Sex and Sensibility…and Funny Flatulence
Sex and Sensibility…and Funny Flatulence by Roxanne McDonald
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In a two-hour special edition, episode 3 of “On the Lot” gives us the 18 one-minute shorts of the 18 finalists—a few of whom find farting and barfing to be the coup de grace of comedy and many more of whom feel and express the beauty and grace that is filmmaking at its potential best. |
The fart and barf themes aside, some awesome one-minute storylines have emerged from some talented, entertaining up-and-coming filmmakers who have made it to round 3:
Adam Stein, who delivered “Dance Man,” was headed for the courtroom. But on the first day in Harvard Law School, he looked around and asked himself what he was doing there, telling us he didn’t belong there, for he’s a filmmaker. Yep. If his first short is any indication, he will bring brilliant satire of the SNL level of entertainment. Smart, adorable, and supremely successfully absurd material.
Carolina Zorilla de San Martin, who gave us “Deliver Me,” is originally from Spain and moved here with her family when she was ten. She says she moved to the country where she would have the opportunity to work with what she loves, cinematography. With her quirky humor and keen eye and ear, it is clear she has shown continued respect for the craft.
Andrew Hunt, who brought us “Spaced Out,” is a humble, understated and professional filmmaker. He describes what he wants his film to come off as—“big, bold, and funny”—and succeeds, according to the audience laughter and the judges accolades. He also acknowledges the other 17 as all being the biggest competition, as, he says, they are all very talented filmmakers. You are at the top of that list, Andy.
Kenny Luby, who delivered “Wack Alley Cab,” says one does not need to go to film school to be a director. From what we have seen of Kenny in rounds one and two, all you evidently need is an ego the size of a studio. Not to worry, though, the one-minute he delivered—which was over the top, loud, and, as he defended it, “tweaky,” was over the heads of everyone who watched it, foregoing satire of the cerebal kind and forfeiting comprehensibility. Maybe it’s time to head to school, Ken. Then again, maybe he will evolve into the next David Lynch…filmically, that is.
Hilary Graham, who created “Bus # 1,” was a stay-at-home mom feeling something was missing. Now she feels her whole life has led to this moment—though hopefully her whole life was not just about having to pee, which fell flat with the audience (no laughs) and the judges (though they did address her skills behind the camera).
Marty Martin, who did “The Big Bad Heist,” is the adorable mascot-looking type who says he always dreamed of being the next Steven Spielberg [even before the “On the Lot” experience came to be]. He still wants to be the next Steven Spielberg, only as Marty Martin. He’s got some mad skills, and now that his fellow competitor who found him an
intransigent threat has been eliminated, maybe he can be. I will abstain from critique, as there are very few contemporary gansta-themed/noir films I like to begin with.
Will Bigham, who made “Lucky Penny,” had first said he wanted to—no, had to—make the filmmaking life work…for his family. From the skill and creativity he puts into his short, here’s a bet he will make it very far in the competition.
Jessica Brillhart, who created “[How…] to Screw in a Lightbulb,” is not just the youngest woman in the competition but is one righteous woman…righteous without being obnoxious or overstating her teleos. (She’s the one who stood up to Kenny Luby’s lording it during task #2.) You can catch a tincture of such tendencies in her short, which I found to be one of the best (darkly humorous and pointed…toward female empowerment) if not the best of the lot. The judges felt otherwise, but I love the bizarre character inclusion and the no-nonsense wife who solves the issue of the light bulb replacement with a simple flick of the wrist.
Mateen Kemet, who directed “Soft”, reminds me of a laid back (read: cool) reggae star I once had a profound one-weekend love affair with. (Okay, too much information, but whatever.) Originally from the South Bronx and now in Oaktown, Mateen expresses his approach as one with urban tones (apropos for the Wall Street brainiac who traded in his big-money career for creativity behind the camera). It would be remiss of me to liken his talents as a filmmaker to those of another African American director, Spike Lee, just cause Kemet has those same big eyes or because “Soft” has that Brooklyn hood setting and the justice turned on its head angle, and I haven’t seen enough to liken him to anyone else, anyway. Mateen has some mad skills with conceptualization and scene, though, and therefore he must go further in the competition!
Claudia LaBianca, who brought us “Blind Date,” is a spitfire with multiple talents she says she has conjoined into directing. A painter, actor, comic book creator, Claudia brings a unique, spunky, dynamic tone to her work, which also has a presence of her now passed on brother in every individual piece. She has an original twist on blind dating, which I found myself wanting more of than just a one-minute sampling, dammit.
Jason Epperson, who gave us “Getta Rhoom,” seems so reserved and introverted, compared to the piece he delivers. This southern boy (from Kentucky) says he is kinda the odd man out. Amidst all these New York boys, and maybe that explains his use of a nerd in his short. Though the judges interpret the piece as inadvertently poking fun at a mentally challenged person (cause the actor was way “special” in his delivery), the overall concept was to me one of the most original of the lot. And of the 18 films shown and the four or maybe five who used poop, fart, pee themes, Epperson was really exclusively unique.
David May, who directed “File Size,” is another antithesis of the spazz. Without a lot of biographical prefacing, May just introduces his film as one which has a theme most can relate to: the frustrations of working in an office with a crazy-making freak of a boss to boot. I loved this film, and hope that May goes deservedly far—her or elsewhere in the film industry.
Zach Lipovsky, who delivered “Danger Zone,” is also another understated man. He is in fact an ideal archetype for Epperson’s nerd character. Zach also has this most endearing twinkle in his eyes, as he tells us how absolutely amazingly dreamy it would be to even think of being the winner of this competition. But he just contradict himself: as the special effects go-to guy with ah-MAZING talent, Lipovsky has not only delivered a team project (in round two) with suspended animation effects, but creates a one-minute
short with the Goldberg Machine effect/domino effect that has made the judges nearly pee their pants. What a spectacular piece his second (or third) offering is, all done in one single shot against green screen (I think called blue screen, regardless) and taking forty-six takes!
Trever James, who brought on “A Golf Story,” is a filmmaker and director who also loves to act–though like so many of the others is calm and quiet and modest to a fault, and you would not expect such a dramatic flair as he delivers in his short. The piece is clever and tight, even though, as the judges complained, he blurbed that the story was of a miniature golf session but nowhere in the film does he use a miniature golf prop. Tough cookies…it is still a fun piece.
Shalini Kantaya, who created “Love in the Year 2007,” cares about human rights issues, wants to involve themes of environmental and women concerns, female [and human] empowerment, and included a touch in her jam-packed funny in a quirky way short piece. Moreover, her seriousness as one in the field of documentaries made the judges sujest she will go far in other tasks, despite how this one was not in her repertoire.
Phil Hawkins, who delivered “Please Hold,” says that growing up in a working-class, single-parent environment, he could have turned to drugs and crime and the street. But he didn’t, and instead translated his passion into filmmaking. The passion (and skill) is apparent, as the short piece has some of the top cinematic visual quality of the lot. So what the storyline has been done?
Shira-Lee Shalit, who made “Check Out,” is just precious in her creativity and modesty combined…a most likable person. But that faulty ad hominem reasoning of mine aside, I find her work to be just as endearing, just as engaging, just as entertaining. One of my favorite shorts, that is, makes this filmmaker who speaks to having quit teaching to become a director—which she has done through acting first–a complete package for the candidacy of final three on “On the Lot.” Now taking bets, folks.
Sam Friedlander, who created “Replication Theory,” has been making films since he was a kid. Hoping people will identify with his film’s subject matter and situation, Sam says the short is the kind of film that makes him laugh. Then, like so many of the others who are clever and yet composed contestants, Sam giggles. He and his short film endear us all over again, making it difficult to have to choose just ONE to vote through to the next round.
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