Customer Reviews

Short 1 - Invention

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3 star:		(1)
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Perusing the racks at a local store (ok, it was Fry's) I was stunned to see some DVD's I had never heard of before. "Short 1: Invention" is eye catching to say the least as it features the back of a heavily tattooed man, the tattoo reads "Search & Destroy". Needless to say I had to know more.

This disc is a collection of 9 short films ranging in length from 5 minutes ("The Big Story" featuring Frank Gorshin, yes THAT Frank Gorshin doing 3 Kirk Douglas impersonations for a clay-mation short) to 25 minutes ("Some Folks Call it a Sling Blade" - the short film that Sling Blade was based on, also starring Billy Bob Thornton and Molly Ringwald of all people...)

For movie fans this is a must have, it's fascinaing seeing how Sling Blade developed, there's also a 7 minute interview with another film-maker, Michael Apted.

Another stand out on the disc is the Acadamy Award winning "Black Rider", regarding the state of racisim and revenge in modern day Germany (in German with English sub-titles.)

Several shorts also have extras selectable right from the menu. The Big Story mentioned before has an alternate pencil test to go along with the finished animation, while Shape Without Form, Baraka and Henry Rollins - Easter Sunday in NYC all have alternate audio tracks (actually Henry Rollins has TWO!)

This disc also has an undocumented menu called "The Junk Pile", which as near as I can tell is just stuff that was too strange to cover as a featured item. One is an intermission screen with music that plays for 2 minutes. (HUH?)

Film quality and aspect ratio varies from film to film, just as you would see in a theater, but here in Portland, OR we don't get many short film festivals so it's nice having a series like this to show us what all is being done.

Currently there are 8 "Short" discs, the 9th comes out July 5th, 2000. After watching 1, 3 and 8 (the only ones Fry's had in stock) I'll be ordering 2, 4-7 and 9 here shortly (pun very much intended.)

One little nag though... Frys sells these for $9.99 a pop, basically a no risk investment, I've spent more on parking, heck I've spent more on LUNCH!...

There are some wonderful short films on this DVD. With all the packaging and hype surrounding Henry Rollins and Sling Blade (both great short films), I fear some of the others will be overlooked. One that I would like to bring to your attention is "Trouble." This is a witty but poignant look at the dysfunctional relationship between a girl and her mother. As they say, "Denial ain't a river in Egypt." Enjoy this collection of great short films, but don't forget to watch them all... and tell your friends!

Sling Blade -- if you like the feature, you'll probably like the short.

Baraka -- beautiful images, this is not what you are usually hoping for in a short, that is, something simple but clever. The production values in this are outstanding, it is not a narrative, and I suspect the feature is best seen on a big, big screen, say IMAX.

Black Rider -- probably my favorite short on here.

Mr. Resistor -- a fun diversion

Henry Rollins -- I imagine the performer's fans will love this, probably not too appealing to most others.

Overall the DVD is varied with some interesting material, but not my favorite.