Other Reviews by LBarbarell 469

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  Virtual Friendship
  A review of My Best Friend is Dead (2nd Draft)
  by LBarbarell on 07/11/2012
  The story has a nice, melancholy, Ray Bradbury-ish quality to to it. Though it's science fiction, the sci-fi is secondary to the story: it's a device to explore the characters and the worlds they may or may not actually inhabit. I think it's fairly original, sort of like a computer game that attempts to simulate the spiritual aspects of life rather than the physical. The... The story has a nice, melancholy, Ray Bradbury-ish quality to to it. Though it's science fiction, the sci-fi is secondary to the story: it's a device to explore the characters and the worlds they may or may not actually inhabit. I think it's fairly original, sort of like a computer game that attempts to simulate the spiritual aspects of life rather than the physical.
  
  The only thing that struck me as a flaw was the fact that the narrator eventually asks the same question the readers have been asking themselves: is the contact with his friend real or imagined? When you tell me that even your narrator doesn't know, it suggests that you don't know. So I'm discouraged from trying to work the puzzle out in my own mind, which is half the fun of reading a story like this.
  
  
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  Dead On
  A review of The Infinite Flu
  by LBarbarell on 06/25/2012
  I wonder if that boss is going to attend Bob's funeral. Except for the fact that the lips were out of synch with the sound, probably a web issue and not the fault of the film, I thoroughly enjoyed this. Things I liked included: - The boss sounded real. Basically uncaring, humorless, and completely lacking imagination. Good voice talent. - The onscreen actor was sufficiently... I wonder if that boss is going to attend Bob's funeral.
  
  Except for the fact that the lips were out of synch with the sound, probably a web issue and not the fault of the film, I thoroughly enjoyed this. Things I liked included:
  
  - The boss sounded real. Basically uncaring, humorless, and completely lacking imagination. Good voice talent.
  
  - The onscreen actor was sufficiently deadpan... pun intended.
  
  -I liked the premise. It doesn't really matter whether this employee was engaging in the ultimate sarcasm or was really so tied to his routine that he carried it on postmortem. Either scenario works for me. I prefer to interpret the concept symbolically: this guy was so burned out, he felt totally depleted and everything he did meant nothing anymore. He was literally just going through the motions. I've been there.
  
  A nice short film, holding the viewer's interest despite the lack of fancy sets, acting ensembles, or special effects (well, there was one special effect, and it was well done.)
  
  Criticism... The music cuts off abruptly after the opening credits, to jarring effect. Let it bleed into the next clip.
  
  Amazing what you can do with one guy, a phone, and some monkeys. Good work. read
• 
  Many Good points
  A review of Snitches Get Bullets
  by LBarbarell on 06/22/2012
  Since this short is about bullets, here are my bullet points: The Good o Tight editing. o Great music selections but I'm not sure your disclaimer gets you off the hook with regard to copyright. o Great photographic composition in the opening scene. o Gun firing was realistic. o The mostly sepia look somehow increased realism. o Acting was OK, but hooker moved awkwardly... Since this short is about bullets, here are my bullet points:
  
  The Good
  
  o Tight editing.
  
  o Great music selections but I'm not sure your disclaimer gets you off the hook with regard to copyright.
  
  o Great photographic composition in the opening scene.
  
  o Gun firing was realistic.
  
  o The mostly sepia look somehow increased realism.
  
  o Acting was OK, but hooker moved awkwardly and was unconvincing.
  
  The Questionable
  
  o Not sure if the story had a point. Almost seemed like a trailer.
  
  o A rare flaw: too many closeups? So much of the screen was filled with faces, I sometimes lost sense of locale.
  
  o The smiles on the killer's faces seemed out of place. Were they smiling because target was getting a bj? Not clear. read