A fistfight takes a strange turn after the combatants’ trouser pockets take on a life of their own. Here’s a mix of comedy and apocalyptic action, sandwiched between some funny sight gags. Created by two Daniels (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert), this three-minute short was commissioned by Dazed & Confused as part of Channel 4’s Random Acts series. H/T Pleated-Jeans
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Shane Smith from Vice travels to Moscow and St. Petersburg to meet Russia’s underground filmmakers. Fueled by copious quantities of vodka, wild and crazy intellectual theories and old 35 mm cameras built as solidly as tanks, these artists on the fringe are producing some of the world’s most original movies. Many got their start under Perestroika in the 1980s and rallied behind a rowdy, rebellious movement they called “Parallel Cinema.” Now, amid rising fears of censorship and a return to a chilling Cold War zeitgeist, the filmmakers continue to roll the celluloid, all while keeping a sharp lookout for the KGB. Language, adult content alert.
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Here’s a cautionary sci-fi tale, set in New York City, circa 2023, when Americans have traded their privacy and freedom for an all-encompassing, technological grid that promises total security. The so-called Bentham Grid tracks your every movement, purchase and action by using a small sample of your DNA. A time traveling rebel from the future threatens to disrupt the grid, bringing the full powers of the state down upon her.
This Orwellian piece is the work of writer-director Dennis Liu, a recent film graduate from New York University. Jeff (Mac & Cheese) Nissani and Samantha (I Married a Mobster) Strelitz star. One interesting aside: the Bentham Grid is named after 18th-century English philosopher Jeremy Bentham, who proposed something he called the Panopticon, allowing watchmen to observe people within a confined area without them knowing they were being watched. H/T Kuriositas
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The women are beautiful and the action is shot in glorious slow-motion, but Tadas Cerniauskas’ Blow Job probably isn’t what you think. Shot in Lithuania with music by Freaks on Floor, this high-concept video also has spawned a widely seen slideshow collection. Learn more about “Tadao Cern’s” evolution from architect to wedding photographer to a more cutting-edge filmmaker by visiting his website at http://www.tadaocern.com/
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A lonely, middle-aged office worker pleads with a colleague to teach him how to tango in preparation for a hot blind date. Guy Thuys directed this beguiling Belgian comedy, with a twist ending that O. Henry might approve. The work garnered an Oscar nomination for best short film in 2007.
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In this live-action comedy short from France, a commuter mistakenly boards an express train, then has to plead with the conductor and engineer to make an exception and drop him off at an intermediate stop, so he won’t be late for work. Writer-director Sam Karmann won the 1993 Oscar for best short film, and also took the Palme d’Or for best short at the Cannes Film Festival. Karmann has continued to direct on occasion, but has mostly enjoyed fame as an actor, with appearances in close to 60 movies.
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Buongiorno or Good Morning is a short, sweet and simple film that never wears out its welcome. Domenico Lannutti plays the restless hero engaged in a cat-and-mouse game with his own mirror image. Melo Prino directed this 2006 comedic short from Italy, which gets a big lift from the musical contribution by Ennio Morricone. Visit Prino’s website (in English and Italian) at http://www.bekafilms.it/showreel.html
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With a tip of the Stetson to Clint Eastwood…When Poisonberry Pete blows into the Wild West town of Crusty Ridge, can one little tart save the town and prevent a deadly showdown? This pun-filled animated short was created by Adam Campbell, Elizabeth McMahill and Uri Lotan from the Ringling College of Art and Design in Florida. It was one of the highlights of Cartoon Brew’s third annual Student Animation Festival, sponsored by Jib Jab.
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