To Us, a short film by indie up-and-comer T.S. Meeks, centers on a couple falling away from each other…after only being married less than 24 hours. It’s a crushing, brilliantly acted and scripted mini-drama about the hush after the hoopla, that moment when you and your newly-pronounced spouse escape the noise of the reception, unlock the door to the hotel room, plop onto the big bed, lay in silence, and think, “What have we done, really?”

We spoke to Meeks and star Megan Messmer–who has an improv background including performing at Hollywood’s IO West Theater, the Groundlings, and UCB–in separate phone interviews about screening the film this weekend at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, Meeks not letting Megan watch the film beforehand, the benefits of an improv background as an actor, and much more.

Check out To Us at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival today at 2pm and on Sunday at 4:40pm. For more details, click here. Also check out: tousfilm.com, meganmessmer.com

The film screens this Sunday at SBIFF, and you haven’t seen it yet. Are you nervous?

Megan: Yes. My director is a romantic and doesn’t want me to see it until Sunday. We’re all going to be there, and I feel like I’m going to be biting my fingernails and looking through my hands the whole time. (laughs) I do a lot of comedy, but indie film is my passion, so I got cast in this, and it’s the first drama I’ve done in years. I feel like watching myself during these really vulnerable moments is going to be…(trails off). I’m going to be like, “OOH! WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN!?” You know? I’m nervous. I really am.

You perform improv all the time in front of crowds. Do you get nervous for that?

Megan: No. Not anymore. I’ve been doing improv for 5 years professionally, on a weekly basis. I just go out and have fun. Shooting this movie was really fun for me. Even though it’s a drama, being on set and getting into the character…that’s the stuff that I live for. But I don’t go back and watch my improv shows! This is going to be something special to watch myself going through moments that typically people don’t ever watch themselves go through.

You put forth a really powerful performance here. Very impressive. You’re constantly honing your tools doing improv on a regular basis; talk about how those tools translate to genres other than comedy.

Megan: I surround myself with people who have the same mindset, which is that everything you do as an actor is in the moment. You can’t ever play the same performance twice. My director said something to me that was so humbling and awesome. He said, “You’re a joy to work with because you can do no wrong on camera.” Essentially, he’s saying that in every take, I’m going through something different, you know what I mean? I’m in the truth of the moment. You do that in improv, you do that in comedy, you do that in drama, you do that in life.

I remember I did this comedy with some guys that I work with often. They wrote this role for me, and I remember I was almost in tears in this comedy! I took a step back and thought, I’m almost in tears, and this is supposed to be comedic. The character was a woman who was so upset, angry and hurt, that that’s what she was going through. Comedy, to me, is the most tragic, dramatic thing you can go through.

I feel that over the past ten years, people are really starting to embrace the versatility of comedic actors, putting them in more complex, dramatic roles more often. Do you notice this as well?

Megan: Yes. That’s what I want for my career. I don’t want to be pigeonholed into, “She’s a comedy girl.” That’s great, but there’s so much more to be had. I want to do both. Something interesting that I learned is that, at our highest point emotionally, when we’re ready to break, we break one of two ways: we laugh or we cry. I think that’s so interesting. In serious situations, I’ll find myself laughing and I’m like, this isn’t funny, but I don’t know what else to do right now!

You just recently got married, correct?

Megan: Yes.

How did you mine that experience to inform the role?

Megan: Oh gosh. It was easy for me to get into the space of this film. Before you get married, you go through this range of emotion. “Holy shit…this is forever?” It’s not that you’re thinking he’s the wrong person. It’s just, what does this mean? I don’t know who I’ll be in 5 years, 10 years. You’re making this commitment to this person and hoping that their idea of commitment is the same as yours. It’s scary. This woman finds out something she didn’t know about her husband on the night of their wedding. Suddenly, this person is a completely different person in her eyes. There’s this new information; is he the person that I thought he was?

I’m also recently married, so the story resonated with me as well.

Megan: Congrats!

Congrats to you as well! I really love the natural flow of the dialog in the film. Was it written or improvised?

Megan: It was written. I like to connect with the words of the writer. I really love writers. In the audition, I used all of the words except one. I think he wrote “honey” and I said “babe”, because that’s what I say to my husband. I really connected to the way he wrote this film.

You have a good cry in the film. Is crying on camera easy or hard for you?

Megan: That’s interesting. I think that people can get to a place where they can cry on cue. That’s not what I did. What you saw was me getting to a place where I’m vulnerable and I’m going through those emotions. That’s hard. I think that the really great actors are vulnerable in front of the camera, and that’s hard to do. You’re putting it all out there and you feel exhausted. No one should be next to you when you’re going through that, but I was worried about the camera being right in my face.

Why should people come out to see the film this Sunday in Santa Barbara?

Megan: This is a really special film. T.S. Meeks has such a budding career in front of him that if you want to see a star-in-the-making, this is a film you want to see so that you can say you were there. Also, my mother-in-law is going to be there, and she’s never seen me do anything like this…so that’s going to be fun! You guys should come out and sit next to us to see how that works.

[Hours after my interview with Megan, I gave director T.S. Meeks a call to get his perspective.]

Are you married?

Meeks: I’m not married! That seems to be “the question”. But I can tell you how I was inspired to write the film. I worked in hotels a lot as a bellman, and I would check in a lot of brides and grooms on their honeymoon. There was this strange eerie-ness, like it was just a Tuesday instead of something sacred. I’d leave their room wondering how they got to this moment in time where they’re committed to each other for the rest of their lives. It all seems mundane. I wanted to explore that.

I studied people for many years. I’m not so much interested in the words being said, but more the moments in between moments. The silences in between events. That’s the kind of thing that fascinates me. Most of life is those moments.

You use and value silence a lot in the film, which is a somewhat rare commodity these days.

Meeks: I think what silence does is make the audience uncomfortable and places them in the moment with the characters, in the room. You can feel the textures of the room. Instead of leading the audience with a soundtrack, I’d like to lead them with the sound of the room.

What was it like working with your actors?

Meeks: You talked to Megan earlier, right?

Sure did!

Meeks: She’s amazing to work with. She could do no wrong on camera. Everything was truthful. That’s what we were looking for, the truth between these characters. My job was to create a safe place for them to explore, and they just dove right in. James, the actor, was eager to find what was right for the character, exploring why he was acting the way he was. What I try to do is create a place of trust for all of us, from the DP to the sound guy to the actors, so that each moment is personal.

The third day of shooting, I realized the excitement of the fact that I’m suddenly a leader, I’ve brought all these people together, and I’m making sure that everyone’s on the same page. It was so rewarding, such an awesome experience to have these people around me, supporting me. It’s not my film, it’s our film. There’s no way I could have done it by myself.

ABOVE: T.S. Meeks

When I spoke to Megan, she said that you didn’t want her to see the film until this Sunday.

Meeks: (laughs) Yeah. I kind of wanted us to all share that experience, because no one else has seen it. You’ve seen it (laughs), but as a crew I wanted us all to see it at once. I want a collective experience. Which is unfair, because I’ve seen it with my editor. (laughs) I’m a romantic and prefer that we all watch it together.

How did you achieve the natural-sounding dialog?

Meeks: It was all scripted, but I let them be free in that I wasn’t looking for the line. I was looking for the motivation and the character coming through. It’s never about the words. I was trying to achieve [that natural feel], so it’s awesome that you say that. I wanted it to be like we’re in the room with them, not distant. In a relationship, you’re all over the map, especially when you’ve had all this champagne, you’ve danced, you probably didn’t sleep the night before, and now you’re finally settled in your room, married. You’re probably going to be blissful and tickling, and then you’re going to be upset. A lot of movies dive into marriages ten years down the line like, “How did we get here?” What if they discovered that on the night they got married?

I’ll end with the same question I asked Megan: Why should people come out to see the film this Sunday?

Meeks: Come out to see a movie that will hopefully make you reflect on how you see relationships and marriages. Hopefully my audience will have some self-reflection in a good or negative way. Either way, as long as a conversation gets started.

Rose McGowan’s debut short film, Dawn, is a surprisingly original and well-executed revision of a 1950’s teenage romance gone terribly awry. The film opens with our quiet protagonist Dawn sitting in the back seat of a car, getting hassled and badgered by her combative mother and disengaged father. Pulling into a gas station, amidst a brief pause in her mother’s nagging, Dawn turns in time to see a young gas station attendant smiling kindly at her. Charming with his classically American good looks and manner (a sort of cross between Joaquin Phoenix and John Wayne), the film begins with the apparent moral purity of Andy Griffith at Sunday School. Yet when the fated lovers finally meet face to face, the story suddenly takes a much darker turn.

The film is shot in a sort of High Southern Gothic-style, and draws heavily from Flannery O’Connor’s short story A Good Man Is Hard to Find, about a family’s encounter with a well-mannered serial killer in Georgia. Indeed, in a post-screening Q&A session with the director, McGowan stated her original intention was to make a film adaptation of O’Connor’s original text, before the rights were pulled out from underneath her at the last instant. But the upshot of this was perhaps for the better–the film that was produced boasts a strong literary basis yet an original plot line. Dawn makes an interesting parallel to Blue Jasmine, another recent film that makes an adaptation of an older text (in the latter’s case, A Streetcar Named Desire). The works are distinct in-and-of themselves, yet anyone familiar with the earlier texts will make the connections and benefit from an enriched experience of the piece.

Besides these literary aspirations though, McGowan’s film goes well beyond thematic adaptation–her portrait of Dawn as a naïve girl, caught between her own sense of danger and unease and the submissive, “easy going” gender-role that ultimately destroys her, makes for a wickedly dark lesson. This subtext, paired with clever references to the Hollywood culture present at the time, makes for a much more nuanced narrative than one might expect from so a short thriller, ostensibly about teenage love. The film is bitingly ironic, yet still manages to pull it off with tact and ease.

This was a real gem of a short film. Dawn‘s salient literary and cultural references, paired with the film’s high production value, gorgeous shots, its slow-burner buildup and gripping conclusion, bring something to the table for everyone, and portends an excellent directorial career for Ms. McGowan. Something else interesting to know is that McGowan’s first feature length film, a satire about murderous reality show competitors in Miami, is apparently in the pipeline. There’s something I’d keep my eyes open for if I were you.

Wes Anderson is certainly keeping himself busy these days (lucky us!) A short film written and directed by Anderson himself and produced for Prada, Castello Cavalcanti follows Jed Cavalcanti (Anderson favorite Jason Schwartzman) as he ends up stranded in 1955 Italy during a car race. It retains all the whimsy, vibrant colors, and rigid compositions the director is so beloved for, which makes this fun 8-minute nugget fit quite snugly in between his last film, Moonrise Kingdom, and his upcoming The Grand Budapest Hotel, which we at Way Too Indie can’t hardly wait for. For now, we have Mr. Cavalcanti and his mustachioed machismo to tide us over. Check it out below.

North Atlantic

After you see this short you can understand why it’s spent three years amid the film festivals official selections, the BFI London Film Festival, Seattle International Film Festival both played host in 2010 and 11 to the North Atlantic short. The film also won the Audience Award several times over including at the Milan International Film Festival in 2011. It is a wonderful, haunting short film, with extreme potential to be made into a feature.

To rave reviews and great public response North Atlantic is a gripping short film; which lasts just 15 minutes but leaves you begging for more. The story is based on true events and sees a young air-traffic controller discover a lost plane giving off a transatlantic emergency signal. As the situation worsens and help does not seem like it will come, the pilot is aware his chances of survival are low and so is the air-traffic controller. A comforting friendship grows between the two however you soon come to realise it will not last throughout the night.

The style, quality and cinematography were all perfect, and really captured the emotion of the event that took place; director Bernardo Nascimento chose a faultless cast to balance the severity of the situation and yet the compassionate and emphatic emotion humans can express when called upon.

Finding anything in North Atlantic to criticise was hard, the only thing that disappointed me was the films length, but being a short – I’m not really allowed to complain!

Head Over Heels

When the alarm clock goes off in the morning, Walter and Madge wake up in separate beds, despite (or perhaps because of) being married for many undisclosed number of years. The aging couple go on about their day without communication and seem to have lost some of their old romance, which is represented with a picture of the couple on their wedding day that resides on their wall. They have grown so far apart over the years that their lives are completely upside down from one another; he lives on the floor while she lives on the ceiling.

One day Walter stumbles upon an old pair of shoes that were worn by his wife on their wedding day. These shoes are in rough shape, hanging on by just a thread, much like their relationship. Thus by fixing up the pair of shoes to look like new again, he is simultaneously aiming to fix their broken relationship.

The visual representation of a relationship in turmoil makes this short stop-motion film so brilliant. Head Over Heels literally shows that sometimes in relationships the other person sees things completely different from you. Love is all about finding the correct equilibrium and that takes work. Head Over Heels is funny, it is whimsical, it is endearing, and it makes the most of its ten minute runtime.

Grow Up Already

Grow Up Already is a charming “coming of age” story which stars a number of familiar faces, including Johnny Simmons (Perks of Being a Wallflower), Jim O’Heir (Parks and Rec) and Ethan Suplee (My Name is Earl).

The film is first introduced with a brilliant animation accompanied by acoustic music which sets the tone instantly. Andy (Johnny Simmons) is unfortunately being dumped by his girlfriend Winnie (Odette Annable) for being “a big baby”, to which Andy protests, however due to his appearance we have to side with Winnie! When reflecting their break-up sat on his mothers’ lap being tickled he finally realises he is “a big baby” and decides to move out and live with his “play mate” Bunky (Ethan Suplee). The two decide to shape Andy up so that he doesn’t lose the woman he loves. The scenarios that follow are both delightfully comedic and deliver the story well.

This stunning short film is a pleasure to watch and is extremely pleasing to the eye. Director Richard Keith hits the nail on the head when it comes to quality in filmmaking and storytelling.

If you’re a filmmaker with a short you’d like us to consider for a review in our feature, you can submit your film here. Be sure to include a synopsis, promotional materials (preferably a photo or poster) and a link to your short film

Wrong Cops: Chapter 1

Quentin Dupieux, who might be known to most people as Mr. Oizo, has definitely earned his place as one of the wackier directors working today. His directorial debut Rubber was a funny and surprisingly clever film that most people know as the movie with the killer tire. His follow-up, Wrong, went in even more out there directions than Rubber but was lacking a lot of humour. Now Dupieux returns with Wrong Cops, a series of interconnected short films he’s making as the funding comes in. Chapter 1, which premiered at Cannes’ 2012 Director’s Fortnight festival, is a welcome return to form for Dupieux.

A cop (Mark Burnham) goes around town dealing drugs on the side when he decides to take a teenager (Marilyn Manson) hostage to show the kid what ‘real music’ is. Burnham and Manson fully commit to their roles, and the absurdist tone works wonders. Dupieux, shooting for the first time in Scope, shows how much his skills behind the camera have improved since Rubber. So far two other chapters have been finished, with the intention of compiling 7 chapters into a feature-length film by the summer. I personally can’t wait to get back into Dupieux’s weird little universe again, and hope the rest of Wrong Cops lives up to the same quality as Chapter 1.

The Way The World Ends

I have become very fond of short films, and this year I have had the opportunity to see a number of magnificently shot, exciting visual stories condensed into a mere 10 minutes, if that – and The Way the World Ends is no exception. With wonderful imagery, impressive special effects and a deep storyline, director Matthew B. Wolff captures the essence perfectly, of a man’s inner pain.

Dave (Joseph Buttler) wakes to find his wife not beside him in bed and instead she is stood at the window peering out onto the street. She looks to her husband and says “The sun is gone – it didn’t rise” to which Dave shrugs off and heads back to sleep not wanting to believe what his wife had just said. These shots are placed together alongside a scene where Dave is stood right in front of the camera with sweat dripping from his forehead – he is talking to a psychiatrist; we do not know why.

When both stand at the window the streets are empty, Dave’s wife describes the texture and colour as identical to “a dolphin’s skin” – the world is simply grey. With fourteen minutes of footage this short does extremely well to portray everything it needs to. Each scene and each moment is not wasted; they describe exactly everything the director wants them to – emotion, loneliness, confusion, colourless and empty. Dave continues his day as normal but is confused by how everyone else at his work refuses to acknowledge that the world has ended. Still intercutting with the scene where Dave is sat with his psychiatrist, we’re developing a sense of what’s happening. In the last few minutes colour is introduced and this takes shape through nature and through children innocently playing on a trampoline; defining the purity of life. This last moment of the film can be perceived as when Dave has finally found closure.

There are several moments in The Way the World Ends where scenes may seem familiar in style as the opening sequence for example is very Alfred Hitchcock, and the snap shot when the alarm goes off is the same as that from American Beauty. I loved this short film; it really was special, beautifully crafted and brilliantly edited together.

Elevated

Before he exploded onto the movie scene with his groundbreaking feature debut with Cube, Canadian filmmaker Vincenzo Natali made the 17 minute short film entitled, Elevated. The most impressive feat here is that it accomplishes more in its short runtime than most full-length films tend to do. Using creative filmmaking techniques, it is successful in creating suspense with just three characters that are contained in an elevator nearly the entire time. Elevated is so efficient that it even has time for a nice plot twist, resulting in a bone-chilling ending.

The film begins with two strangers, Ellen (Vickie Papavs) and Ben (Bruce McFee), riding an elevator down a large story building. The elevator stops before their destined floor, but the doors open to reveal no one outside the elevator. Just before the doors close a security guard named Hank bursts into the elevator in extreme panic. Hank explains that they must go up to the top floor immediately as there are dangerous creatures lurking in the building. The two become suspicious as Hank is covered in blood, which he admits is not his.

Elevated and Cube both share a lot of similarities; they feature a small group of people confined in a limited space with an unknown villain at work. Both films are as enthralling as they are thrilling and make you question what exactly is happening. Being that this was his first film, Elevated was naturally less polished in some areas, most noticeably in the editing, but was an impressive debut nonetheless.

If I Am Your Mirror

If I Am Your Mirror, inspired by Edgar Allen Poe’s horror classic, The Tell-Tale Heart, is a twisted, bloody interpretation of the original horror classic. Director Garrett DeHart employs a rich, painterly visual style to tell his unique version of the tale. Whether you are familiar with the source material or not (you should be, as it is a haunting 10 minute read that will stay with you forever), it’s a mesmerizing watch from beginning to end.

In the original short, an unnamed narrator tries desperately to convince the reader of his sanity, while simultaneously recounting an unsettling murder he’s committed. DeHart sets the tale in post-civil war America and expands on Poe’s story by chronicling key events that led to the unnamed man’s descent into madness, and the fatal consequences of his actions. DeHart uses dialog sparingly and fastidiously, utilizing pure cinematic storytelling which acts as an amusing juxtaposition to the penned source material.

The arresting visuals (animated environments, live-action actors) channel the deep, rich tones and grim sense of terror of paintings from the romantic period and complement the macabre tone of the story perfectly. The animated sets are rendered well and appear dirty, murky and soiled (in the best way.) When the camera moves, the various elements that make up the environment shift and slide like a demented pop-up book. The actors are treated with an interesting effect that could be described as a painterly form of rotoscoping. Though the effect can be occasionally jarring (especially in long shots), it is mostly effective and helps to marry the actors with their animated surroundings.

Larry Holden stars as the unnamed man and puts on a heart-wrenching performance. If I Am Your Mirror is a chilling and emotional take on Poe’s classic, though it can certainly stand on its own legs as a work of art.

If you’re a filmmaker with a short you’d like us to consider for a review in our feature, you can submit your film here. Be sure to include a synopsis, promotional materials (preferably a photo or poster) and a link to your short film

I’m going as far to say that this was one of the best short films I have ever had the pleasure to watch. Even with only 4 minutes of footage, you are 100% gripped from the beginning with goose bumps running all over your body throughout the entirety of the film.

Based on the poem “Nirvana” by Charles Bukowski this indie directed by Patrick Biesemans captures each feeling and sentiment from every line of the poem. The beautiful visuals and artistic imagery depicts the essence of “Nirvana” as the narrator reads alongside the scenes. The music, the snow, the beautiful picturesque environments including the diner where this short film was set and the poem based upon. Each characteristic of this short film are all so fitting to Charles’s idea of nostalgia and loneliness and with the diner itself historically known as “a beacon to the lonely American night” you understand so emphatically every emotion of the poem.

Please give this short film the time of day; its 4 minutes are gripping, breathtaking and wonderfully poetic. I’d recommend you keep an eye out for future films by this director as his previous short The Southern Belle which we reviewed last year (8/10) also received great praise.

Watch Nirvana here

The task of making a feature-length film is an incredibly difficult one, which is why short films are so essential to independent filmmaking. At Way Too Indie, we’ve decided to start up a brand new feature that will shine a light on short films. Every month in the Short Film Spotlight we’ll review several shorts submitted to us.

If you’re a filmmaker with a short you’d like us to consider for a review in our feature, you can submit your film here. Be sure to include a synopsis, promotional materials (preferably a photo or poster) and a link to your short film. Now, on to the reviews.

Party Politics

A short that’s timed perfectly for the election year, Party Politics is an attempt at satirizing the lack of communication between people when it comes to discussing politics. Taking the POV of a server at a surprise party, the short goes down a checklist of types like Occupy Wall Street protesters, 9/11 truthers and right wingers who think Obama practices Islam. Tom, the guest of honour who has yet to arrive, joined the Occupy movement after getting laid off from his corporate job which explains why these people would even be in a room together in the first place.

The bulk of the short is done in what appears to be one take as the server goes across the room hearing bits and pieces of everyone’s conversations. It may feel gimmicky but the transitions are mostly seamless (there’s definitely some editing used but it’s hard to notice) and the fact that they pulled it off so well is impressive on its own. Unfortunately the same can’t be said for the writing, with plenty of bad jokes that repeatedly fall flat. Everything is played as broadly as possible to the point where these characters would feel out of place in an SNL sketch. Party Politics is a satire without any bite to it, and while it’s impressively made, watching it is about as much fun as discussing politics at a party.

So Pretty

Taking place mostly on an El train, So Pretty is about a woman who meets a man who is something she has always dreamed of but also something she didn’t know she couldn’t handle. Life’s grand isn’t it? You wish something for yourself and it ends up being something you never thought you’d hate. Well, that’s life. The truth hurts sometimes.

Lisa is on her way home from a long day at work. She’s dressed in scrubs so I’m assuming she’s a nurse. She’s on the train with only a few other people. An older gentleman, a man covered in tattoos and a woman who is either strung out on drugs or is having the worst day of her life. Lisa is biding her time with engrossing herself in a book. I don’t recall them mentioning the name “Twilight” in the short running time, but I could easily tell that she was reading that book.

While she parades her eyes across the pages of her books a man named Sean sits down next to her and begins a seemingly nice conversation with Lisa. They talk about one of Lisa’s favorite subjects. Vampires. Lisa admits that she is not a fan of older vampire films and/or stories. When Sean brings up Bram Stoker, Lisa has no idea who that is. Lisa talks about how romantic the idea of a life as a vampire could be. Sean then informs her of the darker more grotesque side of it. Then the film gets grotesque itself.

So Pretty is really good at being coy with the audience about what is really happening and dances ever so slightly around hints that would reveal what inevitably happens. Don’t get me wrong, it’s easy to see where things are going, but the film doesn’t exactly lay it out either. The thing that keeps So Pretty from being a good short film is its blatant hatred of Twilight’s treatment of vampires and how people perceive them now. In that series they are brooding, glittering wussies. So Pretty wants you to remember how violent vampires are (and does it well mind you), it’s just unfortunate that it brings too much of a message along with it.

On Top

On Top is a 7 minute short about a high class prostitute who tries to justify her profession but also it’s about how knowing the right people can be crucial in life. She admits that she does not do it for the money because when you are already at the top, you do not need to work, you choose to. Unlike most women in her line of work, she did not have a traumatic up-bringing. In fact, her parents never have so much as missed a birthday of hers in her life. So then why does she continue to do this? She claims that she just wants to make people happy but the likely reason is that she likes the control and power she receives from it.

The first thing you will probably notice while watching On Top is how well the short is filmed. The quality of the picture, the lighting of scenes, and the beauty of the cityscapes are magnificent. The second thing you will notice is the mediocre acting and dialog. Wisely, there is a lot of voiceover done by the lead which works way better than when she must interact with people in scenes that almost always plays out awkwardly.

I admit that the double meaning of the title is quite cleaver, referring to both her profession and being the best, but the film as a whole was not. It spent just as much (if not more) time trying to justify high class prostitute as it did with the real meaning of the film. What ended up working the best was what happened between the scenes with the camera work and cinematography. Unfortunately, scenes that consisted of dialog or interactive acting were the weakest part.

“Meet nine-year-old Kelly Marble. She never really meant to kill her parents.” Rocco Cataldo’s short, Wednesday’s Child is a quirky yet dark examination into the child psyche, shrouded in mystery from the beginning right through to the end of its nine-minute run. Exploring themes of neglect, innocence and psychological torment, Wednesday’s Child plays out eerily through the mind of a nine year old (Meredith Droeger), in an effective way.

The film follows a simple narrative of the young girl trying to understand her parents and their strange behavior by recalling all her major life events where things had seemed out of the ordinary. As she slowly learns the reasoning behind why she was allowed to eat and do whatever she wanted for two weeks, or why she was taken home by a different family in the park one day, or even her father’s year long disappearance, things only seem to get stranger for young Kelly. Eventually she does learn the truth behind her parent’s mystery and with elements of the sinister coming into play, she plots how to expose the truth.

Cinematically, the film lacks in certain area’s that could have been created differently, for example the unnecessary use of very child-like, comical props (e.g. giant tin of ‘RAT POISEN’) which although fitted in with the theme of childishness and innocence well, did not provide the correct gravity the situation that killing your own parents deserves. That being said the film does have its merits as mentioned and does hold a very clever plotline with twists, all leading in a crescendo like fashion to a very sudden ending that hopefully, if the film has succeeded, the audience will not be expecting.

Super Spree is an indie short film written and directed by Matt Post about the work life of one employee that is overworked and underappreciated. One of the best things the film does is not take itself too seriously. Super Spree ends up being a pleasing dark comedy that will not blow you away but earns respect for how well made it was.

Billy (James Manzello) works as a stock boy at a local supermarket called Food Dynasty. It is fitting that the word “Service” on the building is missing one of the letters because it is lacking it in the store as well. Not only do Billy’s co-workers slack off and make him do all the work but they constantly poke fun of him. To top it off, he has a lazy boss who only seems to give him a hard time instead of the other works that do nothing but sit around.

He is set on creating three canned-food pyramids but they are constantly pushed over by his evil co-workers. Finally, he breaks when someone knocks down his pyramid one too many times. You have heard the term “going postal” before; well let’s just say he “goes grocery” on his co-workers.

As I mentioned before, Super Spree is a good example of fine filmmaking. The camera work featured in the film is much better than most first time filmmakers. Which I would guess came from being an assistant director on the excellent short film, The Southern Belle. Unfortunately, the short film went on a few small tangents (the female cashiers) and did not have enough focus on the main story.

Watch the entire short film Super Spree here:

Patrick Biesemans directs The Southern Belle, a 12 minute indie short film about two men on opposite sides of the same problem. Josh gets into a cab that is making it’s last run of the night. He has been cheating on his wife for 2 years until recently she found out about mistress. In his eyes one of two things are going to happen, he is either going to kill his wife or kill himself. The cab driver claims he has a story that can relate to Josh’s situation. He tells Josh how he thought of The Southern Belle train to be a lot like his wife, always on time and always reliable. That is until he found his wife cheating on him with someone else. Similar situations yet both are on different sides of the spectrum. It was dark and depressing and wonderfully done. In just 12 minutes it goes from sympathetic to destructive. I could easily see someone making this into a full length feature film.

Watch the trailer:

Watch the full film here:
http://www.snagfilms.com/films/title/the_southern_belle

A Mind Beside Itself is a 20 minute indie film that starts off as a romantic drama but quickly takes a psychological twist. Directed, written and edited by P.J. Starks, who proves making a film like this does not take a large budget and well known actors.

The film starts out with Tristan (Eric Sax) and Maya (Lori Rosas) having a drink together on a date. She catches him day dreaming and he seemingly plays it smooth by telling her he was just dreaming about her. He asks her about the book that she brought with her and she tells him it’s about a nurse who cannot figure out what is wrong with the patient she cares for. When asked how the book ends, she simply says it does not.

Some time passes and Tristan asks Maya to move in with him as they have been together for a while and everything is going well. She excitingly says yes to him. At the same time Tristan experiences many odd flashes of his future self with a family. His mind seems to be playing tricks with him.

After living together for a while, Tristan stops taking his medication and Maya warns him that is he turning into a different person. She notices he is often off in his own world and his condition is getting worse. She becomes very frustrated with him because he will not listen to her. He then angrily tells her that she has been a waste of his time but he was as quick to apologize as he was to get angry.

However, the two set their differences aside and Tristan asks Maya to marry him. Just when things are looking up for the couple again, he has another flash at the altar. The rest of this short film makes you question what is real and what is not.

Teasing us from the opening of the film with a quote from Edgar Allan Poe, “Is all that we see or seem but a dream within a dream?” P.J. Starks quite obviously us that everything is not what it seems. A Mind Beside Itself is a well done short story film that contains good use of camera angles and solid vision. The acting is somewhat hit and miss, depending on the scene but for the most part it works. You could do plenty worse than to spend just 20 minutes of your time for this film.