# Off-topic Rants

This is a great experimental documentary, made up of a series of short clips filmed by actual inmates of Baumettes Prison in France. Basically, someone has given ten men a handheld video camera, some quick instructions on how to press record, and let the people do their thing. This is a really interesting film, as the characters are so interesting. However, it is what it is: a bunch of criminals with digital cameras.

This is an experimental film that shows a whole heap of seemingly random images and sounds. I really like the look and feel of this film. The images looked fantastic and really kept you interested making you want to watch more. I especially loved the out of focus streams of coloured light. But what I loved most was the truly unique soundtrack. It used a whole heap of sounds from various locations to achieve a mood which suited the images – and it worked really well.

This is a short film based on Shakespeare’s Richard III, but set in present day Melbourne that explores the relationship between to people, murder, betrayal, emotional turmoil and seduction. To be perfectly honest, I can’t really remember if I found this film to be of really high production value or really low. Never-the-less, it was very Shakespeare, and seems to fit together fine. It’s not my sort of film though.

I’m not exactly sure what was going on a lot of the time in this movie. It seemed quite random. Set in Bamako in Africa, from what I could gather a trial was taking place between the African people and the World Bank, in someone’s courtyard. The actual trial was really interesting, as the “witnesses” expressed their views and opinions about globalisation, privatisation, and the African debt. The film then took an unusual turn midway, when it had a film-within-a-film; a Western spoof, with a whole lot of random shootings. It then went back to the trial, whilst focussing on several of the town’s people at various points. Personally, I couldn’t get my head around this film. I really liked some of the speeches people made at the trial, but I wasn’t and am still not completely sure what the trail actually was! I’m also not sure what a lot of the people at the trial were doing there. In fact, there was probably more I didn’t understand in this film, than there was stuff I did! However, it was certainly different, and at the beginning, it was really interesting. However, by the end, one of the characters in the film summed it up best: “when’s this trail going to end?” A very strange film indeed!

This is unique film about three dysfunctional men, who decide to leave their troubled city lives, and head out to the country to work on a farm, run by one of the men’s eccentric uncle. All the characters in this film are fantastic, from the crazy local cop to the attractive girl next door. What I love about this film is you’re never quite sure we’re its headed. The pacing is quite slow for the majority of the movie; however there is always this underlying tension, where drama threatens to take place. There are some seriously funny moments throughout the film and some very nutty conversations between the three confused and unconventional main characters, and the army-trained uncle. This is a very strange film, but it’s very entertaining, and well worth watching.

Darkon is a fascinating and intriguing documentary about an endearingly bizarre live action role-playing game, whose hundreds of members dress up as wizards and warriors, and engage in simulated, un-choreographed medieval battles with homemade padded weaponry. It gives you a fantastic insight into a world that most would never even dream of entering. It tells the story of people who use the game as a way of escaping their ordinary humdrum lives; to become heroes in their own make-believe world. This is an honest and seriously funny film, with stories and characters that absolutely glue you to the screen. Technically, the film is inspiring as well, with great dolly, crane and helicopter shots. I really loved this documentary, as it showed me a world that I never completely understood. I now know there is a unique group of people out there, which I never want to be associated with.

This is a beautiful looking animation about a girl who struggles to feel comfortable in her own body. Although the images are truly breathtaking, the story is a bit weird, and doesn’t do the images justice.

I really hated this film. It explores stalking, but it does so in a very unique and bizarre manner. Personally, I hated every thing about this film. It used a lot of video footage that was supposed to look like security camera footage. This gave the film a very cheap documentary feel to it. It also had a very school essay type feeling, as the two voice over’s spoke in a very unnatural book-like educated manner and tone. I didn’t really understand what was happening a lot of the time, as I tended to zone out, due to sheer boredom. This is just one of those films, that I fell doesn’t work. It seems very experimental. Unfortunately, this experiment failed miserably.

This is a short documentary about Frida, an Australian Muslim who attempts to set up a Boutique clothing shop in Melbourne. It documents her highs and lows, as she tries to bring in a profit. The narration was good, and the story was interesting. The highlight for me personally, was learning that her husband worked for a boxing promoting company that owes the company I worked for a hell of a lot of money!

This is a great little film about an Indigenous magician, who gets locked up for a crime he didn’t commit, after encountering an unwelcome passenger on a taxi ride home. This is a truly moving film that explores race, magic and memory. I was really impressed with this film. Unlike a lot of Aussie shorts, this film looked amazing, sounded great, had fantastic actors, and most importantly a well written and developed script. Not many shorts I’ve seen achieve success in all departments! The colours in the film were really inspiring. I loved the red lighting used to light up the trees and pub. This film really has everything going for it.