Directed by Brendan Cleaves Starring Seann Walsh and John Bradley Short Film Review by Michael Fiott Roger is a short and charming comedy starring two beloved British stars, John Bradley renowned for his endearing portrayal of Samwell Tarly in Game of Thrones and the brilliantly cynical comedian Seann Walsh. It takes us on a small road trip with Stephen (Walsh) as he returns home after an elongated trip in Mongolia, only to realise that his best friend Roy has seemingly filled the vacant BFF spot with a ventriloquist doll named Roger. When reading that, I know what you may be thinking; how does a concept like that ever enter somebody’s mind? Let alone give someone the desire to make a short film about it? Well that is exactly what makes this film so appealing, the oddness of its concept is what gives it the majority of its jokes and without it quirkiness we may have been left with yet another buddy road trip comedy. Compliments for this must be given to writer/director Brendan Cleaves and his co-writer Stuart Foreman, for giving such a commendable effort towards bringing this concept to life, their love for the project shows in every line written and every frame shot. Taking a look at some of the production images from the film’s website, it is very obvious that although there are not many locations used, it still proved to be a taxing and long process to shoot, which only adds to our appreciation for it. However, the most important part of a comedy is of course it’s writing. Fortunately Cleaves’s and Foreman's jokes and scenarios never seem to miss a step and remain consistent with a jovial and innocent tone throughout. The best running joke is definitely watching Roy’s subtle insanity grow as he holds conversations with Roger, has personal jokes with him and even lets him have the front seat ahead of his returning best friend, an action that most people would avoid when your best friend is the enduringly sarcastic Seann Walsh. This brings me to their performances which as you can expect were wonderful. Walsh is of course himself in this film; biting, witty and always brings an element of bewilderment towards the actions of others, which was perfect casting for this role. His facial expressions are constantly on the mark as he shows us his absolute disdain for Roy’s new companion. Bradley also puts in a stellar turn with his ability to portray characters so genuinely and warmly that it becomes almost impossible to not like him. Here he acts with a sublime amount of innocence and naivety towards his own relationship with Roger, which is quite frankly rather mental. I believe that anybody would be able to find some charm in Roger due to its simplicity and wacky concept, it remains human and allows the audience to have a connection with it due to its believable performances and witty writing, a great effort from all the cast and crew. #ShortFilmReviews #ShortFilms #MichaelFiott #Comedy #SeannWalsh #JohnBradley #BrendanCleaves

Directed by Marcos Codas Written by Marcos Codas, Harumi Martinez Starring Christian Cuadra, Alexis Amarilla, Leila Benitez, Camila Sigaud Short Film Review by Rachel Pullen Breaks ups are tough, we have all been there, the heartache, the guilt, the name calling such as "hick" and then the inevitable curse that one puts on another. Kurusu Serapio throws us in the deep end of a messy break up between Chris and Camila, when he breaks up with her for being a ‘’hick from Kurusu Serapio’’ which is, let’s be honest, a pretty lame reason to end it with someone. Camila does not take lightly to being called a hick let alone being dumped and quickly puts a spell on Chris, which within minutes starts to really mess with his mental wellbeing. But like all good break up stories Chris has a close network of friends to help him through this tough time, and no not by taking him out for a round of beers but by desperately searching for him as the spell takes hold and he disappears and unravels in the darkness that Camila has created for him. An interesting fact about this film is that all the actors used their real names, which gives a great sense of realism to the work, and whether it was intentional or not, it pulls it away from all the other found footage horror flicks that claim to be genuine...until the credits roll that is. This short piece crams a lot of energy into only 6 minutes, covering the break up, the spell taking action and the hunt for Chris, but this does not leave the viewers feeling short changed, with interesting camera work, an intense soundtrack and the use of found footage we are immersed in a eerie and unnerving story. As I said the soundtrack is intense, and plays an important part in creating a sense of fear in this movie, director Marcos Codas uses sounds more than music, which is the obvious choice when working with found footage, but the choice of these sounds is what makes his work stand out for the million other found footage horrors that are available to the viewing public. Be it from low to high pitch drones, insects, or just ambient noises, their accompaniment to the film fill us, the viewer with dread, reminding us of the sound usage in horror games such as Silent Hill, where the idea of less being more was executed successfully. Kurusu Serapio is clearly made on a low budget, but that is the joy of found footage films; they can be made for little to no money but offer an interesting point of view for the audience, and with the success of genre films such as the Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity Kurusu Serapio could take its interesting and intriguing storyline and easily develop it in to a full length picture. But having a low budget can always come with restrictions and one of those is having less experienced actors, and although their performances are not the worst seen in a budget piece, it is still clearly in need of development. Despite that this is a creepy little number which will have you nervous with every movement of the camera, and which will also make you think twice before you break up with a girl from Kurusu Serapio. #ShortFilmReviews #ShortFilms #RachelPullen #FoundFootage #MarcosCodas

Written & Directed by Armand Simon Starring Kyara van Romondt, Sabrina Tromp, Darryl de Vries, Lola van Dijk Short Film Review by Chris Olson Structured over the course of one day, Armand Simon’s delicate and tender story about a character’s attempt to take the plunge and reveal her sexuality to a close friend is a wonderful snapshot of life, love, coming out and coming of age. Monica (Kyara van Romondt) is a shy but determined young woman, whom we meet early on in Yesterday’s Rain (original title E Yobida di Ayera) looking longingly at a picture of a pretty young woman (Sabrina Tromp) who we meet later, when the two friends meet up at the beach. Once there, Monica attempts to bring herself to reveal her secret longing, being held back by her own lack of confidence, her friend’s apparent ignorance of the adoration she inspires, as well as a variety of obstacles including the arrival of a happy couple (Darryl de Vries and Lola van Dijk). The colour palette used in Simon’s short film felt dreamlike and nostalgic, the vibrancy in the natural lighting and the landscape was gorgeous. This, combined with a subtle sound design from Joachim Heinrich and sumptuous cinematography created a deeply emotive stage to launch the intensity of Monica’s internal dilemma from, thereby making it that much more affecting. When the two friends are enjoying each other’s company on the sand, or taking photographs against the rocks, the audience gets the feeling that this feels hazy and tinged with regret, an opportunity missed perhaps. This is reinforced by the movie’s end, and is made all the more heartbreaking by van Romondt’s understated performance. As an LGBT story, Yesterday’s Rain captures something both beautiful and fragile. The tentative steps that Monica takes feel like the beginning of an important journey for her character, and yet the setbacks she experiences seem just as formative. There is a daydream sequence which is complete escapism, but is also the only time she ever seems comfortable in her own skin. During her brief encounter with the couple on the beach, she seems at odds with their closeness, and is particularly agitated by her friend’s apparent “flirting” with the guy. It is by this point that the audience starts to consider Simon’s tale as something completely different to a heroic stepping out of the closet, and could in fact be the reverse. The plot felt a little underdeveloped, and the dialogue shifting between different languages felt unnecessarily distracting, but there is a universality to Yesterday’s Rain which was its real triumph. Anyone facing a life-changing “outing” of their hidden self, orientation or otherwise, will completely connect with this film’s approach to the reluctance of the human spirit to be vulnerable. The reams of protective layers that surround ourselves are often incredibly difficult to shed, even with those closest to us, and Monica’s struggle to be totally intimate and open with her nearest friend is not only compelling to watch but sadly very commonplace. #ShortFilmReviews #ShortFilms #ChrisOlson #LGBT #ComingofAge #ArmandSimon #KyaravanRomondt #SabrinaTromp

★★ Directed by Zach Braff Starring Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Alan Arkin, Ann-Margret, Matt Dillon, John Ortiz Film Review by Kieran Freemantle Bankers and multi-national corporations are easy targets for criticism and are the targets in the Robin Hood heist-comedy film Going In Style: a remake of 1979 film of the same name. Joe (Michael Caine), Willie (Morgan Freeman) and Albert (Alan Arkin) are three retired steel workers and friends who are put into dire financial straits after their pension fund is dissolved when their former employer is bought out. Frustrated and desperate the three decide to rob the bank running the liquidation of the fund. Going In Style's winning feature is its main trio. Caine, Freeman and Arkin are terrific actors and their chemistry is what carries the film - even if it's a stretch to believe that the very Cockney Michael Caine would have been a steel worker in America: his granddaughter (Joey King) even makes a joke about his English background. The three together do produce some chuckles with Freeman getting the best lines. Arkin is able to play up his cranky personality, being the more reluctant member of the group. Going In Style also had some major talent working behind the camera. Scrubs star Zach Braff directed and Theodore Melfi - the writer/director of Hidden Figures wrote the screenplay. Braff has had success as a director of indie films and Going With Style is his most mainstream effort as a filmmaker and it shows. Going In Style is a comedy that plays it so safe that it has to cut the word 'motherfucker' from a rap song after the trio rob a grocery store and thinks that a forgetful and confused old man played by Christopher Lloyd (because Alzheimer's disease is funny apparently) and an old lady saying the F-word is enough to constitute a joke. Melfi's screenplay is structurally sound - it ties up all its loose ends and a solid through-line regarding its themes - yet for a film that was marketed as a comedy it's not particularly funny. The best comedic set piece is a chase sequence after the trio's practice robbery does not go so well. Going In Style is at its most inventive when showing men preparing the bank job with their criminal consultant - Jesus (John Ortiz): it was a high energy montage as they do their run through and getting all the equipment they need; Braff uses his box of visual tricks, using animated drawings of the bank and super-imposed a timer for their dry runs. Melfi and Braff clearly followed the example of other heist films like the Ocean's franchise when showing how the trio covered their tracks in flashbacks. Going In Style had a noble intent with its themes regarding the financial crisis - the resentment towards the big banks and businesses and the 99% vs. the 1% - like shooting fish in a barrel. People can easily resonant with the fear that their hard earned pension can be taken away – similar to what happened to BHS workers as well looking at the mis-selling of financial products - even if it was done in the most obnoxious way possible: using Josh Pais as a thinly veiled straw man who was given the most unbearable personality. The movie also taps into themes about the elderly being marginalised, gentrification of working-class neighbourhoods (the film is set in the Williamsburg area of New York) and outsourcing of manufacturing jobs to developing nations - issues that affected people who voted for Donald Trump and taps into the mood of disenfranchisement that is happening around the Western world. Going In Style is boosted by the star power of its three leads and their natural chemistry together - and any film featuring a little pug puppy can't be all bad. The comedy on offer is inoffensive, yet weak and the film as a whole is mostly forgettable. #FilmReviews #KieranFreemantle #TheatricalReleases #ZachBraff #MichaelCaine #MorganFreeman #AlanArkin #JohnOrtiz #MattDillon

★★ Directed by Robert Wakamatsu Starring Gian Shaw, Hannibal Thompson, Marcus D. Spencer, Ahku, and Yeena Fisher Indie Film Review by James Burgess The debut feature, by Robert Wakamatsu, The American Dream is an economical, if rather slight independent effort - an incongruous mixture of coming-of age dilemmas and conversational sparring. It tries so hard to be earnest and sincere, but it can’t decide whether to be a small-scale urban thriller, domestic drama, or even, occasionally - quite broad comedy. Set in the world of American Football, the title - whilst all-encompassing, isn’t the only on-the-nose element of a script that’s more than a little obvious, and clichéd at times. Its thematic ideas of aspiration, redemption and the concept of following your dreams, are both universal and admirable. However, they’re ladled on with all the subtlety of the rather over-sentimentalised, intermittent throngs of score - again at very deliberate intervals - almost as if we’re told in a very signposted way - what we should be feeling at each predictable moment. The setting of California looks impressive - all sunny coasts, sharply beguiling botany and speed-ramped, time-lapsed sunsets. It also acts as a good visual metaphor for the darker elements of what is by now a rather formulaic, tried-and-tested narrative structure: the glamorous, seductive quality of a particular part of the world, juxtaposed with the seediness of the dark underworld lurking underneath. The problem is that this supposed hidden threat, never feels threatening enough. The acting is quite wooden, the tension almost entirely absent and the vast majority of characters are frequently written as simplistic caricatures, instead of being believably convincing enough, to be emotionally invested in. There’s the conflicted, put-upon protagonist (Gian Shaw, doing his best in a difficult role with weak material) - and as is customary with these almost inevitably drug-fuelled, local-gang crime chimeras - an imposing, bullish heavy (played by Ahku - one of the very few performances to actually make an - albeit diluted - impact). There’s also Hannibal Thompson’s hapless sidekick who’s primarily there for comic effect, but his endless one-liners and exaggerated facial expressions make the film unbalanced - they don’t gel with its far more serious undertones. My favourite performance is from Yeena Fisher as the central character’s mother - who does succeed in making a lighter role work well. She’s the exasperated, relatable, persistent foil to all the stodginess of the convoluted plotting of The American Dream. The early inclusion of a split-screen technique would’ve been inventive, had it not been discarded, and this tendency to tackle too many sudden changes in tone, becomes jarring after a while. Aesthetically pleasing and well intentioned, but otherwise frustratingly uneven. #IndieFilmReviews #IndieFilms #JamesBurgess #Sportsmovies #ComingofAge #RobertWakamatsu #YeenaFisher #GianShaw #HannibalThompson #MarcusDSpencer #Ahku

★★★ Directed by Layton Matthews Starring Evan Gamble, Cole Smith, & Layton Matthews Indie Film Review by Chris Olson Last year's deeply effective documentary film The Future of Work and Death was a fantastic exploration of technology's effect on the lives of humans and the role we may play in the future. Plugging ourselves into virtual reality has been an increasingly common theme in movies too; Tron, The Matrix, Assassins Creed to name but a few. All of which tap in (or should we say plug in) to the issues surrounding humanity's relationship with computers and/or technology. Indie film Beta, from filmmaker Layton Matthews, throws its audience into a futuristic world with a 3D computer simulation being tested by a few initial users in order to work out the bugs. The results of which could be worryingly far-reaching and unnerving. Told through flashback, reckless rockstar Jake (Evan Gamble) is first seen explaining to the authorities why he has violated his house arrest after being arrested for lewd and crude behaviour. Jumping back a few weeks, we see Jake struggling with his incarceration, pacing the rooms of his house like a caged animal, and angrily denouncing his celebrity “friends” and lifestyle. Fortunately, Jake is given a new virtual reality video game to test which not only cures his boredom, but also allows him to escape - if only his mind. Once in the virtual world he meets Natalie (Cole Smith) who shows him around, in more ways than one. For a science fiction film, Beta also contains a large quantity of romance, with the relationship between Jake and Natalie taking centre stage. Regrettably this was delivered with quite a bit of clunky dialogue that felt hackneyed and overly sentimental. Jake's roguish personality is quickly shed for a more heroic lead which was pedestrian and disappointing. The narrative attempts to get more thrilling in the final third but by then it's mostly done using techy exposition between Natalie and AI guru Wade (Layton Matthews), who go into lots of detail about the game’s makers. Some of the filmmaking was impressive, in particular the blending of the "real" world with that of the game. The smart transitions, ethereal composition, and retro special effects felt cohesive throughout and skilled. Aesthetically there was a lot of promise here, although the light techno sound design was only mildly fitting and nothing to rave about. The sharpest pang of disappointment is felt when Matthew's film opts for a more mainstream love story over the plethora of other more unique stories which could have been told using this world and these characters. Heavier themes could have been explored, and something more affecting for the viewer. Sadly, rather than a solid and engaging fantasy film that deftly grapples with modern fears of technological advancement, Beta is a more televisual drama about the self improvement people can make when they find the right person...a tale as old as time and will fit alongside a million other movies like an army of droids. Watch the official Movie Trailer for Beta below... #IndieFilmReviews #IndieFilms #ScienceFiction #Scifi #ChrisOlson #LaytonMatthews #EvanGamble #ColeSmith

★ Directed by Rob Carpenter Starring Casey Manderson, Michael Brian Indie Film Review by Lucas Wilson Friedrich Nietzsche once declared that every book can be summarised by one sentence and that the rest was merely babble. If time travel were possible and he were willing to extend his wit to film, I’d defy him to summarise either the essence or the point of Nutshells, a comedy-drama inflicted on the world by Rob Carpenter. It isn’t just that Nutshells makes you ask yourself why you’re watching it but, in an odd way, the film itself seems to wonder why it was made. The chief problem is a script that, in the right hands, might have made an interesting short film but which is dragged across ninety minutes, eighty of which consist of unintentionally funny dialogue, confusing character motivation and a water-treading sequence of scenes that are irritating in their failure to paint the life of the protagonist and his woes. The bar is set particularly low during what is arguably the worst film representation of a therapist in living memory; a failed, unfunny attempt to invert the therapist as carer into careerist. On the couch is Casey Manderson playing protagonist Bill, a supposedly arrogant writer apparently beginning to experience the collapse of his beliefs about the world and his place in it. Bill, Nutshells is repeatedly at pains to point out, is recently divorced because he didn’t want children while his ex-wife did. Nutshells goes to even greater lengths to attempt to show Bill to be sardonic, immature and utterly incapable of managing life without a woman who wouldn’t stay with him as a result of his selfishness. Although it ineptly surfaces from time to time, this not-so-subtle vision of man as noble only when he’s reproducing and safely in the confines of suburbia backfires; Manderson’s Bill is far more likable than the film he’s in. In fact it’s a blessing that he’s on the screen for most of Nutshells; his performance is one of the few consistent things here and, despite lamentable dramatic feedback from a number of his co-stars, he manages to make the film work as a showcase for his talent which at least allows someone to get something out of this. His wingman, Frank (Michael Brian), an endearing counterpart to Bill, is also ably played and Brian deserves high praise for his ability to maintain a straight face while uttering the eyebrow raising lines “we need women to take care of us and to remind us to go to the doctor”. In the immortal words of Reverend Lovejoy, he does the best with the material he has. As constrained as these performances are by what’s around them, they are the strongest suit of Nutshells, a film which, in every other way, would have benefitted from better technique (especially on Carpenter’s own jarring, jumpy editing) and a clearer vision of how to achieve what it was trying to do. #IndieFilmReviews #IndieFilms #LucasWilson #1Star #RobCarpenter #CaseyManderson #MichaelBrian

★★★ Directed by John Hickman and Roger Armstrong Starring Roger Armstrong, John Hickman, Stephen Robertson Indie Film Review by George Nash Through the camera lens of a documentary filmmaker, Tone Death follows bedroom dweller and techno-house music obsessive, Roger Armstrong, who, believing he has developed a revolutionary soundtrack that will free human consciousness, enlists the help of bumbling best friend, John Hickman, to test his theory on unbeknownst subjects. When done well, the mash-up of buddy comedy and horror can really work. Just throw about some names like Tucker and Dale vs Evil, What We Do In The Shadows, and Shaun of the Dead and your list of mainstream examples is already looking pretty meaty. Give the seemingly opposing genres equal weighting and balance, and the reward is a near perfect fleshy co-existence of laughs, shocks and emotional investment. Much more proficient with its buddy humour thread than its horror one, Tone Death is, on the whole, a neat mockumentary that cleverly upcycles its borrowed genre conventions. The indie film’s intentions are made abundantly clear very early on. Down to its bare bones, the set-up: a slightly odd, socially awkward 40-something – who still lives with his parents – has dedicated his life to creating an accomplished techno album already 20 years in the making, is nothing new. Confined to the four walls of his bedroom, where anecdotal ramblings of drug-experimenting yesteryears fill the void of a lonely life, Roger is trapped – both literally and figuratively – as a slave to his craft. You don’t need to be a horror aficionado to predict that Roger’s unfaltering dedication to creating the perfect musical frequency to release human consciousness will soon take sinister turns. It’s a contemporary remixing of the conventional mad scientist narrative, in which Dr Frankenstein is an ex-raving, techno fanatical Geordie. Quickly getting the inevitable explanatory science spiel out of the way in its early exchanges, where screenwriter Hickman asks us to suspend any sense of logic or rationale through talk of optimum frequencies and sublimation, Tone Death spends most time in territory that appears to come far more naturally to him, that of comedy. As Roger’s instability grows, so too does his agitation with his clumsy, booze guzzling Brummie sidekick, John. As the film’s very own Igor, John adopts the ‘we’ve all got a friend like that’ mould, and is the perfect humorous Ying to Roger’s stern Yang. Their Chuckle Brothers-esque double act feels brilliantly ad-libbed and natural, and even during the climatic silliness, never loses its authenticity. As a result, the supporting players are less rounded and interesting, save for a mumbling drunk (pitched impeccably by Stephen Robertson), who threatens to steal every scene he appears in. In a film about music, it is testament then to Hickman’s pen wielding abilities that the most rhythmic thing here is the screenplay. There’s real flow to the dialogue between the film’s two strong lead performances in a narrative that altogether feels slightly patchy and imbalanced. When the more generic horror elements eventually make an appearance, they never reach the comparative heights of the good work that precedes them. Despite some clever camera play to overcome the more logistical and financial barriers that often impact special-effects and make-up in low-budget indie horror, the gore ranges, quite literally, from overcooked, to gut-wrenchingly suspect, to face meltingly impressive. To fully embrace the music analogies on offer here, Tone Death’s verse is far superior to its chorus. It’s often said that if you struggle watching horror you should cover your ears not your eyes, and Tone Death nicely literalises this concept - it’s a beat, not beast that should be feared here. Written with a real ear for authenticity and comedic timing, Tone Death is an accomplished tongue-in-cheek horror-com, even if it falls down in its more serious, sinister moments. #IndieFilmReviews #IndieFilms #GeorgeNash #Mockumentary #Horror #Comedy #HorrorCom #JohnHickman #RogerArmstrong #StephenRobertson

Directed by Cody Broadway Starring John Moore Jr, Chris Hamilton, Jack Scarboro, Megan Scarboro Short Film Review by Rachel Pullen Sometimes in life you think to yourself, or at least I do, “Would you rather go deaf or blind?”, and I have always chosen going deaf, mainly because I can speak a good amount of sign language but because sight is so fundamental to our survival as human beings. Sure I think about the things I would miss, like making and hearing music, the dramatic of sound in films, hearing those noises that just please the mind and I always assumed team sports would join that list...boy was I wrong. 4 Quarters of Silence follows American high school football team the Rangers from the Texas school for the deaf as they compete against a string of all hearing football teams from around the country. Before we talk about the matter of a deaf football team, it goes without saying that this documentary, although only a short piece, is slick and clean, with excellent production quality, lighting, cinematography and composition, nothing has been overlooked in making this short feel like a big budget production. Director Cody Broadway makes a smart choice in cutting all background sound from scenes where the deaf students or their family members are being interviewed, we feel connected, immersed in a world of silence we can easily get a taste of what their world must be like. As an audience we are taken into the locker room, where the team's coach John Moore Jr, who is also deaf, explains detailed plays, rich in important choreography to a captive team. We see how they communicate on the field, how the changes during game time are signalled by a huge bass drum being beaten with a baseball bat, sending vibrations across the pitch to each team player, we feel, for just a moment part of the Rangers. This is a fascinating and joyful documentary, not only showing the ins and outs of how the team work but how they have not succumbed to the feeling that they as a team, as a deaf person cannot achieve the same as a hearing person, and they are fully aware that no one wants to be beaten by the deaf team, and they simply tackle that by playing the best that they can. With passionate speeches from the coach and moving interviews from the team players, 4 Quarters of Silence covers all the questions you may have had about deaf team sports into a short bite sized piece. #ShortFilmReviews #DocumentaryFilmReviews #Documentaries #ShortFilms #RachelPullen #Sportsmovies #CodyBroadway

Directed by Aaron B Koontz Starring Peggy Schott & Elise Gardner Short Film Review by Chris Olson Told in fantastic indie style with a certain swagger, Aaron B Koontz's short film, Honor Student, is a fascinating story about the beautiful juxtaposition of life's mundanity and unpredictability. Peggy Schott plays a middle aged woman going about her tragically unexciting day. The highlights of which include spilling fizzy pop all over her kitchen floor, clocking in to a dead-end job, and arguing with a fast-food outlet about the contents of her burger order. With no dialogue, but a few sweet songs playing over the visuals, it's a short film to immerse yourself in without focusing on the plot. That being said, Koontz may or may not deliver something...shall we say...unexpected by the film's end. There were several lovely moments in Honor Student, sequences that really captured something truthful and compelling about the way we live our lives. One upward drone shot felt like a breathtaking out of body experience, where, instead of being treated to a near-death collision (like in other movies) the audience is given an innocuous moment of Schott eating a burger in her car - almost as if we are given a sudden perspective on the wasted life unravelling before us. Another great shot was of Schott arguing at the restaurant counter, where the camera looked on from the kitchen area. This had the effect of letting the viewer feel like a humble bystander in someone's dreariest moments, an important tone for what is delivered later. Schott is excellent in the central role, keeping her movements naturalistic and without any flamboyance which is sometimes the case in movies with no dialogue. The audience is instantly engaged by her character's determined yet directionless outlook on life, but does not engender too much sentiment. In one scene we see a hanging on the wall with the words: "She wasn't where she had been. She wasn't where she was going...but she was on her way". This is possibly one of the only nods of the head at the film's title, Honor Student. The camera had just panned past Schott on the sofa looking pretty inert, then to some award statues on the dresser. It's up for debate what the true intentions of the storytellers were, but their comments on wasted potential are certainly focused on throughout the run time. A bold and stylishly filmed social drama with an intensity to the character's flaws and aloofness to her waywardness that is unmistakably entertaining and gripping right to the very end. #ShortFilmReviews #ShortFilms #ChrisOlson #AaronBKoontz #PeggySchott

★★★ Directed by J. Antonio Starring Jason Torres, John Torres, Robert Youngren, Bettina Skye, Lester Greene, Timothy J. Cox Indie Film Review by Phil Slatter Night Job opens with a black and white glimpse of New York, accompanied with an impressive soft jazz score that makes you feel as though you’re watching a film noir from the 50’s. However, we soon discover that this is the Manhattan of today as we meet James (Jason Torres), a doorman in a plush apartment covering the night shift just a week into the role. He then serves as our eyes and ears as we follow him throughout the night whilst he encounters a wide spectrum of people who come and go in the apartment block’s lobby. From residents to a taxi driver, a con man to bootlegging DVD salesman, old residents to young, tradesmen to a priest apparently performing an exorcism, James becomes in equal parts an observer, a supporting character and a leading man throughout a series of vignettes that come and go as frequently as the supporting cast. All the while he is trying to sort out his own love life and just in general stay awake, despite an aversion to coffee. There isn’t too much of a centralised plot and subsequently it is to writer/director J. Antonio’s credit that he keeps the interest up throughout the film's running time. The minor stories are at times funny, sad, quirky, meaningful and insignificant and they come and go like rapid fire. Torres is excellent in the film's central role, portraying the appropriate amount of wide-eyed naivety alongside a necessary sense of likeability that engages the audience throughout. The performances of the supporting cast are somewhat mixed, but such is the shared screen time of the many cast members that it is never a significant problem. It makes for an interesting experimental film that evokes memories of past independent filmmakers, some of whom are referenced in the closing credits. Its predominant single location, black and white aesthetic and structural set-up are akin to that of Kevin Smith’s Clerks while the regular comings and goings are not too dissimilar to Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs, even if the two films sit in very different genres. It’s not even a stretch to say Night Job shares some DNA with Taxi Driver as both films feature an individual observing New Yorkers and how they behave when the sun goes down. This doesn’t delve into the deeper recesses of the human soul in the way that Scorsese’s masterpiece does as it is an altogether more light-hearted affair. Admittedly some of the humour doesn’t come across quite as well as it needs to and the dialogue (of which there is much) becomes occasionally stilted. Meanwhile an amusing, dream-sequence feels slightly out of kilter with the rest of the proceedings. Yet as a whole it works well, taking a simple idea and a low budget but still managing to showcase an array of talent in front of and behind the camera. #IndieFilmReviews #IndieFilms #FilmReviews #Filmmakers #PhilSlatter #TimothyJCox #JAntonio #JasonTorres #JohnTorres

Directed by Jon Callow Starring Liam Docherty Short Film Review by James Burgess The Fischer Enquiry, is the first short film from writer/director Jon Callow. An economical filmmaker, with a minimalist approach, he accomplishes covering a lot of important, even topical concepts, through a strong sense of resourcefulness, when that is precisely also his limitation. Thematically, Callow often explores ideas of technological paranoia, secrecy and security. You can see the roots of these start to be planted organically here, as a solo protagonist (or antagonist, as the case may be, played with a subtle, unreadable ambivalence by Liam Docherty) faces a difficult moralistic choice. The fact that his motives are deliberately unclear from the outset, only fuels to catalyse the suspicion of his agenda even further, making his character all the more ambiguous. The privacy versus safety debate, especially in today’s digital, all-consuming social-media zeitgeist, is ripe for reinterpretation. This is also true of the presumably intentional subjectivity of the film - the less Callow shows, the more the audience can deduce their own conclusions. The absence of any spoken dialogue is the most telling example of this, so the audience must instead establish that most fundamental of dialogues between image and sound, almost rhythmically, akin to a metronome. The Fischer Enquiry could’ve benefited from some more definitive answers for clarity at various stages - even in the form of narration. However, maybe the lack of these basic conventions, which are so often taken for granted, particularly in more mainstream cinema, is just as striking as their inconspicuousness. Tonally, this may be all covert and darkly duplicitous, but the exterior aesthetic, at least appears to be the complete polar opposite. One of the most successful stylistic elements is the cinematographic pallet. Dappled sunlight, verdant tress and wide-open fields, seek to emphasise the sense of human isolation, but the antithesis between tacking clinically cold and complex contemporary subject matter, but with a warm visual style, makes for a refreshing juxtaposition. This may also be deceptive, and is broken up by the chill of intriguing graphic inserts displaying those flat, grey, restlessly ever-disconcerting algorithms. The score too, (its inclusion all the more vital, when accounting for artistic constraints), is appropriately digitised and equally capricious. Its main shortcoming is the monotone of its pacing. There’s almost no variation of impact throughout. However, as with the essence of the film itself, this may be another hidden subtlety - just as much deceitful as it is seemingly innocuous or incidental. #ShortFilmReviews #ShortFilms #JamesBurgess #JonCallow #LiamDocherty