Cinematical

• Eat My Shorts: The Mumblecore Crowd
  

  Filed under: Independent, Shorts, Eat My Shorts!, Cinematical Indie

  
  
  
  You might have heard the term "mumblecore" recently and are wondering where it came from and what it means. I'm still trying to figure that out myself. Here's what I know: In 2005, Andrew Bujalski (Mutual Appreciation) gave an interview to IndieWIRE in which he mentioned the term "mumblecore" as a name for a new indie-film movement. (The term allegedly came from Eric Masunga, the sound mixer on Bujalski's Funny Ha-Ha.) At SXSW this year, the term "mumblecore" was invoked everywhere -- the cast of Joe Swanberg's film...
  



• Eat My Shorts: Microshorts and Robots
  

  Filed under: Animation, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Shorts, DIY/Filmmaking, Home Entertainment, Eat My Shorts!, Cinematical Indie

  
  
  
  I like watching all kinds of short films, but I have a particular liking for very short shorts -- microshorts, I suppose they're called. I've been moved and impressed by 20-minute and even half-hour long short films, but give me a film under five minutes in length and I'm easy to please. Let's not forget that one of the best-known short films ever, the 1969 classic Bambi Meets Godzilla, is only two minutes long, including credits. So when I found...
  



• Eat My Shorts: Creeping Up on You
  

  Filed under: Horror, Independent, Shorts, Eat My Shorts!, Cinematical Indie

  
  
  
  This week's "Eat My Shorts" selections are all just a little creepy, in one way or another. Some of the short films are about ghosts or the supernatural, one is about a very creepy demon indeed, and one is about what we might call our inner demons. It doesn't matter if you're watching these movies on a computer monitor at your desk or a laptop at a coffeehouse, and that the film you're watching is in the size of a Post-It note. The moods and tones are still palpable -- sweet, scary,...
  



• Tribeca Review: Express Stops Only
  

  Filed under: Action, Comedy, Drama, Romance, New Releases, Tribeca, Mystery & Suspense, Theatrical Reviews, Fandom, Scripts, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Eat My Shorts!

  
  
  
  The centerpiece of Express Stops Only, a short film program playing at Tribeca, is Raving, from first-time writer/director Julia Stiles. Starring Zooey Deschanel and Bill Irwin, the film centers around two possibly dangerous Manhattan misfits who try to figure each other out and end up engaging in an uneasy friendship, of sorts. Zooey is a street scammer, hustling people for drinking money with a song and...
  




• Eat My Shorts: Texas Film Fest Highlights
  

  Filed under: Action, Animation, Comedy, Drama, Horror, SXSW, DIY/Filmmaking, Fantastic Fest, Eat My Shorts!, Cinematical Indie, AFI Dallas

  
  
  
  Welcome back to Eat My Shorts, where Cinematical regularly highlights short films that you can watch from the comfort of your nice warm computer. I'm going to try to fill Erik Davis's shoes, or rather -- well, if I said "shorts" there, I'd probably get reprimanded for harassment. At any rate, Erik's a tough act to follow. Since I'm just starting, of course I am looking for shorts to feature -- if...
  



• Eat My Shorts: The Best of 2006
  

  Filed under: Animation, Comedy, Drama, Independent, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Mystery & Suspense, Shorts, Eat My Shorts!, Cinematical Indie

  

  It's practically impossible for me to sit here and list the top ten short films from 2006. Not only are there thousands of shorts to sift through, but the majority of them are not available online. So, how does Erik go about putting together a list of the best short films from 2006? Will he randomly spew out names and titles for films you'll never be able to see unless you just happen to show up at a specific...
  




• Eat My Shorts: Merry Christmas Punk!
  

  Filed under: Animation, Comedy, Shorts, Family Films, Eat My Shorts!

  

  The idea and feelings behind Christmas change drastically at a few key points throughout your life. Of course, there's the first realization that Santa does not actually exist, and instead your mom and dad are buying the presents -- at the same time, trying to convince you it is instead some big fat man from the North Pole who's sliding down the chimney with a bag full of stuff from the local mall. Some kids just connect the dots as they begin to get older, others find out from "smarter kids"...
  




• Eat My Shorts: Watching Short Films at 35,000 Feet
  

  Filed under: Sundance, Shorts, DIY/Filmmaking, Home Entertainment, Contests, Eat My Shorts!

  

  Not long ago, we told you about a neat little contest that Delta Airlines was hosting as part of a collaboration with Gen Art. The concept: Gen Art would invite filmmakers to submit their short films and, along with Delta, the two would choose five finalists -- all of which would be available to watch on select Delta flights, as well as online. Whichever short collects the highest rating (both in the air and on the computer) will receive a sweeet prize package that includes $10,000 in cash, a trip...
  




• Eat My Shorts: Jewish Humor
  

  Filed under: Animation, Comedy, Independent, Shorts, Home Entertainment, Eat My Shorts!, Cinematical Indie

  

  It's not like my parents intended to screw me up religiously, that's just how it went down. Growing up, things were just confusing -- my father was Jewish and my mother converted, which meant her side of the family was Catholic. My father's previous wife was also Catholic, and so my two half-brothers and half-sister decided to live their life according to Jesus. Me? I went to my cousin's Bar Mitzvah when I was, like, six and was totally mesmerized by the fact that a kid could...
  




• Eat My Shorts: It's All About the Music
  

  Filed under: Animation, Comedy, Drama, Music & Musicals, Mystery & Suspense, Shorts, DIY/Filmmaking, Home Entertainment, Eat My Shorts!

  

  Since my review of Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny will be arriving on Cinematical shortly, I decided to dedicate this edition of Eat My Shorts to Jack Black and Kyle Gass -- otherwise known as Tenacious D. I guess you can call it a tribute ... but more on that later. Most films are nothing without their music (score, soundtrack, whatever), and that goes triple for a flick like Pick of Destiny. Fans of The...