Shorts

And I'm back with another review of what I've seen at IFFBoston.

SHORTS

GOD OF LOVE

Premise: This was a 10-15 minute film about a guy who prays to God (whose name he doesn't know) to make the drummer in his jazz band fall for him. In response, he gets magic love darts. The guy is a master dart thrower and it works, for a short time. The dart's magic lasts six hours in which he must convince the girl to fall for him. Despite his efforts, her love for the guitarist shines through.

Reaction: OF all the shorts I saw in this set, this was by far the best. It had a story that had a beginning, middle and ending. It was a happy ending, too which didn't hurt. We see him ride off on his bike with a quiver and arrows, a modern day cupid. He's bee able to find love for all sorts of people, including all of his band and most of the audience. Definitely worth seeing again. Plus, the director/lead actor was there for a short Q&A after the film and he was very personable.

Rating: * * * *

THE GAYBY

Premise: Two friends from college decide to have a baby, even though the guy is gay.

Reaction Yes, the premise really is that simple. Unlike God Of Love, this film didn't have a solid resolution. It ends with the pair sitting on the roof for a smoke (even though neither are actually smoking) waiting for the pregnancy test. They discuss the reason for the baby and it was kind of interesting. Apparently, this is quite a common arrangement, women getting pregnant by their gay friends, hence the title of the film. I enjoyed it overall but I do wish we could have found out if it had worked. I will say that the sex scene was quite entertaining, if a bit strained. But it fit the situation very well.

Rating * * * *

BLACKHEAD

Premise: A guy develops a huge blackhead on his back and there are very disgusting consequences to his actions.

Reaction This film was absolutely revolting. Nothing funny about it at all. Almost immediately you knew what was going to happen (finding a homeless guy to screw him...there). Yeah, I sat there with my eyes covered most of the time. Even thinking about it now makes me kind of sick to my stomach. Highly NOT recommended.

Rating *

THE ARMOIRE

Premise: A boy's friend goes missing and they eventually find him buried on school grounds. The adults in the boy's life try to figure out what happened.

Reaction This was a really strange film. We see the boy counting down and running all over the house trying to find his friend. They’re playing hide and seek. Seems normal enough and when the boy can’t find his friend, everyone and their brother it seems shows up to question him. He sees a shrink and trough hypnosis we see what really happened. The boys were playing truth or dare and the boy dared his friend to stick his (metal) fork in the power socket. I think we all know how that ends. So yeah, very weird.

Rating * * *

SEEDS OF THE FALL

Premise: A Swedish couple's bedroom bets bulldozed by a diabetic guy in the middle of the night and their neighbors stop by asking for help in conceiving a child.

Reaction First off, let me say I had no idea this was a foreign film. Subtitles and I do not mix one bit. Especially when most of the text appeared against a white background. And yes, the text was also white. So that made it hard to figure out what was going on. Also, it was kind of hard to tell what happened anyway. There was a carpenter named Stefan who ended up sleeping with the neighbor’s wife (the hubby got hit by an ice cream truck). Just a very bizarre film.

Rating * *