CoKoCon 2018 | Apocalypse Later Roadshow #32 Recap

The Two Gay Geeks attended the Apocalypse Later Roadshow #32 presented by Hal Astell at CoKoCon 2018.

Ben did his live blogging routine and below we have his mini-reviews for each of the short films shown.

Several have Vimeo links where you can view the films for yourself.

Good Business
(2017)
IMDb Link


This has the appearance of being a straightforward story. Human arms dealers are selling weapons to a bug like race of aliens in their war with another race on their planet, but not for the purposes of war profiteering. A hidden agenda is revealed, only it’s not as hidden to the aliens as the humans would like to think. The visual effects for the aliens were amazing, which just proves how far production values have evolved and are available to independent filmmakers. It also had an excellent narrative. The final point of the story was very clear, albeit unexpected.

This is an excellent use of short form story telling.

Real Artists
(2017)
IMDb Link


Previously seen at Phoenix Comic-con. It almost starts as a message about glass ceilings for women looking to make it in the film industry, but ends up taking a very disturbing turn. There are a few gags that make stabs at Pixar films, most notably a poster in the background for a film called “The Superlatives.” It raises questions on two fronts. First, how far will a filmmaker go to see his or her vision fulfilled? Second, to what degree will a film studio use “test audiences” before they release their film?

It’s a slightly satirical, but quite sci-fi approach regarding the film industry.

Tonatiuh
(2017)
Vimeo Link


Very artistic stop motion film using an Iron Man Toy. The character appears to be on some sort of quest to collect these jewels of light. It has a very spiritual feel to it. It’s a beautiful short.

Origin
(2017)
Vimeo Link


There is a forest wherein there is a hatch that leads to an underground tunnel flowing with some sort of energy, possibly for a machine. There is a control room and then a chamber that appears to have a gIant robot. A man enters the chamber and enters into some sort of matrix to control the robot.

A lot of beautiful imagery, but disjointed. No real point to it.

Quinn Thomas
(2015)
Vimeo Link


A woman travels to Seoul to understand the cuisine of this city and help inform her music as she believes all senses are tied together, and understanding the flavor of Seoul will help to make her music better. It also gives the idea of vlogs or vidcasts a more visceral sensation. It’s an interesting idea about how food flavors can influence emotions. The concept of trying to convert emotional responses to food is very unusual, but the idea that interesting food can inspire emotional responses is quite real, and made for an fascinating story element. The photography in this was unusual and very artistic. Some lovely cinematography. This could almost serve as a documentary on a food channel! It poses the idea that food flavors can create shared spiritual experiences.

It gives performance art a new meaning.

Destroy Madrid
(2016)
IMDb Link
Vimeo Link


Dystopian movie set in 2030. It could be viewed as a documentary from the future talking about what brought about the destruction of Madrid. People wanted a better way of life and liberty, but the government said no. The political message is quite clear, but given a fun science fiction/military feel. Excellent visuals effects and production values, and the story is told very well in the short film form.

This film could be a proof of concept.

Breaker
(2017)
IMDb Link


A very weird cyberpunk film where being plugged in and absorbing data is the new drug. It’s extremely artistic, but visually bizarre. It’s also misleading as the focus of the story shifts from one character to another where the narrative of the film completely changes. It also poses that we might be symbiotically connected to artificial intelligence. As unusual as this short film is, it also shows that there is a dearth of well made cyberpunk films.

This could almost be a more cyberpunk version of The Matrix.

Fugazi
(2017)
IMDb Link


Space satellite in 2039 monitors for potential terrorist threats, and people (called sleuths) use advanced surveillance equipment to track down terrorists and eliminate them before they can attack. Movie tells the tale of what happens when a person makes a mistake. The production values are excellent, but aside from showing the consequences that a person can experience from making such a mistake, the film doesn’t really have much point. It’s more style over substance.

The short film looks amazing, but there isn’t enough meat of a story to sustain the environment where the film takes place.

Apocalypse Later Film Festival website

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