Short but Well Worth Your Time

List creator: antionedoinel Created on: March 27, 2004 - 2:07 AM PST Description: Best Shorts on dvd - no particular order.

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	movie title	related list	average rating	MPAA rating	watch	rent	buy
	The Short Films of David Lynch (2005)
A nice extension of Lynch's feature length work, includes his very odd early shorts and even some more recent ones.
	Lumiere & Company (1995)
Features a lot of short films by major (art house) directors, the best is Lynch's short (on the above disc) but the rest of them are probably also worth a look. Beware of the deadly bits where the filmmakers try to wax poetic about their craft though.
	The Brothers Quay Collection (2000)			Not Rated
Fascinating viewing.
	W.C. Fields: 6 Short Films (Criterion Collection) (1933)
Probably only essential if you are a WC Fields fan (which I am not), if you are these are some of his best shorts.
	The Collected Shorts of Jan Svankmajer vol.1 (2002)			Not Rated
Early work...
	The Collected Shorts of Jan Svankmajer vol.2 (2002)			Not Rated
and later work of the brilliant and mindbending Svankmajer.
	Experiments in Terror (2005)
Features the short Outer Space (a must see) and Tuning the Sleeping Machine.
	Girl at the Monceau Bakery/Suzanne's Career (1963)			Not Rated
Early Rohmer shorts are a nice warm up to his feature work, helps make up for the sting of Sign of Leo's unavailability.
	Short - International Release (2000)
note mostly for Du Cote De La Cote, an early Agnes Varda short. Too bad this is oop...
	Short Cinema Journal 1:1 - Invention (1997)
Notable mostly for Some Folks Call it A Sling Blade - the precusor to Sling Blade.
	Short Cinema Journal 1:2 - Dreams (1997)
Two awesome things here: Chris Marker's Le Jetee and Guy Maddin's Eyes Like Strange Balloons
	The Guy Maddin Collection (1990)			Not Rated
Speaking of Maddin: this collection contains his best short The Heart of the World, in which he developed the style he would use for Cowards Bend the Knee.
	Short Cinema Journal 1:3 - Authority (1999)
Notable for: Jane Campion's A Girl's Own Story and Resnais classic lyrical holocaust film Night and Fog.
	X 2000: The Collected Shorts of Francois Ozon (1998)			Not Rated
Shorts by Ozon but his best is on the next disc...
	See the Sea (1997)			Not Rated
and it is called Summer Dress.
	Slacker (Criterion Collection) (Bonus Disc) (1991)
This contains two early shorts by Linklater: It's Impossible to Learn to Plow By Reading Books and Woodshock - both as yet unseen by me.
	Live from Shiva's Dance Floor (2003)			Not Rated
Recent Linklater short film takes a tour of NYC with Timothy "Speed" Levitch delivering monologues and impressions in such an open way that they recall the various segments in Waking Life, but without that sexy animation.
	The Adventures of Antoine Doinel: The 400 Blows / Antoine and Colette (Criterion Collection) (1959)
Contains Antoine and Colette the short film follow up to 400 Blows (originally featured in Love at Twenty). This is an awesome film - as is The 400 Blows.
	The Adventures of Antoine Doinel: Les Salades de l'amour - The Supplements (Criterion Collection) (1959)			Not Rated
Contains the early Truffaut short Les Mistons and you can already see Truffaut's adoration of children and their world.
	Truffaut Shorts (1957)			Not Rated
Has both of the two previous short films, but in a crappy Fox Lorber disc.
	A Woman Is a Woman (Criterion Collection) (1961)
Contains the Godard directed, Rohmer scripted short "All Boys are Called Patrick" which is well worth seeing, although more indicative of Rohmer's skill as a screenwriter than Godard's filmmaking style.
	Ratcatcher (Criterion Collection) (1998)
Has some effective Ramsay shorts that go well with her features.
	George Washington (Criterion Collection) (2000)
Has a great short called A Day With the Boys, which is worth renting the disc for even if you don't care about the feature (and you should care about the feature!)
	Norman McLaren: Collector's Edition [Selected Films] (2002)
Amazing Canadian filmmaker, Pas de deux and Begone Dull Care are among the very best short films I have ever seen.
	Il Posto (Criterion Collection) (1961)			Not Rated
Contains the Olmi short La Cotta (The Crush)
	By Brakhage: An Anthology (Criterion Collection) (Disc 1 of 2) (1964)			Not Rated
Experimental works that are probably best browsed over time, so I would say this is worth owning if you rent and like it.
	By Brakhage: An Anthology (Criterion Collection) (Disc 2 of 2) (2003)			Not Rated
	Stereo/Crimes of the Future (1969)
Two early Cronenberg films that have him developing his style into what it would become.
	Videodrome (Criterion Collection) (Bonus Disc) (1982)			Not Rated
Contains the great Cronenberg short Camera (2000), which he made for TIFF 2000 and should have been met with huge acclaim but was mostly overshadowed by Guy Maddin's The Heart of the World (see 12).
	The Driller Killer (Bonus Disc: The Early Short Films of Abel Ferrara) (1971-1973)			Not Rated
Early Ferrara shorts that are a must for the auteur's fanbase (you know who you are) they include: Could This Be Love (1973), The Hold Up (1972) and Nicky's Film (1971).
	The Hire (2001)			Not Rated
Best of the bunch is the Wong Kar-wai short.
	Maya Deren: Experimental Films (2002)			Not Rated
More classic experimental work that is a must see for fans of the genre.
	The Work of Director Spike Jonze (2003)
These director series dvds are so awesome. This Jonze disc has a bunch of funny and brilliant short films (and music videos - which I consider short films)
	The Work of Director Michel Gondry (2003)			Not Rated
More fascinating and funny short films Let Forever Be is a jaw-dropper.
	Bjork - Volumen Plus (1993)
Bjork probably has the best output of short films/music videos (she has worked with all three of these key directors) and this is certainly worth a browse even if you hate her music.
	The Work of Director Chris Cunningham (2003)
A very distinctive vision this Cunningham dude, his sensibility reminds me of Cronenberg's work.
	The Looney Tunes Golden Collection (Disc 1 of 4) (1940)			Not Rated
Not much to say on these really since they pretty much speak for themself, my favorite of them is probably Duck Amuck (but I would only pick with a gun to my head)
	The Looney Tunes Golden Collection (Disc 2 of 4) (1940)			Not Rated
	The Looney Tunes Golden Collection (Disc 3 of 4) (1940)			Not Rated
	The Looney Tunes Golden Collection (Disc 4 of 4) (1940)			Not Rated
In this last spot I thought I'd mention the work of Kenneth Anger and Peter Greenaway: who have made totally fantastic short films not on R1 dvd. Good luck finding them, they are well worth the hunt.