Pizza Noir

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I like this one for a few reasons. One, I identify with the main character. Not the wanting-to-make-porn part, the want-to-be-creative-but-feel-like-everything-you-come-up-with-is-derivative part. Two, it's just such an aesthetic treat to see all those styles in a short period of time - it's a sense-tickler. And I like the consistency of having them all start on the light bulb. Three, there's a remnant of the grad school refugee in me that still kvells at anything meta (within limits - I hate it when films take the approach that any pop culture reference at all makes them automatically funny and clever. It's just lazy.) Four, I love the sequence that plays over the closing credits.

These next two aren't really short films, but I'm going to be self-indulgent and add them anyway. They're short. Promise. I love the first one because of how it mocks genre expectations in a wickedly funny, yet subtle way, and because it's so meticulously done:



And this one's along the same lines - yes, more satire (odd because my favorite movies are usually dramas), but this one just has a sweetness to it (literally!) that's irresistible. There are alot of muppet parodies out there, but most of them just take the easy route of having the muppets engaging in various levels of depravity, and expect that to be funny on its own. This one is so well-crafted, the rhythm is great, and most importantly it actually uses muppet tropes to tell the story as opposed to superimposing the outside material on the muppets. And because of this, it actually pulls off some biting social commentary, in addition to being hugely enjoyable :-):