I never felt like we got a chance to discuss some of the shorts at Flickerings.

1. I liked the concept behind 12 stories... alot. The still shots and the interview style worked really well together. The music was brilliant and the introductory sequence was really cool. I would like to hear Prins comment on the end though.

2. Kevin's film was well shot. And I am a sucker for scripts that only allude to a sense of narrative and are satisfied with this abstraction. This form of storytelling tends to be character-driven and yields satisfactory psychological portraits. I was impressed by Kevin's script because it is so short, but yet is successful on all of these points.

3. I didn't see Bevan's film.

[quote]1. I liked the concept behind 12 stories... alot. The still shots and the interview style worked really well together. The music was brilliant and the introductory sequence was really cool. I would like to hear Prins comment on the end though.[/quote]

Um, gawsh. Thanks. Jeepers, I'll never be able to be modest again.

I will comment on the end after you comment on the end, if only because I want to see the phrase "SPOILERS FOR '12 STORIES ABOUT EILEEN'."

No, that is a lie. Partially. It is because everyone who has commented on the ending has had a different idea what I was specifically trying to get across, and I am curious what you thought.

Also, if there is one thing I really, really like about "Eileen," it's the musical compositions. And you are the first person to say, "Yay, 'Eileen' music!" You are now my best friend for life.

Question: I guess you saw it on the DVD, then, and not on projected video, because you had already left, yes?

[quote]2. Kevin's film was well shot. And I am a sucker for scripts that only allude to a sense of narrative and are satisfied with this abstraction. This form of storytelling tends to be character-driven and yields satisfactory psychological portraits. I was impressed by Kevin's script because it is so short, but yet is successful on all of these points.[/quote]

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. I saw both sessions on each Thursday and Friday (and obviously the "Eileen" Saturday session), and "Shooting Guns" was my second-favorite in-competition short film of the festival, with first place being Phil Donlon's "Wrestled." I'll write more about both of these films (especially since I owe Kevin some comments) when I have a bit more time.

I suppose I should not mention my least favorite short film of the festival, because that would not be very nice. Ah well. Perhaps later I will mention a different Flickerings short film that I did not like at all but I'm pretty sure other people did, because I would like to discuss it.

Dale

Mention it! Mention it!

I liked the way the We Give Hookers Birthday Parties one started and established its characters. Its close up shots of sugar packets, button pushings, and various things worked really well within the way the director shot the dialogue. But I already knew what was going to happen so I really wasn't into it other than visually AND it broke Dogma rules.

I didn't see Carl's first film with (what I heard was) a crazy dancing-doll hand sweeping sequence in a degraded film. Too bad I missed that, it sounds up my alley. I only saw half of his second film. Hearing him talk about these films in the filmmaker's meeting was good. He has a lot of really interesting ideas and a captivating way of expressing them. But I don't know how well his films match the genius of some of his ideas. Next year it will be exciting to see what he brings to the festival. I am partial to his ideas about story structure and the layering of images, etc...



SPOILERS FOR: 12 Stories...

Okay. I did only see it on DVD (and there was some problem with it starting and stopping periodically). I will watch it again tonight and then comment. I have only seen it once.

: Mention it! Mention it!

I will mention the one that I think people liked a lot more than me, and that is Defenestration. Not only was it a well-edited, gorgeous film, with a sound mix that puts many well-distributed indie features to shame, but...oh, wait, there is no but. I did not like the premise, I did not like the way the premise was carried out, I did not like the obviousness of the "inner child," I did not like the parallelism of the scenes where the child gets abandoned by one, then two parents, I did not like that it ended happily, I did not like this Flick'rings film, I did not like it, Teddy Lilm. (Whoever that is.)

: I liked the way the We Give Hookers Birthday Parties one started and
: established its characters.

Yeah. The Least of These was my favorite of the films I haven't yet mentioned, although -- as in nearly all of these films, including no doubt mine -- I wasn't impressed with the casting, and a few crowd-friendly moments (you can probably guess which ones) didn't appeal to me. But it was a fine film, no doubt.

: I only saw half of his second film.

I saw about two-thirds. It was okay, although I was more than a bit confused and layering upon layering upon layering gets old after a time.

: Hearing him talk about these films in the filmmaker's meeting was good.
: He has a lot of really interesting ideas and a captivating way of
: expressing them. But I don't know how well his films match the genius
: of some of his ideas. Next year it will be exciting to see what he brings
: to the festival.

I agree on all counts. He'd be an interesting addition to this board, actually.

Dale

OK Dale, I'm hooked. Do you accept PayPal? How can we arrange for a copy to be in my hot liile hands?