It’s year 10 and the good films keep on rolling…
Minimum Max 4 min. (Youth Showcase)
Award-winning student film, manages to achieve a small social commentary about kids, illness and medication. The editing carries this piece and the premise is not only thought-provoking, but is quite imaginative for a student. The next generation of filmmakers, will always be students, so be sure to support this showcase.
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Love Sick Lonnie 8 min. (Short)
Hilarious, creative and brilliant. This short shows us why a “guy” who is in love with boy bands, well may not have great luck with the ladies. Many times, reviews are too wordy like a film with too many scenes. This highly original concept is sure to please and provide some big laughs. Sorry, no plot spoiling here.
Grade A
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Time to Kill 10 min. (Short)
A hit-man must wait for his victim, so what does he do to pass the time? Look at pictures in his victim’s home? Take phone calls that lead to great comedic movie moments? Or maybe he will attempt to put his life back in order in this genuinely funny short film. Superb cinematography for digital and the director made great use of one location. This one is in the top three of the best shorts in the festival.
Grade B
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Rains in L.A. 11 min. (Short)
For every relationship and especially break-up, there is two sides. We have all been there or heard stories. This beautiful and poignant short examines the issues between a boyfriend and a girlfriend, but also intertwines music. The trend of short films being part movie, part music video is a great idea. This film pulls it off perfectly. May be harsh for those of you that have lived this film’s story. Good movie, all good film’s touch on universal truth’s.
Grade A
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Wanderlust 5 min. (Short Doc)
This movie is completely outside-the-box. The premise is unique, a small handful of people interviewed a about what they want to take with them on a life-changing trip? Set to a good score, the short documentary does not follow a set path or linear editing. In no way is it a music video, but in five minutes the film did find a conclusion. However, like any decent to good art-house style movie, the conclusion is yours (the audience). They did not over-kill with the use of time-lapse photography, hard filmmaking tool to get right. Kudos to Wanderlust.
Grade B
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Mestizo 10 min. (Short Doc)
Unique and brilliant are an understatement. This film left no choice but to put in some of the synopsis and not hack it up with an attempt to say what “it might be”. The film is so good, authentic and full of soul. It plays like a song or poem and as a short film is near perfect. There is no such idea, entity or work that is perfect; but this walked the line. Supremely original and important to our times, we need to stop judging race (one of the few themes in this work of art).
Multiethnic individuals express the complexity of identity when confronted with the question ‘What are you?’ Through spoken word performance and interviews, subjects share their experiences of growing up mixed-race in the twenty-first century. Graphic animation helps visualize the existential dynamics of this growing demographic. This film confronts the viewer’s preconceived notions of ethnic and racial identity by presenting the complex perspectives of globalized identities.
Grade A+
*****
Stan 6 min. (Animation)
Dark but interesting, and not for everyone as the movie has adult themes. The great over-looked art-form of animation is superb in this wonderful little gem. Stan walks the line of “is it your taste or not?”, but it does deliver a strong technical quality that made it a great entry for SoCal Film Festival excellent program of films.
Grade B
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Terror Strikes 5 min. (Short)
Excellent lighting and a wonderful score set a tone that grabs you from the opening frame. The filmmakers managed to avoid most horror film cliches. Nice special FX for a low-budget short and the girl was especially good in thins film, because she did not play it over-the-top, which most actresses do in Horror films (and directors allow it). Great vision for such a short piece.
Grade B
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The Conversation 8 min. (Short)
It is rare that a story can serve as a feature film or a short. This eight minute gem could have expanded into a decent 90 minute film full of subplots and flashbacks. It managed to be dramatic and scary and did not pamper to the fact it had a child as one of the lead’s. The premise is simple: A mother is faced with the awful truth that she may not be a good mom anymore. As the film unfolds, we realize she has good reason to question herself. The film never cheapened itself, although it easily could have.
Grade A
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Mulligan’s Island 4 min. (Music Video)
Five young travelers embark on a journey to find buried treasure and the fabled Mulligan’s Island Part homage to silent films with a great flare for visuals. This is what a music video should be. The perfect marriage of audio/visual that gets all your senses moving. Groovy song, well directed, the cinematography will light up the theater come show time.
Grade A
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Oh! StarGazer 6 min. (Music Video)
Oh! StarGazer may not for everyone, as electronic music is an acquired taste. However this video had excellent visuals and the director really knew how to tie the elements of editing, animation, visual effects, and images of science-history-mythology into one cohesive piece of music video magic. Unfortunately, music videos are supposed to be 50/50 song/visual; this was more like 70 visual/30 music. But you be the judge, nothing on this film list will disappoint.
Grade C
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Moving Out 5 min. (Music Video)
A young girl reflecting on love and if she should take a chance on relationships again, was brilliantly laid it in this spectacular eye-candy of a music video. It was fantastic and innovative use of editing (the idea might have been borrowed from an Elton John video where Robert Downey Jr. walks for through a house, an art gallery etc…) for this girl as she moved through different frames in the hall/gallery; an obvious (yet poignant metaphor for life. If you are not a big fan of music videos, this will leave you pleased. It is great art, regardless of the genre.
Grade A+
Sins of the Father (10 min. USA)
Always good to see movies with a social message. In a film that stands out for its simplicity while really diving into a tough subject matter, Sins of the Father makes you think. This film was a nice surprise because it separated itself by being all about the character. It was not about editing, lighting or Visual FX. This was a human story about a man and his mistakes. How can any of us not relate?
Grade A
Seahorses – Grade A – The full review can be found here.
Cassandra – Grade A – The full review can be found here.
Visit the SoCal Film Festival website www.socalfilmfestival.com
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The Hideout (Short) 15-mins (Review by Nav Qateel)
From first-time narrative writer-director Daniel Wahlen, short film The Hideout bravely tackles that most taboo of subjects, child molestation. When Holly (Christa Beth Campbell, Hall Pass) becomes victim to her pedophile teacher Mr. Williams (Jim E Chandler), upon noticing Holly’s sudden odd behaviour, best friend Sam (Brogan Hall, Cold in July) helps raise the alarm.
Wahlen’s The Hideout packs quite an emotional punch in its 15-minutes of runtime. And this is in no small part thanks to some truly wonderful and convincing acting from two gifted children. It would be fair to say their performances carried The Hideout to heights it may not otherwise have reached. Wahlen shows a remarkable talent for working with children, and helping them convey the right amount of emotion, which was crucial for a film of this nature to be effective. Wahlen has handled this difficult subject particularly well, and in such a way that young children should be comfortable with seeing the film and understanding what’s going on. A film all parents should make mandatory viewing.
Grade: B+
Festival article by Paul Booth
