Published at 2:30 AM on March 15, 2010

SXSW 2010: Shorts, Docs, Dicks and Very Large Numbers

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Documentaries got my attention the first couple days at SXSW. Except for the Midnight Shorts with its more-than-average number of references to male genitalia. 


Hubble 3D
Usually, if I say I appreciate the brevity of a film it's not a good thing. But in the case of Hubble 3D 43 minutes was just right to whet our appetites for the continuation of space exploration. Wow. And Wow. See this film at an iMax theater if you can. Watching the Shuttle astronauts repair the Hubble Telescope as the Hawaiian Islands flow by in the background is an indelible image. But it gets better when we take a journey though the middle of evolving star systems on the edge of our known universe. The 3D glasses were fine with no vision problems. But when they started talking about trillions of light years and how things we were looking at happened billions of years of go, well, my head began to hurt. 

American Grindhouse
This film will surprise viewers on how pervasive exploitation films have been in the past one hundred years of American cinema. From sex to violence to sexy violence and violent sex (do you sense a theme here?) director Elijah Drenner delves into the century's seedy low-budget projects and their influence on mainstream movies. Most of American Grindhouse is pretty humorous. Favorite line in the film, spoken by a female prisoner to a male guard: "Get it up or I'll cut it off." 

Haynesville: A Nation's Relentless Hunt for Energy
With numbers that are downright staggering Haynesville looks at the recent discovery of the country's largest gas field and its impact on the citizens of northwest Louisiana. It is estimated that the gas could be worth hundreds of trillions of dollars. Director Gregory Kallenberg allows us to witness the evolution of the event as it appears that landowners are becoming instant millionaires and some, soon-to-be billionaires. But the story takes a somber, gut wrenching turn. It's film about America's energy but, more than that, it's a film about American lives.

"MIDNIGHT SHORTS"

There was a lot of talent behind these short films. Now go tackle something big and get back to me. Here are some of the best.

Fix My Dick
Dancing. Men. Briefs. Touching. Nuff said. Except that it's directed by Trinidad director PJ Raval.

Delmer Builds A Machine
A boy builds a strange contraption out of whatever he can find. What the machine actually does is a big surprise, even for him. Cute with a big bang ending.

Can We Talk?
Very funny twists in this take on the familiar lead off line to dumping someone. And the girl's reasons for not performing fellatio are not what you would think. 

Dwight David Honeycutt for Conway School Board
Strange, long lost video made by a school board candidate to gain votes. Seems innocent at first but it quickly becomes obvious that this guy's missing a few brain cells. Especially when he informs us, "I've got dents in my dick!"

The Alleyway
A simple story with excellent narration about walking through a narrow alleyway. Would have liked a resolution of some sort, however.

5-Second Films
Speaking of resolution, these filmmakers are able to repeatedly tell stories, on film, in just five seconds. Amazingly, they actually have a beginning, a middle and an end. It takes me longer to explain it than it takes to show one of the films.



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