"Okay, so the guy with the sombrero goes into the bar, and- oh, did I mention he's wearing cowboy boots? Yeah, it's important. Real cowboy boots. Anyway, the bar's one of those old time Western taverns, with the swinging doors and all that, which is why he's wearing cowboy boots. So anyway, the woman looks at him and says, "What's with the corvid?" You know, corvids, that bird family that has jays, crows, and ravens. They're all in a family called "corvidae" and-"
I tend to refer to this as the Seth Macfarlane rule, since I tend to use it based on those skits that drag on forever in Family Guy.
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| This isn't an animated gif, the joke is STILL GOING ON. |
Science fiction can be just as guilty as comedy. Let people see the technology or world too long, and they start to notice all of the flaws. The plot holes start to pile up, and you get left wondering things like "Hey, why didn't they revoke Tom Cruise's clearance in Minority Report after he was suspected of future murder?" or "Wait a minute, what happened to the terrorists in Back to the Future?"
So here's a few really great sci-fi short films that manage to (almost) perfectly provide their own little world while being both incredibly entertaining and leaving you wanting more. Strong language warning for the last one, by the way.
The Device
This is what I think would happen if Aperture Science accidentally let one of their contraptions get loose.
However, the short film does everything almost perfectly. There's barely any dialogue ("Woo!" and "Yeah!" are all you really hear along with "Beep"), but you get a perfect idea of the character, how the device works, and what kind of world this is. It's short, succinct, and just flat out wonderful.
The Ruin
I don't know why more science fiction movies don't take place in large cities. Instead they tend to be the desert or tiny towns. Plus, those that do take place in big cities tend to simply show us a tiny sliver of the area instead of letting us get a sense that there's a large area that's falling apart and barely hanging on.
Say what you will about I Am Legend, but at least we got a sense that he went all over New York City.
It's partly why I love this little clip so much. It really gives you the idea that the character has to navigate an entire city on a regular basis, and it doesn't have a majority of the view blocked by a giant wall that nobody would ever expect to actually get built. Plus, it has a really sweet motorcycle chase.
Again, with almost no dialogue and no speech setting up the scenario, we get to know our characters intimately and know what the world's like incredibly fast. It's also one of the most heart-wrenching short films I've ever seen, showing just what lengths a father will go to in order to protect his child.
Sure, there are some questions you can ask, such as "why didn't the zombies still attack anyway?" or "what if the food slid to the side so he walked in a circle?" but shut up and watch and enjoy.
The Gift
Speaking of great motorcycle chases, this one has a brilliant one.
There's so many questions left after this clip ends. What was in the box? Was it really a unicorn? Why did the robot apologize? Why did he run? Why couldn't I, Robot have been this good? (Wow, two Will Smith references in one column, I'm on a roll.) But watching it, you don't care. You almost wish this was the opening to a much longer movie, because the world draws you in so quickly and fills out the world so fast (high class Russian dystopia future, got it) without too much exposition or set-up that when it pulls away again and the credits roll, you're left feeling starving.
It's essentially the equivalent of wandering into one of those Bud Light ads (you know, the kind where you get to play ping pong against Arnold Schwartzenegger) except you wind up being the guy at the door who can see the party happening, you can smell the intoxicating bouquet of perfumes, foods, and whatever else people sniff in those kinds of parties, and you can hear Arnold shouting while a great band plays music...and then the bouncer tells you "sorry, we've reached maximum occupancy, everybody not inside has to go home."
Bad Motherf%cker
Okay, this one's cheating. It's actually a music video, but man if it isn't a great little film concept. Don't let the cheesecake trailer image stop you from watching, because it's brilliant. Picture Mirror's Edge (one of my favorite games of all time) with a mixture of Portal and Hitman. Sure, it starts out a bit weird, but it quickly progresses to a great action sequence that I personally think rivals most major cinematic pictures. It certainly beats out Transformers and all of its sequels because I can understand what's happening.
Oh, and good luck getting that song out of your head. Don't play it too loud at work.
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