Best of the Lot

Best of the Lot by Roxanne McDonald

The top 18 contestants deliver one-minute shorts judged by Carrie Fisher, D.J. Caruso, and Gary Marshall…and then by we who watch and get to vote for our favorites.

I have had the distinct privilege of seeing the films twice on television, and then went to the www.onthelot website where I got to re-watch my favorites and try to restrain myself from voting for far too many.

I think I ended up voting for five or seven, among them those titles I have marked with an asterisk, if you care or as if I had as much right to judge as Marshall, Caruso, and Fisher—whose comments are paraphrased below also:

Adam Stein, “Dance Man”*

Carrie Fisher called it delightful and charming.

D.J. Caruso (the director of the latest hit, Disturbia, either replacing John Avnet or doing what I read was a rotation thing with the third judge) said they should be sucking up to Adam, for he’s going to be a big name in the industry.

Gary Marshall established one of the criteria for judging, saying how Aristotle defined the story as having a beginning, a middle, and an end, then told Adam he did it in one short film. He added, “If Spielberg doesn’t use you, I would love to.”

Carolina Zorilla de San Martin, “Deliver Me”

Fischer said the piece was really well made, a success.
Caruso was really impressed as well—with the acting, the making childbirth a side note to the phone call….
Marshall likened her to sister Penny Marshall, and said it was hip, that she did a good job.

Andrew Hunt, who brought us “Spaced Out”

Fischer joked that he managed to make an alien barf…something she has wanted to have happen for years. Andy did, she said, what George Lucas couldn’t do.
Caruso reiterated the assignment—to do a one-minute short—and said Andy managed to do that.

Marshall said barfing isn’t his first choice for a film but that he laughed at this. He commented on the perfecting casting of aliens and added that barfing on an authority figure is always great for a laugh.

Kenny Luby, “Wack Alley Cab”

Fischer said she didn’t get what he was going for, but for her, while he is a very talented filmmaker, this didn’t quite succeed…didn’t make her laugh.
Caruso likened it to a late night cable show spoof and said it didn’t make him laugh, either.
Marshall said everybody in the short was “funny” and Kenny should have made somebody reactive to make the film work better.

Hilary Graham, “Bus # 1”

Fischer said while she is such a fan of Hilary’s work, she felt a little disappointed that Hilary went with urine. It had a beginning, middle, and end, she continued, but if the end was nothing more than a man smelling urine, then it didn’t quite work.
Caruso said he could see her talent and what she was doing, but that he agreed: it didn’t work conceptually.
Marshall again noted how he is all for women filmmakers, but said that Hilary needed a better subject. She did do a reaction shot; however, it would not be her best work.

Marty Martin, “The Big Bad Heist”

Fischer reiterated the assignment—to make a one-minute film—and said that Marty, however, made a one-minute preview. She conceded that it was still amazing to look at, though, and added that he is a talented filmmaker.
Caruso complimented how the camera work had attitude, mojo, vibe. He advised Marty to be braver next project and select a single subject…for, he added, the talent is there.
Marshall said that at least there was no barf or pee, and it showed (by being in preview form) that Marty could get a job. Now, he advised, he needed to continue to prove he can be a director.

Will Bigham, “Lucky Penny”*

Fischer loved the look and the line and called it a lovely little gem.
Caruso smiled as he called it very Buster Keaton-like, and that he particularly liked the focus down shot…that the piece was directed well.
Marshall said Will managed to make it funny at the same time, and that the acting was good, too—that it was a charming piece.

Jessica Brillhart, “[How…] to Screw in a Lightbulb”*

Fischer called the short cute—though she didn’t exactly get it, thinking it was doing the joke of so many so-and-sos screwing in a light bulb, and that was the case then it wasn’t a complete success…though Jessica made a good attempt.
Caruso said Jessica set a nice mood, but it was a poor concept that wasn’t executed well.
Marshall said it’s hard to make a metaphor funny: she set up the straight line, but since a lot of people have gone there a lot was expected of her.

Mateen Kemet, “Soft”*

Fischer said Mateen did a really good job, but that everyone seemed soft and maybe it would have been better to have one with a little more edge.
Caruso acknowledged the film’s success, but also wished there was more edge to the neighborhood.
Marshall started by saying it was very good, but said he is from the Bronx, too, and some of those kids looked like they were from a chess club…. He reinforced the need for the edge for contrast, but said it was still a great job.

Claudia LaBianca, “Blind Date”

Fischer scrunched her nose and said that farting does make her uncomfortable, but it was well made…just maybe, though, comedy is not Claudia’s thing.
Caruso said Claudia had him with the first two scenes but then chickened out with the cheap joke…and with her talent she did not need to do that, he added.
Marshall noted how Claudia is clearly an artist, and with such talent she should do something more, something she feels more passionate about.

Jason Epperson, “Getta Rhoom”

Fischer fretted that she didn’t really get the guy was nerdy…but that he seemed mentally challenged to her. If that is so, she doesn’t know how to react to it, as she was offended. In a rare moment of retort (few spoke back), Jason very cutely, very quietly said that it wasn’t as bad as she was taking it, that the guy is just a nerd, and the audience giggled. But Carrie said he was kicked out of the theatre, thrown out of heaven, and seemed much more than a nerd.
Caruso also felt Jason was exploiting people with special needs and that it didn’t work for him.
Marshall said that we all like dark humor but that Jason went pitch dark, there. He added that Jason directed the film well but could have maybe directed the actor better, so that the guy was not so over the top that we would know he was a nerd. He also suggested that while politically incorrect is good if it’s not in an area that it just doesn’t belong it won’t bring the laughs.

David May, “File Size”*

Fischer thought it was good even though not alot happened. It was well made to her, and she commented that David is a good filmmaker.
Caruso was very intrigued, he said, by the direction. The camera was always in the right spot and the actor was very good. [He only says this for one other filmmaker.] Next time, though, he advised, David should challenge himself with better subject matter, for David’s instincts are better than that, he said.
Marshall also discussed specifics, saying how there is not a lot of talk with the actors and that moves the film right along—which is good. He suggested, however, that David get more out of the actors next time.

Zach Lipovsky, “Danger Zone”

Fischer [all three] loved this piece. Fisher started her critique with the Wayne and Garth “We’re not worthy” bow, and the audience laughed (while the fellow competitiors smiled

appreciatively, too). To do that whole film in one shot was impressive, she added, saying how she could not believe it…how it was so simple yet so very complicated. Her hat, wherever it is, she added, is off to Zach.
Caruso said it was brilliant: in one 360-degree shot Zach had a beginning, a middle, and an end. Zach truly is a special effects wizard, he concluded.
Marshall also gushed that it had a great story, Zach used green screens, the domino theory…. Then he asked, “What is your last name? Lipovsky?” Change the name, he said, for Zach is going to be a great director and he is going to need a shorter name [for people to be able to say it].

Trever James, “A Golf Story”

Fischer called it a really well-made piece that was beautiful to look at. However, she was frustrated that had Trever not said it was a miniature golf setting she wouldn’t have gotten it at all.
Caruso agreed that while there are [somethings] coming out like that every week, which he loves, it was unfortunate there was no indication of the set being that of a miniature golf course—no windmill, no giant clown face, etc..
Marshall yelled at Trever as a father would, saying, “I’m gonna kill you…!” Trever had this great satire, this missed shot insert, but had in his bio or on a big sign that said miniature golf, but had no props accordingly, which he said Trever needed somewhere.

Shalini Kantaya, “Love in the Year 2007”

Fischer starts with a “Wow,” saying the piece is very ambitious. It had a beginning, a middle, and an end, it had everything in there, she said, but it was also a bit derivative—as we see the same set-up in Must Love Dogs …where the character runs into her dad at a speed-dating session.
Caruso comments on how Shalini has a nice eye, but also says that the actress wasn’t strong enough and with so many ideas packed into one minute, next time she should let her focus come through with fewer ideas in one short.
Marshall again emphasizes the gender thing, saying how it has high aspirations for a woman director with a woman’s theme: she covered a woman’s problem, he says, but not a new one. If she continues, he says, he hopes she will go into more serious material [not for a woman director, but for a documentary maker, as she is].

Phil Hawkins, “Please Hold”*

Fischer comments on the film’s terrific look, saying it had one of the most distinctive looks of any they had seen. She says the storyline is cute, and had a beginning, middle, and end, but sums it up as “not a great success but not a failure, [either].”
Caruso tells Phil he has a really good eye: in the first two shots, he explains, he was captivated. But he’s seen the 9-1-1 concept before…too many times.
Marshall agrees that it was a typical 9-1-1, but he loves how Phil had the only funny word without a ‘k’ in it in there: “burgled”. Still, he thinks Phil could do better, cause he is an excellent filmmaker, and he has to tell the story in one-minute.

Shira-Lee Shalit, “Check Out”*

Fischer is ecstatic and cries out, “Yes! One for the girls!” She thinks Shira-Lee did a great job taking a demeaning ordinary thing we all go through—having to stop for those “bizarre” people—and took it to a strip tease for someone arguably not there.
Caruso thanks Shira-Lee for bringing joy and comedy to pain (as he feels pain every time he round that corner to the search line at the airport). That, he says, is a gift.
Marshall also thanks her—for doing something sexy…finally! He says he would otherwise have had to get off watching the host do the numbers [for voting, which was endless as she repeated the text, phone, and website info every friggin time]. Marshall also said she brought sex and comedy together and that her sensibility as a woman is great.

Sam Friedlander, “Replication Theory”*

Fischer jokes that she has heard this [getting tackled after farting on a plane] has happened to people. She concedes that she has just said how farting and barfing makes her uncomfortable, but says this piece was really great, as Sam has made farting, has taken farting, to a classier level…back up to “flatulence”. Fisher is, she says, so “relieved”.
Caruso says it is really well shot, with the cameras in all the right spots [second of only two times he has used this compliment]and in using a universal theme. The last film has them ending on a high note, he says.
Marshall reiterates how, again, farting is not his favorite subject for a film, but how Sam made it fancy farting…with production values, with several levels in one framework, and because it was original.

That was my take on this and a few [too many] others, as well. The originality usually (when it was not the stunning cinematography) got my vote.

Who’d you vote for? Did you try your best, as I did, not only to refrain from voting for a zillion titles but to vote based on your reception of and reaction to the work and not the person? That is, had Kenny Luby’s film been good, I would have voted despite his Marcel-like [Marcel from Top Chef2] snooty snootiness.

Can’t wait to see who makes it to round 4. Hope all seven of my picks do!

SirLinksAlot On the Lot links

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