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Short Films, Short Reviews
Last night, at The Worldwide Short Film Festival, Torontoist was lucky enough to catch Scene not Herd, a collection of 16 music videos assembled by journalist Sandy Hunter. Both the music and the quality and uniqueness of the submissions was absolutely incredible. There were a few big names (Sigur Ros, Bright Eyes, The Go! Team, Death From Above 1979, Ladytron, and The Darkness), but plenty of lesser-known gems as well – just the right mix of the familiar and the unfamiliar.
In tribute to shortness, Torontoist will summarize and review all sixteen in thirty-two words (or less). Since Scene not Herd is a once-a-year thing, we’ve got links to watch each and every one of them, too.
Reviews and videos after the fold.
| War Photographer Jason Forrest Watch |
4/5
|
Vikings and Headhunters battle each other with rock and roll. |
| Is It Just Me The Darkness Watch |
5/5
|
Justin Hawkins falls in love with, and marries, and has sex with, a female Justin Hawkins. A poke at other less blatently egomaniacal videos of the 1980s. Loved it. A lot. |
| Try Telling That To My Baby Fluorescent Hill Watch |
3/5
|
Cute but kinda boring animated video of a cupcake frolicking happily through candy land. |
| Destroy (Everything You Touch) Ladytron Watch |
3/5
|
Girls from Ladytron sing as mountains in a snowstorm. |
| Una Lira Soluzione Aavikko Watch |
4/5
|
A family dreams they win the lottery, and take their perfect vacation. Oh, and it’s stop-motion. And ridiculously low-budget. And they’re dolls. |
| Blackout C-Rayz Walz Watch |
5/5
|
Two rappers pine for the other’s race in this, the audience’s favourite video. Hilarious, and, let’s be honest, it’s hard to go wrong with black and white puppets. |
| Folder Plastic Operator Watch |
4/5
|
Very stylish animated video (think Arcade Fire’s “Power Out” set to a gentler, pretty song). Hard to avoid smiling. |
| Glosoli Sigur Ros Watch |
4/5
|
Starts slow and ends very strong (like pretty much everything Sigur Ros has ever done). And when the audience clapped at the video’s climax, and you get chills, that’s a good sign. |
| At The Bottom Of Everything Bright Eyes Watch |
4/5
|
If you’ve heard the lyrics, you’ll know exactly what this video was of. Perfectly captures the dual happy/doomed feeling of the song, with Terence Stamp & Evan Rachel Wood as a bonus. |
| Sixes Last Alias Watch |
2/5
|
Boring video (plants and machines become one) for a forgettable song; the line-up’s only true weak spot. |
| Wamono Hifana Watch |
3/5
|
Real-life Japanese fishermen become animated Japanese fishermen and battle the elements. Pretty to look at, but, overall, a merely alright video. |
| Ladyflash The Go! Team Watch |
3/5
|
Pretty much exactly what I expected for the song: jumping rope, roller skates, and other fitting retro things. |
| Over and Over Hot Chip Watch |
4/5
|
A clever meta-music video, mocking the genre (especially its use of green-screens and digital altering). |
| Birds Pleix Watch |
4/5
|
Forgettable song, unforgettable video. Slow motion video of different dogs doing different dog things, mostly jumping. Hypnotic, and so disgustingly cute. |
| Sexy Results Death From Above 1979 Watch |
2/5
|
Woman has mouths where her nipples should be. Not nearly as entertaining as it sounds. |
| Muscle Car Mylo Watch |
4/5
|
George Bush does coke, hookers, many illegal things under the watchful eyes of (North Korean?) spies. Creative and surprisingly funny. And if you want “short,” apparently Bush isn’t packing much heat. |