RocketJump: The Show, on RocketJump (Hulu / YouTube)
facebook; IMDb; RocketJump; TV Tango; YouTube
This is a series of short films made by RocketJump in late 2015 to early 2016. Well, actually... it's a series on Hulu about the making of a series of short films. But I didn't see that, because I didn't want to spoil the magic. Or whatever. but I did watch the shorts themselves (on YouTube), and they're pretty great.
The Good, The Fast, and the Furious (11:51)
IMDb; YouTube
(The actual "The Show" episode is called "High Plains Drifter"... which is a fairly decent pun.) Ellary Porterfield plays Sally Westfield, an Old West sheriff who must compete in a horse race against some bad guys for control of her town. The short features an awesome hip-hop song by DeStorm Power, some cool visuals, and a story that is both amusing and badass. And really, it creates a world that I wish I could see more of. This would make such an awesome series. But of course it works as a self-contained short, too. And as the first short made for "RocketJump: The Show," it made me immediately fall in love with the actual anthology series, even if the rest of the episodes would have no relation to this one.
Fan Friction (10:21)
IMDb; YouTube
Ellary plays a girl named Allie, who is writing some mash-up fanfic, in collaboration with her friend Liz (Ashly Burch, who was unfamiliar to me the first time I watched this, but when I rewatched it I knew her from some earlier RocketJump shorts). Allie is a more serious writer, while Liz just wants to write slash fiction. In this case, Sherlock Holmes and Dracula are fighting with lightsabers aboard Battlestar Galactica after the murder of Malcolm Reynolds. And then they start making out. This leads to conflict between Allie and Liz over their respective writing styles. Anyway... it's an absolutely hilarious short film, which further cemented my love of the series after the first film.
Truck Flipper v Bus Puncher (7:43)
IMDb; YouTube
It begins with a scene from an action movie about a guy who can flip speeding trucks just by punching them. But a rival movie studio executive refuses to be outdone, so she gets the guy in her movie to punch a bus. From there, each studio's executive orders their respective movies to one-up each other with progressively bigger vehicles to punch. It's all amazingly hilarious. But there's a surprisingly touching twist ending (which is still pretty funny).
Freddie's Vlog (8:06)
IMDb; YouTube
Freddie Wong is making a vlog while driving, and hopes to reach a billion subscribers. But he ends up crashing into a police car. Then a Russian woman named Svetlana gets out of that car with a bag full of stolen cash, gets into Freddie's car, and forces him at gunpoint to drive while police chase them. Then the vlog cuts out, and back in with a follow-up scene. This happens numerous times, each time the situation in which Freddie finds himself gets progressively weirder. The whole time, he keeps hoping his subs will climb all the way to a billion, but each time he also expects it be his final vlog entry. Except it never really is. Anyway, it's all really amusing because of how out there it gets. And that's all I want to say.
Walk and Talk (4:30)
IMDb; YouTube
(The "The Show" episode is called "Doorgy.") A military guy and a CIA guy... walk and talk as they pass through various doors in a secret facility. A lieutenant (played by Ashly Burch) keeps delivering papers to the CIA guy (and eventually delivers something else). What the two guys talk about ranges all over the spectrum from serious government stuff to personal stuff to just absurd stuff. It seems to me like a cross between some kind of Aaron Sorkin show and the opening credits of Get Smart. (And the end of the sketch is rather like the end of every episode of Saturday Night Live.) I guess it's all rather amusing, but it doesn't really go anywhere. Which is fine, though IMO not as good as the other shorts in this series.
Jess' Big Date (9:21)
IMDb; YouTube
Ashly plays a spy named Jess, who is torturing a Russian guy named Dimitri for information. But she has to put a hold on that to go out on a date with some normal guy, who has no idea what she does for a living. Unfortunately, everyone in the restaurant they go to are associates of Dimitri, and they all want to kill Jess. That's all I wanna say, but the short is pretty funny and badass.
Keep off the Grass (8:44)
IMDb; YouTube
Clinton Jones (who was unfamiliar to me the first time I watched this, but when I rewatched it I knew him from some earlier RocketJump shorts) plays a guy who takes care of... a public lawn, or something, I dunno. Anyway, there's a "keep off the grass" sign. And when Freddie shows up walking across the grass, Clint picks a fight with him. The fight soon takes them both into the sky, and continues for quite awhile. I don't want to say how it all ends, but the whole thing is fairly amusing.
A black & white, silent short film set in 1944 Switzerland (in the mountains, in winter). Josh Blaylock (whom I know from VGHS) plays a bartender whose friends want him to go out with them to the fun fair, but he can't afford to leave work. So he's hoping his sadsack patrons will put some cash in his tip jar, but of course they don't. He also considers taking cash from the register, but that doesn't happen. Then an American spy (played by Ellary Porterfield) comes in from the cold, to hide from Nazi officers. She puts some money in the jar, but when the Nazis (led by Clinton Jones) come in looking for her, she hides a roll of film in the jar. Eventually, a fight breaks out. And that's all I want to say about the plot. (I feel like I've already said too much, but I can't imagine saying less.) But this is absolutely one of the best short films I've ever seen. It's an unbelievably perfect blend of film noir and brilliantly choreographed slapstick comedy, and perfect background music (which definitely seems more suited to the silent film era than the film noir era). The whole thing is simply amazing.