Loco Comedy shorts: the wild side

The wild side is a selection of comedy shorts focusingn the more fantastical and extreme. It’s a high bar throughout the nearly two hours, but the following I do want to mention is worth looking out for 

The Leaf Blowers, Joe Bor.

With a focus on slapstick and fantasy over the most mundane tasks, I feel it would be very tempting for Joe to let the frenemy and bromance of Nick Helm and Paul Taylor as left-blowing rivals run in a single shot and have a biscuit. Joe ensures the silliness extends to old-school stop motion and gimmickry that lightens and warms the brief feature. That blows through lightly and leaves a warm glow—a lovely tea-time comedy to raise a grin and wine.

Smoking Dolphins: Sean Lyons, the director, written with James Powdrill.

Pub, smoking, 90’s. All placed and paced with great quirk. Crash zooms the wisdom of the common conman man. There is a sense of mirroring as we see a microcosm of attitude and antics. Little Britain under a microscope. But the editing for the delivery as each character finishes each other’s sentences. The story is the destination with this one. And given the last time I bought a packet of fags for a mate, it was £20…well, it’s an excellent parable for today , even with the smoking ban. Well worth looking out for.

Girl. K Ezra.

The absolute jewel in the selection for this programme. Grief brings a sense of lost as much as loss for many. My mum and I had the benefit of preparing with the recurring reinforcement that I ‘need to be my own man’ from her, and I type this while my father is downstairs watching the women’s FA Cup final. Girl is not so fortunate on several levels. A significant lead who you root for at her worst because you know this is not life at its best. Does every encounter only reinforce that as much as she may be distant, is it her or the world distancing itself from her? Ethnicity, femininity, agism and gentrification enrich the screen with the show, not tell, and in her turmoil and anger, you can’t root for her desire for ..peace of mind. 

Desire Lines: Duncan Cowels

Walking back from the screening, I was on a pathway home. It intersects with another pathway to run parallel to the high street. I realised a young woman was walking on that other path, and feeling self-conscious of ending up walking right next to her along the high road; I saw a desire line, a trodden straight line that would move me away from her while being a kind of short cut to where I needed to be. I walked it immediately. Feeling ‘Well, that’s good’ and complimented myself for not walking along with a woman half my age and being creepy, as I had paused congratulating myself. She came out of nowhere, having turned and almost walked straight into me, frightened both of us.

But I digress. Desire Lines is a comfortable ramble as we look at what we should, can, and must do. The opinion of independent free will vs the good of the people comes to the fore and our soundtrack ad commentary rambles in such warmth. It heats up to a crucial ending, and Duncan places his concerns with documentary verve.his view is clear, but his manner is rhetorical enough in its consideration that this film is a path that may be well-worn but well worth taking a step down.

Viskar I Vinden  James Newman

A great closure for the session. Translates as a whisper in the wind. This intricate film takes the tropes and upends them to significant effect. It’s ostensibly a Nordic fart noir without the gassy baggage that leaves the plot stale. As a forensic assistant takes a leap of faith and questions herself and procedures in following the flatulence to who the killer is. Comical and knowing without ever being smug and with a great sense of follow through. This was like watching one of those episodes of inside number 9, which would have been great, but they had to stick in some celebs padding it out and checking out the stars. Crime fans and the unbelievable will love it. It will have you reaching for cloth for the tears.