R17
34 Reviews
Reviews
Sleve McDichael's Guide to Success
I don't usually like cringe comedy but this was genuinely hilarious. Impeccable timing and poise.
Queen of Hearts
Very smooth story. I like how the beginning tied to the end. Some beautiful cinematography especially the scene where she is walking through the park framed by the trees... story a little cliched but it worked very well. Timing was great. Acting brilliant and a snappy punch at the end. I really liked this!
NZSS
kewl team intro :D A combination of styles.. "the office", "x-files" , "007" etc... and a whole bunch of stuff I recognise but don't know where from... all of them piss takes (or so it seemed)... nice! Completely lost on the story line but was a giggle...
Return
Post apocalyptic future, everyone has returned to the hunter-gatherer existence, the lead couple must work together to fight against the taniwha. I loved this film, the artistic animation was outstanding, the sound track was perfect, I look forward to seeing this film again, an excellent short.
Made Maid
Made maid was a simple story about a robotic nanny and children doing what children do best - which is overriding parental controls. At the start is was very entertaining to watch the children manipulate this robot to do innocent things like pulling each others hair etc... I really liked the POV shots from the robots perspective. It was a nice effect and very effective. I am slightly confused over the story line. Was the robot a hallucination by a over-tired parent - day-dreaming about being a robot and leading them to commit suicide through guilt? Or did the robot have a conscience? Either way, it could have been a little more clear. The acting was brilliant and I loved the ending sequence. Overall it was very entertaining and a cool concept.
NZSS
kewl team intro :D A combination of styles.. "the office", "x-files" , "007" etc... and a whole bunch of stuff I recognise but don't know where from... all of them piss takes (or so it seemed)... nice! Completely lost on the story line but was a giggle...
The Black Dog
Art for arts sake? It was very pretty but I didn't understand it. Don't get me wrong, love arty movies but this one seemed to have no point. It was well edited and good shots. The soundtrack was great and the lead actress was good (the crying scenes stand out)
Gift-Wrapped
Very slick. Tidy edit. Tidy cinematography. Good acting. Loved the voice distortion (was it post or was it helium balloons?). Loved the use of a couple of movie cliches to acquirethe knife. One didn't work which left you hoping that the next one would. The twist was predictable once you have seen most of the film. It was nice how it tied into the card. Could have done with a better soundtrack to add atmosphere (i.e. music) and some contrast between shots (possibly some sort of effect?). The ending was a very common ending but it was still quite funny and also well acted and shocking. I enjoyed watching this!
Oranges
A very clever film. The constant phone calls in the bath from an obsessive mother were hilarious. I did not find this tedious at all as the repeated answer phone message echoed what the main character was feeling. And who hasn't tried to take a bath with constant disruptions OR had a stalker like this? Cinematography... could have been adjusted so you can't see his weener (I didn't notice but my husband did!)... but understand that being a one-man team, that can be tricky. The twist at the end was very cool. Love the multiple interpretations,... In some ways it makes no sense as it was portrayed that his mother only rung him a few minutes ago but now there is a funeral service... OR is he insomniac because of a guilt trip that he ignored his (now dead) obsessive mother... Who knows... you decide... sorry had to minus a star because my husband started watching out for your weener :(
Blind Date
This is one of the better rom-coms I have seen in 48 hours. Lacking polish but it did not matter as i was sucked into the story. Touching, emotional and very funny. Have faith in the intelligence of your audience! The special character trait of your lead actress was very obvious in about the first 20 seconds or so (due to your good story telling -subtle and very clever!). It wasn't necessary to continuously and blatantly spell it out from then on which spoilt it a little for me. I really enjoyed this film. Thank you!
Fifty / Fifty
A good musical score. Nice to see original music and some very talented musicians and actors. I liked the theme of the coin flipping throughout the short. I found this a very confusing story. On one hand there was the dysfunctional family and on the other hand was the gambling problem which weren't brought together very well. It was a little hard to follow but there was a clear message. A better conclusion would have made this this film very good i.e resolving the issues that arose. This was one of my favourites tonight. there was something that drew me in and I can't put my finger on what it was. I really enjoyed it.
Distressed
A very dark film. I really enjoyed it and I was on the verge of tears towards the end. I felt the ending was a little predictable though the comment about the bad DIY tied the whole thing together. It was quite powerful. Great acting and very well put together. I think that the immobilised part was that the "flashbacks" were after the main character was deceased. A very moving short.
Blind Date
This is one of the better rom-coms I have seen in 48 hours. Lacking polish but it did not matter as i was sucked into the story. Touching, emotional and very funny. Have faith in the intelligence of your audience! The special character trait of your lead actress was very obvious in about the first 20 seconds or so (due to your good story telling -subtle and very clever!). It wasn't necessary to continuously and blatantly spell it out from then on which spoilt it a little for me. I really enjoyed this film. Thank you!
Silent but Deadly
Nice use of narrative. Was the whole short really a build up to a fart joke? Good on ya! Really good soundtrack. For such a sophisticated serious film with an endless introduction, I was hoping for a better punchline! I did giggle though! Cool twist :D
Wolfgang
Good on you girls for singing on camera with hardly any backing track! That takes guts. I found the first song really haunting (slightly off-key but that was the beauty of it!) but it went a little downhill from there - possibly because I struggled to understand the storyline. The ending was a little anti-climatic. I really liked the nice editing and the actors were pretty good... especially the slap around the head with the music papers! :D
The Last Hand
I am not sure I understood the story... someone got killed? There wasn't much coherency in this short. There was some lovely cinematography but it didn't gel in the edit. All in all a little confused. It probably could have have been great but pay attention to the story or at least have have an underlying reason for the film.
Full House
Pretty cool concept. Good story about the person who couldn't win - nice way to include the back story in essentially what was one line of dialogue and a bunch of pictures. some very nice shots and the acting from the main character was very good. The acting from the dead girl was also very good (its hard to act dead :D ) Nice simple cinematography and basic editing which made this film very stark and powerful. It seemed to be dark for the sake of dark rather than having a message. Having said this, it was a very enjoyable short!
Mystery of the Erectus
A Scooby Doo-style adult-themed animated film. A little bit icky in places (which is good or bad depending on your tastes!) and despite a few interesting plot-twists, I felt like I had seen it all before. Possibly just not my cup of tea... The story was strong and easy to follow though I am not sure it fit completely fit the mystery/puzzle genre. The hand drawn (or hand drawn-style?) animations were absolutely brilliant. The definite highlight of the film. Thank you!
Sleep My Pretty
Loved the repetition. Even though this could have quickly become boring and annoying, you managed to pull it off with the variations in the theme... I am not surprised that you were nominated for the editing prize as the editing was very nice! :D The pacing was a little sedentary but it worked. It was a bit of a mind-fuck between the non-sleeping-pill repetition and the end sequence. I liked it although I was expecting for the main character to go to work and face the carnage there instead. A nice simple story told well!
Man Day
What a GREAT story! Not sure what was up with the low quality picture but even only being half-able to see what is going on, I enjoyed it! Good film, enjoyable, nice ending. Thank you!
The Talented Mr Chancy
I am not quite sure what to make of this film. The story line was unclear and a little hard to follow. It had the potential to be quite clever and powerful maybe if it was shorter. There was not much that was visually interesting. I found myself losing interest halfway through. The acting was pretty good. Thank you.
Job Security
WTF?... that was cool. Liked the special effects... look simple but I bet they were pretty difficult... Well filmed, well edited, nicely acted... didn't blow my mind away but a nice bit of fun. :)
Parasite
This film was quite creepy! :D Stepford-Wives sort of style which I enjoyed. I really liked the way the android became more android-like as the film went on. I am not sure if it was on purpose or not, but the acting by the Vic character was also very android-like throughout the film. It would have been nice to have a bit of contrast between when she was human and when she turned android. The overall feeling of the film was quite flat and creepy which suited the story line. It would have been good to have a few scenes that contrasted the flatness to keep interest up - maybe even a change in lighting or music would have achieved this. All in all an interesting story and concept but I feel that a few aspects of the execution let this film down. Having said this, I enjoyed watching it! :D