Santa Barbara Shorts (2013)

Reviewed by Melanie McComb
The Santa Barbara Shorts was a series of different short films shown in one night.
The opening short was a very endearing mini-documentary titled Jack directed by Grace Jackson about a 93 year old man who lives in the Ventana Wilderness. The film has a light and happy musical score that plays while we watch Jack go about his day to day life in his cabin. He has a talent for making violin bows. The direction in this short was very special and organic. I loved it.
One of the films that left me very confused was Equalizer directed by JJ Englert. I still can’t figure out what that short was about. The short’s description in the program is as follows, “A woman tries to fix her life after she loses her boyfriend,” at no point in that film did I have an idea of what was going on. The combination of stilted dialogue, poor acting, and unintentionally slow pacing created a disturbing concoction of confusion and impatience. I could hear and see people impatiantely shifting in their seats waiting for this painful short to come to an end.
The short titled This is Caroline, directed by Danny Abel is a perfect example of how more and more actors are creating their own opportunities. The star of this short is also its writer. The short was deliciously awkward and the underlying tension was moving. I loved the acting and direction.
A lot of the shorts should have spent more time in the editing room. But overall, it was a nice night and I was impressed with most of the shorts.

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Published:
02.10.13 / 4pm
Category:
Films, Santa Barbara Film Festival 2013