The Frog, The Dog, and the Devil (1986)

 4 / 5  Jun '11 
Tagline:  N/A
Directed by:  Bob Stenhouse
Written by:  Bob Stenhouse
Actors include:  N/A
Genre:  Horror, Comedy, Western, Animation, Short
Length:  8 minutes
Banned:  Nope





 

Review:
This is quite visually stunning, the style of animation and the horror inspired touches really make this a goodie.  This flick came from New Zealand, and in 1986 it was even nominated for an Oscar for best short picture.  It shows a Man who tricks a Barkeep out of a bottle of booze, then starts hallucinating things almost like he's haunted or something.  It's very surreal yet there is so much going on that it's incredibly easy to digest.  Quite an unusual treat, it's very whimsical and imaginative ode to drunkards. 

Availability:  I don't believe it's on DVD but watch it here:

Kitchen Sink (1989)

3.5 / 5 Jan '11
Tagline: N/A
Directed by: Alison Maclean
Written by: Alison Maclean
Actors include: Theresa Healey, Peter Tait, Annagretta Christian
Genre: Horror
Length: 14 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
Very unique, stylish and surreal little short film from New Zealand. A woman sees a hair sticking out of her kitchen sink and she tugs on it, after much struggle she pulls out a mini monkey man thing. She throws it in water and it expands to human size and it sort of goes on from there. It was elegantly shot in black and white, and it really is one of those "what is going on here" sort of pictures which makes it quite interesting. If you come seeking answers...well you won't really find them but I do think it makes an interesting statement on obsession with changing people. Pretty neat little flick that made me think perhaps the folks who made Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus.

Availability:  Not on DVD I don't think

District 9 (2009)

3 / 5 May '10
Tagline: You Are Not Welcome Here
Directed by: Neill Blomkamp, Peter Robert Gerber
Written by: Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell
Actors include: Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, Nathalie Boltt
Genre: Sci-Fi
Length: 112 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
Well conceptually interesting, I'm pretty sure I get the point here and it did have a few neat moments. The thing is, it raised more questions than it bothered to answer and I found it entirely unsatisfying. The plot is about stranded aliens who are kept in a slum like area and abused by humans for the most part. The aliens look silly and are often called prawns because of the similarity, nearly comedic and they wear bras and things...erm okay? The slum area is considered District 9, and it offends people so they want to try to move it elsewhere so they are trying to evict the aliens. One fella ends up investigating some alien gadget and is sprayed in the face with goo. This causes him to transform partially into one which is where the neat effects and whatnot come into play. Not an original idea, but it's rather well done I guess and adds a point of focus (even though I didn't at all care for the actor in the role). I guess I'm just old fashioned, I'm not big into effects, I'm more of a story hound and this sort of throws us in the middle of a situation without giving us much fact. I'm sure many people will really like this but I was underwhelmed.

Availability:  On Blu-Ray & DVD