by John Holliday
by Emily Bloom
by George Taylor
by Christian Fannin
[Keep up with the "Special Feature" column and Christian Fannin will sit you on his lap and talk to you about whatever movie-related topic he feels like.]
Don't let the runtime keep you from watching Signs. I'm the kind of person that needs to be entertained as soon as I click "Play" and I do best when my short films are under seven minutes or so. The first time I watched this Australian born short, I didn't notice it was going to be twelve minutes long. I was pleasantly surprised when I found out since it only seemed like four or five minutes. Not only that but there's a key feature missing in this short that is unusual considering it's length. Watch it first, you may not even notice.
It's hard to believe so many emotions can be triggered with no dialogue. I think this has more to do with the direction of Patrick Hughes than the actual actors. My favorite part is when she turns her paper around and it says, "I WAS WATCHING U FIRST". That was the scene that put this short over the top, from decent to great instantly.
Hughes' first feature film, Red Hill, was released earlier this year. It's highly enjoyable especially if you like the small cast / low budget feel but with the focus on story and character building. It's simplistic yet gets the job done the way it's script deserves. I would be very pleased if I had a feature length debut of this quality. Below is the trailer and it is a complete turnaround from Signs as far as the tone goes. Red Hill is a revenge western, what I imagine could have been a bloody alternative ending to 'The Shawshank Redemption'. If it were a western of course.
Don't hesitate to tell Christian what you think of his column and suggest a topic by e-mailing him at: christian@cineweekly.com
Week of 2/07/12
