‘SWEATY LARRY’ (DWF:LA 2024) Gen Z’s newest and funniest superstition

DWF-LA logoSWEATY LARRY

https://danceswithfilms.com/sweaty-larry/

SWEATY LARRY

80s and 90s kid here. Ouija boards and Blood Mary were a right of passage at sleepover parties or Saturday nights. Filmmaker Vanessa Ionta Wright delivers a new generation of jaded kids trying to scare themselves in a world where they’ve already seen it all thanks to the internet. Our three youngest stars, Sienna Burton, Quinn Reames, and Camryn Bentley, eat the screen up with genuine laughs and an authentic level of “suss.” I loved everything about them.

Sweaty-Larry - GirlsOur introduction to Sweaty Larry is as ridiculous as it should be, and the original song saying over the credits (written and performed by ATL’s Ross Childress, co-founder of the rock band Collective Soul) is a straight banger. SWEATY LARRY is the brilliant reason a festival’s Midnight section exists. I loved everything about it.

WRITER/DIR: Vanessa Ionta Wright
PRODS: Ryan Burton, Rozalyn Mattocks, Tony Reames
CAST: Haley Leary, Victor Rivera, Sienna Burton, Quinn Reames, Camryn Bentley

Sweaty Larry the man

Three curious young girls stumble upon an obscure urban legend and summon the infamous entity known as Sweaty Larry. They were warned…they were warned.

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‘DEATH PERCEPTION’ (DWF: LA 2024) Killer art from a new perspective

DWF-LA logoDEATH PERCEPTION

https://danceswithfilms.com/death-perception/

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Filmmakers Alec Wry, Sam Slade, & Kevin Mix give DWF: LA 2024 audiences a fresh take on the slasher genre with DEATH PERCEPTION. The setup finds a group of college friends coming together for a watch party of Sean’s newly completed short film. No one seems particularly excited, aside from Sean. The night rolls on and the guests find a masked maniac picking them off, one by one. You think you know what’s happening in DEATH PERCEPTION, but you’d be dead wrong.

Every character gets a run-through of the mayhem from their perspective. Each version varies slightly with more information than before. It gets weirder, wackier, and more confusing as the film progresses. Things make more and less sense, but it is too late. You are already hooked.

The script delivers a trove of unlikeable characters and slip-n-slide of tropey goodness with a unique twist. The entire cast digs into the campiness of B horror, but two performances in particular deserve a shout-out. Nicole Murray as Anna, and Kevin Mix playing Sean. Both fully embrace the nutty chaos and bring their A-game. Bravo.

The editing is a damn triumph, and they stick the ending with one last glorious laugh driving their entire point home. It’s a genius stuff.

DIRS/Writers: Alec Wry, Sam Slade, & Kevin Mix

PRODS: Alec Wry, Nicole Murray, Kevin MIx & Sam Slade

CAST: Omari Williams, Cody Laper, Laura Wichman, Nicole Murray, Brian Velazquez, Kevin Mix, Rosemberg Jimmenez

 

A group of college students are invited to a screening party for a short film made by aspiring auteur filmmaker Sean Davis. The night takes a dark turn as each character gets picked off one by one by a mysterious masked killer. The story unfolds from the point-of-view of each of the six guests, and with each new perspective new clues come to light about the darkly comedic truth behind the violence.

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‘I NEED YOUR LOVE’ (DWF: LA 2024) Relatable yet unique shenanigans

DWF-LA logoI NEED YOUR LOVE

https://danceswithfilms.com/i-need-your-love/

I-Need-Your-Love

Earlier this month, Tribeca 2024 audiences got treated to episodes 1 and 3 of Walker Kalan‘s series I NEED YOUR LOVE. Now, DWF: LA gets a chance to laugh and play. Co-created by star Camille Trust, the show is  quick-witted, awkward (in the best way), and realistic, delving into how inevitable competition complicates friendships.

It’s a bold move coming for Taylor Swift. But if you attempt it, this is how it’s done. The Swiftie Army is real, but we can take a joke when we hear one. The episodes have all the markings of greatness. Camille Trust knows her audience. It is niche and yet entirely relatable. Trust carries each scene like a pro. You feel compelled by her presence and immediately accept she’s in her natural state on camera. Jam packed with Tons of promise in this one. Keep an eye out. I feel like we’ll be seeing more of I NEED YOUR LOVE really soon.

WRITER/DIR: Walker Kalan
PRODS: Walker Kalan, Camille Trust, Christina Campagnola, Susie Talbot, Jayne Sullivan, Thomas Glinkowski, Megaera Stephens, Nadine Bedrossian, Isabel Haro
CAST: Camille Trust, Inés Nassara, Athan Chekas, Willy Rincón, Ben Becher

Need Your Love is a bittersweet comedy about pop singer Camille Trust’s struggle to make a name for herself in New York’s cutthroat music scene—from sleazy producers and vengeful Swifties to heartbreak and self-sabotage. It’s raw. It’s messy. And most of it actually happened.

Camille Trust Bio:
Camille is a triple threat performer—she acts, she sings, she slays. After earning her BA in Theater at Florida State University, Camille moved to NYC, where she launched her solo musical career. She has since released an EP and full length soul-pop album, racking up more than 2 million streams on Spotify, and garnering praise from the likes of Billboard, Nylon, and Time Magazine. Camille is a proud member of the Resistance Revival Chorus and is a founding member of Brooklyn’s all-female jam session called “Femme Jam.”
She also sings back-up for various artists including Shawn Mendes (SNL & VMAs), Jim James (Spotify Sessions), Fleet Foxes (Colbert), Chelsea Cutler (Colbert), and Nathaniel Rateliff (SNL). She currently holds a residency at Bruno Mars’ Pinky Ring at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. @camilletrust 
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‘BURN OUT’ (DWF:LA 2024 short) Overworked and ambitious are a dangerous combination

DWF-LA logoBURN OUT

https://danceswithfilms.com/burn-out/

Burn out POSTER

A clearly overworked and unwaveringly determined Virgil will do anything to show his boss the very personal presentation he has toiled over. Nothing can stop him from completing this passion project, not even a fire. Filmmaker Russell Goldman‘s DWF: LA 2024 short BURN OUT dives headfirst into the competitive nature of hardcore office culture under the guise of “teamwork.”

Burn Out STILL Virgil_LookingInFire_EverettOsborneThe hilarious and terrifying overall premise might seem unrealistic to some, but I can tell you it is entirely plausible. When my husband was a first-year associate coming out of grad school at Yale, he passed out on the way to work three days in a row from lack of sleep. After being revived by police officers and refusing medical attention, he arrived five minutes late only to be told, “That’s a YP, a You Problem.” Empathy be damned when there is a dollar or deal to be made.

Burn Out STILL Virgil_SprayExtinguisher_EverettOsborneThe film looks spectacular. Sharp cinematography from Ali Armino ups the production ante. Lead performances are fantastic. Everett Osborne and Tommie Earl Jenkins command your attention with dazzling charm and ferocity, making us beg for an expanded world. Without needing to, BURN OUT takes a hard left turn into total WTF near the end of its 12-minute runtime, but the metaphor completely stands. It was unhinged before that choice. Executive Producer Jamie Lee Curtis knows talent when she sees it. Goldman’s voice is fresh, intense, and welcomed.

Written & Directed by: Russell Goldman

Starring: Everett Osborne and Tommie Earl Jenkins

Genre: Horror, Comedy, Short

RT: 12 min | Not Yet Rated

Language: English | U.S.

An assistant will do anything to get his presentation in front of his boss… even set himself on fire. Starring Everett Osborne (SWEETWATER) and Tommie Earl Jenkins (DEATH STRANDING). BURN OUT

ADDITIONAL SCREENINGS
 
2024 Chattanooga Film Festival – June 28th
 
2024 Wyoming International Film Festival – July 11th

 

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‘TIM TRAVERS AND THE TIME TRAVELER’S PARADOX’ (DWF:LA 2024) Brilliantly funny sci-fi with a side of self-love. No, really.

DWF-LA logoTIM TRAVERS AND THE TIME TRAVELER’S PARADOX

https://danceswithfilms.com/tim-travers-the-time-travelers-paradox-2/

TIM TRAVERS AND THE TIME TRAVELER’S PARADOX posterStimson Snead takes us on a comedy of trial and error in DWF: LA sci-fi feature TIM TRAVERS AND THE TIME TRAVELER’S PARADOX. This film is a story of a mad genius’s guide to what if, get ready to have your mind blown.

The badass credits come in hot from the first frame. The production design is outstanding, and the camera work is sharp and gorgeously lit. Within minutes, you understand that seeing this film in cinematic form and on the largest screen will make your day.

Filmmaker Stimson Snead plays Helter, a mercenary soldier of sorts. His bumbling actions add another level of hilarity. He lights up the screen.

Felicia Day is Delilah, the firecrackers radio producer to Joel McHale‘s conspiracy theorist radio host. Day is exactly how I imagine her to be in real life as a fandom icon. She is magnificent.

TIM TRAVERS AND THE TIME TRAVELER’S PARADOX still 1Samuel Dunning is Tim Travers. He is funny, charming, and owns this role. Travers is stubborn as hell and honest to a fault. The character has authentic mad scientist vibes. The number of alternative death scenes and distinctly unique versions of the same character is Multiplicity on crack. Dunning eats it up.

The dialogue is whip-smart and relentlessly hilarious. If you’re going to make an autism joke, the approach is approved by this neuro-spicy matriarch. The editing is a smash. The music is perfect. Bravo to the SFX team for their top-notch work.

The screenplay goes to places you will never see coming. Pun is very much intended. It takes digs at certain Multiverse cinema, religion, and sexuality and obliterates every boundary that ever existed with genius-level wit. In the end, TIM TRAVERS AND THE TIME TRAVELER’S PARADOX is a sci-fi comedy about self-love. No, seriously. Genre audiences are going to go nuts.

TIM TRAVERS AND THE TIME TRAVELER’S PARADOX

WRITER/DIR: Stimson Snead
PRODS: Rich Cowan, Ben Yennie, Felicia Day, Casey Cowan, Kylie Walcuk, Stimson Snead
CAST: 
Starring Samuel Dunning, Co-Starring Felicia Day, Special Appearance by Keith David, With Joel McHale and Danny Trejo

It is called the Time Travelers Paradox. In which a scientist creates a Time Machine and kills their younger self. So now a man who should not- can not- exist, somehow does. That is the Paradox, and Paradoxes are impossible. And the man who has created it, is Tim Travers. A reclusive mad scientist whose stated mission in life is to stand alone with God at the end of time, and tell the bastard off. TIM TRAVERS AND THE TIME TRAVELER’S PARADOX

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‘PRINCETON’S IN THE MIX’ (DWF: LA 2024 short) A cut above the rest in college admissions

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PRINCETON’S IN THE MIX

https://danceswithfilms.com/princetons-in-the-mix/

PRINCETON'S IN THE MIX

In PRINCETON’S IN THE MIX, the modern woes of college admissions season get uglier when elite parents find a new way to get a leg up in the competition.

Heather Burns, my favorite actress from Miss Congeniality (and the eternal April 25th meme), gives Beth a lethal edge. She nails this role. Charlie Besso plays son Teddy with the hesitant vulnerability needed to counter Burns’s maniacal intensity.

DP Jason Jossefer delivers beautifully sharp and immersive camera work. Filmmaker Jonathan Di Maio takes a viciously tongue-in-cheek look at the pressure of keeping up with the Joneses, calling out the admissions scandal in Hollywood. The foreshadowing in the first scene is chef’s kiss. Di Maio’s voice is loud and clear, and I look forward to whatever comes next.

 

WRITER/DIR: Jonathan DiMaio
PRODS: Antonio Alonzo Ayala, Heather Brawley, Matt Stoner, David Zax (Co-Producer), Nagi Chami (Executive Producer)
CAST: Heather Burns, Charlie Besso, Syra McCarthy, Nate Duncan

When the wealthy mother of a high schooler discovers that her son can get extra time on the SAT if he gets injured, things spiral out of control.

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‘YOU ARE HERE’ (DWF:LA 2024 short) Universally great

DWF-LA logoYOU ARE HERE

https://danceswithfilms.com/YOU-ARE-HERE/

YOU-ARE-HERE

A short film about our minds going down the proverbial rabbit hole of unfathomable information, Michael Friberg‘s DWF: LA short, YOU ARE HERE, is pure delight.

When insurance underwriter Peter reads a newspaper article about the number of stars in the galaxy, he fixates on the enormity of space and life itself. Peter is every science enthusiast inside of us. Lehi Farlpapalangi is so watchable that he deserves a feature or series all his own. YOU ARE HERE feels like a live-action Pixar short. The film will undoubtedly bring a smile to your face, and if it doesn’t, check your pulse.

Find tickets here!!

 

WEST COAST Premiere | USA, 2024, 8 min.
FUSION SHORTS BLK 2 – TUE JUNE 25 @ 5PM

 

WRITER/DIR: Michael Friberg
PRODS: Vincent Mauro, James Roh
CAST: Lehi Falepapalangi, Bridget Elsabe Galanis, Annie Flowers, Cameron Sawyer

When insurance salesman Peter Kleebold reads an article about the size of the universe, it sends him into an existential tailspin that leads him on a journey to get out of this world.

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‘HOW I ROLL’ (DWF:LA 2024 short) Resilience at its finest

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HOW I ROLL
https://danceswithfilms.com/HOW-I-ROLL-2/

How I roll posterOne of the most harrowing stories I’ve seen featured in a short film comes from BriGuel‘s HOW I ROLL. This 13-minute emotional rollercoaster is an eye-opening tale of resilience. Robin Cohen lives with MS, navigating Miami, Manhattan, and a family history of shocking violence, loss, and great love. 

HOW-I-ROLLBriGuel beautifully edits Cohen’s innermost thoughts, one on top of the other in the most organic way, mimicking the chaos of our mind’s intrusive thoughts. With an abundance of home videos and footage of Robin’s daily life and love story, HOW I ROLL introduces the world to a woman who inspires us to love, laugh, and live life to its fullest despite what might feel like insurmountable odds. Eternal positivity and perseverance are the beauty of life.

Get Tickets Here!

How I Roll (Official Trailer) from BriGuel on Vimeo.

DIRS: Brianne Berkson & Miguel Gluckstern, BriGuel
PRODS: Robin Cohen, Brianne Berkson, Miguel Gluckstern, Stefany Dobken

Facing unthinkable hardships – murder, loss, battling MS for 25 years, Robin Cohen impressively defies the odds, finding light despite the darkness.

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Review: ‘Rust Belt Driller’ opens Midnight series at Dances With Films.

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headling the Midnight series is

Rust Belt Driller

Renn Maxwell seems to have everything going for him. He has a manager that cares, he’s good enough at his craft (visual art) to have private gallery screenings. He seems to live in a nice looking house and he has a committed, streetwise, and beautiful partner in Carol. But Renn has been followed all his life by something dark. And now with the chaos of the modern world, and his own inner horrors, that evil has finally gotten close enough to reach out and touch. What follows in the next few days will pain the city of Buffalo, NY a whole new canvas, mostly flowing red.


Rust Belt Driller is the epitome of a midnight movie. It’s a celebration of gross practical FX, borderline annoying and meta infomercials, and a bent reality between art and life. The editing is jarring as hell. Be prepared to jump from the varying levels in audio decibels. There’s some really solid camera work, as well. The saturation levels in the color correction throw your brain off-kilter. But this stylistic decision makes an impact. There are definitely moments that could use editing for time. A few stares that last too long would benefit from hitting the cutting room floor.

Of all the performances, I have to mention one standout from the crowd. Mary Coleman as The Homeless Woman was really great. As I watched her short monologue, I audibly said, “Wow, she’s really good.” So, shout out to Miss Coleman. Screenwriter and star Aaron Krygier as Renn is pretty spectacular. His commitment is what sells this entire idea. Am I suggesting you watch this while on some sort of drug? I’m not not suggesting that. Rust Belt Driller is a psychosexual horror from some seriously disturbed minds. While I may not exactly understand the ending, I have to applaud the ingenuity and unadulterated balls it took to make this film.


Rust Belt Driller is a feature Horror film that is headlining the Midnight series on August 27, 2021, at 11:55 PM at Dances with Films at the Mann Chinese Theater in Hollywood.

Dances With Films LA runs from August 26th to September 12th. You can find out more info at https://danceswithfilms.com/home-2021/

2021 Dances with Film review: Love, religion, and identity collide in ‘OVER MY DEAD BODY’.

OVER MY DEAD BODY

 
Synopsis:

Isfahan, a Persian-Jewish woman in Los Angeles, is considered, at thirty-one, to be well past marrying age. So her conservative parents are relieved when she announces her engagement to her younger boyfriend, Kambiz. Until they learn he is Muslim. Her father immediately vetoes the marriage, her mother calls the siblings over, and Kambiz gets kicked out of the house. The situation escalates into an all-out confrontation between Isfahan and her family. As she defends her love, the family defends their traditions, demanding that she honor their religion and old-world values. This intergenerational struggle forces Isfahan to make a decision that will define the rest of her life.


At an impasse of religion and love, the title of this thought-provoking short film suggests that it’s a horror film. While not touted as such, what unfolds in 25 minutes between family members is absolutely horrific. To fully appreciate the nuance in Over My Dead Body takes an open mind. Often, we place ourselves in the shoes of the characters on screen. Here, depending on your religious beliefs (or lack thereof), the complexities are unsurpassed. Having religion forced upon me as a child backfired at the age of about 14. In a world filled with volatility caused by media corporations, conflicting gods, and traditions, Over My Dead Body hits harder in modern times. Our families are supposed to love us unconditionally. What happens when that isn’t true? The cinematography is smart and takes advantage of the lush sets and costumes. Performances from this true ensemble cast are magnetic. You know this family. It resembles your own in more ways than you might realize at first watch. With an ending that will leave you breathless, the impact of this short should echo loudly.


Meital Cohen Navarro’s OVER MY DEAD BODY, a devastating short film
about a family at war over love versus religious tradition
screens in competition at 2021 Dances with Films

Screening Information:
WHERE:                       TCL Chinese 6 Theatres (6801 Hollywood Blvd.)
WHEN:                         Saturday, August 28 at 1:30 PM