Screening Log: 24th Annual Ohio 24 Hour Science Fiction Marathon, Part Three

Zombie-American
Directed by Nick Poppy
Written by Nick Poppy and Ed Helms
Starring: Ed Helms

Three stars (out of four)

Summary: Glen (Helms) is just your average New Yorker, playing basketball, doing crossword puzzles and looking for love. And oh yeah, he's a zombie. Or perhaps more accurately, a zombie-American, a member of a discriminated group of people just expecting equal rights...and the occasional brain.

Short take: With Helms being a veteran of both The Daily Show and The Office, the comparisons are pretty obvious and with good reason. Zombie-American is done in the same faux-documentary style as Helms' previous work (which is definitely a good thing). I can't help but wonder, though, whether this is a short that will stand up to repeat viewings. As of right now, it's a smart, funny piece of work. I just hope it stays that way.

----------------------------------------

Fido
Directed by Andrew Currie
Written by Robert Chomiak and Andrew Currie
Starring: Billy Connolly, Carrie-Anne Moss, Dylan Baker, K'Sun Ray, Henry Czerny, Tim Blake Nelson

Three and a half stars (out of four)

Summary: Set in a retro future that resembles the 1950s after most of the world has been rendered inhospitable by zombies, Fido tells the story of a boy (Ray) and his beloved pet zombie (Connolly). A corporation called ZomCon has discovered a way to domesticate zombies, turning them into tame, neutered servants, and the Robinsons have finally caught up with the rest of the neighborhood with Fido. But when Fido's neutralizing collar goes on the fritz and he kills a neighbor, little Timmy must keep his pet from being taken away and thrown back out into the wild.

Short take: If you doubt that Fido is one of the funniest movies I've seen in a long time, consider this scene: after Fido makes a fool of Timmy's frequent bullies, they take revenge by tying him to a tree with the plan to "save" him from his own zombie, thus forcing ZomCon to come reclaim Fido. Their plan goes wrong, however, when Fido actually attacks them, turning them into zombies. Before they have a chance to rise again, Timmy has to send Fido for help when the zombie's unable to untie the ropes. Despite his malfunctioning collar, Fido runs back to Timmy's mom Helen (Moss) for help. Knowing something's wrong, Helen faces Fido and asks "Where's Timmy, Fido," and if you're immediate thought isn't that he's stuck down a well, then, well, maybe this film isn't for you. Otherwise, this flick is a surprisingly smart mix of "Pleasantville" and "Shawn of the Dead," which means its definitely a whole lot of goofy fun.

----------------------------------------

Gravity
Directed by Michael Nankin and David Wechter
Written by Michael Nankin and David Wechter
Starring: Michelle Stacy, Mitzi McCall, Arica Reinhardt, Lilian Wechter, Ed Bloom, David Frishberg, Larry Van Nuys

Three and a half stars (out of four)

Summary: Done in the style of old public school education films, Gravity attempts to answer Mary Jane's (Stacy) simple question, "What is gravity?" After asking her family members, she seeks the help of a scientist (Bloom) who informs her that gravity, caused by a substance called GR12, is running out. He enlists the help of cartoon character Jiminy Gravity to offer some helpful hints on how to conserve gravity, which include not sitting in chairs and carrying helium balloons.

Short take: Does it need to be said that this is a parody? This is another of those comedic shorts that has become a 24 Hour Sci-Fi Marathon tradition, except this one actually makes sense. I think this actually says it all: Every year, the Marathon selects something to be added to the hall of fame. Past inductees have included Marvin the Martian, Darth Vader, Godzilla and an Alien (from Alien, of course). The inductee from Marathon No. 5 is Big Sister (Reinhardt), who is in the middle of receiving oral sex from her boyfriend when Mary Jane comes to ask about gravity. Nuf said, right?

----------------------------------------

Automatons
Directed by James Felix McKenney
Written by James Felix McKenney
Starring: Christine Spencer, Angus Scrimm, Brenda Cooney

One and a half stars (out of four)

Summary: After the world has been leveled into a post-apocalyptic wasteland, a lone girl (Spencer) lives in a bunker with her robots and send them to attack another nearby settlement. As she fixes the ones damaged by the enemy, she listens to diary recordings from her father (Scrimm), who began building robots during the war that eventually made the surface inhospitable, which also why the rest of the known survivors are considered the enemy.

Short take: The first ten minutes of this movie is a slow-changing radar screen and a few salt shaker-looking robots shuffling across a desolate desert. What the hell? There are definitely interesting film techniques at work here, mostly to cover the complete lack of budget, but slightly intriguing visuals doesn't counterbalance a total lack of a coherent script.