BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

Fatma Suarez The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Bumpy Chip It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

BasicLogic First of all, why these guys had to sit together or sat so close? There were so many empty seats, why they had to sit facing each other or sat nearby to each other. Two revolvers shot repeatedly, every revolver is a six shooter, six bullets, the crazy young guy should have already emptied both, yet the one that guy picked up later still got two bullets left, give me a break. This is a crazy short film, well acted but not worth high ratings from all the reviewers before me.

rohitrd I am a big fan of In Bruge by director Martin McDonagh. I happened to catch this short after the screening of In Bruge yesterday on Film4. I was looking forward to watch this short and it certainly did not disappoint.The premise of the short is a bit downbeat, about death and mourning. The way each of the characters on the train react to it is what defines these characters. There is a stage-play like feel to the short - with the first act setting up the train scene, the whole act on the train and the last closing act after. While Brendan Gleeson is the only character present in all three acts - he is never actually in control in any, just a mere observer. And yet it's his character which is easy to identify with. The character played by Ruaiduri Conroy (quite brilliantly) sets things in motion mostly unknowingly which exaggerates (or merely brings forth) the reactions from other characters. I certainly recommend this short to anyone who likes wit, emotions and a little eccentricity and can handle some violence along.

MartinHafer SIX SHOOTER was an infuriating film for me, though judging by the fact that it won the Oscar for Best Live Action Short, I assume I must be in the minority. What I found infuriating was that the film seemed so uneven and didn't seem to stay within a genre. One minute, it was a very sad drama, the next it was a bit of a comedy and back and forth it went. I've seen others describe it as a black comedy but there just wasn't enough to laugh at or enough irony for me to see it as this style film. I like my humor dark, but this just wasn't even funny--it was just rather nihilistic.The movie begins with a man at the hospital learning that his wife had died. Soon, he's on a train and it seems that several around him have also just lost family. A bizarre and ugly-spirited young man's mother just died and he seems pretty happy about it. A couple is coping with the loss of their baby--and the young guy taunts them about it relentlessly. This all just seemed very cruel and sick. Yet, later in the film, the young guy was talking about heaven and God and this all seemed rather profound--and like it was an entirely different person. To me, to have someone change that much just made little sense and seemed like poor writing. Perhaps they were implying he had a mother issue and hated mothers so much that that is why he was so cruel to the mother on the train, but even this didn't explain him completely. His character just seemed too full of disparities to be realistic.After a while, there is a lot of violence and death on board the train. This, combined with the dark ending, made for a very dark and unsatisfying film and the bad seemed to leave a much bigger impression on me than the good (such as some excellent acting and a few imaginative scenes).By the way, this film is part of the CINEMA 16: European Shorts DVD. On this DVD are 16 shorts. Most aren't great, though because it contains THE MAN WITHOUT A HEAD, COPY SHOP, RABBIT and WASP, it's an amazing DVD for lovers of short films and well worth buying. Also, while it lost to SIX SHOOTER, I recommend you try watching OUR TIME IS UP--it was a very, very clever, insightful and funny short that I wish had won instead (it was THAT good).

Willemite A bit of fun for the black-hearted, very black-hearted. Death becomes them, all of them it seems, in one way or another. I am a fan of dark humor myself--Sweeney Todd and League of Gentlemen come to mind--but despite having a reasonably strong stomach, this film made me uncomfortable. Make no mistake, it is wonderfully crafted, with outstanding performances, top-notch production values, and a glorious punch line, but it might be a trial to keep your eyes on the screen until the final payoff.I caught this dainty in a showing of all the Oscar-nominated shorts, animated and live action. (and not, sadly, documentary) It is a shame that so few get to see quality short films of this sort. It might be a worthy enterprise for some bright person to market a DVD product line with sets of each year's nominees. Or work something out with Apple to make them down-loadable to digital devices of various sorts. It is a sad thing that we must endure advertisements prior to seeing features. Substituting short films of modest duration would add reel value to seeing films in a theatrical venue. Lord knows, it would be a good thing to provide a bit more justification for the hefty ticket prices.