar in the Studio (1926), the first animation with sound was their short, Dance of the Camels (1930), and the first feature film animation, was also theirs, Princess Iron Fan (1941). Sadly, I wasn't able to find any of their shorts on youtube, but I found their feature film divided to 14 episodes, if anyone's interested.

But for now, I'll post the first two shorts I found, who are made by one of the biggest innovators of the business, Te Wei. He tried as much as he can to stick with the traditional aesthetics, preserving this way the Chinese sensibility of the classic aquarell painting on silk, and I honestly think he succeeded to achieve this goal.

His most famous work, is his second short, titled Where is Mama (1960), about the adventure of a group of tadpoles searching for their mother. It was painted with classic Chinese Ink.
Unfortunately, there's no English version on youtube, but I don't think the narrating is necessary to the story, everything can be understood quite fine. It's a cool film, a bit redundant and stretched, but the whole atmosphere is very well fitting for a children story.

WHERE IS MAMA (1960) by Te Wei




As for the second vid I'll be posting, and the fourth and final short by Te Wei, is his Feeling from Mountain and Water (1988).
This one is obviously more professional. There are no spoken words, so there's no problem with the language. The whole focus is on the music (which is just beautiful btw), and the mesmerizing scenes of mountains confined by fog and water. There's not much of a story really, it's more of a poem. A visual poem coming to life from animated painted silk. Plunge into the soothing magical world of China.

FEELING FROM MOUNTAIN AND WATER (1988) by Te Wei



Enjoy.
Will be getting back in here, for more Chinese animation.

Outer Space by Peter Tscherkassky (1999)



"Outer Space is difficult to compare to any other style of film. It is the kind of violent brilliance that mainstream films such as Fight Club (1999) and Se7en (1995) attempt to appropriate in their mimicry of optically printed experimental styles. It is extraordinarily intense and, though only ten minutes in length, relentless in its sensory assault. At the same time, shot in 35mm cinemascope Outer Space is quite simply, a lush cinematic production."

Read more here:
Outer Space: The Manufactured Film of Peter Tscherkassky

i downloaded that the other day. it's fantastic.

An homage to the masters of the macabre - Cab Calloway and the Fleischer brothers.
Max Fleischer presents, three episodes of Betty Boop, with the epic swing music and the dark story-telling lyrics of Cab Calloway.







Enjoy.

Signs

THE OSSUARY (1970) by Jan Švankmajer



Jan Švankmajer is a Czech surrealist artist. One of the great influences for directors like Terry Gilliam and Tim Burton.

He was asked to make a documentary about the Sedlec Ossuary, a chapel in the Czech Republic all made out of human bones. From this came this awesomely nightmarish short The Ossuary , with jazz arrangement by Zdeněk Liška of the poem "Comment dessiner le portrait d'un oiseau" ("How to Draw the Portrait of a Bird") by Jacques Prévert.

Enjoy.

Edit: Thought I'd add in a bit of his fictional work, with a montage made from his feature film Alice (1988), an adaptation of Lewis Carroll's masterpiece Alice's adventures in Wonderland.

GODSPEED YOU ALICE



Music by Godspeed you Black Emperor!

Enjoy II.