ITS THE FUTURE JIM; SCI FI LONDON SHORTS REVIEW

ITS THE FUTURE JIM FILM REVIEWS.

A high bar as ever with sci-fi London. From this stream, these were my fab four.

1. Time Spent. Dir :Robb Daniel Hutt

My mum came from Ireland in the ’60s as a teenager with no real qualifications. She worked in service, cleaning and hotels for most of her life. Not an unusual situation, She worked all the time she could, racking up 60-hour weeks regularly of intense physical labour, and I feel on an l it was detrimental to her health, and she passed away in 2020. My Indian father worked a lot of sites and ships,  is hale and hearty, but had a considerbale amount fo time away from us as a family to make our life happen. They collectively paid for a quality of life, not to mention my brother’s and my education and prospects throughout our adult lives. Watching this film was difficult; Im watching a 27-year-old whos ostensibly old enough to be my son look for work while thinking of his first child, whereas mum had my brother at 23. Nathan is played gamely and with range with all the nerves and concerns one has when wanting becomes NEED for employment in a set-up rigged against you. It’s a taut short that embraces the absurdity of its premise while never shying away from the reality of a young black father just wanting to provide. The bottom line is that even if Nathan could work my mum’s hours. Our Society would not deem that enough for the life I’ve described for him and his daughter in 2023. Search it out. Consider this an excellent reference.

2. Flite. Dir: Tim Webber

Sometimes a film does not have to be original; it just has to have crafted, right down to the acting. Told from the perspective of a window cleaner turned to have a go hero, missing memories and with notions. The film manages enough warm heart to allow the pace to flow for our trapped skateboard angel. A mix of first-person gamerisms is broken up with enough narrative between the surfer, the delivery man and the manager; the future London vistas are easy to sweep into. A fun spectacle that is the epitome of the show, not tell at every help pipe turn…I don’t know…im 47. I can’t even ride a bike…shut up

3. Alienation. Dir: Ray Raghavan

Fusion, leprechaun in space. Sundown; vampires in retreat. Hellraiser 4. It’s hard to see any of them as more excellent than the sum of their parts. Still, in Alienation, Ray Raghavan brings the character drama of families of illegal immigrants and joins it to Predator to explore the character. As we watch families trying to flee into a new life while avoiding those who control that life, the mix of predator-like theatrics brings an edge that keeps the jeopardy and attachment throughout. The character design, with shades of el chupacabra keeping it distant from the mandible wutani, is also commendable on a low budget. A nice thrill ride of a short.

4. It’s Hard to make a houseplant if you’re a sandwich. Dir: Olivia Waring

“LOOK STEVE!, I DID NOT DO ALL THAT FUCKING SHIELDING AND PUT MYSELF THROUGH HELL TO COME OUT OF A FUCKING APOCALYPSE AND SIT IN THE SAME PUB WE HAVE BEEN SITTING IN FOR THE LAST 15 YEARS, PRETENDING TO GIVE A SHIT AT THIS GAMMON PLATTER ABOUT GIRLS BEING IN THE NEW INDIANA JONES FILM”

That was Monday, five days ago. When I walked out of a pub of ‘friends’ whose main complaint about anything boiled down to a comfortable lack of purpose in their lives, you can imagine my thoughts when I met Graeme, our ‘hero’. 

Like many people I walked out of in the pub, Graeme is a middle-aged white man with a lovely suburban house, a fantastic sandwich maker, a career wife and a charming daughter. Yet, he does nothing except resent the most base chores and neglect them as we should all caring about his ‘lack of purpose’. 

In short, he’s a twat!

Fortunately, with neat twists and superb casting in Justin Edwards, who has made considerable repertoire in playing massive twats, you can’t help but feel some trepidation as things seem to skitter away from him, from his ignorance and blithe manner to his tragic ending. In many ways, he is the Arthur dent of the darkest timeline, but the style and sinister vibes he passes through, like some digital Dante, don’t change the fact the ending is fitting.

Fiinally, Steve, if you are reading this, I don’t care if Batman is not a Marvel character..find me the one universe where you’re not a fucking arsehole!