Stanislaus

Lamp Life links the second and fourth Toy Story in a sweet and humorous way through the story of the Shepherdess, her sheep and the lamp to which they used to belong. The life of one toy can be as amazing and colorful as that of a human. Compared to the feature films, this shorts may not be as deep, but as a funny one-liner it works well.

A hilarious excursion into the world of The Simpsons and first (toddler) loves, featuring some truly funny ideas, mainly based on the parallels between the worlds adults and children.

From a visual point of view, Citipati impresses with its decent animation, accompanied by a beautiful musical score. We follow the story of an oviraptor who finds himself in the face of devastating destruction, but it is not portrayed only in a negative way. A chalky ballad of life and death.

I had higher hopes for Late Phases when I read the blurb about a blind veteran who decides to take on werewolves, but the film was a bit disappointing. I found it unnecessarily talky and, except for the first attack and the ending, quite stripped of action. I liked that the film doesn’t rely on CGI effects for the visuals of the werewolves, but used costumes and makeup, so the monsters looked quite realistic, albeit clumsy. I had quite a problem sympathizing with the main character Ambrose, though, I mostly didn't care about his fate. If you leave out the horror aspect, it’s a pretty shallow family drama.

"Real men say goodbye." Charlie and Sebastian have a relationship that is genuine and mature, but also unhealthily toxic, it destroys them both and keeps them together at the same time. Those People is a film about friendship, the search for love and relationships in general that has both strong and weak moments. From an acting standpoint, it's fairly good, though at times some of the characters were a little too theatrical and exaggerated. The scene between Sebastian and his father was probably the strongest for me. All in all, better three stars!

Rock Haven is a very, very, very peculiar film. The premise isn't that bad at first glance, although it's nothing new, but the execution was literally disastrous in places. At times I even felt like I was watching some kind of queer adaptation of a Rosamunde Pilcher novel. The film suffers mainly from a weak script and lacklustre performances, with superfluous and pointless nature shots to crown it all. The only thing that pulls it at least a little out of the mud is the character of Clifford's mother.

Love Monsters is an easygoing little flick with all the trimmings. At first glance, I was intrigued by the post-apocalyptic theme, which has been aptly compared to Zombieland with a more acceptable rating. The basis of the story is fairly simple and brings nothing new to the genre. But the plot does move along nicely, regularly peppered with innocent action, a few humorous scenes and more than a few insightful life lessons. Although Dylan O'Brien doesn't make as much lively noise as in Teen Wolf, his character is still likeable and funny. It was nice to see a smaller role for Michael Rooker, and surprisingly I didn't find his little companion as annoying as I usually do with child characters. The monster visuals had some issues, but for thirty million, it's a solid job well done. If the film is a success, I can imagine a sequel. P.S. The best was Boy!

Beyond Borders: Esteros doesn't bring anything new to its genre, yet I was intrigued by its plot structure that intertwines two time lines (childhood and the present) in an effective way, explaining the relationship between Matías and Jerónimo quite nicely. It is an intimate film, and the atmosphere thickens especially in the last third, yet I felt that they could have pushed the envelope a bit more.

Geography Club is an enjoyable film that combines dramatic and comedic elements quite effectively, and deals with a number of topical issues, like sexual minorities, bullying and interpersonal relationships. Story-wise, the film doesn't offer anything unseen, but it does have a few memorable scenes, both humorous (the care of the doll) and serious (the character of Brian), which detract from its dry dullness, helped by a not-so-typical ending. Better three stars!

A short and extremely colourful reflection on the direction genetic engineering will take, which holds incredible possibilities. The infantile-looking animation both harms and benefits the film.