K.A.C. 2016 - T - 4 ...

     With fours days left, let's take a break from the hectic last-minute rush and relax a bit - seeing as how today is Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year, what better time than now to watch some holiday shorts!  Now you don't have to dress to the nines like our attractive little piglet lass here, but she's got the right idea - she's bringing binocs in case she's stuck in the cheap seats trying to see today's offerings!

     As much as I love feature films (having worked in a film library for 30 years, been a projectionist for 3 1/2 years and had my own film collection since junior high), my real passion is film shorts and the thing I love most is finding new ones to show and share with people. Done with low budgets by aspiring and hungry filmmakers, shorts have always fascinated me. They only have so much time (usually between ten and twenty minutes) to tell you a tale and (hopefully) have you remember them and like them well enough to share them with others. Here are a few new entries I'm particularly delighted with.

     

      HIGH on the top of my list is 2015's Miracle on Canary Wharf. Shot in one night, Ain't It Cool News says: "Talented Filmmaker Bradley Porter brings us a lovely Christmas miracle of sorts. "Chloe is having a bad year, and dancing with Santa Claus on Christmas Eve may be all she needs to set things right. That is, if he actually IS Santa Claus." I dare you not to crack a smile when this short hits the end credits. With solid performances from Denis Menochet and Sarah Winter, this film is one for the (holiday) books." I totally agree and filmmaker Porter deserves watching. Here's the short:

https://vimeo.com/186296916

     Next up is the humorous answer to exactly WHO Rudolph's REAL father was and where he got that red nose from - once again, courtesy Ain't It Cool News: 
 
     "Filmmaker Sam Martin and his crew over at XVP have brought us the ultimate holiday gift, a funny answer to the question of how our most prominent reindeer was born with such a nose. The animation here is simple fun, with a lovely twist I can say I never before thought of. Sam is a unique nut of a filmmaker, a guy who thinks just right outside of the box and always delivers laughs. I very much look forward to his projects and can't wait to see what he does next. "Rudolph's mother struggles when the real father of the red-nosed reindeer stops by to say hi to the family." "

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obXljRkm2VE 

     

      Finally, when the internet kerfuffle happened over the Mall of America in Minnesota hiring a black Santa for the first time this year, I knew just the short to end this post with. The hit of the 2012 Finnish film festivals, it tells the charming comedy of errors tale of what happens when a set of harried parents forgets until the last minute to order a Rent-A-Santa to visit the house on Christmas Eve ... and how they all roll with the unexpected result. It's called 'Black Christmas' and it's an absolute delight - Enjoy!

https://vimeo.com/63078320

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     Coming Tomorrow: After a day of feel-good films, it's only fair we give equal time to those on the opposite end of the spectrum. If you're completely fed up, grumped up and Grinched up with the season, our next entry was tailor-made for you!