Mallory attempts to start her day with a simple meditation but is overwhelmed by distractions both in her environment and in her head. Alex Markman directs “Mallory Meditates,” a kinetic character study / mood piece about the arduous task of quieting one’s mind. The simple conceit is pumped full of energy and specificity (see: butt lint), and gets a lot of a mileage from its juxtapositions of should-be peaceful breathing exercises and real world cynicism (him: “Monsanto and Bayer are merging” / her: “that’s weird” / him: “actually it’s not.” Markman stars alongside his real-life wife, and their dynamic is richly depicted. He’s the heady one, always spouting on about the world’s problems, while her concerns are more tangible: the heat in the house needs fixing, she needs new clothes. Eventually she’s able to hush the grating sounds and thoughts into a flight of fancy involving a neighborhood dog — you take what you can get. -KA. (4 minutes). Director: Alex Markman. DoP: Taylor Zann. Producer: Sam Lasko. Produced in Association with Ghost Robot. Grade: Derek Hansen, Arsenal Creative. Sound Design + Mix: Andrew Ben Miller. Cast: Mallory Markman, Austin Rodrigues, Maggie Morris, Sandra Markman.
Wedding bells ring in Elisa's head as she sings of love and hopefully marriage. Elisa Victoria writes and stars in “I’m Gonna Get Married,” a charming DIY pop musical, stylized, self-assured and brimming with personality. Elisa hops around in vintage wedding dresses belting tunes about finding a ...
Emily Kaplan’s “Spare Parts,” in which she also stars, explores a young woman confronted with surprising intimacy. Kaplan plays a nomadic grifter who speeds from one brief encounter to the next, pocketing what spare change, electronics, jewelry, etc. she can before moving on to the next hit. One ...
Jonny (Deragh Campbell) watches a toy frog swimming endlessly in a plastic tub. She then drops it in the East River and it mechanically swims away. A Snow Leopard paces back and forth behind a cage, as elegant and graceful as it is pathetically trapped. Sam (Kentucker Audley) sits with a baseball...
