Thursday, June 06, 2024

Fun in Shorts 2024

“Fun in Shorts” shorts program (2024)
Sunday, June 23, 2024, 11:00 AM, Roxie
Saturday, June 29, 2024, 6:00 PM, Roxie
and in the Digital Screening Room streaming encore
La cena (The Dinner), dir. Jesús Martínez ’Nota’, 2023 Spain, 12 min., in Spanish with subtitles 👏
The Dinner

A young man (maybe about 18 years old, más o menos) has reached the point that he feels compelled to come out to his parents at the dinner table right now — if only he can get a word in edgewise. So far, pretty familiar territory for a short film at Frameline, but the parents’ reaction takes the story on a startling twist. Quite funny, highly recommended.

• IMDb [director] • Official website • Filmmaker • Twitter • Instagram • Facebook • preview • other • Jesus Martinez Nota
Foraging, dir. Matthew Jacobs Morgan, 2024 UK, 12 min. 😀
Foraging

A bored gay couple decide to spice things up by going cruising deep in the woods of a nearby park; they get lost, encountering some oddballs along the way, but also talk about their frustrations with the way their relationship has been going lately. Cute, fun, recommended.

• IMDb • Official website • Filmmaker • Twitter • Instagram • Facebook • preview • other •
ILY, BYE, dir. Taylor James, 2024 USA, 13 min. (also screening in the “Best Years” program) 💩

ILY, BYE
Frameline description [links added]: Unemployed and down on her luck, Siobhan (the hilarious Meg Stalter of Cora Bora, Frameline47) is presented with a life-changing job opportunity. Unfortunately, she can’t get her foot out of her mouth long enough to get her foot in the door. Featuring the voice talents of Rainn Wilson and Benito Skinner, ILY, BYE also stars Kanoa Goo of TV’s The Rookie [not to be confused with the feature film Rookie in this year’s Frameline].

My thoughts: I absolutely hated Cora Bora, but I was willing to give Meg Stalter a second chance. Unfortunately, this short was everything I was afraid it would be. Cringe, cringe, cringe, literally unwatchable. I only made it through with liberal use of the fast forward button. Definitely NOT recommended.

• IMDb • Official website • Filmmaker • Twitter • Instagram • Facebook • preview • other •
The Pansy of Pickadee
The Pansy of Pickadee, dir. Gus George & Paddy Morahan, 2023 Australia, 8 min. 👏

An animated parable in rhyming couplets of a boy who was teased for his clothes, his manner, and his hair, but grows up to be the respectable fashion maven of his small town, and then saves the day in their hour of need. Cute, fun, positive messages, highly recommended.

• IMDb • Official website • Filmmaker • Twitter • Instagram • Facebook • preview • other •
Spookable, dir. Jonathan Andre Culliton, 2024 USA, 15 min. 🙂
Spookable

“Spookable” is a slang term meaning “clockable [recognizable] as trans, especially in public.” Two best friends, both trans, go for a post-breakup vacation in a remote forest cabin (on the night of the full moon, of course), where the horror movie tropes come out to play. It’s a cute idea, but definitely unpolished execution. Horror films, even comedy horror films, aren’t really my thing, but I’ll give this a “recommended.”

• IMDb • Official website  • Filmmaker • Twitter • Instagram • Facebook • preview • other •
Stan Behavior, dir. Tyler C. Peterson, 2024 USA, 15 min. 😐

Stan Behavior
After a particularly bad night on stage, a drag queen (Ginger Minj, pictured) decides to unionize for better pay, working conditions, and benefits. She reaches out online to a lawyer, who drugs her and takes her prisoner, forcing her to perform a private drag show, because she (the lawyer) turns out to be a drag super-stan [obsessive fan]. Somewhat amusing, but a strange premise that clearly needed some serious refinement. Recommended, I guess.

• IMDb • Official website • Filmmaker • Twitter • Instagram • Facebook • preview • other •
Stories from My Gay Grandparents, episode 1, dir. J. Stevens, 2024 Canada, 9 min., International Premiere 💖

My Gay Grandparents
Frameline description: “After a near-death experience lights a flame within Grandma and Grandpa, they decide to grab life by the boas and tell the world their deepest secret: They're both gay. Having lived under the guise of a straight relationship for decades, these two life-long best friends have been each other’s beards for 50 years. And hunny, these beards are giving us Abraham Lincoln chin-curtain realness.

“But now they’re coming out of the closet, ditching their small town hetero life, and going after their big gay dreams. First stop: the big city... to learn “how to be gay” from the best gay people they know: their grandchildren! It’s a big gay family after all! (There must be something in the water.)”

My thoughts: It’s a cute premise, well executed, funny but also heartfelt and thought-provoking, dealing with issues of intergenerational continuity among the LGBTQ+ community.This series looks tremendously promising. I hope I get to see not just episode 1, but the whole series. MUST SEE.

• IMDb • Official website • Filmmaker • Twitter • Instagram • Facebook • preview • other •
Well, I Should Get Going, dir. Celine Sutter, 2024 USA, 11 min. World Premiere 👎

Well, I Should Get Going
An annoying person (Sienna Hubert-Ross as Mariah) and her even more annoying friend (Lucy Consagra as Kat) are at a costume party. Mariah is not really in costume, and she’s trying to dodge annoying cryptobro classmates, recent one-night stands, and The Ex. Everyone is drinking lots of alcohol to help escape their dreary lives. There was not a single character in the whole show that I liked or felt any kind of connection to. NOT RECOMMENDED.

• IMDb • Official website • Filmmaker • Twitter • Instagram • Facebook • preview • other •
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