IndiePix // 2009 // 96 Minutes // Not Rated
Reviewed by Appellate Judge James A. Stewart // March 9th, 2011
"The longest-running independent and experimental film festival in North America."
With 48th Ann Arbor Film Festival: DVD Collection Volume 3, it's time to get weird, with alien invasions, robots, a cat and mouse couple, blood and body parts, and talking animals on the program.
The disc has nine short films:
* "Black Rain"
The fast, flickering images are puzzling but
visually interesting. The background card that comes with the DVD says this
stuff comes from STEREO, a pair of satellites following Earth's solar orbit.
It's from England's Semiconductor (Ruth Jarman and Joe Gerhardt). (3
minutes)
* "The Attack of the Robots from Nebula-5"
A man tells
viewers about the cosmic telegraph ray that changed his life by warning of an
alien threat. He's serious, but it's silly. The film is in Spanish with English
subtitles, and by Spain's Chema Garcia Ibarra. (7 minutes)
* "From the Archives of an Inventor"
This story of a man and
his robot is just too long for a one-joke short. Once it turns boring, it's
boring -- even when the robot turns up at a topless parade. It's from
Wisconsin's Stephen Wetzel, and it somehow won a jury award. (20 minutes)
* "Please Say Something"
A cartoon cat and mouse work
through an unhappy marriage. The situations are extreme (it's a cartoon), but it
has the ring of reality. It's also got a stylish computerized look. It's
touching in a just plain strange sort of way. In meows and squeaks, with English
subtitles that include profanity. It's from Germany's David OReilly, and it won
the festival's best animated film award. (10 minutes)
* "Travelling Fields"
It looks like the fields -- and a city
-- are travelling, upside-down. It's interesting to look at, anyway. This film
is by Norway's Inger Lise Hansen. (9 minutes)
* "The Presentation Theme"
Inspired by the novel Sex and
Death, it's about...sex and death, with a protagonist on a grim journey to
see a priestess for some answers. It's crudely drawn, and that includes the
meaning that covers "privates" and sex scenes. There's also some blood
and body parts. It's by Chicago's Jim Trainor, and it won something called The
Stan Brakhage Film at Wit's End Award. (14 minutes)
* "Vineland"
A drive-in is seen from a variety of angles as
action and mayhem play out on the big screen. There's an interesting-looking
industrial bleakness here. The card says this came from Los Angeles' last
drive-in. It's by California's Laura Kraning, and it won a well-deserved jury
award. (10 minutes)
* "Sleeping Bear"
Scenes from Sleeping Bear Dunes National
Lakeshore in Michigan range from blades of grass to waves to an abandoned house.
In grainy black-and-white with mainly ambient sound, it's sort of like an arty
relaxation travelogue. Ann Arbor's Jack Cronin won the Best Michigan Filmmaker
Award for it. (11 minutes)
* "Beauty Plus Pity"
A mix of animation and live footage
provides the visuals for ruminations on children, deer hunting, zoos, and
religion. There's profanity and irreverence toward religion (a song with
animation presents God in need of his meds). Duke & Battersby of Syracuse,
New York, claimed the Best of Festival Award for it. (14 minutes)
Minimal extras include two ad spots for the festival, a short on the making of one of the spots (it's interesting, actually), and bars and tone, presumably for viewers looking for something comforting and familiar from TV's past. The picture quality varies, but most of the source material could be described as rough.
If you aren't particularly a fan of short films, I didn't see anything here that's likely to change your mind. However, if you're already into the experimental, particularly if it's just plain strange, you'll want to check these out. While I was only impressed about half the time, I only found one ("From the Archives of an Inventor") tedious.
If you're in Los Angeles, you might want to check out that drive-in, too.
Not guilty. Bend your mind nine times, if you wish.
Review content copyright © 2011 James A. Stewart; Site layout and review format copyright © 1998 - 2013 HipClick Designs LLC
Scales of Justice
Judgment: 88
Perp Profile
Studio: IndiePix
Video Formats:
* Full Frame
Audio Formats:
* Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo (English)
Subtitles:
* None
Running Time: 96 Minutes
Release Year: 2009
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Distinguishing Marks
* Promos
* Background Card
Accomplices
* IMDb: Attack of the Robots from Nebula-5
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt1315346/combined
* IMDb: Please Say Something
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt1375309/combined
* IMDb: Travelling Fields
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt1695824/combined
* IMDb: Vineland
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt1545543/combined
* IMDb: Sleeping Bear
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt1608595/combined
* Ann Arbor Film Festival
http://www.aafilmfest.org/