Criticized/The Angel

AUGUST 3, 2008

GENRE: SHORT
SOURCE: THEATRICAL (FUNDRAISER SCREENING)

Last night I checked out a trio of short films, two of which I had seen before, and another called The Angel. The star of the film, Eddie McGee, held the fundraiser to well, raise funds for his next project, a feature titled Remember My Name, which I think is being directed by Paul Hough, who directed one of the shorts. Not sure, there was another guy named Paul there who was also hosting, and I couldn't really hear them talk. Anyway, that movie will have 10 more dollars thanks to me, and I expect to see it on the screen (maybe someone can have a copy of The Simpsons Movie on DVD laying around for no reason – for some reason it’s already a $10 title).

One of the short films I had already seen is Mike Williamson’s In The Wall, which I reviewed back when I first saw it at last year’s Screamfest. It’s just as good a second time, and since I had forgotten about a particular gag, it was like seeing it for the first time all over again. The only problem was a couple of audience members who wouldn’t shut the fuck up during the entire thing. Now I’m not going to pretend I never “play MST3k” and make snarky comments about a movie in the theater, though I tend to whisper such comments to my companion. But that wasn’t the case here, these broads were just chatting like normal, as if there WASN’T a film on right in front of them (with the film’s creator in the audience no less). If beer wasn’t so expensive, I would have poured one on their chatty annoying heads without a moments’ hesitation.

Another one I had seen before was Richard Gale’s Criticized, aka the most terrifying movie ever made. It’s about a critic who is tortured by a filmmaker whose horror movie failed to get distribution because of the critic’s festival review. As someone who probably would never want to meet a select number of horror directors in a dark alley, I find this movie to be truly scary. For my sake, I hope none of those guys ever see the film and get any ideas, but the rest of you should definitely check it out. I love the way that a wiseass comment in the review gets turned against the reviewer during the torture segment (you’ll never look at a paperclip the same way again), and the little joke in the epilogue had me cheering.

Finally, Paul Hough's The Angel, which was also the shortest of the three. It’s a fast moving little Angel vs. Death movie, with a funny twist. McGee, who you may know as the winner of Big Brother, is great as the ass-kicking "Angel", and the movie has some top notch stunt work not often seen in independent short films. Also, I should point out that I was quite enjoying the look of the film, only to be informed by my friend that it was shot by the same guy who shot Repo, another film with a very stylish and unique look to the cinematography. His name is Joseph White, and hopefully we’ll be seeing more of his work.

I know I don’t review shorts often, but that’s mainly because I rarely see any. But in this day of excessively padded movies due to incredibly weak/thin plots, I love guys like Williamson, Gale, and Hough for just getting to the goddamn point. Check out the official sites for each film (linked on their respective director's names) to see when they might be playing in your area next.

What say you?