Cinema of Death - 1987

What It Is: A DVD compilation of 5 "underground" short films dealing with the concept of death.

Why I Watched It: Tara Tainton thought I would find it interesting.

What I Thought: I did!

Two of the films were indecipherable artsy crap that I won't waste anymore time on, but the other 3 were pretty memorable.

Adoration - a mostly silent, black and white film about the "true story" of a man with so much desire for a girl that he kills her... and eats her. Only makes sense, right?

Dislandia - a truly bizarre depiction of a young girl named Lindsey, her fucked up paper mache masks, and her nightmarish delusions. Remember the freaky video from The Ring? Dislandia is 3 times as freaky and at least twice as long!

Le Poem - a full color French short about a real autopsy with a narrator reading a poem (The Drunken Boat) during the procedure. The character in the poem seems to be struggling with death and, when the film overlaps the poem with the real live autopsy, I got the feeling the poem was being read by the corpse's spirit. Wild!

Highlights: Man hands, draining dirty blood, cannibalism, paper mache, stitched hooves, and sliced eyelids. Oh my!

Who Should See It: Short film connoisseurs, silent film fans, and anybody that enjoys a jolt of the wickedly bizarre.

How Soon: Save it for just before bed and I guarantee you interesting dreams!

Cinema of Death

Cashback - 2006

What It Is: A feature-length version of the award winning short (same title) that was nominated for an Oscar in 2004.

Why I Watched It: The short that spawned it was really good.

What I Thought: The film that followed was really good too!

I've rewritten this description several times. Cashback is a difficult movie to explain. Think of the occupational comedy of Office Space, Waiting, and Clerks combined with a dysfunctional romance like High Fidelity and you've pretty much got it.

The plot is cool, the romance isn't too mushy, and the actors are superb. Cashback is good. It wasn't ridiculously amazing, mind you, but it was a very enjoyable film.

Did I mention the gorgeous naked woman? No? Well, Cashback features a little extra something to set it apart from the movies mentioned above. The main character is an artists that appreciates beauty in all of its forms, especially the female body. There are a few interesting flashbacks involving his experiences with the female form, but the artist also fantasizes he can freeze time. He often uses these frozen moments to mentally (but physically on screen) undress these women in order to paint them later. All the women are unbelievably gorgeous (in the artistic sense, not the "touch me a lot" sense) and Cashback definitely gives the viewer time to appreciate beauty!

My only complaint about Cashback involves the incredibly brief bit with the stranger that could also freeze time. The stranger is only seen for an instant and the movie moves along as if it never happened! The concept is cool enough to warrant a movie all its own, but it's merely glossed over here with no apparent need to be shown at all! I think it should have been left out completely.

Highlights: The girls, the exchange student, the Natalie character is hilarious, the time freezing is cool, the asshole coworkers are great, and it's just a feel good movie all around!

Who Should See It: Artists, chick flick lovers, guys that want to recommend a chick flick for "date night" that includes lots of beautiful naked women, and independent movie buffs.

How Soon: Date night! ;-)

Honesty: Funeral - 2007

Check out my thoughts on the other Honesty shorts!

Honesty: Funeral
One word does come to mind, and that is "co-worker."

Bedtime Story - 2006

What It Is: A remarkably good short story based on an award-winning 53 word short story with drama and a twist.

Why I Watched It: I wanted to see a plot twist executed in 53 words, or in this case about 1 minute.

What I Thought: Incredible.

Highlights: Contract killers, film-noir, suspense, and a plot twist all in 1 minute!

Who Should See It: Fans of short film and flash fiction, film-noir people, anyone else that can spare 60 seconds for some clever cinema.

How Soon: Why not click the link below right now?

Bedtime Story

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The Cathedral (Katedra) - 2002

What It Is: An Oscar nominated short film from Poland who's groundbreaking artistry serves as a prime example for CG animators everywhere. I think Platige Image (The Cathedral's creators) describes the story well, "a pilgrim who come to the Cathedral on the border of the known world. He wants to find the answers. He finds calmness."

Why I Watched It: It was actually shown to me in a New Media class a while back. The whole class fell silent for six minutes as this amazing little film took our breath away.

What I Thought: Fucking Amazing! The Cathedral is a very simple stories, yet it can be talked about it, discussed, or debated for hours. The animation is among the best I've ever seen and the music is beautifully appropriate. I'm not one to talk much about music or score, since I'm not that musically inclined, but having no dialogue whatsoever means the music has to convey the story as much as the action does. And it does. Wonderfully!

Highlights: Beautiful! Most potent sunrise ever! Fantastically inspiring music!

Who Should See It: Fans of computer animation and anyone of even a remotely creative bent (writers, artists, poets, musicians). I think The Cathedral really will "speak" to all of you!

How Soon: How about right now?

Honesty - 2007

Why I Watched Them: I happened upon the Honesty shorts while watching Comedy Central's new show dedicated specifically to web shorts.

What I Thought: I've seen all shorts available on AtomFilms so far and they're all hilarious! They involve all sorts of everyday situations and show you what would be said if people were totally honest with each other.

I'm even a supporter for brutal honesty, but these little gems show you that some things are just better left unsaid.

Highlights: Too many to mention. Every line of dialogue in each 1.5-2.5 minute short is well thought out and precisely delivered. You've really got to see 'em to believe it!

Who Should See It: Well... you. Didn't I just tell you to watch them?

How Soon: How about right now? What the hell else are you doing, reading blogs? Just click the titles below to get started!


Honesty: Wedding
And now, Carly and Dan will exchange their own poorly written vows...



Honesty: Black Mailman
This handshake differentiates him from all the uncool white people.

Honesty: Bathroom
It's important that no one he works with knows he actually poops.



Honesty: Date
Something thoughtful, and unexpected, and nice — that is so creepy!