Best of Resfest Volume
2 (Shorts Collection)
Picture: C+
Sound: C+ Extras: B- Shorts: C+
This second DVD of shorts from the growing Resfest
festival range from 1998 – 2001, twelve in all, and offers more of a mix of
live-action, animation, and digital work that is different from what you’d see
in Music Videos or TV commercials. This
set includes the following shorts:
1)
Bad Animals (David Birdsell, 4:41, 2000) –
Are those guys in giant animal outfits or does this have a deeper meaning? Well, it is funny, bizarre, ironic and a
good way to launch this set. One poor
man is followed by several animals, and the more that show up, the worse it
gets. This is one of the best in this
set.
2)
Bike Ride (Tom Schroeder, 6:36, 2001) –
This is one man’s representation of another’s bicycle journey over a girl that
does not work out, but then, neither does this average, predictable piece. Nice animation, but not much else.
3)
Copy Shop (Virgil Widrich, Austria,
11:33, 2001) – Though it is hard to say how this should have concluded, this
terrific little piece about a man who copies himself into a new existence is
made to look like it is Xerox paper animation representing live action and
acknowledges it with crinkled frames and jump cuts. This is also remarkable for how much trouble this took to
make. A making of program runs 3:48.
4)
Counterfeit Film (Brett Simon, 2:14,
2001) – A mocking of U.S. Dollar currency enlarged in all kinds of ways on a
Xerox machine, and though it is not as impressive as the previous short, it is
amusing just the same.
5)
Delusions in Modern Primitivism (Daniel
Loflin, 17:27, 2000) – A fan of tattoos goes as far as he can in this average,
overlong gag mocumentary that never clicks.
Though listed correctly on the back of the DVD box, the fold out list
this as short #6, when it is actually #5.
6)
Dog (Suzie Templeton, United
Kingdom, 5:38, 2001) – This Claymation-type short involves a boy who has lost
his mother, still lives with his father, and is strongly connected to the title
pet. That pet will eventually reveal
something sad and stunning. Another one
of this DVD’s winners, it is correctly listed as short #6 on the back of the
DVD box, while the foldout erroneously lists it as #7.
7)
Headcleaner (Alessandro Bavari, Italy,
1:56, 1999) – Strange, somewhat ambitious and brief work does not click with
images of the brain, et al. Average
overall, but so short; it does not outstay its welcome. This one is also
correctly listed as short #7 on the back of the DVD box, while the foldout
erroneously lists it as #8.
8)
Helicopter (Ari Gold, 21:29, 2000) – The
filmmaker deals with the loss of his mother in a horrible accident in the title
vehicle that took her, and a few others.
The twist is that one of the lost is the legendary Bill Graham, one of
the all-time great Rock promoters.
9)
More (Mark Osborne, 21:29, 1998) –
The best of the shorts here is a remarkable piece about a future society that
is a dull, ugly, soulless police state stuck on one product that is supposed to
bring everyone happiness. Suddenly, one
of the workers is able to come up with a more popular successor. This is the first stop-motion work ever shot
in the 70mm/15 Perf IMAX format and could be a classic!
10)
Sweet (Elyse
Couvillion, 5:15, 2000) – This short on human attraction looks better than it
plays, but shows that the DVD artist has potential.
11)
Telling
Lies (Simon Ellis, United Kingdom, 4:09, 2000) – This one shows
a series of words across the screen that do not always match the audio, trying
to show the doublethink the characters demonstrate. We have seen this done before and better,
but this is a comedy and does not do badly.
12)
Zen and the
Art of Landscaping (David Kartch, 16:14, 2000, 1.78 X 1) – This short
has a landscaper being seduced by a housewife, who is using him to get at her
husband, but her son unexpectedly shows up with news of his own. Funny and professionally done, but the
filmmaker shows his limits and inexperience, which stops this work from being
potentially great. Outside of the
predictability, not bad.
The picture varies throughout, from badly taped and overly digital images, to
fine film reproduction up to IMAX.
Nothing here is anamorphically enhanced, but for the type of material
shown, the transfers are decent. All
the shorts offer Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo or Mono, except the DTS analog on Zen
and the 5.1 Dolby AC-3 on Helicopter.
Sound is fine for the most part.
Extras include commentaries on every short, while Helicopter
offers an option to see the filmmaker’s Invasion of the Fangy-Wangles
short. Some shorts even offer
storyboards. There are also trailers
for all the previous Resfest events.
Overall, this collection is above-average, with More
due to be offered on its own DVD, so this is worth a look for all the talent
involved, but might not be a keeper.
- Nicholas Sheffo
