MicroCinema Scene

Truant is the story of four friends who decide to skip school.  The cast totally buys into the wackiness of the plot, and Adam Curren as the kneeless Dweedle is especially funny.  The story and talent behind Truant is often funny, but the production values are very low.  The project seems to be shot with a standard camcorder and on-board microphone and it also appears to be edited in camera, as there are numerous occasions where the shot is cut just after one of the cast members inadvertently laughs.

Whatever humorous momentum the project generates is completely lost by the sloppy editing and production value.  If Finitis and his friends would have taken more time in the process of making this movie, the end result could have been very funny.  However, due to the distractingly weak effort on editing and sound, this project is more appropriate for viewing by close friends or participants of the project than for public consumption.

Baby Fat, written and starring Joshua Nelson, is a very funny microcinema effort about a married Italian-American couple from Staten Island that takes a unique approach to having their first child.

Nelson plays Joey, a twenty-something man who works in his Uncle’s deli and who is married to one of the highest maintenance wives in the world. Nelson’s character is one of the only sane people in the story and you feel great empathy at his confusion at his loved ones around him. His wife, Gina, played with neurotic excellence by Martene Fallacaro, is a beautiful, confusing and ultimately shallow woman who wants a child, but not the fat that comes along with being pregnant. Elizabeth Cooke is the poor and desparate actress, Daphne, hired by Joey and Gina to help them in their baby-making plans. Cooke is gives a nice performance as someone on the outside looking in on this unique family situation.

The film is slightly uneven at times and the story could be a little tighter, but the performances by the large cast are solid all the way around and the script is quite funny. At one point, Gina’s version of romance is stating “If I don’t vomit every time I go down on you, you know I still love you.” I found myself laughing out loud on numerous occasions at the odd logic the characters various approaches to the situation. The end result is a very satisfying comedy that humorously combines the fear of adulthood, the urge for children, the love of family and the selfishness of vanity.

On a side note, this movie was in my queue of films to review for some time because it was on VHS. I never thought watching a VHS tape would be problematic, but I found myself without a workable VCR for months. So, apologies to the makers of Baby Fat and a suggestion to other filmmakers, please send your movies on DVDs please. And a link to a website with full cast and crew credits is very helpful as well.

Baby Fat achieves something rarely accomplished in microcinema; sincere and heartfelt laugh-out-loud comedy based on real characters in exaggerated situations. I look forward to future efforts by writer Nelson and director James Tucker.

Three and a half Stars.

Deadly Obsessions is a shot-on-film erotic thriller that, unfortunately, is rarely erotic or thrilling.  The film, written and directed by Karl Bauer, is overly written and visually uninspired.  The quality actors make the best of a sloppy script, but the story, which starts out with promise in Act One, turns into never-ending exposition in Acts Two and Three, where, at one point, two characters talk about the plot for fifteen straight minutes.

The story revolves around a married couple, played by Nick Capous and Irene Glezos, who’s marriage has slowly disintegrated over time and they are each filling their emotional voids in the arms of other people.  Lust and anger soon turn into murder and blackmail as the complicated plot unfolds.

Bauer’s goal was quite ambitious, but the execution here leaves a lot to be desired.  The plot twists are not surprising and the story could have used a lot of tightening, as there are quite a few logic holes.  The biggest hurdle, however, is the pages and pages of dialogue which halt any momentum the plot has created.  One well designed shot can convey 1000 words and I hope, in future projects, Bauer works to convert excessive dialogue into visually dynamic work.

It is inspiring for Bauer to put the work, money and effort in shooting his story on film and his talent pool of actors are of high quality, but all of the talent and commitment did not end up effectively on the screen.

One and a Half Stars.

The Realtor, a short film by Edward Anthony Mendoza, starts off with a lot of promise, but does not quite live up to its potential.  The short stars a funny Dean St. Louis as a realtor from Zero One Realty that promises he will find you the “perfect” house within 30 days or you get 12 free meals.  Entering the fray are Kevin and Tracy (Jim Gulliford and Kira Hasher, repectively) who decide that, even though St. Louis has found them the perfect house, they’re going to decline just to get the 12 free meals.

The short has loads of potential.  St. Louis shows an appropriate “over the top” performance as the slick and TV saavy realtor, playing the part with complete abandon.  The premise is also simple and could offer plenty of laughs.  And director Mendoza approaches the material in a farcical way, with “zany” sound bites thrown in to accentuate the humor.

But, in the end, the material of the short becomes flat as St. Louis simply grows exponentially agitated.  Here Mendoza tries to ramp up the humor by adding some clever, simple effects, but the end of the heated discussion ends where one expects.  A slight twist and humorous ending complete the short on a positive note, but, other than St. Louis’ performance, the overall impact leaves us thinking how much funnier this short could have been.  I look forward to seeing more of Mendoza’s work.

Two and 1/2 stars.

Limbo is an impressive microcinema feature film from writer/director Thomas Ikimi.  Made for $9,000 and shot in black and white digital video, the film has the muscle where it counts most, in the story.  Along with the script, the acting, music and direction are all top notch.

Limbo is a very intriguing story about Adam, a lawyer played by Chris Russo, who’s up against mob influences.  Adam has a rough history, but has since cleaned up his act and is actively involved in his church and volunteer work.  Through a series of events, Adam is killed and immediately finds himself in a state of limbo.  The theological theory behind limbo is that it is a place somewhere between heaven and hell and Ikimi could have used that premise to devise just about any story plot.  His choice is both simple and inventive.  Like an onion, the more you peel away the surface, more is revealed.

In Ikimi’s Limbo, Adam finds himself repeating the same hour over and over again.  However, this is not like Groundhog Day, where Adam returns to the same point in time… instead, every hour Adam is the only one who does not return back to where they were.  For Adam, life around him has become a continuous loop.  In this scenario, you cannot build friendships, as everyone resets after one hour.  Your options become very limited.  After hundreds or thousands of these loop cycles, one could struggle with one’s own sanity.  Even more disturbing in this scenario, one could do whatever one wants to anyone they want without consequence because, within an hour, everything is reset.

At first you hope that if Adam unravels the mystery of how he ended up in Limbo that it might somehow offer him an escape, yet you then understand that there may never be a way out.  You realize that, in Limbo, you can do anything, yet accomplish nothing… forever.

This use of Limbo in this film was very thought-provoking and I found myself thinking about the story long after the film had ended.

The acting is all of high quality.  Russo, as Adam, portrays the multiple levels of the character with complete success.  The two sides of his personality, his evil past and his moral present, are tested and retested throughout his limbo state and Russo is able to convincingly offer us both sides to great effect.  Eric Christie is solid as Vaugh James, a gambler addict with whom Adam interacts.  Etya Dudko and Joe Holt play two others stuck in this limbo state, each dealing with it in their own way.  Especially effective is Holt, whose slightly unstable character, Lasloe the Great, gives you an uncomfortable sense of one of the paths Adam may take.

I should also give a nod to Andrew Daniels for an excellent score.  It is amazing how much the soundtrack establishes mood and leads our emotional journey through a film.  Daniels’ score is perfectly designed and utilized as we travel through the many twists and turns that unfold before us in Limbo.

The strength of Ikimi’s Limbo was on the page before any tape was shot.  It is his strong screenplay that propels our interest in the film and his effective directing brings that story to life.  Limbo is an interesting and memorable microcinema film.

Four Stars.

An injured man, played by Kumar Dari, falls to the ground outside of a remote cabin.  Surrounded by dead trees and ominous silence, Dari, bleeding from the head and leg, stumbles his way to the cabin porch and bangs on the door, desperatetly seeking help.  Instead he finds himself alone, unsure of the circumstances that led to his injuries and how he eventually reached the cabin.

The next morning he is awoken by banging at the front door, only to find a dead woman laying on the porch.  From here things continue to go downhill as Dari struggles with his sanity, not knowing what is real and what is imaginery, and unsure how long he will remain trapped there.

Dead Within was shot on 16mm black-and-white film, which accentuates the stark landscape and the sense of isolation.  There is something inherently disconcerting about being in a cabin in the middle of the nowhere.  For many urban and suburbanites, being in the middle of the woods is an uncomfortable and, at times, unsettling experience.  Green uses this potential fear and accentuates it by putting you in the shoes of the protagonist, who is not sure where he is, how he got there and is unable to leave.

The soundtrack, by Green and Dale Pantalione, effectively enhances the uneasiness and sense of dread by combining subtle tones and distorted voices.  Dari is solid as the injured man struggling with himself and Green, along with cinematographer Daniel Watchulonis, frame the shots well, providing the approriate amount of creepy moments throughout.

A solid effort by Kent Green and the rest of his crew.

Three stars.

Growing up in foster homes, siblings Ben and Emily have formed a potent, seemingly indestructible bond. But Emily yearns to have a family of her own, and she falls in love and secretly marries her boss, Walter. When Emily refuses Ben’s pleas to end the relationship, his volatile behavior worsens. And when he discovers that Emily is trying to reconnect with their mother, who abandoned them years earlier, fatal consequences are set in motion.

This is one of the most complete shorts I’ve seen. The writing is very good, the cinematography is perfect for the style of the piece, the acting is flawless, the directing effective and the music is tremendous. Director Kathleen Hale fills the story with real people (a mechanic, two waitresses and a manger of a diner) who’s needs and dreams are universal. The actors, perfectly cast, are able to portray well rounded, three-dimensional characters in a limited period of time. And it’s the performances by Hale, Maloney and Rydman that make the story work.

The story, both intriguing and disturbing, is shown in a wonderful film-noir style, in black and white and with dark, long shadows. The cinematographer was on hand for the screening and said that the project was shot in conjunction with the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and you could tell. The locations were wonderful, including the jail, and even the minor characters were believable.

This digital video short is definitely worth checking out.

End of the Line was created for a film competition where the genre and topic were given out by the competition and the filmmakers had to complete the film in less than a week; including writing, casting, shooting, and editing. The genre was suspense and the topic was ‘a fisherman hooks something that was never supposed to be found.’

End of the Line is a simple, suspenseful short where a fisherman, played by Joseph Lundin, accidentally hooks an hour glass during a fishing trip. When the sand runs out, things turn ugly. Considering the limitations the filmmakers were placed under to complete the project, End of the Line is tightly-paced and effectively suspenseful. Talking with director Chamberlain after the screening, I was happily surprised to hear they shot the short with a Canon GL-1. The image quality was beautiful and the colors very rich.

It’s hard to turn an eight minute short shot in a few days into something memorable, but End of the Line does just that.

Three and a half stars.

With Bent: Volume Three, Mindscape Pictures brings to conclusion the Bent trilogy series of shorts.  This last offering has a greater consistency of quality, yet, at the same time, lacks that one great short, as were present in the first two volumes.  Let’s take a look at each short individually:



Aftermath (Three Stars):The story of Aftermath is an intriguing drama that could have been more powerful had it dropped its opening scene.  It revolves around the aftermath of a school shooting, opening with the introduction of the character Nick, played by Eric Hallgren, who’s a school jock that is liked by most of his friends and who picks on those who aren’t.  However, the way they introduce the character creates absolutely no sympathy.  I’m not saying the guy should have saved drowning puppies and perhaps a lack of a sympathetic view was on purpose, but it what am I supposed to feel about a character with whom my only interaction is his retelling of a story about a large crap floating in a toilet?  A very odd choice.

The story would have been much stronger if it had started with the next scene… when Brittany, Nick’s girlfriend, played by Niki Sella, runs into her house and hides in her room, her face covered with splattered blood.  By leaving Nick on the cutting room floor, like Kevin Costner was in The Big Chill, and having the characters deal with the death of Nick without us ever meeting him, it would have the impact of the short vastly stronger…that’s my opinion.

Overall, what follows as the group of friends tries to deal with the school shooting is admirable and effective, but does not cover a lot of new ground.  The acting, though slightly uneven at times, is solid overall, especially Justin Grace and Zach Lawrence, who seems to be distant cousin of John Cusack.

The look of the film is the best in the Bent series.  The lighting, the soft, full colors…a great work by co-directors Jason Santo and Patrick Hines.  And the music, by David Clausson, is excellent and adds the appropriate sense of sadness and struggle to the piece.

Aftermath is a solid effort by a lot of new faces to the Mindscape Pictures group.  I look forward to seeing Hines and the other participants in future Mindscape Pictures films.

Again (Three Stars): This is a nice little short about a comedian named Jack, played by Frank Parker, dealing with perpetual déjà vu.  He accompanies his wife, played by Kathy Nestor, to her college friends’ house and is bombarded with repeating images and voices prior to one speaking.  Though this description may sound ominous, the subject matter is tackled with tongue in cheek and is a fun short to watch.

Watching the director interview on Aftermath, Santo discusses how Aftermath was the last project shot in the series and Mindscape Pictures first project with the new Panasonic camera that simulates film, so upon seeing the blatant video look of Again was slightly jarring.  That distraction, however, quickly dissipated as the story began to unfold.

Santo utilizes simple, yet effective visual and audio techniques to relay the sense of déjà vu for the character of Jack, while also framing things quite well to punctuate the comedic moments.  The cast is solid, especially Christian Cibotti as Greg, and the comic timing, via acting and editing, is well done.

This 15 minute short does not overstay its welcome and achieves what it sets out to do.

Here Comes Your Man (Two Stars): One of the things that struck me about this short is that it is another Bent offering that deals with the subject of HIV.  I don’t know if Santo is really worried about HIV so much he’s dedicated one-third of the Bent trilogy to it or if it’s simply the ultimate plot point device he likes to use as a storyteller.  In any event, this 22 minute short deals with the sexual escapades of Michael Cross, played effectively by Gene Dante, a despicable character who, in a long standing sense of revenge, purposely infects as many one night stands as possible.

Santo utilizes varying visual devices to jar the audience and make the story more interesting, but in the end it seems like a combination public service announcement, extended music video, and effective short film.  It’s not hard to understand what is probably going on, yet it takes a long time to get there.  Even though the short is only 22 minutes, it feels much longer than that.  Cutting a good five minutes from the film, and shortening the two montages accompanied by songs, would have give the film more impact and less of a sense of repetition.

I like Dante as an actor and I admire what Santo was trying to achieve; however, considering HIV has been dealt with in some fashion in two previous Bent shorts, in the end this one misses the mark.

More Than Money’s Worth (Three and a half stars): Unlike the first two Bent volumes, Santo finishes this collection with its strongest entry.  More Than Money’s Worth is a fun, farcical tale of three incessant yuppies desperately trying to heal the emotional wounds of their golf team captain prior to the big tournament.  The comic trio, played nicely by Zach Lawrence, Neil O’Callaghan and director Santo, enlist the down-on-her-luck student, played by the ever-gorgeous Tina Krause.

Krause shows just how natural she is in front of the camera, being funny, touching and sexy.  At one point in the story Krause appears in a red dress and I wrote down the word YOWZAH!  She’s quite beautiful and effectively nails the part.

Frank Parker plays the golf team captain struggling with the shanks and his comic trio of friends do everything in their limited power and large bank accounts, with the help of Krause, to mend his broken heart.

This story will not illuminate the world with deep insight, but it’s not supposed to.  This fast-paced short is very funny and I had a smile on my face almost the entire time.  It’s nice to see Santo spread his comedic wings in the piece and I hope he pushes the farcical envelope in future projects.

The DVD is, of course, professionally packaged and is something microcinema movie makers should look to on how to put out a DVD the right way.  Another solid effort from a talented group of passionate filmmakers.

One more note:  Having digested the Bent series I believe their releases are an enormously effective feat in the short history of microcinema.  The recent news that this trilogy has been picked up by Tempe Video for distribution is great news…it just goes to show you that the hard work and consistent effort performed by Roman Berman, Sheri Carter, Santo and the rest of the Mindscape Pictures team, can pay off quality dividends.

Thinking back on these shorts I anxiously await Mindscape Pictures’ future.  As they move into the feature-length story realm, I long for a time where Santo will write a tight script and then throw away the dialogue and direct it as if it were a silent film.  If he’s able to put all of his numerous talents into one, focused story, the outcome could be something truly special.

Three stars.

With Bent: Volume Two, Mindscape Pictures offers the second in a trilogy of short anthologies. Much like Bent: Volume One, director Jason Santo delivers a variety of short offerings in varying styles and approaches and, surprisingly, is a similar experience to watching their first Bent entry. Let’s take a look at each short individually:

The Dinner (Four and a half stars): Like with Bent: Volume One, Santo’s first offering in Volume Two is the best of the bunch. The Dinner, starring Christopher Soroka, Paul Sarkis, Jennifer Irizarry and the stunning Tina Krause, is a tremendous achievement. Shot with a black and white glow harkening back to a 1940’s romance, The Dinner is beautifully shot. Also impressive is that the short is without any dialogue. Like the highly successful Marisa on Volume One, The Dinner is a directorial cinematic feast.

The story, about two couples that get together for a dinner, weaves nicely and changes directions very effectively. Sexual tension fills the air as you are lead to believe that potential affairs are in progress, only to discover that something deeper is unfolding. To give away much more would ruin the story, but Santo expertly leads you down a couple of potentially important paths, only to redirect you toward something more fulfilling. And Krause radiates on screen. She is truly a stunning leading lady with a natural beauty and a sultry, yet innocent presence. I hope to see her in more of Mindscape Pictures future projects.

Another nod should go to the composer Anni Brunson. Filling a 17-minute dialogue-free piece is no easy task, but Brunson achieves tremendous success with incredible effectiveness. Every note, every theme supports and accentuates the action on the screen… excellent work.

In the Interview with Santo about The Dinner, he states that he wrote this during a very creative time in his career, at the same time he penned Marisa. Santo, a very skilled screenwriter, can be a tremendously visual director when he’s forced to no longer rely on the crux of dialogue. Pieces like The Dinner show us just how talented Santo can be behind the camera when forced to turn words into images. A great piece of microcinema.

Time Heals All Wounds (Three stars): The story is about a man who’s spent two years desperately fighting the loss of his true love. The short stars Roman Berman as Mike, the distraught loner, and Alecia Batson as Ellen, his long-time friend. Ellen grows weary of Mike’s constant state of depression and pushes him to move on with his life. Mike, in a moment of clarity, wishes time would stop until he came to terms with his loss, so no more time in his life would be wasted in vain. And he gets his wish.

The story by Santo is excellent, akin to an old time Twilight Zone episode. It’s crisp and tight and multi-layered; one of his best offerings. I would go into more detail if I could, but it is so effective in its simplicity that to do so would ruin the joy of discovering the story for yourself. And, like The Dinner, a nod should go to composer Luke Stark for adding an appropriate creepiness to the short.

Unfortunately, Berman and Batson’s performances undermine the potential lying on the pages of the script. One of my acting teachers in college once said that, as a piano has 88 keys, for every acting performance to be fully realized it should touch all 88 keys. Beginning actors, however, often have one-note performances, playing an emotion instead of a character having an emotion, and that is the sense that both Berman and Batson gave to me. They were distraught or depressed or sad or angry, but not real people actually feeling those emotions. In microcinema, getting great actors is tough, but the performance in this project kept distracting me from the intricate story being revealed to me.

All that being said, seeing this tight story unfold with its twists and turns is a real treat to watch and, in the end, is a very worthy project.

In a Sky with No Angels (Two stars): This short confused me. I don’t mean that to say I didn’t understand the story being shown; I just didn’t understand what type of story was supposed to be told. The plot revolves around Sarah Grey, played by Kathy Nestor, and Paul Denborough, played by Jason Santo, who are old high school acquaintances brought together under suspicious circumstances. Paul calls Sarah out of the blue, some ten years or so after high school. Not particularly close in high school, Sarah is reluctant to meet Paul, but does so out of curiosity and loneliness. After an awkward dinner, Sarah meets up with Paul in a hotel room where he tells an intriguing tale, very reminiscent of the film Brainstorm.

And then, the story seems to change gears. It turns into a police matter, which was interesting, but that storyline ends rather abruptly, and then it turns into a love story, of which I had a hard time believing would come to fruition in a single night.

In great contrast to Santo’s tightly scripted yarn Time Heals All Wounds, In a Sky with No Angels seems overly wordy and without a clear direction. Either these are two of the most sad, lonely and pathetic people that come together in moments of desperation, or it’s the most complex pickup strategy I’ve seen, where a manipulative liar tells fanciful tales that strain believability in order to woo the heart of an overly vulnerable woman. Or both. Or neither. Any one of those stories would be effective, but I didn’t quite know which one I was watching.

As with Bent: Volume One, this trilogy ends with the weakest of the shorts. After watching the cinematic language on display in The Dinner, and seeing the well-written language displayed in Time Heals All Wounds, I found In a Sky with No Angels a disappointing end to an otherwise excellent DVD.

This DVD is professionally packaged, top to bottom. From the covers to the moving menus to the format to the presentation…great work. I long for the time Santo combines the visuals of Marisa or The Dinner with a tightly effective screenplay like Time Heals All Wounds or Haunted. At that time we’d finally see Santo in full force; something that would be a great treat to behold.



Bent: Volume Two is, overall, another fine achievement by the hardworking blokes at Mindscape Pictures. As they continue to grow in talent, experience and as storytellers, one can only imagine what they will offer us in the future.

Three and a half stars.