Short Review: Inseparable

I'm not all that familiar with Benjamin Cumberbatch and his acting skills, though I heard great reviews about his show "Sherlock" and his performance in "Star Trek into Darkness" was extremely compelling. But, after watching this short that he starred in, which was released earlier this year, I have to say that I should been on the lookout for this British bombshell of an actor. Not only did he manage to portray twins, but the emotion that he put into the story made it emotional and amazing.

It couldn't even imagine how hard it must be to hear life-threatening news, and the fact that this man had a plan to assure his passing by using the loyalty of his brother was remarkable. I know there have been roles in other movies where one actor/actress has played two separate roles, but Cumberbatch did a good job portraying each character. I'll definitely be looking out for more of his work in the future.

-Video Vix[o]n

Short Review: Cul-de-Sac

Cul-de-Sac from Connor Simpson on Vimeo.

I've recently started watching more videos on Vimeo, as a way to gain some inspiration for my own work and take a visual break from Youtube, and I regret missing out on some of the amazing work that is on that site. With that being said, I watched this short film recently, which did a fantastic job with storytelling, minus the dialogue and mainly relied on the visuals to get its point across.

I have to admit that I didn't see the ending coming. I expected that the Black kid was automatically up to no good and that he would be caught by the cop, case closed. It's probably sad that I lead to that conclusion even before seeing the ending, but the director did a good job throwing a raw situation in another direction. I'm not sure if a situation like that would have happened in real life, but I'm pretty sure the Black kid in this case would have not made it home in one piece, if it were up to a itchy-fingered cop. But the main message I got from this is that you should always expect the unexpected and nothing is as it seems.

I can't wait to share more shorts that you've probably never seen before and be amazed with.

-Video Vix[o]n

"Red Hook Summer" Off the Hook

When I first saw this trailer, I thought "... oh boy, here comes another over exaggerated 'Spike Lee Joint' again." But as they say, you should never judge a book by its cover, or in this case, a movie by its trailer.

After watching "Red Hook Summer," I can safely say that I enjoyed it. It was a bright mix of comedy, realism and just deep enough that you can tell only Spike can write it. I don't know whether you can classify it as a "coming of age" film or an overall tale of different characters who lived in this Brooklyn neighborhood during the height of summer. All in all, there were a lot of truths spoken in the film, especially with the strong motifs of religious faith, hiding one's demons and looking beyond the bad things to find the good. The main character, Flik, captured all of this through his trusty iPad 2 and it helped him to understand and adjust to the new environment he was dropped into; coming from Atlanta to New York for a summer vacation.

I don't want to give too much of this movie away, for those within the NYC area who wish to watch it (though I believe the movie will stop showing soon), but if anyone does get the opportunity to see it, it is worth every laugh, thought and nod of agreement with the dialogue that is raised in this latest Spike Lee Joint.

-Video Vix[o]n