You know, I've never really bought into all of this 'summer starts in May' marketing hoopla that the big studios seem to be spouting earlier and and earlier every year. It used to be that US Memorial Day weekend marked the first big release of the season, followed by a bit of a lull until we made it to summertime proper. But nowadays, it starts as soon as the calendar flips--and so far, with one month of the supposed blockbuster season having come and gone, this silly season is shaping up to be the Summer of Disappointments. Star Trek certainly got things started off in style, but since then both of the other big geek movies--Wolverine and Terminator Salvation--were generally disappointing. It's just hard to get excited about a summer movie season where Angels and Demons (though I did enjoy it) and Night At The Museum 2 (though the Tattooed Boy bloody well loves it) are two of the biggest success stories.
So what to do? Well, if you refuse to see the error of your multiplex loving ways, you can save up your pennies for a double bill of Up and Drag Me To Hell to both charm and traumatize your inner child this weekend, secure in the knowledge that both are really damn good. Or you could go another direction entirely. Feel like the big boys are letting you down? Well, then maybe it's time to give the little guys a try. Literally.
This past Tuesday marked the official lineup announcement and press launch for the 2009 edition of the Worldwide Short Film Festival, which this year culled just a shade less than four thousand submissions to put together a program of the very best the world has to offer. You want name recognition? There are films by Jane Campion, Gael Garcia Bernal, Wim Wenders and more. Broken Social Scene's Kevin Drew turns in his directorial debut, with Leslie Feist in the lead role. Anna Faris turns up in one. Oscar winner Chris Landreth (Ryan) will debut his latest. And hell, if that's not enough to convince you, how about a little nepotism? Former Sideshow honcho The Goat Boy is responsible for the music video program Scene Not Herd while yours truly put together both midnight lineups, Creepy and Freaky. I haven't had the chance to look through other people's lineups yet but I can give you the skinny on mine...
That charming lady with the knife up above? That's Dara. She owns a restaurant. And the film named after her is the anchor for Creepy, the selection of films meant to frighten, though there is some comic relief in there as well. Such as the geriatric zombie hunter in Full Employment. He makes me giggle. Creepy's also got one flat out brilliant piece of stop motion animation from Mexico (Fuera De Control), the directorial debut from the writer of Guillermo Del Toro's The Devil's Backbone (Breed), and an angry prosthetic breast (Boob). And that's just to get things started. There's more.
Over in Freaky--where the weird stuff goes--we've got a teddy bear with a taste for blood (The Sleuth Incident), Kierkegaard loving vampires (Las Historias Mas Sexy Del Mundo), death by spoon (The Horribly Slow Murderer With The Extremely Inefficient Weapon), and graphically explicit toilet sex (My Love Lives In The Sewers). And yes, there is still the proverbial 'so much more'.
It's a big world out there and there's lots of stuff in it. Tickets are on sale now.