Short 1: Invention represents the first comprehensive attempt to compile multimedia content on DVD in a magazine-like format, and it's a welcome addition to the digital realm. Originally released on the defunct Polygram label as
Short Cinema Journal, Vol. 1, the first installment in the
Short series is an above-average mix of documentary, animation, and live-action shorts, even if several of the entries are nearly a decade old. The DVD is divided into six topics--"Marquee"; "Hello, Dali"; "Reality"; "Sound Bit"; "Minutes"; and "Junkdrawer"--the best highlights are to be found in "Hello, Dali," "Reality," and "Minutes," which contain interesting, even brilliant, bits. The excerpt from
Shape Without Form is a surreal, four-minute exercise in angst and it shares a slot with the most noteworthy discovery on the DVD, the creative and ingenious Will Vinton-produced
Mr. Resistor, which is a cleverly animated,
Road Warrior-like ride through the electrical world. In the "Minutes" chapter, British director Michael Apted discusses the premise that "film is the poetry of ordinary life," and although eight minutes can't begin to cover a director's career, this segment does its expurgated best. There are segments from the Ron Fricke film
Baraka (also available as a full-length DVD), which still dazzles after nearly two decades with its austere lesson in nature and humanity.
Black Rider is an Oscar-winning German short that chronicles a black man's plight on a tram, with a delightful twist ending. A slight disappointment, George Hickenlooper's
Some Folks Call It a Sling Blade is the original short that inspired Billy Bob Thornton's acclaimed feature film version, and it pales in comparison. Likewise, Henry Rollins's
Easter Sunday in NYC is little more than an angry, pointless, and dated rant for misfits everywhere. Some of the films--like the clay-animated movie spoof
The Big Story, featuring Frank Gorshin's hilarious impression of Kirk Douglas--are sure to please those who never saw them on the film festival circuit. On the whole, the good outweighs the mediocre in this deft compilation, boding well for subsequent volumes in the series.
--Paula Nechak
