Sidewalk 2006: Who’s responsible
By Wade Kwon
One of the treats of the Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival is the shorts block. Perfect for stunted attention spans. Wide variety for those unsure of what to see.
They pack a punch in a tiny time period.
Those looking for a block spanning the globe should check out Shorts Block No. 3 — loosely themed around responsibility — with nary a clunker in the bunch.
“Hattenhorst”: Our German’s a little rusty, so we’ll update this review when we see the correct version with English subtitles. It’s a five-minute quickie about a bitter projectionist. Nothing says art like black-and-white German ranting set to projection room still-lifes.
“K-7”: Can an ordinary man applying for a computer programming job kill for a living? He’ll find out in this most unusual job interview. A nice diversion.
“Guide Dog”: This cute animated entry features possibly the world’s worst entry-level guide dog. A crowd-pleasing instant classic Plymptoon.
“Hiro”: Boy meets girl. Boy gets bug. Boy loses bug. Will boy get girl? A sweet and action-packed short in Japanese (with subtitles) from Canada.
“Puppet”: Another animated tale, darker in tone, about an evil hand puppet who takes charge. If the brooms from “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” went mano a mano, you’d have this. Stylish, fun, mesmerizing.
“Euthanasia”: Or as I call it, “I Know What You Ran Over Last Summer.” Two teens face a desperate choice on the unluckiest 15-minute road trip ever. Directed by Adrian “Entourage” Grenier. We loved it for its animal cruelty, cheap gore and wicked sense of humor.
“Lucky Man”: Sorry, we got the screener without the subtitles (anyone speak Hungarian?). Update to follow.
“Avatar”: A paralyzed man faces down a bleak future and his unsympathetic caregiver. It’s a powerful stand for humanity in a surprising climax. How good is it? I saw it without subtitles (damn you, screener DVDs), but the movie does such a superb job with its storytelling, I got it immediately, even without the four lines in Spanish. Now that’s moviemaking.
Shorts Block No. 3 will screen at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at the Alabama Theatre.
Also:
- Official sites: “Hattenhorst” | “K-7” | “Guide Dog” | “Hiro” | “Puppet” | “Euthanasia” | “Lucky Man” | “Avatar”
- Sidewalk summary
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Action! Complete Sidewalk 2006 coverage.
Monday, March 22, 2010, 5:25 pm
does anyone know where euthanasia can be seen?
Tuesday, March 23, 2010, 10:32 pm
Try contacting the producers at Reckless Productions.