Reviewed by Tanner Smith
Go to the Ball with Me, Jenny
Smith’s Verdict: ***1/2
Cole Borgstadt’s (Pyro) 3-minute comedy, “Go to the Ball with Me, Jenny,” is shot like an amateur YouTube video in which an odd, quirky high-school teenager addresses a girl he likes (named Jenny, of course), asking him to go with him to their school’s Winter Ball, while telling a few things about himself such as his family, his pets, his hobbies, his…never-born twin brother he ate while in uterus (wait, wha…?). We’ve all been there—working up the courage to ask someone to a school dance can be a tricky effort and some of us felt we had to go the extra mile, like the kid in this film. What results is a funny, sweet…You know what? I can’t do it justice with a review. The film is online. Check it out here:
Sassy & the Private Eye
No Verdict rating
“Sassy & the Private Eye” is another short film of mine that was selected to screen at this festival. It’s a comedy, like The Making of ‘Sensitivity Training’, but much different, in that it’s a film-noir parody, it’s not to be taken seriously in the slightest, and it features a certain Sasquatch character from Vampire-Killing Prostitute…named Sassy.
Kristopher Pistole (audience member)—“I really liked ‘Sassy.’ The writing was very strong, really fun premise and your lead was charismatic. If I had any nitpicks, I could tell there were some technical hiccups, like dubbing. But that kind of thing gets better with time and experience.”
I thought Sarah Bailin, who reviewed The Making of Sensitivity Training, would be harsh toward this one, but she actually send me a positive message saying it’s one of my best! “It’s a nice genre mash-up and generally well done,” Bailin said. But she also criticized the slight audio issues the film may have had. “Please tell me it was a style-thing,” she said. I’m sorry, Bailin. It was a mistake.
Here’s a trailer for the film:
Simple
Smith’s Verdict: ***
Scott McEntire’s 10-minute short action film, “Simple,” is a hard-edged misunderstanding-gone-wrong, with a wry sense of humor that’s more than welcome for the violent material. It begins as mild-mannered Sam (Clayton Bowman) delivers an important package to a crime boss (Tony Gschwend) as a favor to his lazy slacker friend, Jacky (Kelly Griffin, very funny). When Sam finds out too late what was inside the package, he finds himself running and fighting for his life against the boss’ henchmen. What ensues is a series of fistfights, knifefights, narrow escapes, etc. as Sam must survive to make things right. As a straight-up action flick, it’s exciting and well-made. As a dark comedy, it works too, particularly when it cuts to Gschwend as the crime boss and Griffin as screwup Jacky. Also, Clayton Bowman is a likable lead. Though, my main criticism of the film is that it may have benefitted from tighter editing, which is an odd complaint for a 10-minute short. Aside from that, I liked “Simple”; it’s a nice 10-minute thrill ride.
The Whisperers
Smith’s Verdict: ***1/2
The full review can be found here. (NOTE: This film went on to win the LRFF award for Best Arkansas Film and is now available on demand: https://www.indiereign.com/v/da5d3 I recommend you check it out.)
Stay a While
Smith’s Verdict: ***1/2
Michael Kelley’s 4-minute short “Stay a While” is as much a music video rather than a short film. I actually had an interesting conversation with a friend about what it works best as: a narrative short or a music video. He said it works much better as a music video, so I told him, “Then it’s a music video.” Either way, it’s still a well-done piece—a good example of editing that show contrast between what was once here and what is now gone, as a young man is happy with his girlfriend but has suddenly lost her and is frantically searching for her. It’s well-done and has a nice payoff.
Perfect Machine
Smith’s Verdict: ****
And now we’ve come to the final review in the LRFF2015 Made In Arkansas Shorts Block collection: Jarrod Paul Beck’s 25-minute science-fiction drama, “Perfect Machine.” After 3 years in the making, as well as an ambitious funding & marketing campaign (see Homefront and MatchMaker), the final creation works wonderfully.
The film takes place in (supposedly) the near future, as a new government system makes everything “perfect.” All citizens of new, altered civilizations are forced against their will to daily comply with this arrangement, by taking special medication, and those who don’t are forcibly “reprogrammed” to get with the program. It’s a world in which all choice is replaced with obedience, and it’s all controlled by the ominous Administration. Stevens 8936 (Kristof Waltermire) is a citizen who has stopped taking his medication for a couple days is starting to “feel,” which doesn’t bode well, seeing as how it’s against the system. Soon after his latest Administration checkup, Stevens 8936 (everyone is given a number to their name, making it easy for matching; again, see MatchMaker) evades two guards and escapes from the city, along with an unwilling woman, Warner 5964 (Caitlin Covey), into a forbidden, untouched world of nature where they take refuge in a cabin. As Stevens 8936 to the new feeling of freedom within himself, he helps Warner 5964 get adjusted to hers. Upon seeing/feeling the beauty of this environment, they learn there’s more to life than what they were forced to believe. And in each other, they find something deeper.
The background of this society is sketchy, but read/see other futuristic fables such as this and their explanations for their universes will probably make as much sense. I’m actually glad Beck doesn’t give us an answer to the question of how this world came to be. I don’t think his characters know either. Within the first five minutes of the film, writer-director Jarrod Paul Beck establishes this new world before taking his characters, as well as us, on a journey of emotion and self-discovery, which takes up more than half of the film. This is a film that uses a sci-fi gimmick to set up the two central characters, carefully develop a trusting relationship into love, contemplate complex issues such as free will and nonconformity, and results in a heartbreaking resolution but with a final shot that brings a beacon of hope. And it’s so beautifully done. The first five minutes of the film, which show the world in a certain amount of detail, are well-executed, and the visual effects are nice. But surprisingly, it’s everything with the more familiar world, taking up mostly the rest of the film, that I take back from “Perfect Machine.” This whole sequence is moving, insightful, and beautiful. It’s also well-written; there are a few extended dialogue-free sequences, but when the characters do engage in conversation, their words are carefully chosen. It’s also great to look at, with fantastic cinematography by Eric White. Watch this on a big screen, like I did, and you’ll most likely feel like you can reach out and touch this film, especially in the nature shots; you can feel the location. Few films I’ve reviewed in these blocks provided such a pervasive sense of time and place; I wasn’t tempted to go elsewhere, not even the inventive sci-fi world established earlier.
Both Kristof Waltermire and Caitlin Covey do great jobs portraying sympathetic characters trapped in a world they didn’t make and content with one that’s been there for them all along. I cared for these two and hoped for the best. Will they remain here for the better or will the cruel, forceful hand of the Administration bring them back for the worse?
The ending makes the film yet another short film I’d like to write a “spoiler review” for, just so I can talk about the final shot and what it could mean. Without giving it away, it’s ambiguous and people will see it one of two ways: positive or negative. Maybe it’s the emotion that was brought up in the mid-section, but I’m leaning toward the positive.
There’s no other way to put it—I loved “Perfect Machine.” It’s well-made, intelligent and charming. Beck and his crew put a lot of effort into this film. It pays off beautifully.
NOTE: Beck received the LRFF2015 Best Arkansas Director award for this film. I’d say his hard work really paid off.
Smith's Verdict 
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