More movie reviews

Two of the showings yesterday were a bunch of short films. The first was 11 shorts mostly written by women new to the movies. Some standouts in that group were a short about 2 older homeless men who share food, false teeth and a blanket, "George and Karl". "The Drummer" was about a drummer who has just turned 40 and is out of work when he gets a call to play at a wedding in Connecticut. He and the singer save the day when the rest of the band is late. The actress who played the singer had an amazing voice. Her name was Asmeret Ghebremichael. I don't think she has recorded any albums unfortunately. Another short I particularly liked was called "Havdalah" about an orthodox Jewish woman in New York who decides she wants to learn to ride a bike.

The second set we saw were all animated films. Who knew there were so many types of animation?! My favorite in that group was "Hose" about a garden hose that decides to explore the neighborhood. At one point it gets into a tangle with a tough old hose but manages to escape by climbing up a fire escape. "Animal Instincts" was really funny about a cow and a sheep on a farm that get into a huge fight over the sheep eating a flower in the cow's pasture. It ends with them driving a tractor over a cliff. There was also a rather touching animation called "Coyote Travels to Gringolandia" about 2 children from Guatemala that try to join their mother in the US. A woman courier (coyote) strands them near the US/Mexico border.

In the evening we saw "Em" about a woman with bipolar disorder and the man that falls in love with her. It is a very honest and moving portrayal of mental illness both from the perspective of the person who has it and the person who wants to help. The director spoke afterwards and is trying to find a distributor. The story is based on the writer's experience with a close friend who had a mental illness.

One movie we didn't see that I would like to have seen (over Jake's objections) was "Wiener Dog Takes All", a documentary about daschund racing!