Web Breathes New Life into Short Films
12/03/2001

Steven Grasse's "Bikini Bandits" shorts are Atom's most popular films The plight of the short film has been a constant (losing) battle for attention with its big brother, the feature. Fans of shorts are lucky if they live near an art house that runs an occasional festival. At the Academy Awards show, the short film award winners are usually ushered off by the orchestra a few words into their speech.

But a handful of Internet sites are giving the short a new life - or at least a screen to play on. Web surfers with either Real Player or Windows Media Player can watch the films - which range in length from two to 45 minutes - on their PCs (a high-speed Internet connection is a big help here). The sites are free if you register, and you can even submit your own film, though there's no guarantee your "Conversations with Aunt Hilda" will make the cut.

iFilm - link

In addition to short subject films, iFilm is a film information and gossip portal - which is fortunate because its film offerings could benefit from some serious quality control. However, many viewers don't share my opinion: One of the site's top-rated films, "405" by Bruce Branit and Jeremy Hunt, has been watched more than 2 million times. Still, most of the movies are lowbrow humor - like Jeff Sweeney's "Beyond Insanity" in which three mental patients describe their (really stupid) conditions - or borderline pornographic.

There are some diamonds in the rough, however. The "Absent-Minded Waiter," starring Steve Martin in his pre-"The Jerk" days stands the test of time as do Walter Williams's "Mr. Bill" films, starring the old Saturday Night Live mainstay.

Bijou Cafe - link

To the relief of the indecisive film viewer, Bijou Cafe doesn't have quite the selection of the other film sites. So rather than break films into genre, it divides its 100 or so films into feature, short subject and serial categories. The site design strives for that retro look that lets antique stores charge $7.50 for a plastic shot glass. What's nice is that it manages to back up the look with a number of films from the '30s, '40s and '50s. If the camp horror of Ed Wood's 1956 "Bride of the Monster" doesn't give you chills, then Hitchcock's 1935 classic "The 39 Steps" will. Other highlights include the pilot for the Groucho Marx show You Bet Your Life and Beatles documentary footage. Bijou Cafe also has some new films buried in the short subject category and a newsletter that highlights what's happening in the Internet film world. One downside: Unlike the other sites, Bijou makes you pay, either by the film (approximately 50 cents each) or a $3.99 monthly membership (which drops to $2.99 after four months).

Atomfilms - link

Atomfilms has a giant selection. But unless you're thrown into a state of existential angst by the philosophical implications of Ben Franklin dropping the F-bomb while scantily clad women grope each other, Steven Grasse's "Bikini Bandits" and the "Time Machine" - the site's most popular film - won't offer much more than temporary titillation. (If you're really looking for a cheap thrill, rent Russ Meyer's feature-length sexploitation flick "Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens.")

Besides the obvious genre classifications, you can sort through Women Auteurs and Star-Powered categories. Doing a name search for your favorite movie star, however, is a crapshoot. Once in a genre's film list, you can sort by name or by viewer rating (the site uses a 0-5 star system). Mark Yoshikawa's Reflexus, a highly rated thriller about a man who witnesses his own crime, is another film that will please the most discriminating viewer. Visitors in need of a laugh can preview Oscar-winner "Creature Comforts," a brilliant mock-documentary of zoo life by Nick Park of Wallace and Gromit fame.

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Web Breathes New Life into Short Films