tucson-films

ZHON: THE ALIEN INTERVIEWS

Tue, 12 Jun 2012 00:20:30 +0100

Zhon: The Alien Interviews is a webisode about an alien from another planet named Zhon, played by Robert Linden, who shows up at a US Secret Service office hoping to be interviewed by Amanda Bella, played by Alida Holguin Gunn, a beautiful host of a spiritual TV talk show. As a result he's kept in custody by Secret Service Agents, among them, Agent Killjoy, played by Eric Schumacher The agents are trying to determine if he really is an alien. They do allow Amanda Bella to interview him and the rest of the 22 episodes are the resulting interviews. I had the good fortune to attend the premiere of Zhon at the Screening Room and saw the first four episodes.

According to Zhon, he has been visiting our Earth for thousands of years. And in the process has been adding to and adjusting our culture; which is reminiscent of what conspiracy researchers and alternative history researchers have been saying about alien technology. Aliens have been among us for a long time. The writing is funny, clever and mostly family friendly. I do enjoy good comedy conspiracy writing. I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of the 22 episodes after they are finished being posting to the website.

The production values are very high considering it's a digitally shot webisode made mostly by experienced volunteer Tucson filmmakers. I love the beginning bumper of each episode; which was very stylish and could be mistaken for a "real" TV show. The low-budget special effects are clever as well. We see Zhon levitating, disappearing, moving really fast, as well as other super-human abilities. A great original soundtrack supports the funny quirky feel of this comedy webisode.

Robert Linden as Zhon and Eric Schumacher as Agent Killjoy, made a great acting team as well as a great producing team. I'm looking forward to watching the growth of their audience on the net. Entertaining. Check out the latest episode at http://whoiszhon.com

FIRST FRIDAY SHORTS: “THE GOLDEN GONGS” MAY 2012

Sun, 20 May 2012 20:17:25 +0100

MAY 2012 FIRST FRIDAY SHORTS (FFS) - GOLDEN GONGS YEAR-END SHOWDOWN.

I was afraid I wouldn’t get a seat at the First Friday Shorts’ (FFS) annual contest, so I arrived at 8:45pm. The parking lot was almost full. I met up with my Canadian friends, Ross and Carol, who were my buddies at the 2012 Arizona International Film Festival. We were all honored as “super-fans” because we saw almost every single film at the fest. My reviews will be coming out one by one. My excuse for my lateness is slightly different this time. I caught a sinus cold which turned into pink eye!! (Unfortunately, I was not able to attend the U of A student film festivals, Magic Hour and I Dream in Widescreen or PCC student film fest) I’m back in the saddle now.

As we entered the theater, I noticed that the theater was three-fourths full and slowly filling up. I also met my friend and temporary roommate, Kathy and her boyfriend, Roger, who, by the way, laughed their butts off at all the shorts. The theater filled to capacity. I don’t know if anyone was turned away.

All the monthly winning shorts that were entered in the Golden Gong portion of the show were excellent. It was refreshing to see such high quality in the Golden Gongs. In past years, I’ve been quite bored at the Golden Gongs because of the low quality of shorts that won due to the filmmakers’ posses’ shouting the loudest and therefore sounding like the majority of the audience liked their entries.

Before the show started, the Loft took the opportunity to run as many trailers for their upcoming films as possible. I’m especially looking forward to seeing, MARLEY, BOY , JUAN OF THE DEAD (which should have a lot of political sarcasm.), COMIC-CON EPISODE IV: A FAN’S HOPE, and especially Bob Goldthwait’s new film, GOD BLESS AMERICA.

Filler: (couldn’t find it.)

May 2011 FFS Winner: 9 TO FIRE by Tom Smith (See my previous review here.)

June 2011 FFS Winner: NICHE by Eva Julieta Alcazar (See my previous review here.)

July 2011 FFS Winner: EPISODE X by Jonathan Dineyazhe (See my previous review here.) Review Update: I found the link to Episode X!

August 2011 FFS Winner: (Tie)

HYPNO WINK by Ray C. Merrill (See my previous review here.)

BLAMBLAMBLAM, ClickClickClick by Jaz Garewal (See my previous review here.) Review update: It was great seeing it a 2^nd time; High production values and brilliant writing. But I still don’t understand why the cops shot Jeremy Conrad when they offered him to the hostage taker. Maybe I’ll find out when I start seeing the webisode this short introduces. Best of luck on this webisode; it looks like it’s going to be really good.

September 2011 FFS Winner: WONDER BEE by Ari Grabb & Jackie Hitchinson (See my previous review here.)

October 2011 FFS Winner: HI-FI ALIBI by Everett Forbes (See my previous review here.)

November 2011 FFS Winner AND WINNER OF THE 2012 GOLDEN GONGS: WRONG PLACE by Josh Weisman & Mike O’Dea (See my previous review here.)

December 2011 FFS Winner: MY LIFE HAD STOOD – A LOADED GUN by Rio Finnegan (See my previous review here.)

January 2012 FFS Winner: (Tie)

MANUSCRIPT by Dane Haiken (See my previous review here.)

WHIPSNAKE by Owen Rose (See my previous review here.) Review Update: Turns out Owen Rose must have been in the bathroom during voting, because fortunately someone was there to receive the prize.

February 2012 FFS Winner: STRYREECHLINSTRAL & PANACEA by Owen Rose (See my previous review here.)

March 2012 FFS Winner: SHENANIGANS by Matt Sisson (See my previous review here.)

April 2012 FFS Winner: SEX, DRUGS AND JUMPSTYLE by Ari Grabb (See my previous review here.)

INTERMISSION (Couldn’t find any of the fillers.):

Filler: Vytautas Mineral Water

ARTIFICIAL, by Greg Mannino, (WINNER OF THE JUNE 2012 FFS) is a dramatic sci-fi short which looks like it could be an introduction to a feature or series. High production values support this story of a scientist who seems to be creating or resurrecting his son by implanting metal parts into the fleshy body. The gore effects were convincing. To complicate issues, a dept collector comes crashing through the door and shoots the scientist. At this point, the audience started gonging the short which made me wonder this month’s audience was populated by sensitive souls. More evidence of this came when the audience stopped gonging as the young man with the mechanical parts woke up. It’s so hard to sink into a short when everyone is gonging it; but ultimately it was not officially gonged. I was impressed and would like to see this again, especially any expansions or sequels.

PANDEMICAL, by Owen Rose, is another well-made pseudo-infomercial about fictional drugs and their side-effects. It’s a lot like his other fictional drug infomercials, but still gets a laugh. When I woke up the next morning with pink eye, I remembered Pandemical’s side-effect, “giant eye maggots” and was not laughing very much. Even though this was really funny; I feel it is ultimately serious. All those side-effects like crotch coral, one really long tooth and other symptoms, that I don’t think apply to women, indicate a change in DNA caused by these kinds of drugs which could be true for real drugs! Great subdued acting by comedian, Noel Rhodes.

Filler: Lamb saying YEAH!

BOWSER & JUNIOR, by Ari Grabb, is the story of a son bullying his father because of his taste in cars and friends. So many teens go through a stage where they are embarrassed by their parents because of their fashion sense or for just plain expressing themselves. It makes me cringe when I think about how the younger generation tries to exert so much power over the self-expression of their parents and older generations. Ultimately, these kids are succumbing to their own peer pressure to conform, resulting in a 2-D world, full of flat landscapes and restricted movements, exemplified by the arcade-videogame-type animation which characterizes this short. On the other hand, Bowser, the Dad, caved into Junior’s demands to censor himself which didn’t set a good example for following your heart instead of the herd. I had some trouble understanding Junior, but it was a very interesting yet disturbing experiment in Arcade game animation.

KNOWLEDGE PASS IT ON, by Jaz Garewal, is a set of 3 PSA’s made by Lt. Leo Darden, of BLAMBLAMBLAM, ClickClickClick . High production values, very funny and great acting by Tony Eckstat!

Filler: Chop Chop

POWER VEGGIES, by John Rustate, is a PSA/commercial for Food Conspiracy Coop in Tucson. Animated non-genetically modified fruits and veggies, agents of the Food Conspiracy Coop, save their brother, Pear, from becoming genetically modified (GMO) by the evil corporation, Mutanto. This good intro to GMO foods, could have stated more powerful reasons for not eating GMO foods and eating organic foods provided by the Food Conspiracy Coop. It’s amazing that people still don’t know why GMO foods are bad for you. But having said that, it was a fun commercial for those who already know about GMO foods, but didn’t know about the Food Conspiracy Coop. Good 2-D animation!

Until Next time!

P.S. I'm looking for people to help me review local films. There are so many, I get overwhelmed. If interested, feel free to email me at spiritualmoviereviews@gmail.com

APRIL 2012 FIRST FRIDAY SHORTS

Sat, 28 Apr 2012 15:37:19 +0100

APRIL 2012 FIRST FRIDAY SHORTS (FFS)

I arrived soon after 9pm and quickly got my hand stamped (once you pay for your ticket to the FFS, you get a stamp on your hand like in a bar or a rock show) and looked around for Max to ask him about entering our Cowtown Gypsy Cinema sketches to FFS; hence my delay in getting my seat. The theater was almost completely full (about 5/6^th’s). I got my seat just as the show began. Max Cannon and Michael Sterner were both in attendance.

Filler: An Honest First Date (Tosh.0)

QUESTIONS, (sequel to Questions?) by Ray C. Merrill, was much like the first “Questions?” documentary, only this time, the answer is “Facebook.” We see Ray in the Tucson's Hurricane Hooka Lounge and all over downtown Tucson, asking young Tucsonans, questions that have the obvious answer, “Facebook.” I found this episode cleverer and cuter than the first. Kudos to Peter Gorritz who did the music soundtrack.

THE CORN by Casey Numetko is a charming and very short documentary about Steve Shaw’s Cowboy Kettle Corn booth at a fair. Somewhat educational and artistic with very red lighting. Would like to see this one again.

Z-DAY by Daniel Ramirez, at first looks like a typical locally made action zombie flick, but has a great twist at the end that lifts it far above the average. Good gun-shooting special effects, good audio and editing. Michael Sterner said the zombie killers’ Toyota Camry, was a badass car! (ha ha)

Filler: Fresh Guacamole - Pes

SQUEAL by Ron Trujillo is an extremely short film, very reminiscent of Deliverance. The analogy sets up the tension and gives way to a funny cliffhanger ending. Great dark suspense lighting and audio.

WW (?) by Matthew Sisson – a violent interrogation that ends up with the ultimate question, “Where’s Waldo?” Not funny to me at first due to my growing sensitive nature, but that famous question certainly broke the seriousness of it. This violence-loving audience really liked it. Effective!

THE HORROR by Greg Lyons was a thriller showing two guys outside at night, looking for a cat, I think? Some good FX moments with ghostly figures assaulted the viewer against grainy video. The audience was gonging, but Max let it play.

BATTLE, by Daniel Storm, looked like a fun home movie of a father (?) and son (?) having a light saber fight at night against a Star Wars-type soundtrack. The ending was abrupt and Michael Sterner made an intentionally incoherent comment about the short.

Filler: External World (first half)

INTERMISSION (From what I could find):

Cat takes revenge on kid

Good Books Great Writer Series – Metamorphosis

Beetlecam is Back

Zombie Ass – Toilet of the Dead – Trailer

The Most Astounding Fact of the Universe

Filler (after Intermission) External World (last half)

4 ACES, by Al Graham, showed a professional magician (Gary J. Husson) doing a card trick called the Four Aces. This appeared to be part of a documentary series called, “Stars of Magic” which will showcase Tucson magicians. The FFS audience comically feigned their amazement, even though it was a good card trick. Good cinematography of the trick.

THE WEEKND- HOUSE OF BALLOONS (Fan Video), by Ryan O’Sullivan, is an animated music video using kind of a stop-motion technique with 2-D paper cutouts of bunny men characters. The story about bunny people at a party with a live band had some good writing. The audience tried to gong it, but Max let it run. Afterwards, he strongly suggested shortening it and I have to agree. Animation lighting needs work, but the short has potential, especially with the writing.

Filler – Jedi Cat VS Pitbull

SEX, DRUGS AND JUMPSTYLE, by Ari Grabb, was even better the second time. The first time I saw it was at the WHAT’S UP DOCZ student screening in Dec’11. There’s not that much to add, except that on second viewing I really appreciated the cinematography (camera work by Gabriel Acosta and CJ Sundstrom) and editing even more. Great work and the WINNER OF THE APRIL FFS!

THE FRENCH WEDGE, by Owen Rose, is another hilarious infomercial staring “Steve Climber, the Ultimate Outdoors Enthusiast.” This one is about durable French-cut underwear suitable for hiking. Excellent! I’m sure Owen Rose and his filmmaking partner, Noel Rhodes could sell lots if they made a “real” infomercial.

A GRINGO LIKE ME, presented by Andrew Foster, is a music video to the song, “A Gringo Like Me” by Ennio Morricone. We see a cowboy who doesn’t really have the feel of a classic cowboy, acting out artistically with his gun. The actor was fantastic. The credits are not very complete on this short, so I’m not sure who did what. In any case, the cinematography and editing were great.

SPENCER SPENCE, by Grant Hunker, is an audience-participation short where the audience can pick one of three endings for each section. The FFS audience was only allowed one choice per section and predictably picked the most extreme of the choices. The star of the show, Spencer Spence, was great. I found the stories themselves a bit over-the-top to the point of being grossly silly, but the cinematography and editing were very good. I want to see it again so I can experience all the endings. Fun concept!

CLEAN DAT SHIT, by Mike Williamson & Tad Sallee, was a parody of sexy girls washing cars. The difference is that two (not-yet-but-soon-to-be-beefcake-looking) guys acted sexy while washing their trucks to a hip hop soundtrack. Great shots of the guys playing with hoses spewing water and striking sexy poses by their muscle trucks made this a hilarious music video. Nice cinematography and editing. Need better credits. Who were the guys and who did the camerawork and editing?

Until next time!

AZ 100 INDIE FILM

Sat, 31 Mar 2012 00:57:20 +0100

AZ 100 INDIE FILM is a celebration of the Arizona Centennial showing the best of 100 short films made in Tucson. It was hosted by the Screening Room and featured entries from past years at the Arizona International Film Festival.

METAMORA by Keisha Richardson is playful stop-motion animation showing the 2-D journey of a star over various simple landscapes. Great background music sets the stage for this simple, yet entertaining short.

NOT 2B TOYED WITH, by Steve Bayless, is a Tucson classic short about Troy, a collector of Star Wars action figures. He keeps them in their original packaging unopened to keep their resale value high. One day his sister arrives on his doorstep to drop off his nephew so Troy can babysit. The inquisitive nephew, not understanding the investment value of these “toys”…well, I think you can imagine the rest. Nice acting, cinematography and editing.

STORYTIME FABLES by Brendan Guy Murphy - See my review here.

CAPTURE THE FLAG, by Lisanne Skyler, is a coming-of-age story about a young teenage girl on summer vacation; playing Capture the Flag with extended family out in the forest in upstate New York. She’s emotionally processing the recent divorce of her parents. During the game, she often gets to watch the games adults play. High production values, excellent acting and directing made this a very engaging and watchable film. Watch the film here.

DREAM FRIEND by Aninna Lavee is a touching and spiritual take on grieving the loss of a loved one. A mother is having a conversation with her daughter that is sometimes playful, sometimes emotionally revealing. As the conversation progresses, we realize the mother is speaking with either the spirit or the memory of her daughter. The story takes place outside in a garden-like setting which gave the story a gentle, loving feeling. Nice cinematography, editing and acting.

NICHE by Eva Alcazar – See my review here.

THE COMMUTE by John Sheedy is an ironic story of two people from completely different walks of life going to work. One is a migrant worker crossing the border on foot and on the back of a truck to fill a job. The other is a white-collar worker in middle-management driving a comfortable car on the freeway. Great cinematography and soundtrack showed a more claustrophobic feeling for the white-color worker and a more open, uncertain feeling for the migrant worker. Nice twist at the end.

ON A CLEAR DAY, by Alan Williams, is a complex story about the trials and tribulations of having a home on the US/Mexico border. Frank is an older rancher married to Rosa who wants to have a baby. A young Hispanic boy, Hector, crosses the border and ends up at on Rosa’s doorstep. Rosa wants to keep him, Frank doesn’t. Hector surprises them both when he starts to open up. A well-acted story of retribution, family, and life changes.

NINE TO FIRE, by Tom Smith, is a great animation I’ve seen a gazillion times! See my review here.

STASIS, by Grant Nelson, is an experimental film deftly showing the terror associated with approaching the opposite sex. The effective soundtrack and editing gave this very short film a visceral experience.

FALLOUT by Paul DeNigris is a stylish sci-fi action war story set in the future. Terrific cinematography and CGI special effects make this a pleasurable experience for fans of shoot’em up, apocalyptic action films with lots of big guns.

THE OUTSKIRTS OF INFINITY, by Bart Santello, is an experimental film intercutting footage of a location in Ruby, AZ circa 1939’s with footage of Ruby, AZ in present day. The beginning showed the past compared to a lonely, desolate present with some dark and depressing images supported by ominous ethereal background music. Then shots of bat migration and a happy man, played by Sun Dog, created an open hopeful feeling. The short ended in an exploration of a mine shaft. Descending into the mineshaft, dare I speculate, represented going within? Great soundtrack, great shots and creative special effects filters created a visceral, emotional journey

AUTHENTIC PRODUCTIONS BEST OF 2011 FILM SCREENING

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 15:36:48 +0100

On March 16, 2012, Authentic Productions, a local film production company, which I would call a real film collective, presented themselves to the Tucson community by holding a screening of some of their works at the Crossroads Cinema. Their event included a red carpet photo shoot complete with professional photographers and a meet-and-greet with the cast and crew of the featured shorts before the screening. It was glitz and glamor Tucson style.

I’ve been following Authentic Productions’ work since I reviewed S.O.L., their first big Tucson premiere. From their shorts, I can see their greatest strength and talent is in cinematography and editing. The only gripe I have is with the uneven audio levels with dialogue; in spite of that, the soundtracks and audio effects have excellent sound quality. Their promos demonstrate great improvement in that area, so the future looks bright for Authentic Productions.

PROMOS: These commercials and trailers all had very good production values, including good audio throughout. STEP UP TO THE MICROPHONE was especially impressive; and was directed by Yuri Machado and Sal Martino and starred Kassey Frazier, who delivered an excellent performance.

LIONHEARTED, written and directed by Tim Marin is a very short action-drama in an apocalyptic setting about a family who, soon after seeing the father off to war, experiences great devastation that turns their world into a Mad Max scenario. The acting was very good, especially the young boy who played the stoic young son. This disturbingly plausible story went by really fast. I could easily see it as a longer piece that gets more into the plot details. Showing production stills during the credits was a nice touch.

THE ELEVATOR, written and directed by Zacharia Lorenz, has been on the festival circuit and won awards at UofA campus festivals. This very charming story of a white–collar guy, falling in love with a young woman he meets in the elevator, has a very clever twist. Nice acting.

IS BLAKE A DOUCHE?, written and directed by Daniel Geffre, is a pseudo-news piece that investigates the character of Blake, a mysterious guy we never really get to meet. The reporter, played by Daniel Geffre, interviews various characters who may know whether or not Blake, is in fact, a douche. Many of the “interviews” were very funny and had great comedic timing. Nice graphics made you feel like you were watching the news on TV.

S.O.L. See my review here.

BEHIND THE SCENES OF S.O.L. I really liked the professional-looking quality of this behind the scenes documentary.

All the best, to Authentic Productions, LLC!

FIRST FRIDAY SHORTS MARCH 2012

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 23:42:30 +0100

MARCH 2012 FIRST FRIDAY SHORTS (FFS)

I arrived at 8:48pm. It was cold outside. The theater looked three-fourths to 5/8 full.

A mass of Loft previews were shown: Membership commercial, Rocky Horror, Solaris (original), Police Women, Finding Joe (just incase there were some introspective people in the audience?), Intruder (I’ve got to see this one with Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell), The Princess Bride (How many times are they going to show this?), We Need to Talk About Kevin, Kill List, Space Mutiny, Hollywood Hellraisers series, Night of the Living Dead, Battle Royal, Hair Metal Sing a-long, and Tim & Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie.

Max Cannon and Michael Sterner were both in attendance and explained the Rules of the First Friday Shorts but forgot to give the audience gonging practice. Instead they talked about crushing the dreams of local filmmakers. This raised a red flag for me and I later realized that there were only four entries this month. I want to say that I plan to enter a few shorts in April, or more likely, May of this year. At the time of this writing I’m on post-production of an internet TV show, which I will announce soon. The FFS will be our non-virtual premiere.

Filler: Stinky Penis

SHENANIGANS by Matt Sisson, was THE WINNER of the First Friday Shorts (FFS) March 2012 edition! This is a funny video showing Matt doing all kinds of action stunts outside. The slow motion effects brought the short up to an almost artistic level. When’s this going to be uploaded? I need to see it again.

Filler: Women’s Health Experts Speak Out

Filler: Something

INTRO TO HALLOWEEN SHOW by Josh Wiseman is a story about two guys in drag who are wandering around downtown Tucson at night. “Shasha”’s boobs looked like they were falling down. She soon became a victim of a horrible murder. Great acting from Shasha’s partner and nice cinematography for the most part.

INTERMISSION (From what I could find):

Wisdom Teeth#2 Nina123

Zodiac Animals

Gotye – Easy Way Out – Official Video

STEG PRONGSTEN BATTLES KELP, by Owen Rose, is a silly story with good production values about Steg Prongsten who is training on the beach in preparation to do battle with aggressive kelp. Clever low-budget special effects for the kelp monsters were pretty funny. Steg’s poor posture and unusual jogging style gave parts of the film a surreal quality. Nice cinematography and good voice-over.

Filler – Las Palmas in its entirety! (unfortunately does not seem to be available right now)

HOT DOGS, by Mariella Morton, is like an art video which consists of a close-up of shriveled hot dogs on a rotating grill, the kind you see at a food mart at a gas station. Mariella suggests that her short would inspire people to become vegans, but I’ve seen soy hot dogs shrivel up. Soy’s bad for you now because of all the chemical agricultural processes used to grow it; even the organic version is bad for you. So ALL hot dogs are bad for you, WAHHHH! Nice lighting and cinematography, but needs work on the story line. It was too boring for my friend’s cat to watch.

Filler – 8 Bits

Well, that’s all until April!

FIRST FRIDAY SHORTS - FEBRUARY 2012

Sun, 04 Mar 2012 22:11:37 +0100

FEBRUARY 2012 FIRST FRIDAY SHORTS (FFS)

All the trailers for the Loft films must have been shown before the show started. I got there just on time. The theater looked 3/4 to 5/8 full.

Due to some technical difficulties, the audience was asked to sing the Ma Na Ma Na song until the sound system was fixed.

For Valentine’s day, the FFS annual special event was played out where three males and three females were chosen from the audience to have blind dates with each other which consisted of being matched into three couples and having them sit in the front row. The Loft supplied them with free concessions. NICE! As the evening progressed, one of the females made comments that the audience didn’t like and she stormed out of the theater, leaving her date behind. That was the first bit of drama I’d ever seen at that Valentine’s Day dating game.

Filler: Tennis Ball (Jon Lajoie)

Rules of the First Friday Shorts

NEW CLICHES by Ellie (last name?) This film was officially gonged so I didn’t get to see the whole thing. It looked like a romantic short that turned into a music video. Nice cinematography and good acting. I’d like to see it again. Michael Sterner did bring up a concern I had about one of the actresses using a highlighter to apply her lipstick.

Filler: (couldn’t find it)

STRYREECHLINSTRAL and PANACEA by Owen Rose, WINNER OF THE FEBRUARY 2012 FFS, is a parody of TV drug commercials. This must have been edited especially for the FFS. I could only find the above video which contains both commercials plus other commercials for other drugs and legal services to deal with the drug side effects. Nice cinematography, editing, great writing and acting. The voice-over narration was professionally delivered. You may think the long list of impossibly obscure diseases presented was laughably ridiculous, but think again. There are lots of new strange diseases coming up quite possibly from prescription drugs. (I’ll get off my soap box now.) Highly recommended.

Filler: “Rick Santorum” – A BLR Soundbite

JUSTIN AND HIS DAD X-MAS SPECIAL 2 by Ari Grabb is the continuing saga of Justin and the evolving relationship with his Dad and their quest to win the annual father-son sled contest. In spite of the black and white 2-D almost stop-motion animation, the story is richly told and the artwork extremely expressive. The sequel contains new elements not shown in the original short, including moments of color and Justin’s sister, Hanna, who is a dark being like the ones that are sometimes born into unsuspecting loving families. (In my family, it was the other way around.) This is not just an action short, but an uplifting emotional examination of a father-son relationship. I was reminded that some parents can be so emotionally fragile. It brought a tear to my eye. Makes you wonder if the story is at least partly autobiographical. Highly recommended.

DAVE’S COOL DRIVING SCHOOL , by Tim Lavoie, is an infomercial about driving lessons given by a guy named Dave. Lavoie is so famous for his fictional instructional videos, that when Max mentioned his name, the crowd gave him a standing ovation before his video screened. Alas, this video did not win for February’12. Great acting - especially by “Dave” and nicely edited opening with good special effects really shows what you could be getting into with Dave. Nice soundtrack, instructional editing & instructional cinematography. Lots of free tips, I learned a lot! Highly recommended.

INTERMISSION:

Schenectady

VD is for Everybody

How to Pronounce NG

Superman Goes the Wrong Way

How to Pronounce Zach Galifianakis

EZ Swords

Chimpanzee on a Segway (In the Sun)

Beautiful Day at the Dog Park – My Favorite!

Filler – The Legend of Beaver Dam

SPACE CADETS by William Elizondo started out with the promise of an artistic video with stop-motion animation of spaceman action figures, but degenerated into a story of druggies playing with spaceman action figures in their home and two NARC’s busting in on them. Poor audio and poor lighting prevented me from seeing the deeper aspects of the story, but there was some good acting. It looked like it was filmed on videotape; so it must have been a really old production. This short was officially gonged. If you click on the link above, you get to see the whole short and my favorite part - a real chicken playing the organ (starts at 3:38).

Filler – Road Rage

CELL PHONES, by Jennifer Finley, is a PSA for turning off your cell phones in the theater acted out by stop-motion animation and stuffed puppets or stuffed animals used as puppets. Very short! I need to see this one again. Unfortunately, I don’t think this PSA would inspire me to turn off my cell phone.

Filler – Nicolas Cage Sankyo Pachinko Ad (I think this is the one.)

FELINE AIDS PSA presented by Trevor Jones (not the director) I found to be an entertaining parody of an AIDS PSA for cats. In spite of the bad lighting and uneven audio, I thought it was clever and funny. Nice acting too. Where is it online? I’d like to see it again.

See you next month!

FIRST FRIDAY SHORTS - JANUARY 2012

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 23:47:30 +0100

JANUARY 2012 FIRST FRIDAY SHORTS (FFS)

The Loft Theater was packed and so was the parking lot. I had to find parking on the street. Michael Sterner was “UNWELL” as Max Cannon put it. He also introduced the New Year as the “Beginning of Oblivion.” Now I see where he goes on the internet. Personally, I think it’s going to be a great year for people who are awake enough to see opportunity amidst the crashing of our evil systems and corporations. Well, enough of that internet trash talk.

I also found that the January’12 FFS audience was strangely sensitive to sexual situations and discussions about anything below the belt. I’ll give you some examples later on.

Filler shorts before the show started: I couldn’t find them.

Rules of the First Friday Shorts

FRANK, written and produced by Robert Jaime, Big Shot Studios, was extremely funny. It was a cleverly told tale of a nerdy exterminator, Frank, who fantasizes that he is the James Bond of exterminators, saving the beautiful women customers from their dangerous insect and rodent pests with all kinds of sexy weapons. Great visuals and cinematography made it very clear what was reality and what was Frank’s fantasy. From a spiritual perspective, it was nice to see that reality was in color and fantasy was in black and white. Reality is ultimately much more vibrant than fantasy if you give it a chance. Really excellent for a 48-hour film challenge! The FFS audience actually cheered! Highly recommended!

SAM & AUSTIN PERFORM SOME CRAZY STUNTS FOR YOU by Sam Lonius looked like a homemade video made by two really young (maybe 8-year-olds or younger) boys, sometimes utilizing the night vision function on their camera. I gathered that Sam was the camera guy and Austin was the star. They showed step by step a stunt that they were going to attempt that night. The stunt was to pee over a very high wall into their neighbor’s yard. They accomplished it. Shockingly amazing and well-organized short documentary. I can see a future for them on reality TV.

PROTEST CONTEST, co-written and directed by Alex Italics and produced and co-written by David Neff, shows the dark side of protest movements. I found this film to be a shocking and controversial story of a guy who wants to win a contest to be the most influential anti-war speaker at his local rally. The short used a silent film style; no dialogue, all told through visuals. The acting was fantastic and the editing and excellent cinematography by Oscar Rivera were extremely effective at telling this creepy, sarcastic story. I felt like I was watching Access Hollywood infiltrates the occupy movement (which is secretly populated by blood thirsty yuppies) in Mister Roger’s Neighborhood. I won’t give away the ending, but you won’t be able to see it until it’s off the film festival circuit. Maybe it will be playing at the AZ Int’l Film Fest? This short was too much for the FFS audience who seemed to gong it in agony. It was almost as if they were begging for it to be stopped, but thank God I got to see the end.

Filler: Fail Compilation. There are scads of these videos on YouTube, but I couldn’t find the one Max used. Max also used PROTEST CONTEST as a segue way into this filler short about people failing. How could you, Max? I thought you were a defender of dark art?

HUG COLLECTOR, by Diana Stapleton, is a black and white art video showing old photos of a woman holding a child in Winter and a family photo at the beach with videos super-imposed over them of Diana giving herself hugs and some pornographic material that is hard to see unless you look closely. The soundtrack is a voice-over of Diana reciting an essay about the dysfunctionality of her mother’s hugs and an examination of her sexual relationships throughout her life. The recitation is played in slow motion (I’m not sure that’s the correct term.). At first I thought it was someone else; maybe a young homosexual male reciting this prose. The audience exploded in gonging before 3 minutes when the short showed the photo of the family in swimsuits. The camera’s focus was on the crotch of the father’s swimsuit while sex with strangers was being discussed. When seeing this short in the quiet and comfort of my own home, it was not the shocking moment that the audience made it out to be. A lot of uncomfortable intimate situations which a lot of us share were expressed in this short, but maybe saying them out and our own suggestibility made it all the more uncomfortable. Way to go, Diana, for deeply triggering a mostly unconscious audience!

SHEEP SUPER (Do I have the right spelling?) by Joke Harmonica is a great art short showing footage of the FFS audience at seat level with a homemade punk soundtrack. The punk soundtrack gave the footage a great feel. Wish I could find this. I’d watch it over and over again.

MAN’S BEST FRIEND by Lopez Montego tells the story of a guy looking for his dog who is actually a guy dressed up as a dog. I enjoyed the soundtrack which sounded like my favorite folk guitarist, Leo Kottke. The plot meandered; Guy-dog goes to a bar while his “owner” puts up “Lost” posters; they wander around until they find each other, then they go to the park and have a nice reunion. I didn’t quite get it, but it was supposed to be based on Wilford the Dog. I couldn’t find Wilford the Dog or the Man’s Best Friend short. Not officially gonged because it was saved by the bell.

INTERMISSION FILLER SHORTS (The ones I could find):

James Brown Miso Soup commercials (couldn’t remember which one, so here’s a playlist.)

Cat vs Crocodile

Dating Losers: Frustrated Video Dater – Blooper

Yellow Dino: Pedo Hunter

Owners – aka Occupy Your Head

DISTRACTIONS by Ari Grabb and Victoria Tulk is an oldie, but a goodie (uploaded 8 months ago) about a guy trying to get his homework done, but there are animated beings having a loud party in his desk drawer. Expressive animation, nice lighting and art direction.

THE BUSHY REPORT: I didn’t catch the name of the person who entered this and no name is on the short. This was part 1 of a pilot for an adult entertainment show situated in Marin County, CA. The hosts consisted of a couple of women dressed suggestively with Bushy, a California guy who’s not that young anymore. They sat around a bar table in a tropical restaurant setting telling sexy jokes that weren’t that funny to me. Maybe I’m not California enough. There was a wall of constant gonging in spite of the nudity shown on old stock footage during the show. Officially gonged.

MANUSCRIPT by Rusty Camino (WINNER OF THE FFS JANUARY 2012!). This entertaining black and white short showed Bruce who has writer’s block and has five days to meet his agent’s deadline. We are taken through all the ways Bruce tries to get himself to write, including some teasing nudity shots that are hilarious. The denouement is fantastic. Great acting by Blayne Ambrose as the writer, great audio, cinematography and editing.

Filler short: Guy on a Buffalo #2 (Is this going to be the FFS classic?)

WHIPSNAKE by Owen Rose (Unfortunately disqualified because the director was a no-show). This is an awesome infomercial for a fictitious product (I think?); a really, really, really tall backpack that’s flexible like a whip. The audience was cheering so loudly at the end; I thought there would be a standing ovation. Entertainingly ridiculous; very professional-looking and sounding. Makes me want to buy one!

ZIP TIES by William Elizondo is a really rough-looking and roughly acted short about a guy who has elimination problems, and whose girlfriend wants him to kick his free-loading, porn-loving, best friend out of their apartment. All the talk about elimination, sexual self-love inspired by the internet, and sitting on the toilet drove the audience to furiously gong it. This audience was surprisingly sensitive. I’ve seen audiences in the past who would have made this the winner; not that I would have voted for it. It was officially gonged. What we didn’t get to see was the gag reel at the end, which was quite cute. This is a case where the DVD extras were better than the film.

See you next month!

WHAT’S UP DOCZ? 2011

Sun, 08 Jan 2012 22:56:08 +0100

I love a good documentary and I was excited to see 17 student documentary shorts from the U of A Junior Class of 2013 at the Loft Cinema. I was really impressed and learned ALOT! The choice of topics documented were awesome and many of them showcased hidden gems in Tucson. There's incredible work coming from the class of 2013. The U of A School of Theater, Film and Television is producing a race of super filmmakers. Many of them have won awards at the First Friday Shorts.

A Way With Words directed by James Bonanno tells about the Stories That Soar, a program in Tucson that encourages kids from to write stories that are later made into a plays, acted and produced by local theater professionals. I learned that the Stories That Soar program really encourages creative expression that very often gets stifled in regular school. Excellent audio, great hand-held cinematography, great color and lighting. Also, very nice music soundtrack. Great interviews with the kids and the program director, Sharon O'Brien. Very inspirational!

Chamber of Sounds directed by Gabe Acosta is an interview with musician/artist, Jamie Laboz, who experiments with sound and creates his own electronic instruments/(sound-art) devices. I learned that Tucson is the home to this sound artist who is getting critical acclaim in the music industry nation-wide. Nice use of demonstration footage to exemplify the instruments Acosta describes in the interview. Excellent audio, cinematography, editing and well-organized.

Occupy Tucson directed by Haley McFeeley gave me a great view of Tucson's Occupy Movement from the comfort of my own seat at the Loft Cinema. I learned that there are a lot of dedicated activists in Tucson, some of whom I know personally. I also learned that the occupiers supplied food not only for themselves but also for the homeless that came by. Great interviews, nice clear audio and good picture. Is this on YouTube somewhere?

Finding John directed by Victoria Tulk explores the disappearance of John Spira who went missing in the Chicago area in 2007. Even though this documentary short was only six minutes long, a lot of info was covered, creating a great basis for an investigative documentary. An in depth interview with John's sister, Stephanie, revealed the mysteries and emotional pain around his absence. Nicely organized, great audio, nice editing of b-roll, historical footage and assorted locations for interviews.

Mrs. Rabbi, by Julia Van Valkenburg, uses interviews to tell the story of how her mother became a rabbi and also shows how she manifests her spirituality in her rabbinical activities. I learned that a non-Jewish woman can become a rabbi. Nicely organized documentary using phrases on a chalkboard as chapters. Good audio and cinematography.

Sunflowers Track the Light, directed by Carlos Zamora, artistically shows a woman who experienced a suicide in her family and processed her grief through her painting. She moved into showing others how they can process their grief and other tough emotions through art. I learned that directing your negative energy into something positive, rather than talking it to death, can result in a very spiritual experience. Expressive background music, nice art, great cinematography and great editing led the viewer from a sense of darkness to light.

Leit Ao Lifi, directed by Cylan Shaffer, focuses on Sam Quinn, a U of A modern dance student who uses dance to get back to his inner core. I learned that there are two types of dancing, one where the dancer recreates a set of movements in a mathematical way and one where the dancer intuitively and instinctively moves to what he perceives in the music. The latter method can give a dancer a strong sense of freedom and self-empowerment but this can only happen if one surrenders to the moment. This was a wonderful interview which gave great insight into the creative process. The whole short consisted of Quinn dancing alone in the studio using his interview as a voice-over narration. Beautifully filmed and edited.

UA Tricks directed by C.J. Sundstrom explores the world of the UA Tricks Sports Club. Club members consist of U of A students who develop their gymnastic "tricks." I learned that Parkour is practiced in Tucson. I thought this technique of moving through an urban environment by getting over obstacles using vaulting, climbing, and basically anything but walking, was just a European thing. This documentary used very stylish, artistic cinematography and editing as well as straight documentary-style filmmaking to tell this story. Nice music score and impressive art direction.

Sex, Drugs, and Jumpstyle, directed by Ari Grabb, is a mockumentary about one of the super-stars of jumpstyle dancing, Ari Grabb! I could tell right away that this was a Grabb film from his characteristic film style which was interlaced with his signature animation. It was obvious that it was tongue and cheek and the audience was rolling on the floor with laughter. I learned the existence of jumpstyle dancing and through my own research have realized that it is a big trend at raves, especially in Europe. Grabb definitely has acting talent. The film interlaced interviews with him and shots of him jumpdancing in various settings, some appropriate and many inappropriate. Great writing, good cinematography and editing.

Sterile Plunge directed by Julie Etheridge was a dark investigative journalistic story about her trypanophobia, a fear of syringes, and her efforts to overcome this fear before giving blood. Darkly hilarious, gross and informative. I learned that blood donation centers do not want you to video tape what happens inside. Nicely organized, great dreamy-style cinematography to describe Etheridge's history with hospitals, effective guerrilla-style filmmaking and editing.

The Family Food, directed by Ethan Moore, describes through interviews his family's vegan lifestyle and why they decided to go vegan. I learned how you can squeeze more food out of Chipotle's and that cancer, acid reflux and bad digestion can be relieved by a plant-based diet. I was also reminded and inspired to go vegan or at least start in that direction. Fun background music, interesting interviews and scene changes, nice cinematography and editing.

In Between directed by Jackie Stubbs tells the story of her life living between her divorced parents. Most of the documentary consisted of interviews with her Korean mother, who she hadn't seen in two years. The interviews were emotionally revealing and by the end of the short, I developed a fondness for her quirky mom. Nice background music, nice artsy shots, nicely edited for an effective conveyance of the feeling of her mother's slower pace of life. A great soundtrack conveyed a variety of moods.

Greetings by Abe Zverow and Jackie Hutchinson is a heart-warming study of a Fry's grocery story greeter. I learned that Tucson is the home of Freddie Barrio, the best greeter out of 400 Fry's stores nationwide. The short shows Freddie in action, warmly greeting and taking an interest in every person who passes through the doors. There are great interviews with customers who are cheered up by Freddie and inspired to shop at his Fry's on the corner of Grant and 1st. I can tell he has a very huge heart, but a touch of sadness as well. Excellent subject, nice soundtrack, editing and great interviews.

Alex Italics Investigates: Demons in the Desert, directed by Alex Italics, looks like a slick TV reality show of a fake interview with an Arizona-based satanist. I did some research and found out that this interview was not fake! I learned that this guy, Damon Foster, does live in Arizona and does have an internet TV show called, Satanic Views. He's not such a bad guy either - he's nice to animals. I think Alex Italics has a good future in television. The beginning and ending of his show were nicely edited, had great visuals, and was very engaging. The body of the show, an investigation into the host of Satanic Views, was almost well-balanced. A rabbi was interviewed about the existence of Satan to show an opposing view to Foster's "satanic" view. This documentary was an excellently produced and immensely entertaining.

Skylights, directed by Jason Sikorsky and Brad Wong, tells the story of Sheila Martin, a UFO hunter who lives in Tucson. Sheila takes videos of her sightings and posts them on her YouTube video channel, Sheilaaliens, which has had over 15 million hits since she started it in 2009. Her interview revealed detailed information about UFO hunting, her techniques of recording sightings, some discussion of her detractors, how her analysis of her sightings has matured, and her spiritual views. I learned that there may be an alien base inside Mt. Lemon. Nice soundtrack, great audio, nice cinematography, nice use of her own videos. It was a very informative, well-balanced documentary. I liked it!

Ciao Orvieto, directed by Fiona Foster, at first seemed like a professional travel log of Italy, but I soon saw that it was an examination of what Foster learned about the different values and customs of Italy and how they expanded her awareness. I was reminded about how taking a break from the electronic environment and experiencing real life can be so profoundly nourishing. Awesome cinematography, great audio, nice camerawork and editing. The charming soundtrack greatly contributed to the professionalism of the production values. I can see this short being broadcast on TV. Nicely done!

The BIG project, directed by Shon Gale, shows the creation of a student message board from conception to complete manifestation. This is not an ordinary message board, it's a place where U of A students can write out their goals and aspirations before their graduation. Great editing, time lapse photography, nice music score. Great cinematography clearly showing what students wrote on the boards. Funny, touching, and inspiring!

FIRST FRIDAY SHORTS DECEMBER 2011

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 17:09:47 +0100

DECEMBER 2011 FIRST FRIDAY SHORTS (FFS)

I got my press pass for the First Friday Shorts! I love my pass. It has my name in big letters and (not to worry, Loft Cinema) of course, I will ONLY use it for the First Friday Shorts. I feel so legit, supported and special now.

Filler shorts before the show started:

I couldn’t find the Christmas puppet filler short, but I found this one instead:

Santa in Animal Land (1948)

Mah Na Mah Na

Rules of the First Friday Shorts

It amazes me how most entries these days are 3 minutes or less and this edition of the First Friday Shorts was no exception. Tucson filmmakers are doing their best to wiggle their way out of being gonged. You guys are cheaters! In spite of that, I found 40%-50% of the shorts this month were very high quality. At times, I almost felt like I was sitting in an artsy international film festival.

Filler: Catvertising

QUESTIONS (Hosted) by Ray C. Merrill

This newsy documentary short seems to be part of “The Rock Channel.” (What’s that?) We see Ray C. Merrill wandering about the streets of Tucson ferreting out nightlife. Close-ups of Merrill next to druggy and Pagan graffiti give you the idea that he was really out there asking the questions. But Merrill tells you what questions were asked in a studio setting. What was the one answer to all these questions? ROCK AND ROLL! Cute and memorable shots of high Tucsonans shouting “Rock and Roll!” highlighted this short.

SHUFFLE VIRUS OUTBREAK by Jonathan Bodey (sp?)

Steve Winn, a TV news reporter stands in front of the Art Institute of Tucson reporting on a “deadly” virus that makes the victim dance incessantly, oblivious to his or her surroundings. The short ends in Cloverdale-style with the announcer and camera guy getting the shuffle bug. Nice color, focus and graphics. Great shuffler, played by Jonathan Bione.

AFTERNOON DELIGHT by Julia Van Valkenburg

This black and white short was very convincing as a silent film. It even included title cards. We see two gentlemen and a lady having a picnic in the park. The lady and one of the gentlemen start to fight over the dessert. A tug of war ensues which supported that silent film-like choppy style. Well done! I liked it.

Filler: Marcel the Shell with Shoes On

HOG RANCH by Peter Linde

This 3-D animation short looked less like a story and more like an exercise in playing around with strange characters. No dialogue, but set to the song, Hog Ranch. All the characters seemed to be interacting in a restaurant as if they were humans. I liked the pigs; they were weird and disturbing especially when they were eating. Max didn’t like it!

APRIL FOOLS FEST by Al Graham

Al Graham did the camera work on the footage of what looked to me like a work-in-progress of a documentary on The April Fools Fest 2011 in downtown Tucson. We see a bunch of young adults throwing glow balls at an abstract sculpture while live rock music plays. The people start dancing after awhile. People in the audience started to gong this, but Max let it play because he liked the pretty colors. Michael Sterner said, “There’s not enough Ecstasy in the world to make me watch that again!” Nice music, pretty colors, a bit long.

INTERMISSION FILLERS (I couldn’t find all of them, darn it.):

Pabst Blue Ribbon commercial – 1979 – starring Patrick Swayze

Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie

Cute and Lovely Dog on Bicycle

Loosh on Cell Phone

Filler: Kitty City

MY LIFE HAD STOOD - A LOADED GUN by Rio Finnegan (WINNER OF THE DECEMBER 2011 FFS) This very artsy short consisted of black and white archival footage set to simple moody piano music and a voice-over recitation (Rio Finnegan) of the Emily Dickenson poem, My Life Had Stood - A Loaded Gun. Very nicely edited. It had a great rhythm and a very poignant feeling. This short really deserved to win for December. Max was so surprised the audience liked it, that he said, “An art film that worked for us!”

VOICES YOUTH PROGRAM MISSION STATEMENT by the Youth of Voices Tucson

This was a very cute and stylish commercial for the Voices Youth Program. This short was well organized and well edited with some nice artsy cinematography. My only complaint is about the color filter or extreme color correction over the whole video that looks as if someone forgot to do a white balance. But otherwise, a great display of talent and creativity from the Youth Program at Voices.

THE ACTION FIGURE by J Blain

This artistic short was silent, and set to soothing, but slightly mournful, light classical-sounding music which was actually by Pink Floyd. A man is sitting in a park and reminiscing about when he buried an action figurine by a tree as a child. Was this cheesy, or boring? NO! I loved it. It gently drew me into it’s meditation on the lost innocence of childhood. Max said in regards to this short, “Trying to make art more art.” In other words, he really liked it too.

FREAK ME OUT by Greg Mannino

This clever interpretation of the song, Freak Me Out by Weezer, showed a mini-zombie story that really fit with the lyrics. It’s all about intimacy. The whole effect of this short reminded me of how sometimes we don’t let people get close for fear they may eat our brains. Nicely done.

Filler: Keep Drawing

MENO SCRUPOLI by Nefeli Sarri

The director was not present for the screening of this truly foreign film short. The video was in Italian with English subtitles. Meno Scrupoli or Less Scruples is the story of a woman who begins working in porn films because she’s having difficulty finding a job. Very high production values and some nudity kept the attention of the audience for at least 4 minutes. It was a typical foreign film; a talky, relationship-based story that took it’s time. Intermittent gonging from the audience started to emerge. It was not officially gonged and we got to see the end. Thank God for subtitles. I haven’t found the entire short online, but did find a trailer without subtitles. A film festival-quality short.