DC Shorts Film Festival

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

By Taylor on March 28, 2008 2:34 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

Just a reminder you dozens and dozens of readers out there in Cyberland...Not only is April 15th Tax Day, it's also the Regular Deadline for that little film festival we've got going on...the DC Shorts Film Festival! If you have a film that's under 20 minutes, or a screenplay that's under 15 pages (and who doesn't), then send it to us. Isn't that why you're on the website anyway? Not just for my dazzling personality, right?

So there's not a whole lot going on. The judging process is starting next weekend, and I'm way psyched about that. I'll let you know more about all the fabulous orientation activities we do and swag we get. I do love me some good swag! I have an Across the Universe paperweight, of all things.

And I'm also excited, because tomorrow I have my first job as a production assistant! Sure, it's only for the day and I don't get paid or anything, but it's my first real look into the professional world. Maybe it'll lead to a summer gig. Before I know it, I'll be the next big producer! Or editor! That'd be pretty swanky. I'll let you know how it went on Monday.

Now my friends may sometimes accuse me of being a film snob. This is true. But almost everybody has the potential to be a film snob, especially when it's a film you love. Now I'm pretty open to watching a lot of movies, especially some that are considered "great" or "classics" (all part of my "catching up" thing), but there's been a few that are apparently so flawless and precious to its fans, that by even writing this I feel like I have to go into Witness Protection.

These are some movies that are considered classics that I can't stand:

Citizen Kane: While yes, I do appreciate its importance to the film industry and the way it revolutionized filmmaking, it's a bit of a snoozefest. I feel like The Godfather does everything Kane does, while being damn entertaining at the same time.
E.T.: That little alien scares the hell out of me.
Taxi Driver: A movie for people who are Hard Core. It's a revolutionary movie, yes, but I get a little afraid when people say they can relate to Travis Bickle. I much prefer Raging Bull for the Scorsese/DeNiro collaboration
Forrest Gump: It has all the subtlty of a sledgehammer. See: Chronicles of Narnia.

College Cliches, the films you see in college that either OMG Are Your Life, Are Deep, or Are Awesome:

Fight Club: Depressing as hell. I hate the characters, I hate their lives, I hate the world they live in. I was intrigued by the concept of the "Fight Club" until it developed into a cult.
Donnie Darko: A fantastic little movie, but another that's too depressing for me. I love all of the thought that went behind it, but thanks to this movie, I now have to deal with college students who think they're Deep just because they've seen this movie 20 times. They're not Deep, they're High.
Garden State: Another good little movie. Unfortunately, everyone (at my school, at least) believes they like indie movies because they like this. And their lives are "totally like this." I don't know you, but it's probably not. I'm sure you didn't accidentally cause your family a lifetime of pain and suffering and deal with that guilt. What you feel is typical Teenage Angst.
Memento: My teachers killed this one for me. I've watched it for class so many times and written so many papers about it I can't stand it anymore. The only good this about having to see it 10 times for class was that it took me 9 times to understand the movie, and once to enjoy it.
Boondock Saints: Another one my school killed for me. Not a particularly great movie, although there is one especially cool sequence, and Willem Dafoe is awesome as the crazy guy. At my school this is strangely not so much a This is Awesome movie as a This Is My Life movie. Needless to say, it's not.

The worst:
Rent:I hate Rent as a movie largely because of Christopher Columbus, but mostly my problems with it lie with the musical itself.

I do not like these people. They seem to expect other people to pick up their slack so that they can fulfill their vision while mocking them for selling out to The Man (who will pay their rent, then, if not they?). But these people are artists, you may say. That's fantastic! You know what, though? Roger's song is crap. Mark's "film" is a home movie. If they're going to be artists, then they better be good artists. And they're not. It's all self-indulgent and contributes nothing to real art.

Plus half the music sucks anyway.

Generalizations: Anything with Johnny Depp isn't That Good, nor by David Lynch or Terry Gilliam.

What about you guys? Are there any movies you hate, but then get viciously mauled for saying so? Racist for hating Crash? Sexist for Superbad? Share, and guess this Awesome movie below:

And don't you dare say it isn't awesome!!