In a world that judges people by their number, Zero faces constant prejudice and persecution. He walks a lonely path until a chance encounter changes his life forever: he meets a female zero. Together they prove that through determination, courage, and love, nothing can be truly something.

Zero website

With all of the remakes and re-boots scheduled to come out soon like Conan The Barbarian, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, ThunderCats, etc…TMNT fans are probably wondering when the Ninja Turtles are going to make their re-appearance. Nickelodeon has the rights to the TMNT franchise and I believe that one day the Ninja Turtles will rise out of the sewers…when? Only Nickelodeon knows for sure, but of course as many of us are well aware, we don’t have to wait for the rights owners to make something that we want to see.

Richard Krause decided to make a short film about one of the turtles himself entitled; Fight The Foot. Check it out, and then when you’re done watching it, find that shoebox with your old Nunchucks and Ninja Throwing Stars, and go kick your little brother’s butt…don’t forget the homemade bandana eye mask though…you don’t want to be recognized.

Fight The Foot from Reserve17 on Vimeo.

I love short films.

This year’s Sci-Fi-London festival had a 48 hour film challenge and participants of the challenge had some basic rules to adhere to, three of them being the title, dialogue, and prop list of the film. This short film by Oli Kember had the “title” The Man in Long Grass, the “dialogue” I’m here on holiday, for new experiences, so…and the “prop” A clear bottle, with no label, half full of red liquid… someone takes a drink.

Interesting rules for this 48 hour film challenge but after watching the film, I was thoroughly impressed by what Oli Kember put together. The story, acting, sound, subtle use of special effects, along with the excellent lighting, this film had it all. So much so, that I gladly watched it a couple of times.

The Man in Long Grass from Oli Kember on Vimeo.

But not every good superhero story is told on paper and transferred to the big screen by Hollywood studios. Thanks to internet video sites and the democratization of technology, we can see people share with us their own original stories and superhero fan films.

Michael Ashton just released his version of a superhero film on YouTube, and I must say…this is the best superhero film of 2011! Do I have to wait and see Thor, Captain America, and Green Lantern before I can claim Lazy Teenage Superheroes as the best movie of the year? No. Is it ok for me to compare a short film that had a $300 budget, to a film that has a $150 million dollar budget? Yes, of course it is!

As I said earlier, there has been a democratization of technology. It’s all around us. Comi Girl would not exist if it were not for the democratization of technology. The music industry has changed because of the democratization of technology. The Blair Witch Project, 28 Days Later, District 9, and the hundreds of films on Vimeo are an example of the democratization of technology. Robert Rodriguez, remember El Mariachi, which was produced for a reported $7,000 and his subsequent films and even his studio is an example of the democratization of technology. And now, a well-known South Korean filmmaker is releasing his 30 minute fantasy-horror feature film on the big screen, and that was filmed with just a couple of i-Phones! Have I made my point yet?

Some people are hoping that the superhero films being produced by the Hollywood studios get the respect that they highly deserve, while others are expecting the worst and don’t want their favorite superhero characters getting the Hollywood treatment. I can care less either way. When I see a movie be it a short film or Hollywood blockbuster, I want to be entertained and transferred into that film, that’s really all I want, it’s not too much to ask for, is it? So I gotta give it up to Michael Ashton and everyone that was a part of his film Lazy Teenage Superheroes. For 12 minutes I was entertained and I wanted more, it didn’t have anything to detract from the story, yet it had everything needed for it to succeed. The look, the feel, the special effects, the acting, the dialog, and most importantly, the sound. It was all there. I’m not crazy for declaring this the best superhero movie of 2011. But what is crazy, is that YouTube (Google) hasn’t figured out that if they put a PayPal button next to all these short films that we like and set a minimum of like $0.25 cents, we wouldn’t need Hollywood to entertain us.

Official Site

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After coming to my senses, I then came across Growing is Forever. I felt it nicely captured the feeling of fall/winter without the nasty powder that sometimes accompanies it. So regardless of what hemisphere you’re living in, I’m sure you can appreciate the wonderment of the famed Redwood forest of northern California and the way Jesse Rosten filmed them, along with Kallie Markle’s beautiful poetry.

Growing is Forever from Jesse Rosten on Vimeo.

Jesse Rosten’s website

But I guess they had a change of plans when Alma started to get viewers’ attention which so far has reached close to 2 million views on the internet and hundreds of thousands more on the film festival circuit. Alma is written and directed by Rodrigo Blass, and created by a host of other talented people too numerous to list here.

As I was doing my background research on Mr. Blass, I read that Guillermo del Toro wanted to adapt Alma into a feature length film, no word on if it will happen or not, but Mr. Blass has already been part of some of the biggest animation films having worked for Pixar, so regardless of what Mr. Blass will be working on, I’m sure it will be top notch and perhaps become a classic like Alma is turning out to be. But as a precaution, the story of Alma has a dark twist to it so it may not be appropriate for some children to watch.

Alma from Rodrigo Blaas on Vimeo.

Alma Official Website

Salesman Pete is directed by Marc Bouyer, Max Loubaresse, and Anthony Vivien, with music by Cyrille Marchesseau and sound design by Mael Vignaux.

Salesman Pete from Salesman Pete on Vimeo.

Salesman Pete official website

“TiM is about the things that happened to me growing up…It’s about the feelings that i had as an outsider…it’s the isolation and alienation of a child and how he is comforted in art and films…

- Ken Turner

This is a good short film, and anyone that takes the time out to do it in stop motion, along with making the characters & props for the film, gets an applause from me.

TiM from Ken Turner on Vimeo.

Behind the scenes of TiM

Links to other post:

5 Halloween Toys for 2010

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The Monk & The Monkey website

Brendan Carroll’s website

The Monk & The Monkey from Brendan Carroll on Vimeo.

The Solo Adventures 2D from Daniel L Smith on Vimeo.

DAVE School