Celebrity Mix
New to DVD from TLA Releasing Celebrity Mix is a series of 8 short films featuring a bunch of famous faces in interesting short mini-flicks. Short films like these are the format every wannabe movie director uses when they have a fun idea, no budget, but they still feel the burning desire to commit their concept to film. These types of short films get passed around Hollywood and added to folk’s portfolios as ’proof-of-concept’ or talent auditions. The problem is that outside of a small circle of friends these films don’t get exposed to larger audiences, so perhaps with the advent of DVDs and releases like this disc more of these fun ’shorts’ can find exposure.
This disc contains the following short films:
Laud Weiner, with David Hyde Pierce (Frasier) as an all-around Hollywood wonder guy who never does anything. He’s an agent, producer and manager whose ego is even bigger that his stars. The film is a sharp and amusing look at a Hollywood stereotype character that gives Pierce a chance to let loose with some slapstick comedy.
House Hunting, a mildly amusing affair with the humpy Paul Rudd and Zooey Dechanel as a young married couple out looking at homes with their real estate agent. The agent turns out to be a bit of a psycho kleptomaniac and the young couple ends up in bed after an argument in a strange house when they are all surprised when the owner (Felicity Huffman) returns home early.
Curiosity, a very cool, dark mini-thriller with Cheyenne Jackson as a man who finds a video tape attached to a street lamp, takes the tape home and realizes that he’s probably being stalked: One creepy and very effective short film noir.
Dysenchanted, a very funny quickie with Jim Belushi as a magic psychiatrist conducting a session with female fairy tale characters and a normal girl who is seriously out of place…or so she thinks.
Dependable People, an uncomfortably amusing episode in which Laura Kightlinger and Lewis Black are temp workers stuck in office jobs and working for the office manager from Hell.
Media Whore, the only dud on the disc, this one is a too-long look at an inept music TV hostess - like any of them are any good? Features John Doe, Taye Diggs and Coolio.
Waking Dreams, Tina Holmes and Ben Shenkman in an odd tale of a frumpy office worker who has premonitions about her co-worker’s upcoming vacation. Nice performances from the two leads take this story to an ending that will surprise you.
Mr. Dramatic, Goldie Hawn’s son (and Kate’s brother) Oliver Hudson stars in a really funny episode about a man who lives his life as if every moment is an explosive climactic scene from a James Bond movie.
As with any collection of stories or films the quality will vary but this collection is worth watching and Mr. Dramatic is certainly worth your time. The running time for the whole disc is only 96 minutes so most of the films are only 5-10 minutes in length. Note that some of the films are in full-screen mode and some in widescreen so you’ll have to keep switching your monitor screen format or see a lot of really tall
- Set up options
- Scene selection
