In Which John Goes to a Film Festival

Friday - There was a block party. It was hot. My roommate and I wandered around, not meeting anyone. Why should we, we already met each other? I also tried Vegemite. Allie and Billy watched. I think we've found a food I don't like at all.

Saturday - Took a personal day in Sydney. Again, I wanted to take pictures, but the rain stopped me. I went through the town of Glebe and hit up the markets, including quaint bookstores. I got a cheap copy of The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling and a not-so-cheap copy of The Great Gatsby in graphic novel form, only available in Australia.

Sunday - I went to Tropfest '09. It is the world's biggest short film festival, and it was located right in Sydney. We spent all day sitting outside in the park watching the huge screens. This was also apparently the first televised event, so you guys should have watched it on TV. Every year, there is a "significant object" that must be included in the film to ensure that it was made for the festival. This year, it was "spring." Interpret that as you will (the directors certainly did). There were some celebrity judges there, including the girl from A Series of Unfortunate Events (and the recent Unborn) and the girl who will be providing Alice's voice in the upcoming Tim Burton Wonderland movie. Alas, I didn't get to see them in person, but I saw where they were sitting.

I found that the best kind of short film tells a simple story, then has some memorable twist or reveal. So without further ado, here are the 16 finalists (warning, spoilers ahead).

The News
The Plot: A woman expecting twins can't wait to tell the love of her life the good news. The man she loves also has news for her.

The Twist: The man accidentally killed the woman's sister 6 months ago, and just never found the right time to tell her.

How Spring Was Used: The twins are due in spring.

My Thoughts: I loved this one. It was very short, and at the beginning it seemed very predictable and chick-flicky. The woman prepares her news by going through the whole story of the relationship, briefly mentioning that he comforted her when her sister died. You knew that his news was not going to be pleasant, but typical story fashion would have him break up with the girl, or something cheesy like that. When he said, "I killed your sister," that gave me the biggest laugh of the night. 4 stars (out of 4)

The Delivery
The Plot: After finishing a bank heist, three criminals wait for the call to make their delivery. There is no dialouge.

The Twists: A pizza delivery guy shows up. He's actually a cop. Then one of the criminals reveals himself to also be a cop. Then another criminal shows that he is also a cop. The final criminal embarrassingly shows that he is a cop too.

How Spring Was Used: While waiting, one of the criminals relieves stress by squeezing a spring loaded stress reliever.

My Thoughts: The reveals were kind of funny, but the waiting portion took a bit too long, and without the dialogue, it was hard to tell why they were waiting in the first place. Also, without the dialogue, the volume on all of the sounds was cranked to the max, and it got annoying at times. 2 stars

Bargain!
The Plot: An awkward girl pays her sister's hot boyfriend to to sexy things for $500. He's reluctant, but figures it is an easy way to make money.

The Twist: The awkward girl actually owed her sister $500 and was just dropping it off.

How Spring Was Used: The awkward girl claims there is a loose spring in the couch so she can sit closer to the boyfriend.

My Thoughts: I actually happened to be sitting behind the director and her friends and family, so I was rooting for this one. The main story was fine, but after the reveal, the boyfriend's reaction was a bit long and drawn out. It should have just been one shot of him realizing what happened and feeling awkward. Instead we were treated to five. 3 stars

Dream What You Want
The Plot: A man lost in an empty city finds he can only escape by dreaming that he's somewhere else (a beach). Then he comes back, to find the city populated again.

The Twist: The man has a seashell from the beach, proving that it was not just a dream.

How Spring Was Used: In the city, there is some graffiti that says, "Spring '09"

My Thoughts: Maybe this film was some big metaphor for isolation or imagination. Whatever the case, the story fell victim to cliche and it just ended up being boring to watch. And the inclusion of "spring" seemed very last minute. "We were supposed to include "spring?" Oh crap! Quick, hand me that paint!" 1 star

The Furry Cheque Book
The Plot: A 40-year-old woman lives in a spacious estate after her partner left her. In order to help with the housework, she hires hunky guys and pays them in sex. It's a documentary.

The Twist: Does it need one?

How Spring Was Used: It seems to have been filmed during spring.

My Thoughts: This one just made me feel dirty. The woman's interviews are peppered with shots of random naked guys doing hard labor. This would have made for a great 60 Minutes segment. 2 stars

Song for a Comb
The Plot: A little clay man plays around with the items in a travel bag, making music, and eventually settling on using a comb as a piano.

The Twist: ...He used the comb as a piano?

How Spring Was Used: The man dismantles a pen and takes the spring out, using the empty pen as a trombone.

My Thoughts: The film was cute, but I would have enjoyed a bigger payoff, like maybe creating an orchestra with all of the items. Instead he just plays a few notes on each item, then plays a long clunky piano song. 2 stars

Jackie's Spring Palace
The Plot: A man, who seems to think his life is more epic than it is, narrates his day as he walks around in a pirate costume and eats many spring rolls. Then he gets diarrhea and soils his pants.

The Twist: He accidentally does this while in the ladies' room.

How Spring Was Used: This one was probably the best in terms of spring usage by incorporating spring rolls into the plot.

My Thoughts: It's hard to describe this one. It's kind of like watching a person's stand-up routine happen in real life. There are funny moments, but the story just jumps around, and the genre changes without warning, and you realize it is actually very jumbled. Fortunately, the funny moments are funny. 3 stars

Being Carl Williams
The Plot: Two murderers mistake the man who played Australian serial-killer Carl Williams in a TV miniseries for the actual Carl Williams, and ask for his help in killing someone.

The Twist: After witnessing the killing, the actor thinks about the interview he was having earlier in which he described his perfect weekend. Both the real and hypothetical ones end with him watching the sunset.

How Spring Was Used: Hmm, I think I forgot.

My Thoughts: The premise was really good, and they used the actual actor to play himself. By the end, no one really learned anything, and the joke of him being mistaken for Carl Williams (by the murderers, by the victim, and by some passers-by) began to wear thin. 3 stars

Blue
The Plot: A woman sneaks away from her sleeping partner while out at a winter cabin. She treks far out into the woods to have a pee. Then she smiles.

The Twist: She was taking a pregnancy test. It turned blue.

How Spring Was Used: Apparently, pregnancy is related enough to spring to count.

My Thoughts: The woman's trek into the woods took a very long time, to the point when I stopped being curious about her journey and was just hoping it wasn't leading to some big pee joke. It almost seemed that way, too. 1 stars

Fences
The Plot: A boy accompanies his detective father to a nighttime crime investigation and is told to wait in the car. But his curiosity gets the best of him.

The Twist: The boy sees something pretty gruesome probably. Then his parents fight about how he wasn't supposed to be there.

How Spring Was Used: You got me.

My Thoughts: If I wasn't thinking "What does this have to do with spring?" the whole time, I would've liked it better. 2 stars

NYE
The Plot: A girl goes missing at the New Years festivities at the Harbor Bridge.

The Twist: None. Nothing happens beyond that. It's more an emotional piece.

How Spring Was Used: A child goes missing.

My Thoughts: See "My Thoughts" for the previous film. 2 stars

One in a Million
The Plot: A boy writes a letter about how great his father is, even though his father is obviously a serial killer (he buries dead hookers in the backyard) who threatens to kill his son if he goes to the cops. Then, his son sneaks out one day, and returns with a group of people. The leader with a megaphone tells the father he'll get what he deserves.

The Twist: The boy had written the letter to a reality show called, "One in a Million" where one lucky citizen gets his house made over, starting with the lawn.

How Spring Was Used: The boy puts his pen together, spring and all.

My Thoughts: The twist was definitely funny, but you know that boy is going to be in deep trouble. 3 stars

Left Unspoken
The Plot: Two friends of 3 years, reveal their love for one another, as well as many other secrets and facts about their life.

The Twist: An atom bomb has been heading for their country.

How Spring Was Used: One of them probably mentioned spring.

My Thoughts: First it just seemed like another sappy romance story. And there was a heavy bass rumble that was annoying me throughout the whole film. But I found the revelation that the two were bracing for death to be very sweet. 3 stars

Be My Brother
The Plot: A man with Downs Syndrome initially bothers a woman and a young guy at a bus stop. He eventually charms the woman with his antics. When he tells the woman that his brother finds him embarrassing, the woman tells him that his brother could not be more wrong.

The Twist: The other guy at the bus stop was the man's brother.

How Spring Was Used: Doesn't matter.

My Thoughts: In reading this short little synopsis, the twist seems obvious, but when you're watching the movie, the thought doesn't cross your mind. Even when the two get on the bus, and sit next to each other, I just thought the young guy eventually warmed up to the man. But when the man hugs the young guy, you are hit with a wave of revelation. The movie was very sweet, and my only other favorite of the night. 4 stars

Notes From a Scaresmith
The Plot: A guy who likes to startle people finds that he can't scare his new roommate.

The Twist: The roommate is also a scaresmith and ends up scaring him. It's love.

How Spring Was Used: The guy likes jumping out at people.

My Thoughts: Although it was cute when the roommate jumps out and wrestles the guy to the bed, it was all too predictable. 2 stars

Beyond Words
The Plot: A woman notices a creepy guy wearing sunglasses staring at her during yoga class. Afterwards, she is attacked by her car. It's a thriller.

The Twists: First, we find out that the man in class is blind. Then later we learn that the woman is deaf. It's like that Richard Pryor/Gene Wilder movie.

How Spring Was Used: Once again, I forget.

My Thoughts: The style was intriguing. The plot shifted between the two points of view. There were scenes with visuals, but no sound, and then scenes with sound, but no visuals. It came clear that the second type were the blind man's point of view, but without sound, it just seemed like a normal thriller, hence the twist of the woman being deaf. 3 stars

I didn't stay to see who won. Oh well.