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IndieDVD Fusion ONE (Short Films)

IndieDVD Fusion ONE (Short Films)

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: This DVD rocks!!!
Review: There are a few things about this DVD that I could say were my favorite. One being the filmmakers' presence on the disc, sharing their stories and giving tips on how they made such great films. Another favorite feature are the fantastic films, every film on this disc is exceptional yet different. For example, there is a music video from Tilt, and a "gross-out" film, Zitlover, with special effects created by guy who did the Fly 2 and the X-Files (Zitlover has become a classic in my dorm). Then, there are films that are just beautiful like Today's Life which is a cinematically gorgeous sci-fi and Every Night and Twice on Sundays which is about the "I've fallen and I can't get up" lady, it is very funny. And, last but not least, IndieDVD splits all of the proceeds with the filmmakers without taking away all of the rights to their films. This is practically unheard of in this business, and truly innovative. This is a fantastic piece of work that everyone should buy, not only because it has great films with special features, but also to support the independent film community.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: A very boring and pretentious collection of shorts
Review: There are nine shorts on this DVD, so here are nine short reviews.

1 - "Animated Corpse" - 4 stars: It's a music video, so you can't really expect much. It gets it's job done... what else do you need to say?

2 - "Dinner" - 3 stars: A modern fairy tale that had some good ideas and an interesting set design, but fails because of a poor script. When it tries to be funny, it fails, and when it tries to be dramatic, it is laughable. It's the sort of thing that would probably be good to remake.

3 - "Every Night and Twice on Sundays" - 2 stars: Yet another independent documentary that's meant to be funny. I thought it was boring as hell. Sort of like what happens if you take a Christopher Guest mockumentary and then sedate it with a thousand pounds of tranquilizers.

4 - "Flying with the Angels" - 1 star: This is the sort of crud that gives independent cinema a bad name. It is a pretentious, boring, pseudosymbolic music-video-wannabe that the filmmakers took way too seriously. The woman who made it claimed that she was trying to do something surreal and meaningful, but ended up just shooting a bunch of random images that don't fuse together--sort of like a really bad poem by W.B. Yeats.

5 - "Iceman" - 2 stars: This was so forgettable that I can't even remember the plot involved. I only remember being bored.

6 - "Hidden Child" - ? stars: I tried to watch this one, but the DVD wouldn't let me. Make up whatever rating you would like.

7 - "The Passage" - 1 star: This movie also pretended to be really intelligent, meaningful, and symbolic, but it was just a plotless waste of film. Supposedly, this one is supposed to be about a writer's struggle between reality and insanity. Instead, a guy has a beer, smokes a cigarette, and stares off, blankly. It lasts for twenty minutes and achieves nothing.

8 - "Today's Life" - 4 stars: A pilot in a deep space research vessel struggles to understand his existence. "Today's Life" is the only movie on this disc with impressive special effects, but the reason it is good is because of a very interesting plot (actually, the fact that it has any plot at all is a welcome change from the rest of the movies) and a decent pace. It is heavy-handed, which might cause you to wish they would have extended the movie, or even made it feature-length, but it as a short, it is still pretty good.

9 - "Zitlover" - 1 star: Disgusting for disgustingness's sake. It's like "South Park," only it's awful and not funny.

The greatest tragedy of this DVD is that the worst of the movies are also the longest. I'm not the type of person who requires an explosion to hold my interest--I just like to watch movies that actually have some content, or a reason to exist. The problem with Fusion ONE (other than being boring) is that all of the movies seem like the filmmakers are practicing and not actually doing any real work. These are all like the first drafts of better works, except that there aren't any revised, final drafts that you can watch later.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Mostly dull, not as good as it should be
Review: There are nine shorts on this, so the rating of 2 stars is based off of an average of the scores I gave to each, with a bit of my own tilt to it.

1 - "Animated Corpse" - 4 stars: It's a music video, and I don't often watch music videos. However, it is funny in its own way. I wouldn't normally watch it, but it's alright.

2 - "Dinner" - 3 stars: A modern fairy tale that had some good ideas and an interesting set design, but fails because of a poor script. When it tries to be funny, it fails, and when it tries to be dramatic, it is laughable. It's the sort of thing that would probably be good to remake.

3 - "Every Night and Twice on Sundays" - 2 stars: Yet another independent documentary that's meant to be funny. I thought it was boring as hell. I give it two stars, though, because there are worse films on this disc, and I could at least stand to watch this one again if I had to. If you like things like "Waiting for Guffman," you might like this (maybe - I'm saying this based off of the fact that I didn't care much for that movie, either).

4 - "Flying with the Angels" - 1 star: This is the sort of... that gives independent cinema a bad name. It is a pretentious, boring, pseudosymbolic music-video-wannabe that the filmmakers took way too seriously. It's one of those "so intelligent that nobody on Earth understands" things. It is described as the diary of a woman's subconscious - but it's actually just a woman having sex, and then crawling around naked in her apartment. It's so horrible, it couldn't even be used for pornography.

5 - "Iceman" - ? stars: Didn't watch it. Sorry.

6 - "Hidden Child" - ? stars: Didn't watch it. Looked too gruesome. Sorry.

7 - "The Passage" - 1 star: Like that "angel"..., this movie pretended to be really intelligent, meaningful, and symbolic, but it was just a plotless waste of film. It was in black and white, of course (so was "Angels"), because any snooty, silent, dull movie that is supposed to be art HAS to be in B & W (It's a rule in the Committee of Bad Independent Movies). Supposedly, this one is supposed to be about a writer's struggle between reality and insanity. Instead, a guy has a beer, smokes a cigarette, and stares off, blankly. This goes on for twenty minutes!

8 - "Today's Life" - 4 stars: A pilot in a deep space research vessel struggles to understand his existence. Do not be fooled by the reason I gave this a high rating. I believe that special effects do not make a good movie. It is a good plot, script, and acting that make a good film. "Today's Life" is the only movie on this disc with impressive special effects, but the reason it is good is because of a very interesting plot (Actually, the fact that it has any plot at all is a welcome change from the rest of the movies) and a decent pace. It is heavy-handed, which might cause you to wish they would have extended the movie, or even made it feature-length, but it as a short, it is still very good.

9 - "Zitlover" - ? stars (I would estimate 1, based on what I did see): All I know is, I saw about the first thirty seconds, and it appeared to be disgustingness for disgustingness's sake. It isn't like "South Park," where gross things are mixed in with humor. Instead, it's just gross stuff that the filmmakers HOPE would be funny. Of course, that's all based off of only the half a minute that I watched - maybe it gets really good. I will never know; I have a weak stomach.

So, there you have it. Mostly dull. A few rays of hope. I would suggest you save your money, because the few good things on this disc are really short, while the bad stuff (Like "Flying with the Angels") lasts for awhile.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Awesome DVD
Review: This DVD kicks a**. I could watch Zitlover everyday, my mom can't really handle it though. Worth every penny.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Awesome DVD
Review: This DVD kicks a**. I could watch Zitlover everyday, my mom can't really handle it though. Worth every penny.


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