Having experienced a recent dry spell in terms of submitted content, The Loft's monthly short film showdown was in need of a fresh batch of films that could give people something to make some noise about.  Thankfully, February's show was able to deliver.

One of the coolest things about the 'FFS' show is that making noise - whether you're cheering, laughing, crying, or screaming for the gong - is where the majority of the fun comes from, so it was very nice to have a lively crowd once again.  February's program kicked things off with a popular YouTube treat entitled "Fuck Planet Earth."  The whimsical spoof of BBC's "Planet Earth" generated a healthy amount of belly laughs from the near-packed house, setting the tone for the rest of the evening.

The first film to screen in competition was "NAZTSAIDNEHEMAH" by Garrett Weaver.  A montage excercise that was described by the filmmaker as being 'based on' Koyaanisqatsi, meant long takes of timelapse video set to electronic music.  The Crispin Hellion Glover Memorial Spotlight couldn't have come a moment sooner for The Loft audience, whom called for the gong almost immediately.   The film was dry and lacked a vision outside of simply recreating the source material, but it still quite entertaining considering the audience participation.

The audience had some gonging left in them, though, and it came out in a big way when a pair of experimental films showed back to back.  Joanna Hartell's "Mask / Dinosaur" featured a combination of still photos and video of  a large naked manclown somewhere in the Arizona desert.  Closeups of the manclown's penis had people jumping in their seats, which to be honest was quite the spectacle.  The 3-minute-mark brought a roar of "GONG"s, but several false endings aided Max in teasing the audience - making it seem as if the film would just squeek by without officially being canned.  Alas, the screen dishonestly faded to black one too many times, and Max conceded.

 Shaun Clayton returned to the Loft once again, this time presenting a mockumentary style piece with the simple, but accurate title of "Shaun Hits On Women."  The movie was short and sweet and had the audience giggling despite the low-res/choppy video quality.  Shaun's got a unique comedic voice that begs to be challenged.

 John Baldridge scored big laughs with his October entry, "Civilization! (Some Restrictions Apply), but didn't fare as well this time around.  "Public Service Announcement" started off promising with a funny, if gimmicky dubbed political speech clip that filled in Governor Schwarzenegger dialog with lines from his movies.  The main course in Baldridge's three course movie meal was delivered to the table undercooked...  or overcooked - this analogy really depends on a lot of variables relating to how you like your food, but you should get the point.  With a story that was extremely hard to follow and poor sound/video quality the film fell flat on the audience.  The same can be said for Logan Nangle's "What's Out There," a 'Grindhouse' style fake trailer that suffered from the same sort of presentation issues.  Plus, everybody knows that horror movies - even fake horror movies - take place at night, not 2:30pm.

 Baldridge and Nangle kept their entries short, though, and were hence able to evade a probably gonging.  Jess Miller wasn't quite as conservative with her entry, "Tootsie Rolls and a Plastic Dog."  The 6 minute movie started out strong with an offbeat opening sequence coupled with an intriguing title.  Unfortunately for Jess, patience was not practiced on this night and her film was gonged shortly after the ominous red spotlight appeared.  Jess' Eddie Murphy schtick, wherein she portrays multiple characters in the same scene, is interesting enough to draw a viewer in, but the story's lack of focus makes it hard for a viewer to care about where the story may eventually end up.

Quickly becoming a regular at the contest, filmmaker Grant Hunker returned with "A Week With Luke," the tale of odd-couple roomates that try to kill each other.  Grant's Army filled the front rows of the theatre, singing lead in the chorus of laughter and cheers throughout the 7+ minute flick.  It's not often that a film can last so long without any real attempt at signalling the gong, so kudos to Grant and his team for putting together a very entertaining and engaging film.  Also worth noting was the exceptional special effects work present throughout.  Hunker's nifty smoke and blast effects had a more realistic touch than most original productions for the SciFi Channel.

But the night didn't belong to Hunker.  Or Luke, though it's obvious that he doesn't care what with his sunglasses and all.  No, February's giant check ended up in the same hands it saw in January.  High School Senior Tim LaVoie, who's "Crazy Horse" to the prize last month, solidified his place with the FFS elite with the unveiling of "Shorts With Lust," a collection of short-shorts that resembled something like a live action Robot Chicken or an R-Rated Kids In The Hall.  The movie just couldn't do anything wrong in the eyes of the rabid Loft audience.  Heck, even a short about raping little boys was thrown in there - and it got the biggest laughs!

Here's looking forward to next month's show.  If it's anywhere near as entertaining as February's then you'd be a dope for missing it.  Also, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all of the filmmakers for bringing their goods to The Loft once again.  I had fun filling in for Shipherd, and I hope my writing style hasn't killed your love for In Film We Trust.

Thanks for reading, and be sure to check out the YouTube playlist as the majority of the films from February's show are already loaded (FYI: "Shorts With Lust" plays first under a different name, "Comedy Shorts") 

Complete List of FFS Films for February 2007
Most films available in the TFM YouTube Player

NAZTSAIDNEHEMAH by Garrett Weaver
Tell the Children by Anthony Averbeck
Mask / Dinosaur by Joanna Hartell
Shaun Hits on Women by Shaun Clayton
Shorts With Lust by Tim LaVoie
Gary and the Gallon of Milk by Phillip Lybrand
Public Service Announcement by John Baldridge
A Week With Luke by Grant & Luke
What's Out There? by Logan Nangle
Tootsie Rolls and a Plastic Dog by Jess Miller
Turkish Delights by James Martin
Hundred Pennies by Wonderful Stories

'Filler' films included Serious Actors and Knock Knock by YouTube darlings Pete and Brian as well as Kermit Watches 2 Girls 1 Cup - all of which are available in the TFM YouTube player for the February FFS list.

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