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The Neighbors’ Window puts a melodramatic spin on its genre < Back The Neighbors’ Window puts a melodramatic spin on its genre Marshall Curry Productions LLC, 2019 21 minutes Director/Writer: Marshall Curry / Diane Weipert and Marshall Curry Reading Time: 3 minutes 📷 : Licensed from Shutterstock The Neighbors' Window Home Inside (IAPD4ZHMI2KGRI5V) 00:00 / 03:29 Chamomile Family dramas Dandelion Movies/shows with heavy subjects Chris Chaisson 2023-06-07 Many “peeping tom” movies fall into the suspense/thriller genre. The voyeuristic protagonist in question either witnesses a crime ( Rear Window, Disturbia ) or becomes obsessed enough to commit a crime themselves ( One Hour Photo ). On occasion, a film opts for the dramatic angle, providing a moral beyond “mind your dang business.” Such is the case in the Oscar-winning short film The Neighbor’s Window . Marshall Curry’s award-winning short stars Alli (Maria Dizzia, Funny Pages ) and Jacob (Greg Keller, Jane Wants a Boyfriend ), a middle-aged married couple with kids, who become entranced by the lives of a twenty-something couple in the curtainless apartment building directly across from them. Observing their celebratory nature, including their sex life, Alli and Jacob clearly become envious of the couple’s youthful ways. Their jealousy leads to increased stress and arguing over matters such as Alli feeling that Jacob does not help out enough with parental duties. One day, Alli notices a shift in the vibe between the young couple they have been observing. Their life appears much more somber, making Alli reconsider her previous assumptions about their joy and bliss. At the outset of this Oscar-winning short, it seems that we are headed for a standard “peeping tom” story arc, where someone holed up in their apartment passes the time by spying on others only to witness something heinous. After a humorous exchange between Alli and Jacob in the opening scene, the story seems pointed in the direction of the couple shaking up their routine by blasting music or smoking pot. However, the short film bypasses any such inciting incidents and heads in a completely different direction. Instead, the young couple unknowingly burrow their way into Alli and Jacob’s arguments, as the two now gauge their own happiness relative to complete strangers. Despite having healthy children and a spacious, upscale apartment, the two long for the youth and spontaneity their counterparts still have. The middle of the short, in a strange way, feels like the aftermath of a double date where one couple had way better chemistry than the other. As has been said many times, comparison is the thief of joy. Once the young couple experiences their dramatic shift, Alli stops viewing them as a fantasy of what her life and relationship should be. She instead views them as the three-dimensional beings that they are. Regardless of how anyone’s life looks at a glance, their emotional states ebb and flow, and any unexpected news can cause a sudden change. Through watching her neighbors, Alli realizes the fragility of happiness, and it hits her like a ton of bricks. When you’re stuck in the doldrums, it can be tough to count your blessings. Alli not only gets a reminder of all the good in her life but also how quickly things can take a major turn. The Neighbors’ Window provides less of a high-flying, escapist plot that we see in other spy/peeping tom stories and instead delivers an important reminder about what not to take for granted. Available on Film Shortage Previous Next Sign-up for new reviews, exclusives, deep dives, and more First name Last name Enter your email here I agree to the terms & conditions Sign-up Thanks for joining us!

< Back The Long Game shines a light on unspoken experiences around golf Endeavor Content, 2024 112 minutes Director/Writer: Julio Quintana / Paco Farias, Humberto G. Garcia, and Julio Quintana Reading Time: 6 minutes The Long Game Living Tapestry (ZZ1KBSUU80KVDVD8) 00:00 / 08:01 📷 : Licensed from Shutterstock Chamomile: Family dramas Masala Chai Movies and TV shows about toughness and athletic competition Reba Chaisson 2024-04-22 “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Maya Angelou The Long Game centers five teenage friends in the border town of Del Rio, Texas, in the 1950s. The five boys of Mexican descent have a genuine love of golf and a serious set of skills to go with their passion for the game. They are so enthusiastic about playing that they use manual tools to convert an empty stretch of land near a highway into a golf course. They meet JB Peña, played by Magnum P.I . star Jay Hernandez, a military veteran and avid golfer who joins the San Felipe High School district as the new superintendent. After some cajoling, Peña convinces the boys to join the school’s inaugural varsity golf team. Frank Mitchell (Dennis Quaid) is Peña’s military buddy and fellow golf coach who works at a nearby country club and sneaks the team onto the course at night for practice. The coaches use their car headlights to illuminate the course, and with the help of the club’s maintenance man, played by Cheech Marin, they avail themselves of the spare equipment. Subdued and soft-spoken, Peña talks to his team about how to present themselves at the competitions. He tells them to keep their shirts tucked in at all times, to not speak Spanish on the golf course, and to avoid reacting to any negative treatment. This stirs up a couple of thoughts. The first thought concerns the adage about sticks and stones hurting and words not. This age‑old axiom falsely conveys the sense that people, especially young people, are not harmed by words, even when the language is venomous and marginalizing. In The Long Game, we hear insults hurled at the players, observe refusals for club memberships, and note outright cheating in efforts to engineer the kids’ failure. Today, we call this behavior bullying and deem it a peril to mental and potentially physical health. Naming the behavior now doesn’t negate its impact on those who suffered it in the past. Playing golf then meant paying a psychological cost to do so. Secondly, Peña’s directive to not respond to microaggressions brings 42 to mind, the film about Jackie Robinson’s experiences on the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team in the 1940s and ‘50s. The movies are similar with respect to cinematography, two-tone shoes, and the men’s hats, sweater vests, and baggy pants reflecting the era. In 42 , Dodger co-owner Branch Rickey implores 28-year-old Robinson to ignore the prejudice and discrimination he was likely to experience from players on the field and in the clubhouse. During the movie, we saw balls thrown at Robinson’s head, his heels spiked while running the bases, and even his relegation to a segregated compartment in his own clubhouse. Rickey’s insistence that Robinson not respond stemmed from his goal to do nothing to jeopardize the inroads of Black players into Major League Baseball. In The Long Game , Peña’s goal is similar with respect to carving out pathways for Mexicans to move into golf. We can argue that Peña’s directive to his team is unreasonable. But when considered within the historical context of the story, it is difficult to insist that his rule was wrong. The ‘50s was a different era and times have since changed. Zippia data shows that 16% of the nearly 7,000 PGA America golfers today are of Hispanic or Latino origin, approximately 13 of whom are of Mexican descent. Nearly two-thirds of the organization's golfers are non-Hispanic White. The numbers were much more lopsided 74 years ago, indicating that people of Hispanic or Latino descent have since made some entrée into the sport. Phil Keren, senior editor of Club + Resort Business , penned a candid article on the changing demographics in golf. He acknowledges the sport’s growing racial and ethnic diversity and lauds the development of grassroots programs around the U.S. to engage kids and girls in the game. He notes, however, that the impetus for these efforts is the ongoing perception of golf and country clubs as exclusive spaces for wealthy White men. In its report on diversity , golf research company Syngenta Golf concluded that “By creating an environment and experience where minority groups feel welcome and valued — and this is reflected in your club imagery and communications — this will help other diverse groups understand that this is a place where they could belong.” But the study quotes a White golfer who insists the sport should do nothing to seek out people of color so that White golfers “feel less guilty.” In another instance, a player of color complains about a White golfer repeatedly using the N-word to refer to his ball and his clubs when he was having a bad game. While the sport’s diversity has increased, the sentiments remain unchanged from previous eras, and the underrepresentation of people of color continues to project it as a place for Whites only. It is no surprise then that Syngenta Golf reports that people of color continue to feel unwelcome on the course. The Long Game ’s dialog and imagery make clear its theme of challenging stereotypes about Mexican people. Peña speaks to Frank about the importance of golfing competition to his team, stating “They need to see us as something other than caddies and cannon fodder.” Peña and his wife Lucy, played by Jaina Lee Ortiz, are loving and respectful of one another, which contrasts with the stoicism often depicted of Mexican men. The idea that Mexicans cannot control their temper is challenged when the team resists any response to ethnic microaggressions. And stereotypes of Mexican families living in crowded apartments is countered with the Peñas’ beautiful and roomy home. The film doesn’t stop there, as it debunks the common generalization that all White people from the time period were racist. Peña’s army buddy, Frank, offers him helpful insights into the potential behaviors of golf competitors and wealthy club members to help inform his decisions on dealing with influential stakeholders. A White club manager who follows the unwritten rules about qualifications for membership privately pulls for the San Felipe High School team to do well. Challenging stereotypes about a group of color alongside the debunking of assumptions about White people is a difficult feat in historical films like The Long Game . Director Julio Quintana must be commended for his focus on insisting that each group not be painted with a broad brush. Like Rickey in 42 , Peña in The Long Game was playing the long game. Both were keenly aware of the challenges they faced in their respective sport in their time. Imagine for a bit what would have happened had any of the players responded to every insult and transgression on their respective fields of play. I wonder what golf and baseball would look like today. But I also wonder about the players’ mental health back then given the bullying and ostracism they endured. Every time I watch an independent film, I am appreciative of the story it tells. With fact-based narratives like Killers of the Flower Moon and 42 , I come away more informed of our past and with an enhanced perspective on our present. Long Game is one of those films. Previous Next Sign-up for new reviews, exclusives, deep dives, and more First name Last name Enter your email here I agree to the terms & conditions Sign-up Thanks for joining us!

< Back Greg Sgammato A Conversation with Film Composer Greg Sgammato Cup of Tea Critiques chats with Greg Sgammato, film composer and member of the Society of Composers and Lyricists Chris Chaisson 2023-06-02 Reading time: 18 minutes Few professions stand at the dividing line of two different industries quite like film composing does. Though many moviegoers love film scores and would readily acknowledge how much they enhance stories, most lack familiarity with the biggest names, faces, and details of the job. Greg Sgammato, film composer and former stand-up comedian, sat down with Cup of Tea Critiques to provide insight into how composers find work, manage around budget limitations, and foster a good working relationship with the film’s director. With so many aspiring musicians having to market themselves, the world of film composing is quite competitive. Greg spoke on how composers clamor for work opportunities. I'll have to do the pitch first. Usually, I'll find a project that's in production or pre-production. And I will usually pitch myself for projects that I find. We have a phrase that has come up in Internet communities called, “Do you need a composer?” We say DYNAC, for short. Anytime you see someone say, “I'm really proud of my short film,” or “I've written a script.” It's very likely you'll see under there, “Do you need a composer?” It's a weird field. Greg also revealed how he and others choose to rub elbows with their colleagues. What I normally find is we all spend time in the same spaces. It's a pretty active scene of networking with composers. But it's also, in my experience, been a little bit segmented. The more high-profile composers stick to themselves because they're doing the job at such a high level, and they want to talk shop, basically. Then you have the [other] composers talking about the feature film they just scored, or what two-hour deadline they had. There's not a lot of crossover. There's always that idea of, “Does this person want something from me?” My networking has been very passive. I just do what I like to do in my free time. I have collaborators now who I met playing soccer. I have collaborators now who came upon a funny thing I did on Instagram when I was into comedy. It's kind of that thing where it's a little bit more organic. Even from the start, I got into this accidentally. I was playing in a modern dance class. I was playing piano and drums to accompany the dancers. And one of my friends knew that I was doing that. He said, “Well, I have a short film I need to film before the final presentation; would you score it?” I'd never done that before. But early on, I just said, “Yeah, of course. I'll do that.” Then from that, I got referrals. And from there I scored more short films, and I decided, “I'll move to Los Angeles.” It wasn't well planned out. It's always these little snowball things. Push a domino over and see if any others fall. Artists are often unsure of how to forge their own career paths. Greg shared his thoughts on the best way to gain exposure for your work. Something that I learned while I was doing stand-up, especially at the open mic scene, was you can't wait for anyone to think that you're the person for them. You can't wait for someone to hire you. You always have to be thinking, “What can I make?” Just like with actors, if you want to get cast, write your own thing. Cast yourself. And for me, if I want to write music, just write music, write songs, write main titles and do podcast music. I did a bunch of that stuff and I just kept busy. Since around that time, I've always had something to do, whether it paid me or whether it was just fulfilling. I've always been busy. That’s been my experience networking, because I haven't done it in a business sense. I definitely think that's because sometimes the practice of networking can come off as inauthentic if you're not meeting in a way that’s [natural]. I found just being around people who enjoy doing what I do: in my acapella group, my soccer teams, my day jobs. If you're not all agreeing to be there for the same reason, it can feel a little bit unnatural. Some creatives choose to take on any project that they are offered while others aim to be known for one specific genre. Greg divulged his philosophy, why it works for him, and what his own preference for projects is. I don't say no to anything, and I haven't since I started doing this. I've written some things that I never thought I could write and some of it came off really well. I listened to a lot of music too. It's weird to try and distill yourself into an elevator pitch, especially in a social setting where you just want to get to know someone. I really want to work in the field of animation. Mostly, in family entertainment. But I also have a lot of friends and connections with comedy that are comedic writers. So that's the path I'm forging. I didn't really figure that out until I worked on an animated short film. And from there, it came so easy. I found that with animation, I was untethered from reality. I felt like there was nothing holding me back from taking chances or making weird things. I need a lot of variety in my writing. So especially with kids’ media being so dynamic, it always has to change, and quickly. You got to catch attention, but you also have to cater to sensibilities as well as if a parent is watching. You're entertaining all of these people, and you got to keep it moving. I've done a feature film, and fortunately, it was asking the same thing that's off the walls. It required me to sit down and write these same four themes in a ton of different ways for weeks. That's really taxing creatively, but it is really great because you get to develop and really think of it academically. I don't do a great job when people say, "Oh, you write music?” What do you do?" It's not quite like, "Oh, you do stand up? Tell me a joke.” But it is very similar in that you have to listen to it. I've also found that I have this great strength in writing super heartbreaking, ambient music, that really pushes and pulls and has this really natural quality. I have a bunch of film scores that I've done that I've been able to feature just because it's what the story needed. And those are my influences, that's what I like listening to, and that's what I like trying to recreate. Since many composers are not household names, Greg shared one of his sources of inspiration. There's a composer named Alex Summers, who writes really brilliant electronic and acoustic music, and I was just trying to emulate his stuff. I ended up writing something that I'm really proud of to this day for a documentary about stand-up comedy [ Laugh Now, Cry Later ] a few years ago. One of my friends made a documentary highlighting some female comedians in L.A. in 2020. I just remember writing it and I didn't ever think that I could write something that sounded this intentional, this beautiful, this reflective. When you think of film scores, you think of epic music or orchestral, giant, bombastic [music]. That's not my thing. It's never appealed to me. And it's something I can’t fake. If it’s satirical, I can absolutely do that. But it's not something that I was ever drawn to. A lot of people get into film music because they love film music. I got into film music because I was available and I said yes. I only knew John Williams and Hans Zimmer. I didn't know there was a whole history of people who had all these different takes on what it is. Now, I usually tell people, “I like to write music and songs for children's media and I work in animation.” That's kind of the shortest thing. Whether it's true or not, we'll see. Art can be all-consuming. Writers and performers find themselves thinking about their art non-stop and even being too “on” in social situations. Greg weighed in on whether his passion for film composing gets in the way of his down time. I’m definitely not thinking about it all the time. What I am thinking about is, “What am I going to do next?” I have to think about what's coming next. Because I feel if I just do this thing, and then call it a day, then it's going to end and I'm not going to be able to sustain this career. Sometimes I'm thinking, “Okay, I have a chance to slow down now and take a methodical approach at film scoring.” It's more logistical, more existential and not so much creative. I record something if I have a cool idea. I'll write something down if I have a song lyric. But it's definitely not something that I'm thinking about all the time, for which I'm very thankful because it's great to have work/life balance in my brain. Many in and outside the film industry are unfamiliar with the collaborative protocol between a film composer and the director who hired them. Greg answered whether or not there is typically a consistent back-and-forth involving several revisions on the soundtrack or if the process is more segmented. The biggest job of a composer, songwriter, or anyone in post-production of TV and film, is to take everything [the director] says, and that is your job. You remove ego and what you think is best. You can have some input, and you can creatively mix that in with their vision. But most importantly, everything is up to them. It depends on the person. Some [directors] want to be very involved. To the point where they're really directing the music, specifically, instead of directing the whole picture. And that can be troubling sometimes if they're thinking of melodic ideas, specifically, or if they're listing instruments, and maybe they don't know what they really want. I don't mind a back-and-forth. I love an in-person conversation, because we can get amped up about stuff. It's important for me to know which questions to ask. Sometimes I'm in a situation in which the director wants to take a lot of charge, and maybe start singing something, and I have to have some level of control over this. If not, they wouldn't have reached out to me in the first place. So, it's striking a balance between [not being] micromanaged, but also knowing that they're in charge. Sometimes people struggle with directors not knowing enough about music. I can't say I prefer it that way. But I think it's easiest, whenever a director or producer is thinking about their projects that they've been spending all this time with and just thinking about it, distilling it into words, distilling it into feelings. I think that's way easier to work with than them citing specific tempo, keys or chords. This is something I find working with some younger people. They don't want to hurt my feelings… it's not about hurting my feelings. I don't take this stuff personally. Let's get the best result for your film. And I always commend people when they say, “Hey, can you change this?” Even if it's a whole overhaul, I got to know. It's got to be your thing. And I'm just here to help you. Give me something I can go away and tweak for you. People will say, “Well, should I limit revisions on anything?” Don't do that. Don't put up walls… I want to get to where [me] and the director are comfortable working together, comfortable enough that I can assert my professionalism as a composer. And they can assert their vision and their leadership as a director. That’s where the ideal would be. Greg confessed his biggest hang-up when being hired to compose for a project. For me, it's nothing artistic. It is strictly business, strictly logistical. My biggest pet peeve is your budget as a filmmaker being some sort of secret. It really bothers me. It bothers me more than me not being paid. I've done so much free work this past year. I understand. I have a good gig. I'm very privileged in that [way]; I have a day job that I work remotely. I also work with a bunch of composers and songwriters. So I'm not worried about money like that. I just want to do good work with good people. I'm not bothered because my first thought is not being paid. I understand that people can't pay professionals. What I don't like is when people who are asking for your rate aren't very upfront about what they have to spend. My actual rate as of right now is $400 for a minute of music. Now that doesn't work well, in some cases, like a feature film, if I'm writing 50 minutes of music. I can't charge you that because I've never accepted a payment that large; I wouldn't know what to do with it. But I think if you want to know my rate, I need to know how much you're willing to spend. I just want to know how much you've spent on everything else so far. The feature film I did last year had an entire budget of $3,000. And they said, “We can offer you nothing.” And I took the gig, because they were very upfront about that. They spent $3,000 on locations. All their actors were doing it for free. And they got some big names. I trusted the vision. The director and I have a great rapport. He's trusted me with a lot of stuff before and he's paid me well before. So I didn't mind because it was very transparent. There wasn't a big demo for it, I didn't have to audition for it, which I do appreciate. Because sometimes you should be paid for that too. That's my biggest thing, tell me how much you have to spend on the film. It doesn't have to be your music budget, it doesn't have to be how much you're willing to pay me. But if you have $1,000, just for music, I'd say, “Okay, for my job, let's make something really cool with the rest of it. Let's get artists to come in and record. Let's get a string orchestra or something. Let's figure this out to make your film the best that it can be.” Be very clear about what you're willing to do and to spend. It will make the whole thing a lot better, because people will understand that they are valued and you have a clear vision. The subject of film composition brings to mind the presence of large orchestras and fancy rehearsal halls where artists do elaborate recordings. But Greg talked about the limitations and modest budget that the majority of film composers work with. I wish I could [routinely] hire a group of musicians. When I do work with live musicians, it's usually live vocalists. I hire a session vocalist if I'm doing a kid’s show demo, or a main title theme song. I'll hire someone and pay them the [Screen Actors Guild] rate. They have a special demo rate too. We have an agreement where if it does get picked up and shown on television, they’ll get X amount of royalties. [Screen Actors Guild] makes it both very clear and very complicated. Complicated in a good way, though, because they're taking care of their people. But clear in a way that I know what to expect if I'm hiring my friend who is a talented session singer. I will have to pay her $350 or whatever the rate is now. I can usually only hire one or two people if I really need it. The last time I hired musicians was last year [when] I worked on a short film, and I hired because it was a really tender, transparent score. There was really no hiding behind anything, and the samples that I was using were fine, but to me they weren't sounding as good as I wanted them to. So I hired two friends I knew from school who were professionals; one’s a professional cellist, and one's a violist. I just paid them and gave them a ‘special thanks’ in the credits. It was totally remote. I just sent them sheet music and gave them a click track. They sent me a couple of takes. And then I just laid it in my project, and it turned out really well. It's so rare. We have to get so good as composers at making a fake orchestra or a fake rock band sound like the real thing. And I've gotten ashamedly good at it, which is wild, but it's such a useful skill. It's also a lot easier to do now than it was to do 10, 20, 30 years ago. Every professional has their own communication style. Greg gave us a sense of the approach that works best for him - both from the director’s side and his own. What actually works best for me is when [the directors] talk about the characters, the color, the vibe. That stuff is really helpful for me. Usually, if I can see a solid logline or synopsis, that kind of stuff is really impressive for me. Because I know how hard it is to take this giant idea you’ve been working on and distill it down. That kind of stuff can be so difficult. So, I think talking about the characters and intention is a lot better. The weirdest thing I've had was a project that my name is not on. But it was one of the earliest things that I did in L.A. Actually, I’m proud of the music I wrote, but it was for an erotic ASMR [Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response]… This is before ASMR was a big thing. But it was a paying gig. And the director just said, I want it to sound like they're in a spa. And so I just wrote some Enya-sounding thing. That stuff that dominated the 90s when Enya was the flagbearer. I wrote something like that. I listen to it now and it was exactly what the director needed. It wasn't super high quality and I definitely could do it better now. And I would still take that gig today if they offered it. It's weird because it was ASMR, so it was audio only. I had to mirror that, how it ebbs and flows. As long as you have that vision as a director and you can say, “This is where this goes, this is how the story transforms. And this is how I want you to complement that or maybe work with it or work against it.” I think a good and experienced director would be able to succinctly say, “This is the story. These are the characters. This is where you fit in.” Greg is a member of the Society of Composers and Lyricists (SCL) and the Creators Society . You can follow and connect with him at his website, www.gregcanhelp.com . Sign-up for new reviews, exclusives, deep dives, and more First name Last name Enter your email here I agree to the terms & conditions Sign-up Thanks for joining us!

< Back Underneath its crude humor, Funny Pages presents a relatable inner conflict. Elara Pictures, 2022 86 minutes Director/Writer: Owen Kline Reading Time: 4 minutes Funny Pages Bright Sunny Day (XKZNBXMW4TPZG38B) 00:00 / 04:47 📷 : Used with permission, Izzy Aghahowa https://izzyaghahowa.co.uk/ Ginkgo Biloba: Youthful, lighthearted, and fun movies and TV shows Chris Chaisson 2022-09-19 It’s no secret what a dizzying time the end of high school can be. Given how hard it is for full-grown adults to make life-changing decisions, picking a place to move on to for the next four years (if anywhere) brings a lot of pressure to teenagers. The ability to figure out what will drive you for the rest of your life can be overwhelming when you can barely drive yourself, but some adolescents know earlier than others. When you discover your passion ahead of schedule, the choices you make can perplex those around you. Such was the case for the protagonist of Funny Pages , a Cannes Award-nominated indie project all about self-discovery. Funny Pages follows Robert (Daniel Zolghadri, Eighth Grade), a teenage comic strip artist grieving the unexpected death of his mentor. After he is caught breaking and entering to recover his drawings and then let off easy, Robert decides that he does not want to keep living under the protective arm of his parents, Jennifer (Maria Dizzia, True Story) and Lewis (Josh Pais, Joker). He saves up to buy a broken-down jalopy from his comic book store manager and rents a room in Trenton, New Jersey. After finding a job as a typist for the public defender that got him off, Robert runs into Wallace (Matthew Maher, Captain Marvel), a color separator for a comic that he once admired. He slowly realizes that one of his biggest influences, just like the independence he seeks, can turn out to be a huge letdown. At times, this coming-of-age story appears to be in support of adolescents rejecting familial support, going out on a limb and finding their own way. After all, Robert experiences independence with some success. He acquires his own transportation, shelter, and job while meeting one of his biggest inspirations. However, he finds himself in uncomfortable and even inappropriate predicaments that don’t seem necessary. For instance, his living situation involves him sharing a space with undesirable roommates, no ventilation, and no view to the outside world. Similarly, the public defender that he works for puts him in direct contact with Wallace, who is in a severe state of self-loathing. Robert’s struggles do lead to some creative material for his comics, but they put him at odds with the people who care about him the most. He repeatedly puts down his loyal best friend Miles (Miles Emanuel, Calidris), who has the same passion for comic strips that he does. Similarly, Robert is snotty to his parents, who give him space while trying to keep his best interests at heart. Rather than embrace the unconditional support that he receives, Robert bends over backwards to appease his troubled source of inspiration, despite Wallace’s reluctance to befriend him. While Robert’s talent is clear, his need to be rebellious compromises his decision-making. Stylistically, writer/director Owen Kline shoots an abundance of close-ups, often highlighting the physical oddities of his main characters: acne, balding patterns, sweat stains, etc. The shots feel like a reference to what a reader would see in caricatures or comic strips. One could surmise the movie is attempting to show us life through the eyes of a comic artist, who hones in on such blemishes as their inspiration. As they would in a comic strip, the characters do not change their appearance; they simply exist in their imperfection. This element makes the story stand out from your typical mainstream flick that fine-tunes every main character’s visage through makeup, rigorous diets and exercise routines. Being that Funny Pages is an independent film, its theme of anti-vanity fits well. Though the audience may be occasionally grossed out by the lewd nature of the comics or unkemptness of the characters, it delivers a quirky story about going through a confusing phase of life and venturing off the beaten path. Previous Next Sign-up for new reviews, exclusives, deep dives, and more First name Last name Enter your email here I agree to the terms & conditions Sign-up Thanks for joining us!

Wicca Book provides a new installment of witchcraft-themed horror < Back Wicca Book provides a new installment of witchcraft-themed horror Darkstream Entertainment, 2020 22 minutes Director/Writer: Vahagn Karapetyan Reading Time: 4 minutes 📷 : Used with permission, Vahagn Karapetyan Wicca Book Feast (ZR35JQQ8BEPSKBE7) 00:00 / 04:08 Ginseng Suspenseful and intense thrillers Coca Movies and TV shows about drugs or with disorienting presentations Chris Chaisson 2023-11-29 Horror movies can choose any number of ways to scare their audience. Generally, though, their main characters have some sense of companionship, even as their lives are on the line. If there is a mystery to figure out or a killer to take down, they can still rely on one another for information, protection, or even a diversion. Some movies, however, go the route of isolating their protagonist, forcing them to not only piece together information themselves but also to stand and fight alone. For example, Hush is a home invasion movie that takes place in the woods, following a deaf and mute woman trying to survive a masked killer on her own. But what if the source of evil is more paranormal? Such is the case in the witchcraft-themed short film, Wicca Book . Adapted from the concept of a series of books on black magic, Vahagn Karapetyan’s short Wicca Book revolves around a book of drawings that unleashes a demonic presence and turns its possessor into a witch. Mia (Kika Zachariadou), a young cave diver, comes across the buried book while exploring a cave. After a brush with death in her own home, she unloads the book onto a stranger, only to discover from messages in the book that sacrificing others will make her evil as well. She must retrieve the book and dispose of it for good, but can she do so without coming face-to-face with the evil spirit again? Though it is a little unclear exactly why the book forewarns Mia of what is to happen, the cautionary writings give Mia what every protagonist needs: choices that reveal their character. She initially feels fear of the unknown and seeks to unload the book, but with the knowledge of what will result, she retrieves it and takes it upon herself to take down the demonic presence. Just the same, the book tells her when to unload or retrieve it. She is repeatedly under pressure in terms of when to make a decision, which raises the stakes even higher. The climax puts her directly in a fight-or-flight situation with no one to rely on but herself. Wicca Book creates its unsettling, paranormal atmosphere through clever cinematography from its director of photography, Nikos Kaltsas. It is mostly composed of very tight shots, following whoever possesses the book very closely as they investigate the noises surrounding them, using pans and tilts to follow the characters’ gazes. Most scenes are dark except for the red and white lights silhouetting the demonic presence. The characters, for the entirety of the short, are centered in the shot, which gives the feeling of them being alone with nowhere to escape to. The shot composition is aided by the sound mixing, which puts the viewer on edge from beginning to end. Every subtle movement, such as throwing back bed sheets, opening a door or sliding the curtain to the side, has its sound amplified. In other projects, these sounds may be minute if accounted for at all, but since there is no dialogue and very minimal human interaction, the decision to magnify these sounds heightens the scare factor. Occasionally, there are the muffled sounds of a crying baby or similar noises that simply make the viewer feel as though something is wrong. Last but not least, the music complements these amplified sounds well, as there are several ominous strings, drums, and deep horns that are perfectly timed with the reveals. Wicca Book bares slight similarities to the 2009 film The House of the Devil . In the film, a babysitter shows up to a remote location and becomes the target of a witch and cult surrounding her. While the late 2000s film does not necessarily center an object like a book of black magic in its plot as Wicca Book does, both projects effectively isolate their characters and force them to save themselves. Previous Next Sign-up for new reviews, exclusives, deep dives, and more First name Last name Enter your email here I agree to the terms & conditions Sign-up Thanks for joining us!

A Good Day Will Come sheds light on a real-life tragedy < Back A Good Day Will Come sheds light on a real-life tragedy Zargara Productions, 2024 25 minutes Director/Writer: Amir Zargara Reading Time: 4 minutes 📷 : Used with permission, Amir Zargara A Good Day Will Come Just A Dream 00:00 / 04:24 Dandelion Movies/shows with heavy subjects Honeybush Nonfamily dramas with strong adult and/or socioeconomic themes Chris Chaisson 2024-10-19 If you follow sports even in the slightest, you are probably aware of the times that they have notoriously intersected with politics. From a historical standpoint, incidents like John Carlos and Tommie Smith raising their fists on the Olympic podium or Muhammad Ali refusing to fight in the Vietnam War stand out. More recently, we’ve seen Colin Kaepernick and numerous others protest against police violence. A less well-known example is decorated WNBA player Maya Moore abruptly retiring to focus on reform in the justice system. The most common pushback is to point out the privilege of famous athletes and suggest that they stick to what they know best. One political commentator famously told LeBron James to “shut up and dribble.” Though reductive and dismissive, the statement does highlight the quandary that gifted public figures find themselves in. Do they put everything they’ve worked for their entire life on the line for a just cause? Or do they decide that activism is best left to others? Inspired by the true story of Navid Afkari, A Good Day Will Come examines this quandary in the setting of an even more tumultuous political climate. Sia Alipour plays Arash, a talented wrestler with hopes of competing in the Olympics. However, in his home country of Iran, turbulent protests against the human rights violations by the current regime persist. While his wrestling coach initially dissuades him from getting involved or speaking on the matter, the issue becomes more personal for Arash in the blink of an eye. After brief comments to the press and the donning of a T-shirt, he decides to put his own safety on the line and attend a protest. Seeing the tide turning towards potential violence, he must decide whether to hang back or step to the forefront and use his celebrity to save lives. A Good Day Will Come brings us a very heavy re-telling of a recent tragedy, but it also shows us what change and activism looks like through a character arc. Arash is not just soft-spoken on the current political issues; he is generally very bashful for the first half of the short film. His skill for wrestling stands out immediately through the depiction of his matches, but he does not initially come off as brash as Muhammad Ali or as open as Arthur Ashe. Rather, he is tunnel-visioned and keeps his head low, looking to his coach for guidance. As the short progresses, he speaks more, initiates more and makes decisions without looking for someone else’s instructions. Short film protagonists may not always display the character arc that Arash does, but being forced into such precarious positions causes one to either change very quickly or pass the buck. The short film also shows the initial pushback to Arash’s decision to get involved. At one point, a group of agitators at a protest try to shoo him away when he discourages their behavior. They say, “All you’ve done is wear a T-shirt!” Their words echo the frustration of many activists at what they perceive to be performative measures. Often, public figures gain praise for what are symbolic gestures that do not necessarily contribute to a cause in any practical way. This allows them to gain adoration without any sacrifice. The exchange forces Arash to go a step further and put his safety even more on the line. Driven people with sky-high personal goals do not tend to put their own happiness aside quickly. It is often a gradual process as they learn the severity of many social issues. The timeline can often shrink significantly when they are personally affected. Nonetheless, it is a lot to ask of anyone to halt the pursuit of the one thing they’ve aspired to be all their life. What differentiates “real” activism from performative shtick? The answer is very subjective. A Good Day Will Come may make you reflect on your own perspective. Previous Next Sign-up for new reviews, exclusives, deep dives, and more First name Last name Enter your email here I agree to the terms & conditions Sign-up Thanks for joining us!

Liquor Bank displays the complexities of an intervention < Back Liquor Bank displays the complexities of an intervention Mylineal Films, 2025 15 minutes Director/Writer: Marcellus Cox Reading Time: 4 minutes 📷 : Used with permission, Marcellus Cox Liquor Bank Home Inside (NNYG8BRPFBMJVQUR) 00:00 / 04:58 Dandelion Movies/shows with heavy subjects Honeybush Nonfamily dramas with strong adult and/or socioeconomic themes Chris Chaisson 2025-04-20 Liquor Bank stars Eddie (Antwone Barnes), a recovering alcoholic who relapses right before his one-year anniversary of sobriety when he loses his job. Eddie’s regression causes him to miss a meeting with his support group. This absence, along with a concerned message from Eddie’s mother, prompts Eddie’s sponsor, Baker (Sean Alexander James), to pay him a visit. By the time Baker heads over, Eddie has already awakened from his drunken stupor and started downing more hard liquor. Baker must not only rip his phone from his hand to get his attention but also take the bottle away and chuck it in the trash. As their back-and-forth continues, Eddie makes it clear that he is not only relapsing but having suicidal thoughts. Baker hears Eddie out but pushes back on much of what he says, including the notion that he needs alcohol to get through the day and sobriety is the worst decision he ever made. Eventually, Baker’s rebuttals get harsher as Eddie grabs a tall boy of Budweiser out of the fridge to continue his descent. He patronizes Baker about making a genuine effort to save him from himself, saying, “I think God knows you tried your best. He’ll reward you with your wings when the time comes.” When Baker won’t leave or acquiesce to Eddie’s self-loathing, Eddie grabs a knife and threatens him. Liquor Bank provides insight into how much of a never-ending battle sobriety can be. For people with and without an addiction, liquor can be a crutch for any unfortunate life event. It quickly becomes a manifestation of loneliness and lack of self-esteem. Eddie gives many of the same rationales that you hear from other addicts, specifically when Baker says he is drinking like a sailor. He chuckles and responds that he is drinking more like a Marine, having witnessed “those crazy f****.” Often, it is easier to justify one’s actions by pointing to someone else’s behavior. The back-and-forth between Eddie and Baker also shows the difficulties of being a sponsor. Baker reveals that he advocated for Eddie to avoid jail time after a DUI arrest, adding to his emotional investment in seeing Eddie beat his addiction. Sometimes, being a sponsor means having to put faith in someone’s discipline and willpower that they have not yet exhibited. When they have a setback, you may have to step into a volatile situation. Baker goes to Eddie’s place having no idea what kind of shape he will be in nor where he will be emotionally.. As with many sponsors, Baker hints at his personal experience with the same doubts and vices that Eddie has, another reason that he cares enough to stay. Though having a knife pulled on you may seem like enough to walk away, it is the type of confrontation many social workers face more often than we might expect. Many films about addiction and alcoholism center around a protagonist who has a high profile and must be high-functioning on some level. Flight , for instance, revolves around an alcoholic pilot. A Star is Born spotlights a very popular musician. A lot of the conflict and drama in these movies is based on the profession that the character resides in, the responsibility that they carry and the pressure they feel. In other movies, the addict or alcoholic is a side character that burdens the protagonist, a sibling or significant other whose unpredictable behavior makes the main character’s life harder. Liquor Bank serves as a reminder that many people suffering from addiction do not necessarily have a high-profile profession or any external stimuli pressuring them to be a high-functioning addict. Often, they have no structure or stabilizing force to keep them honest. Such people suffer from loneliness and low self-esteem, and they need the help of someone who anticipates when they will backslide and then finds a way to intervene. While such a character who self-harms and lashes out at those trying to help may not be endearing, they likely remind us of someone we know and love who we could never turn our back on. Baker’s words and actions toward Eddie serve as a reminder that you can hold someone accountable and still let them know they are loved. Previous Next Sign-up for new reviews, exclusives, deep dives, and more First name Last name Enter your email here I agree to the terms & conditions Sign-up Thanks for joining us!

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Echo shines a light on the gifts of generations past < Back Echo shines a light on the gifts of generations past Marvel Studios, 2024 42 minutes Creator: Marion Dayre Reading Time: 9 minutes 📷 : Used with permission, Rye Coleman https://www.instagram.com/coleman811/ Echo Afterpxrty 00:00 / 12:20 Coca Movies and TV shows about drugs or with disorienting presentations Masala Chai Movies and TV shows about toughness and athletic competition Reba Chaisson 2024-11-14 When my husband and I were dating, his family would regale me with stories of his childhood. Most of them were meant to be fun and funny, but there were some that carried a much more serious tone. They would always follow up the ones in the latter group with “He got that from his dad,” “Yeah, he’s just like Great Granddaddy,” or “That boy is just like his uncle was when he was that age.” It helps when older adults in the family are around to pass on these stories firsthand. You can see for yourself the joy they take in having played a part in their loved one’s make-up. They marvel at how their once very young child has evolved to define themselves as an extension of them. Ech o presents such a passing on of generational lore through Marvel’s story of Maya, a deaf and mute Choctaw girl in Tamaha, Oklahoma. The five-episode series opens with Maya who, at about 7-years-old, loses her mother in a tragic car accident and then struggles to find her center. The loss of Maya’s right leg in the crash only compounds her challenges, although this is depicted more as an inconvenience for her than a disability. For such a young child, she expresses no pain or wonderment about her missing leg and seems to take it all in stride. Chula, Maya’s grandmother, blames her son-in-law William (Zahn McClarnon) for her daughter’s death. So, soon after his daughter’s recovery, he and Maya move from their home in Tahama to New York City to start a new life. Shortly after settling in New York, William hands over Maya to someone off-camera for martial arts training, skills at which she becomes quite adept as she grows into a young woman. But when 20-something-year-old Maya, played by Alaqua Cox ( Hawkeye , Flash before the Bang ), arrives at William’s auto shop on her motorcycle one day and sees him killed by a masked man, she handles her grief by indulging in crimes like burglary and motor vehicle theft. It is then that we meet the man who calls himself her “uncle,” and with whom she had become close since moving to New York City and beginning her martial arts training. Kingpin Fisk is played by Vincent D’Onofrio, who is best known for his many seasons as Detective Bobby Goren on Law & Order: Criminal Intent . In his heart-to-heart talk with Maya, he tells her “Let me help you release this rage in a more constructive way. Take your hurt, loss, and pain. Make it into something useful.” Kingpin encourages Maya to use her fighting skills to shake down and often kill his enemies. But when she later learns Kingpin ordered her father’s death, she shoots him and flees back to Tahama on her black motorcycle. While Marvel’s crafting of the villains in this series are somewhat convincing, they are moreso entertaining. One of Kingpin’s cronies, Zane, played by Andrew Howard ( Banshee , Mayor of Kingstown ), is a small-framed British man who often wears sunglasses indoors and pants that are too short. Kingpin himself is a comical villain, a big bald man in a white suit with a raspy voice. While hulking and scary at times, he also has a sense of humor. At one point in the series, he brings Maya dinner, wine, and dessert. Not trusting him, she uncorks the wine and pours it into the sink when he isn’t looking. When they sit down, he unpacks the food and says, “Cookies from La Vane. Are they still your favorite?” She nods in the affirmative. He responds, “Let’s hope those don’t go the way of the wine.” Echo has an age-diverse cast, with actors from pre-adolescence to older adults. Tantoo Cardinal ( Wind River , Killers of the Flower Moon ) plays Maya’s crusty maternal grandmother, Chula, who avoids her, not realizing that she is punishing her granddaughter for the disdain she still carries for her deceased son-in-law. Through her, we learn that when we lose someone we love, as Chula did with her daughter, we sometimes blame others. Anyone in proximity to those blamed is often collateral damage. As he did in the movie Wind River , Graham Greene, who plays Maya’s granddad, Skully, injects humor and wisdom into the series. He flirts with Chula and imparts old-school knowledge to Maya to help her gain some empathy for her grandmother and some understanding of Choctaw culture. Echo is filled with an abundance of spiritual symbolism designed to tell the story of Maya’s ancestral origins. The embedded mini-films or historical pieces consume about ten percent of each episode, and their purpose is not made clear until the final segment. Because of this, watching the series can feel incongruous at times. These moments, however, are key to the series as they elucidate Maya’s struggles with understanding who she is and how she seems to have a special strength and courage, and a gift for combat that is typically reserved for Choctaw men. While some skills were taught to her, others were infused — passed on to her through five generations of Choctaw women who came before her. Despite the important generational depictions linking Maya to her ancestors, watching the show can still be frustrating with respect to the lack of translations for its language use. Choctaw, for instance, is sometimes used by the characters, but on-screen translations are not consistently provided so that audiences who don’t know the language can follow the dialog and story. The same occurs with the frequent signing in the series. Because Maya is deaf, mute, and unable to read lips, she communicates through ASL (American Sign Language). Some of the main characters are fluent in the language, such as her father’s former friend-in-crime, Henry, played by Chaske Spencer ( Blind Spot , Twilight Saga franchise), who also speaks as he signs. Her grandparents, Skully and Chula, know it somewhat and occasionally speak as they sign. Still, other main characters don’t know ASL at all, such as Kingpin, who eventually purchases an AI gadget that does the signing for him. The lack of electronics used in this mostly dark-lit, rural-situated series makes the sudden appearance of leading-edge technology feel like a time warp has been inserted in the middle of an episode and near the end of the series. It is as if the filmmakers decided this on a whim because they suddenly realized that Kingpin wouldn’t be able to communicate with Maya otherwise. The varying degrees of fluency in ASL among the characters, though, is not problematic. What is problematic is the failure of the filmmakers to consider that much of the audience is neither fluent in ASL nor Choctaw, and thus are unable to follow the dialog when the lines are not spoken or translations not made available on-screen. In addition to the images, language is needed to connect the audience to the characters and the story. Foreign films provide full subtitles in well over a dozen languages; Echo provides few for its Choctaw and ASL translations. It is as if a different crew member was assigned to this task every day of filming, and someone forgot to tell each person that they needed to do this. Or it’s as if someone neglected to tell the editor. Or perhaps the project simply ran out of budget. That someone signed off on Echo ’s release without performing appropriate quality assurance is problematic. Unfortunately, the result is a multimillion-dollar series that delivers a frustrating and off-putting cinematic experience for its audience. Music dynamics like mezzo forte , pianissimo , and crescendo give character to music by varying its highs, lows, and even tempo throughout a song. In doing this, dynamics help keep us engaged in the music — making our heads bob, our bodies sway, and even moving us to cry sometimes. Film, as well, should stir such emotional, seemingly natural variances in our responses. Audience members should feel something. Maya’s expressions throughout the series, however, remain unconvincing even when she witnesses her father’s death and gets her metal prosthesis jammed between two railroad cars. These should result in a seismic jolt that sends chills down the audience members’ spines or makes their eyes get big. Instead, each scene comes across as just another scene. As the protagonist in the series, Maya needs to keep the audience engaged in the story by varying the intensity of her facial expressions and body language as needed for the scene. This is especially crucial given her lack of oral speech. The audience can’t hear her frustration so that it has a chance of feeling it. I think, for example, about Marlee Matlin’s characters in shows like Children of a Lesser God and West Wing . The audience knows when her characters are happy, smitten, pissed-off, and even being playful. The comparison is not intended to pit one person who is deaf against another. It is to highlight the importance of being animated on-screen when hearing and speech are not available to you. I suppose it can be argued that these could indicate personality differences between actors. Perhaps. It is still necessary, though, for an actor - any actor, to find ways to engage the show’s audience or they will lose them. There are also happenings in the film that the protagonist can do nothing about. For instance, Henry owns a skating rink in Tamaha. He and Maya are kidnapped and held at the rink by criminal wannabes hoping to hand her over to Kingpin for a bounty. Maya has an opportunity to overtake the incompetent perpetrators, but instead, pushes them out of the room and locks herself back inside. This is confusing to me even after returning from yet another weird David Yurman commercial. Now, no one watching the series to this point is surprised about what happens to the criminal wannabes when Kingpin’s guys arrive. At any rate, Maya eventually escapes the room she could have left some time earlier, and beats six, seven, eight of Kingpin’s men in hand to hand to feet combat, that is, before yet another David Yurman commercial comes on! The writing for this series is perplexing, unconvincing, and frustrating. The problems with Echo notwithstanding, I think sometimes we forget that our strength and courage, while we often own them, are not flukes. Like an echo, much of who we are were passed to us as gifts from those who came across the generations before us. Unfortunately, this theme in the series is clouded by the show’s problems. I once read that Stevie Wonder spent ten years writing his hit song, “As.” He would work on it, walk away from it for a while, and come back to it later to work on it some more. “As” was finally released in 1976 and it was well worth the wait. While Echo didn’t necessarily require ten years, it did require similar nurturing, so that the audience could enjoy the experience and appreciate its themes. Previous Next Sign-up for new reviews, exclusives, deep dives, and more First name Last name Enter your email here I agree to the terms & conditions Sign-up Thanks for joining us!

< Back Why and How Short Films are Made An Examination of Short Films and How They Serve Aspiring Filmmakers Chris Chaisson 11/12/22 Reading Time: 9 minutes 📸: Photo from Pixabay In 2011, a short web series called The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl premiered on YouTube. Its premise related to much of its viewership, centering around a young Black woman navigating uncomfortable situations in the professional, social and dating worlds. The exposure it received from YouTube helped Awkward Black Girl to spin off into a very successful HBO series known as Insecure . The creator of both, Issa Rae, has now forged her path into mainstream Hollywood, and it all started with a simple short showcasing her creative chops. Given the high demand for content across all platforms, there is always a chance that a modest project can morph into something big. Many cinephiles are familiar with some of the big-screen to small screen spinoffs, such as The American President becoming The West Wing , or A Few Good Men setting the table for JAG . However, many talented filmmakers lack the resources to produce expansive projects that gain the attention of influential representatives or studios. Creating a television series or a feature length movie requires budgets in at least the seven-to-eight figure range, usually valuated by professionals known as line producers. So what’s the best use of the underdog’s modest means? Many go the route of what’s known as a short film. With running times typically ranging anywhere from a few minutes to a half hour, shorts offer filmmakers a chance to showcase their storytelling and directing abilities. The small-scale project often serves as a foot in the door for their future endeavors. Short films can have any one of several purposes. Many filmmakers make a short for what’s called a proof-of-concept, whether for a feature-length flick or television pilot. As there are countless scripts waiting to be looked at, a project that has gone from the page to the screen is more likely to garner attention from studio executives. “Proof of concept is great,” says Alex Morsanutto , director of Operation: Cavity . “Because if you have a bigger idea, you could show a producer, or an agent, maybe your manager, ‘Hey, this is what I'm thinking of, something that I'd like to do as my next project. I already have this visual example of what it's going to be like. This is the proof of concept. All you need to do is get me the money and we're in business.’” Furthermore, a story may come off as too difficult or expensive to produce, or not capable of captivating an audience for the allotted time. In these instances, even filmmakers who have some notoriety produce proof-of-concept shorts. There are several interesting examples to choose from, perhaps most notably Robert Rodriguez’s The Customer is Always Right , Zack Snyder’s Die Free , and Neill Blomkamp’s Alive in Joburg. These projects paved the way for Sin City , 300 , and District 9 , respectively. None of these three award-winning blockbusters would likely have been made without their proof-of-concept shorts preceding them. Such was also the case for the creators of the Saw horror franchise. Leigh Whannell and James Wan struggled to find the funding necessary for their script, so they instead made a short film, moved to Los Angeles, and screened it for producer Gregg Hoffman . It made a strong enough impression for them to secure funding of what is now a very popular horror series that earned far more than it spent. The most common purpose in a proof-of-concept is to attract investors with a visual representation of what the filmmaker hopes to create. Directors aim to establish the look and feel of the movie more so than the specifics of the narrative. Whannell and Wan’s short consisted of a gruesome torture scene, consistent with what each feature ended up containing. Similarly, Die Free , the aforementioned short for 300 , runs only a minute and a half, but it provides a glimpse into the stylized violence and cinematography that 300 fans know very well. Conversely, some such projects are based entirely around a character. Similar to Issa Rae’s Awkward Black Girl series, Mike Judge produced a series of animated shorts surrounding Milton, a character frequently bullied by his office co-workers. The shorts became mainstays on MTV and Saturday Night Live in the ‘90s. Later, Judge incorporated Milton into his second feature in 1999 that would become a cult classic known as Office Space , with Milton playing an ancillary character. Some filmmakers go another route, opting to enter their shorts into a short film festival. Many in-person festivals serve as a hub for both creators and investors. A filmmaker can find not only financiers to fund future projects but also like-minded peers for future collaborations. With enough exposure and accolades from events, short films have the potential to climb their way into Oscars consideration. Over 90 short film festivals are considered Oscar qualifiers , and the entries to these festivals all have a chance to be recognized by the Academy. Along these lines, filmmakers can take their completed short and screen it in theaters for seven straight days in one of six major U.S. cities: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, San Francisco, or Miami. Matthew A. Cherry’s very popular short film Hair Love won the 2020 Oscar for Best Animated Short after first airing in theaters alongside The Angry Birds Movie 2 , Jumanji: The Next Level , and Little Women . Hair Love was later adapted to a 12-episode animated series by HBO Max. An option for filmmakers still in school is to compete in the Student Academy Awards, put on by the Academy every year. The award ceremony offers a Gold, Silver and Bronze medal, any of which can be nominated for its corresponding Academy Award category (Best Live Action Short, Best Documentary Short, or Best Animated Short). According to the Oscars official website, 63 medalists from the Student Academy Award have been nominated for an Oscar and 11 have won. So what does a short film cost to make? The most honest and least popular answer is of course, “depends.” While budgets for past short films are harder to unearth than blockbusters, SAG (Screen Actors Guild) defines a short project on a low budget scale as being entirely shot in the United States for a maximum budget of $50,000, running no longer than 40 minutes. A list of expenses would normally include location rentals, cast and crew wages, craft services, and equipment, along with other minor costs. Given the prorated nature of some of these expenses, the more concise your shooting schedule, the cheaper your shoot. For short films, many directors use their circle of friends to fulfill roles on both the cast and crew. If possible, many use that same network to acquire the camera, lights and possibly even location needed at a discount. They often supplement that with on-screen talent looking to develop what is known as an actor reel to showcase their work. In this instance, actors are usually willing to accept less pay in exchange for the opportunity to bolster their acting resumes. Raising the money to produce a short could prove challenging. The easiest, and most commonly recommended, way, is to have rich, generous friends and family. Aside from that, filmmakers often have to cultivate relationships and operate on a quid pro quo basis with the people or businesses that can help them. If you’ve ever seen the “Special Thanks To” section closing out the end credits, that tip of the cap is usually to the people or places that provided food, a location, or some other helpful service for little or no cost to the filmmaker. Aside from individual investors to pitch to, many firms specialize in financing films. For creators, the best way to approach such investors is to have a clear and concise description of the film you wish to make, how much money you need and detailed explanations on how the money will be used.. Some people have locations locked down but need help paying the crew. Others have enough money for labor but need help renting equipment. In any case, the needs should be explicitly stated and possibly even itemized. The most important aspect of a filmmaker’s pitch is transparency, as any investor will be wary of the potential that they are being taken advantage of. There are good lessons to be learned in the stories of past short films made. While the aforementioned examples make the short-to-feature pipeline seem chock full of success stories, far more go unnoticed or receive negative reception. In a famous example, a young USC student named George Lucas produced his short entitled Electronic Labyrinth: THX-1138 4EB . It was later adapted into a feature shortened to just THX-1138 , thanks to his good friend Francis Ford Coppola’s production company, American Zoetrope. However, the Warner Brothers executives that Coppola received funding from despised THX-1138 and demanded a refund on their investment. This anecdote gives insight into the potential setbacks an aspiring filmmaker can suffer, even when receiving the funding he or she needs. Nonetheless, perseverance allowed Francis Ford Coppola to create The Godfather and recoup his losses. I just hope that George Lucas kid turned out alright. For more on short films, listen to Season 1, Episode 3 of the Cup of Tea Critiques Podcast . 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< Back Sanctuary questions relationships and power dynamics with one unusual pairing Rumble Films, 2023 96 min Director/Writer: Micah Bloomberg / Zachary Wigon Reading Time: 5 minutes Sanctuary Timeless (GBV57KVQUTLVCWVJ) 00:00 / 05:14 📷 : Licensed from Shutterstock Honeybush Nonfamily dramas with strong adult and/or socioeconomic themes Barley: Movies and TV shows with a lot of dialog Chris Chaisson 2023-06-28 Sex scandals tend to dominate headlines in the worlds of business and politics. Not only is a lot of money and power involved, but the public is often eager to catch these influential figures in both compromising and hypocritical positions. Such scandals have unseated individuals, thrown large entities into brief turmoil, and provided fodder for late-night talk shows everywhere (some of which have similar scandals of their own). However, once the news breaks, very little attention is afforded to the events that may have led up to the information leak. Given the permanent loss of privacy the anonymous whistleblower often suffers, what level of desperation must they have reached to motivate them to come forward in the first place? The new erotic thriller Sanctuary dives into this very dynamic. Sanctuary drops us in the middle of a long-standing, erotic business agreement between Hal and Rebecca. Hal is a trust fund baby, the mid-30s son of an exceedingly wealthy, recently deceased businessman. For many months, Rebecca has privately served as his dominatrix, role-playing as he wishes and degrading him for his sexual pleasure. With the passing of his father, Hal is set to take over the business as CEO and thus seeks to end his meetings with Rebecca after a final meeting in his hotel room. As he says, he wants to “match his insides with his outsides,” a line he stole from his father’s memoirs. Rebecca is put off by being suddenly jettisoned from Hal’s sex life, and rather than take it in stride, she proceeds to blackmail him immediately after their last hurrah. She informs him that she has video of their sessions and will release them unless he adheres to her monetary demands. Hal must decide whether to give in to Rebecca or call her bluff, letting his secrets be known to his future peers and the public at large. The notion of powerful men seeking a submissive role in their sex lives may be a familiar narrative. Many judges and politicians have this detail revealed when their privacy gets exposed, rationalizing it as the need to find pleasure in being powerless given the pressures of their powerful positions. Sanctuary subverts this expectation with Hal. Though he has financial security and a business being handed to him, he is quite meek and insecure. While this initially appears to be a by-product of his dynamic with Rebecca, the only other character on screen, Hal’s lack of assertiveness comes through in his phone conversations with others. He never comes across as a powerful, domineering, or self-assured voice when talking to anyone, regardless of status. Deep down, he feels a level of guilt for his advantages in life and remains in his father’s shadow. He grieves his father’s absence, in part because he is not ready for a patriarchal role. On the other side, Rebecca at first seems to be handling her dismissal very poorly for no apparent reason. She has what appears to be an established business with other clients and has been compensated well. However, her role in Hal’s sex life has made her emotionally invested beyond business. She feels that the only reason he is ready to take over the company is because of the confidence that she has instilled in him through their affairs. Rebecca cites the fact that Hal was very timid when approaching her initially and developed enough self-assurance to write out a script for her to adhere to during their meetings. As the evening wears on, it becomes clear her emotional investment and demand for money go beyond just her pride in Hal’s development. The one-location indie serves as a long tug-of-war between a character with material power and a character with inner fortitude. Hal can only use his wealth and influence as a way to intimidate Rebecca, while she can use psychology to push back. This back-and-forth lends credence to why Rebecca is svelte and dainty rather than a large intimidating physical presence that the audience might associate with a dominatrix. Her understanding of Hal’s psyche stems from the fact that their role-playing is not so much the physical, S&M style often portrayed in kinky sex thrillers, but more mental. Writer Micah Bloomberg and director Zachary Wigon cleverly reveal the backgrounds of each character during both their foreplay and their haggling, so it never feels that they are bringing it up strictly for the audience’s benefit. Additionally, it explains Rebecca’s last gasp attempt to stay in Hal’s life. The best comparison for this two-character, one-location thriller is the 1994 film Disclosure , starring Michael Douglas and Demi Moore. As in every Michael Douglas movie, he plays a lusted-over businessman dealing with a scorned ex-lover (okay, maybe not every movie). Adapted from a Michael Crichton novel, Disclosure co-stars Meredith (Moore) as his boss, suing him for harassment over an encounter that she secretly initiated. Sanctuary feels similar in the sense that the other half of a private, socially taboo relationship has some modicum of power to manipulate the situation against a more traditionally powerful figure. 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Fool Me Once unveils the continuing spiral of interdependence < Back Fool Me Once unveils the continuing spiral of interdependence Quay Street Productions, 2024 50 minutes Creator: Harlan Coben Reading Time: 6 minutes 📷 : Used with permission, Netflix Fool Me Once Storm Before the Calm (N6J42VARUMKBN5UC) 00:00 / 06:19 Ginseng Suspenseful and intense thrillers Matcha Mysteries or whodunnits Reba Chaisson 2024-02-05 I find a lot of similarities in British television series. For example, each episode tends to end on a crescendo so you’re anxious to come back for the next. The crescendo in Anatomy of a Scandal is in the form of sharp and sudden slow motion special effects that gives us the sense of being hit in the stomach and getting the wind knocked out of us. While weird and over the top, it is effective at sending us into an anticipatory state – impatiently awaiting the next episode. Fool Me Once is similar, but thankfully it executes without such dramatic special effects. I need no reminders of sci-fi. (Sorry folks. With the exception of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back , I am just not feeling the genre. I do love some Yoda though!) Michelle Kegan plays Maya Stern in this 8-episode series about a recently widowed 30-something year-old determined to find out who is behind the murders of her husband, Joe Burkett, and her sister, Claire Walker. Complicating this is a covert effort underfoot to challenge her sanity. Although Joe is shot dead in front of her during a stroll in the park, she sees him playing with her 2-year-old daughter, Lily, on the child’s nanny cam several weeks later. Maya, a former Air Force captain already haunted by events that occurred during her service, suspects her wealthy and powerful mother-in-law, Judith Burkett, who heads the family’s long-established pharmaceutical company in Britain. Feeling her daughter-in-law was never good enough for her son, Judith neither likes nor trusts Maya. Their mutual disdain constitutes the main source of tension in the series. During her investigation, Maya must deal with the intrusions of the 50-something year-old Detective Sami Kierce, played by Adeel Akhtar ( Utopia , Sweet Tooth ). Detective Kierce’s idiosyncrasies bring “Lieutenant Columbo” to mind. Played by Peter Falk, Columbo is a smart, shrewd, yet quirky police detective in the popular 1970s series of the same name that ran for nine seasons. My parents loved this show because Columbo, in his iconic beige trench coat, always got his guy or girl because they dismissed him due to his unpolished appearance and quirky behaviors. Detective Kierce’s quirks and occasional clumsy appearance are like that of Columbo’s. He wears a trench coat in the beginning of the series, and at an upscale gathering, he is told, in a disrespectful manner, that his shoes are untied. Maya underestimates Kierce and often treats him like an annoyance, which, as we learned from the Columbo series more than 50 years ago, is never good practice. Fool Me Once is missing elements we take for granted in a murder mystery/police story. People brought in for questioning are neither harassed nor tricked by the police (yeah, right). In fact, doing so is frowned upon. When Detective Kierce reluctantly partners with the younger and impressionable Detective Marty McGreggor (Dino Fetscher), he confronts McGreggor about a story he told during their “interview” of a suspect. He asks McGreggor about the veracity of his story, and McGreggor laughs and admits it was a lie to get the suspect to talk. “It’s good policing,” he adds proudly. Kierce responds with seriousness, “Lying is never good policing.” McGreggor’s smile slowly fades. The exchange conveys the age divide in the detectives’ ideas of what constitutes good policing: Kierce’s sense of old-school ethics versus the young McGreggor’s belief in doing what is necessary to get information. The twenty or so years between them and their difference in perspectives convey the sense that adherence to traditional police behaviors in Britain is fading with each generation and will likely disintegrate altogether over the next 20 years if the generations before them do not put them in check. In murder mystery/police stories, we usually observe a lot of shooting or other forms of violence, but other than Joe and Claire’s murders, we don’t see this across the eight episodes of Fool Me Once . One reason for this is the absence of guns in Britain, as British police officers carry police batons. I am reminded of this when McGreggor happily gives Kierce a hug because of a compliment he paid him for an action he took. Kierce, clearly not wanting to be hugged, quips, “This is the real reason we don’t carry firearms.” The funny moment is presented as if series creator, Harlan Coben, wants us to know this “guns-free” tradition in the UK, hoping we ponder for ourselves the reasoning behind the superabundance of firearms in the U.S., particularly amid the high incidents of gun violence. Fool Me Once is an aesthetically pleasing production that takes us into Britain’s posh countryside and expansive estates to unravel a murder mystery. Having the threads pulled from an upper-class insider like Claire and an outsider like Detective Kierce gives a sense of balance to the show as she works from the top down and he from the bottom up. It helps us see how people across social classes are not as disconnected as they seem, that there is a strong web of interdependence among them. The degree to which wealthy families rely on their employees to commit wrongdoings for them is one example, and the impossible situations the workers find themselves in and so do what is asked is another. The degree to which people, out of greed, sell their souls for money and favors, or to remain in the good graces of their benefactors, are even more examples of these interdependent relationships. So, unlike the crescendo in Anatomy of a Scandal , we are not shocked or flabbergasted when we get a hint that makes us question, what could this person over here possibly have to do with this matter over there? We are, however, frequently blindsided, which makes each episode so tough to just stop there. Previous Next Sign-up for new reviews, exclusives, deep dives, and more First name Last name Enter your email here I agree to the terms & conditions Sign-up Thanks for joining us!