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Reviews
Self-Assembly (2014)
Creepy, Shocking, Bizarre, Dark, and a bit Ingenious.
It's hard to describe Self-Assembly... really. Based off of the 1 rather short comic strip (that I immediately looked up after viewing this short) you've probably never heard of, Self-Assembly shows the long haul of parents trying to raise an alien-like child they found in a self assembly cabinet which they recently bought. Without going into detail, the ending was sort-of abrupt, but, also, in a way more shocking that I could have anticipated. Going on the details side of thing, there is little-to-no dialog, or speech in this film, but, regardless the acting is well done. The film is also set entirely in black and white, and the first few seconds sort of set up the tone of the film, but, more on that later.
For such a bizarre concept, you'd expect it to not be pulled off as well. In that sense, you're almost completely wrong. The story is intriguing, and, while there certainly isn't much of it, whatever's left is interesting. However, as previously mentioned, I do feel this short film ended on a head-scratch-ER... not in an inception kind of way, but, more on the, "Well, that happened" sort of abrupt way. And, also, don't expect much character development in anybody but the monster, which goes over-board and does a spine breaking 360 jump- kick when all is said and done.
Now for my main issue with the film... it's humor. While some may laugh from time to time, for a film that dons it self as a dark comedy, it only really gets one part of that right. Yes, don't get me wrong, this film is dark, so much so to the point where I was asking myself if I would be okay to continue watching at points, however, as a comedy, it doesn't really hold up. The first few seconds of the film, while predictable, are about the only real laugh I had here, and I only mildly giggled. Instead of working with it's interesting concept to create a few gut-busters, it focuses more on gross out humor, which works if you like that sort of humor, but, in my personal opinion, it didn't really work for me here.
And now, onto the overall tone of the film. As I mentioned, the beginning sort of sets up the tone of this short... SORT OF. It's dark, fast, shocking, and quite predictable, a pattern I found throughout this short. Where it gets the tone right is the fact that it quite frankly gives us a taste at some dark humor to expect, but, where it gets it wrong is one fact: it had me expecting more. Instead, the tone goes from "HEY, I'm darkly funny", to, "HEY, I might be considered darkly comedic, but, I'm more on the dark side, less on the comedy". However, to end on a less bitter note, the direction is smooth, and was handled decently.
When all is said and done, Self-Assembly is good, but certainly not perfect. It ends quite abruptly, the only character really worth paying attention to is the alien-like-child, and some (like me) might find it not very humorous. But, for all those complaints, it has good acting, decent writing AND direction, disturbing scenes that were well executed, AND a good concept.
As a sort of warning, if you're a teacher that shows a class short films without previewing them, and doesn't let them see violent shorts, I would either not recommend you show your class this film at all, or, at least preview it first.
Before I Disappear (2014)
Very Interesting
Before I Disappear is very interesting. Having never heard of the short film it was based off of (titled, 'Curfew'), I stumbled upon it one day on Netflix, and watched the hour and a half it had to offer. For what it was, it was one of the most intriguing independent films I've seen in a long while.
The film centers on Richie, who is supposed to take care of his sister's daughter, and, without saying much, the movie ends up delving into some pretty dark themes I never expected to be explored, but, were very well presented and executed. Alongside the themes, the story is also quite well presented and written. However, as sad as it is to say, there are some plot holes from here to there, which kind of drag down the movie if you actually think about them. Plot holes or not, one thing stood clear to me throughout the hour and a half 'Before I Disappear' had to offer: the characters were VERY, VERY well written, and mostly believable. Sure, some of them seem a bit rushed, and forgettable, but, I thoroughly enjoyed the characters, nevertheless. Also, Ron Perlman was AWESOME in his role, and, although I've never really seen the actor in any movies or TV shows AT ALL, his performance in this film has convinced me more than enough that he is fairly decent at what he does.
Overall, I really enjoyed Before I Disappear, and despite some plot holes, this has to have been one of the best independent films I've seen in quite some time, that's not a comedy. 88/100
Mary and Max. (2009)
Quick Review: Mary And Max
Mary and Max has to be one of the best claymation movies I've seen that wasn't done by a big studio. The Animation is solid, the dialog is smartly written, the drama is rather well done, (most of) the characters are likable, and the story is quite unforgettable. However, the music/soundtrack can get quite repetitive at times, and if you don't like sad movies, Mary and Max might not be for you.
Overall: 9/10 Pros: +Great Story with tons of drama that is executed mostly perfect +Smart Writing +Great Characters +Excellent animation
Cons: -Forgettable soundtrack, with the exception of one song... that has been done time, and time again.
If you like claymation movies, check out Mary and Max. However, pass on Mary and Max if you don't like emotional movies (and no, emotional isn't used at all as a subliminal message because it has the word "emo" in it).
Ashens and the Quest for the Gamechild (2013)
A smart and funny ride, not exactly for everyone
//If you haven't heard of or even seen Steward Ashens work yet, your reaction to this may be mixed.\\
Ashens and the quest for the game child was not something I was expecting to come out. When the first video about it came out, I thought it was just a joke but little did I know that it was actually serious... and that the movie would be a fun movie that makes fun of itself in the progress! Egg my house because I'm not British, but I'm proud to say that I loved watching Ashens look for a worthless video game console for one hour and 30 minutes, and without spoiling anything, the ending made me both happy and odd feeling. However, the jokes are for the most part funny, yet not all of them were very funny. Some jokes were references to some British shows I've never seen, and a few others won't be very funny if you don't get the reference. But that's this movie's fatal flaw: if you don't get the references, you won't be laughing that much. While I do recommend Ashens and the quest for the game child it has a big star sign that clearly states that this movie is not for everyone. I also thought it the claymation scene was cool, and I instantly caught on to the fact that it was done by Lee Hardcastle. The plot was a little hit and miss, sometimes it caught onto something I hadn't thought about, but most of the time it was being silly just to mock itself later. I liked the plot when it was being silly but by the time it got serious I just facepalmed. I liked it when it mocked itself but sometimes I was just left with a 'what just happened' face.
So overall do I recommend Ashens and the quest for the game child? It really depends on if you get the references or not, but overall it's still very funny, and a good effort for a bit of a low budget film.
(also the films now on DVD and Blu-Ray, but that's only in the UK)
Pros: +Often funny plot +Funny... for the most part +Ashens is a good main character
Cons: -Jokes rely too heavily on references -Ending kinda lost me -Sometimes hit and miss plot