Why Watch? In 1993, this segment from Jim Jarmusch‘s Coffee and Cigarettes won the Palme d’Or at Cannes as the Best Short Film. Somewhere in California shoves Iggy Pop and Tom Waits into a restaurant booth with a big pile of droll wi, and the atmosphere of a tragically unsuccessful first date. Part of the genius is Waits’ caustic mood — responding to just about everything Iggy Pop says with antagonism and derision. Of course, watching famous musicians swing through the awkward, all-too-familiar motions is what truly works. The stilted banter about first names, the small talk about chain restaurants, the uncomfortable goodbyes. All of them serve to absolutely destroy a romantic vision of rock stars that gets stuck in our eyes. The short also manages to make most people hungry for pie and coffee. What Will It Cost? About 11 minutes. Keep Watching Short Films

Why Watch? For starters, today begins the 2013 Cannes Film Festival and this trippy short won the short film Palme d’Or back in 1955. Blinkity Blank is one of Canadian animator Norman McLaren‘s more charismatic experimental works, designed to play with persistence of vision. He scratched all of these strange little images directly onto black film leader, and accompanied them with scratches he added to the film’s optical soundtrack. Those odd noises were then added to Maurice Blackburn‘s experimental jazz soundtrack. The colorful shapes resemble abstract forms as well as the occasional bird, a favorite subject of McLaren’s. There also a number of blank frames, which he described as “sprinkling on the empty band of time.” Sometimes the shapes combine and grow, sometimes they erase one another. This fluid and immaterial rhythms of light grab fleetingly at the eye, and haunt your vision quite literally for the slightest of instants. Turn off the lights, full-screen the video and give it a shot. What Will It Cost? About 5 minutes. Keep Watching Short Films

Why Watch? Magically engaging and beautifully surreal, this short film from Martin Rosete begins with a narrator explaining that you’re an astronaut on an alien world with only a few minutes of oxygen left and an escape pod to get to. That sense of breathlessness pervades the story as the unreliable narrator changes his mind and changes it back again in search of a worthy metaphor for an important life moment. It’s playful to the point of looking like a blockbuster from Wes Anderson. Plus, the technical side is handled with incredible care, delivering lung-filling visuals and sound cues that punctuate and nurture the strength of every story moment. With the right blend of silliness and profundity, it’s sublime in its short story perfection. Take a deep breath, and enjoy the adventure. What Will It Cost? About 8 minutes. Keep Watching Short Films

Why Watch? It’s Friday, “Ryan Gosling Won’t Eat His Cereal” is joyously infecting the entire internet, and the guy who made it also directed a movie about breaking into song while the walking dead try to eat your face off. Thank you, Ryan McHenry, for putting so much beauty into the world. If you need more convincing than that, you probably need to loosen your tie a bit, but if you really insist: The short is seven shades of smart with grueling sound effects disrupting sing-songy outbursts. It features a delightfully badass lead (Joanne McGuinness), and it achieves a difficult balance between genuinely disturbing moments, disturbing moments set to music, and not-at-all disturbing moments that find humor in obliviousness. Cheeky, bloody, and very funny. Watch it while refusing to eat cereal. What Will It Cost? Just about 12 minutes. Trust us. You have time for more short films.

Why Watch? This short from director Shane Leal-Willett and writer Charles Taylor is a chess match with a sniper rifle. It features a simple proposition, delivered from a swarthy traveling entrepreneur with far too many teeth in his mouth (Michael Burger). He sits down in front of a grizzled man (Brant Bumpers) who lives out in the country, and explains that he’s got an associate with a sniper rifle trained on the bumpkin’s wild-bearded head, but if he gets $10,000, he’ll leave without a fatal shot being fired. Simple, but tricky. There’s a little air in the conversation that tighter dialogue or editing could sharpen, but ultimately the work shines because of the two actors swinging deftly back and forth between confusion, laughter and empathy. It stands on a simple question of how much you trust a robber who isn’t holding a gun — game theory ratcheted up to its breaking point, but either way, it might not be the best way to try to extort money from someone. There’s some great drama here, some patient storytelling, and it leaves you asking yourself what you’d do if a blustery man made you the same offer. What Will It Cost? Just about 12 minutes. Trust us. You have time for more short films.

Why Watch? For starters, Bob Clampett was kind of a big deal and today is the 100th anniversary of his birthday. He directed cartoons for Warner Bros. from 1937 to 1947, a decade of boundlessly entertaining work. He was also a somewhat controversial character, mostly due to his insistence that he had created Bugs Bunny all on his own. That turns out to be entirely unfounded, of course, but at least Porky Pig was definitely his. The two of them face off in the first half of A Corny Concerto, the first time in WB history that two major characters shared a cartoon. The whole thing is a parody of Walt Disney’s work, Fantasia in particular. Elmer Fudd takes on the role of musicologist and conductor, rising from behind the orchestra to introduce “Tales from the Vienna Woods” in the style of Fantasia‘s Deems Taylor. He later returns for the second segment, “The Blue Danube.” The first of these Johann Strauss II waltzes is paired with a classic Bugs Bunny versus the hunter cartoon, with Porky Pig taking over for Fudd. It plays like a rambunctious ballet, the animation playfully interacting with the music. The same is true of the second segment, a direct parody of Disney’s Oscar-winning The Ugly Duckling (1939). The duckling in question is said to be Daffy Duck as a baby, though I’m not sure I buy that. The split format and the obvious parody make this a bit of an oddity for Clampett, and the Warner Bros. studio as a whole. Yet

Why Watch? Feeling more like a folktale written by children than for children, this beautiful short from writer/director/animator Brent Bonacorso blends tongue-in-cheek fantasy with the CGI chops to layer a whimsical fiction on top of reality. Beyond the evocative name itself, West of the Moon feels a lot like what Georges Melies would make if he had today’s filmmaking tools. In the story, an old man regrets a lost love and details with absent-minded precision his adventures with a card-playing robot and a monkey on a mission. Playfully heartbroken in its execution, there are touches of Tarsim Singh’s The Fall and Big Fish here, but Bonacorso proves to have a style all his own — painting with just about every color on the palette and inventing visuals with DP Tarin Anderson that command attention while defying logic. Plus, lead actor Jacob Whitkin truly brings the old man to life solely through his movements and expressions, adding a saltiness that pairs perfectly with the narration. Overall, it’s a delight from start to finish. A masterpiece of short fiction. Hat tip to Short of the Week for this gem. What Will It Cost? Just about 10 minutes. A new short film posted every week day at 2pm Central.

Why Watch? If you see a cat with human hands, don’t pet it. Just run away. Just run. It’s that simple. For those that forget, Robert Morgan‘s midnight-fueled short film is a nice reminder. In it, an old salt tells a young man the tale of a boy who found a cat with human hands by the very same well they’re visiting. What happens next is face-rippingly good. The short here is spooky like an old fairy tale meant to scare children into behaving, but it works on all ages. It succeeds through surreal imagery that brings a nightmare to stop-motion life, sound design that’s lip-smacking disgusting and a satisfyingly complete package of a story. Poe would be proud. Thanks to screenwriter Simon Barrett for posting it up on Facebook. What Will It Cost? Just about 6 minutes. A new short film posted every week day at 2pm Central.

Why Watch? Sure, there’s controversy surrounding it so it’s a great water cooler topic (if you can find a water cooler these days), but all of that extrinsic nonsense detracts from the intrinsic gusto of Xavier Dolan‘s (Heartbeats, Laurence Anyways) music video for Indochine’s “College Boy.” It features some graphic visuals, including a teenaged character being crucified and shot repeatedly after being bullied by classmates. It’s a powerful if not bludgeoning work featuring some absolutely stunning black and white shots, and while the symbolism is greatly obvious (blindfolds on cell phone-armed on-lookers, Christmas lights slung over the cross), the sheer terror and isolation is still greatly palpable. Possibly, for some, to a sickening degree. When the bullies drive the first bolt through the boy’s wrists, it sends lightning up through your feet. The image itself seems to shake. It isn’t an easy piece to watch, but it’s also gorgeous, meaningful and possibly even vital filmmaking. Hat tip to The Film Stage for featuring it. What Will It Cost? Just about 6 minutes. A new short film posted every week day at 2pm Central.

Why Watch? West Edmonton Mall is the largest shopping mall in North America. It’s so big, in fact, that it has an expansive waterpark inside. The kinds of penguin and sea lion shows that you might get in a sprawling aquatic theme park? Yeah, it has those too. And a bungee jump. It’s easy to imagine that it’s overwhelming. The kind of sensory overload that’s designed specifically to disorientate a person to the point where all their money falls out of their pockets. And yet as well as that mood is captured in this fly-on-the-wall short from Evan Prosofsky, the cinematographer-turned-director finds a bit of serenity floating along the machine-made waves. Aided by languishing (often discordant) sounds, the short is truly hypnotic, luring viewers into a relaxed state with slow motion captures of crowds hugged by bright yellow tubes and sunshine filtered through industrial-strength windows. The irony — or at least the humor — of fabricating nature inside a temple to impulse buying isn’t lost in the mix, but the images themselves are presented wisely without filmmaker comment. There’s a message if you want to find it, but if you don’t, you can just as well let the endless summer whisk you away to the sunny beaches of Canada. Waterpark is presented as part of the Sunday Shorts over at Nowness. What Will It Cost? Just about 10 minutes. A new short film posted every week day at 2pm Central.

Why Watch? Because it’s been far too long since you last watched a really good movie about birds. The Thieving Magpie is the first of Emanuele Luzzati‘s two Oscar-nominated short films, the other being 1973′s Pulcinella. This painter, illustrator and animator had quite the career, designing for the opera and pop concerts as well as making cartoons. There’s even a museum of his work in his native Genoa. This medieval-inspired cartoon is one of his best. The set-up is simple – three kings, who have been warring for a century, decide to take a break and go on vacation together. How do they distract themselves? By killing birds. Yet there’s one winged creature who won’t fall to their arrows, a mischievous magpie that eludes and torments them.

Why Watch? A young girl is strapped to a table with a few medical tools at her side. Her mouth is covered in duct tape. This set up has become so standard that it comes as a free template on screenwriting software, but where this beautifully smart short from writer/director Rob McLellan gets it right is in introducing us to a different kind of Hannibal Lecter. The killer’s plaintively polite introduction is the first cold shiver, and throughout an existential session of villainous monologuing, there are a handful more that crawl into your skin and find a place to live. The parallels are eerie — the disconnect, the drive to do something others say is wrong, the freezing lack of empathy beyond an infant’s understanding (and desire for) love. That’s all echoed by a character design that uses the uncanny valley to its favor. McLellan and Craig Stiff have crafted something human that’s unmistakably not. And yet, behind those kind eyes and soft voice…it’s really hard not to like him. This is probably what happens when Blinky™ grows up and gets organized. ABE features stellar work all around. The camera (beyond a few floating moments in the enclosed space) is interesting, and the sound and score help build some serious tension, but the real star is the one holding the scalpel. What Will It Cost? About 7 minutes. Skip Work. Watch More Short Films.

Why Watch? Thanks to impeccable sound design, a situation infused with drama and tenderness, and two nuanced performances, this short from Eric Kolelas and Guillaume Miquel is a true standout. In it, a young man (Kolelas) is taking a young woman (Anoushka Ravanshad) to the other side of Paris at the behest of his mob boss. His situation, his family, and the city itself urge him to make a drastic decision. First of all, this movie is beautiful in an unconventional way — showing Paris neither as the capital of Romance nor as a sleazy bed of dead concrete. It’s just a city here, and it remains beautiful. Part of that is because the verite cinematography and the sound design hold hands the whole way through. There’s a rawness to everything, even when we get a heightened sense of the smallest things. A telephone keypad button being pushed, a footfall on the sidewalk, a door flying open and shut. That naked sensibility is reflected in the performances here as Kolelas and Ravanshad have to achieve a lot with very little dialogue. And while the film doesn’t provide a lot of context, it uses a cinematic language we all already know to fill in the rough edges. In rare form, Fifty Pence uses a light touch to deliver something heavy. What Will It Cost? About 11 minutes. Skip Work. Watch More Short Films.

As usual, Tribeca presented quite the diverse batch of shorts this year. There are plenty of new voices from New York City, a whole slew of international filmmakers, and a wide variety of documentary and experimental films. In the mix is some outrageous humor, heartrending human stories and a few uncompromising works of cinematic vision. Yet out of this wide selection, a handful inevitably rose right to the top. Here are the best ten short films from this year’s edition of the Tribeca Film Festival – in alphabetical order.

This week we’re highlighting the films of Popcorn Horror’s Blood Games. Give it a watch, then head over to vote if you like it. Why Watch? In the opening moments of this short from William Prince, a few children are playing in the courtyard of what looks like an abandoned set of buildings. The “Lord of the Flies” feeling continues as they bicker between each other, but generally goof around (ominously) without any supervision. Then the feeling grows. These kids are more than alone. There doesn’t seem to be another living being in existence. But they’re about to play a simple game that suggests they aren’t the only ones on the block. The tension in Click is pretty much immediate thanks to a droning score, a Dickensian set of buildings haunting a modern time and children who are woefully unguarded. That intrigue never lets up, and we get to see Prince and DP Mark Reeson deliver some spine-chillingly suggestive framing — mostly playing around the the geometry of the buildings. And then there’s the game. Echoing a quick match of Bloody Mary, the children gather round a light switch and see what happens when everything goes dark. From here, it’s near-perfect execution of a quiet, reserved terror all the way to the finish line. What Will It Cost? About 12 minutes. Skip Work. Watch More Short Films.

Why Watch? Dropping us into a world of vibrant creativity and trippy slackerism, this playful short from Anton Groves uses some fantastic design work to translate the hectic inner world of a loser into a place that we can see. Dan’s (Mihai Stanescu) reality is inhabited by monsters that look like an arts and crafts nightmare, looming everywhere he goes and symbolizing his greatest flaws. We get to learn all about him through the voice over of a young woman (Ana Ularu) who takes a romantic interest in him (probably for the stubble) and seems all too aware of the inventive decorations that cloud his mind. Fun and breezy, just about every scene is sourly milked for the comedy of a lovable loser, but it’s without a doubt the clever monsters that they’ve built that are the real stars here. The production team has taken a common idea and displayed it in a unique, mirthful way. Plus, you can learn how to make them for yourself after you fall in love with one. What Will It Cost? About 8 minutes. Skip Work. Watch More Short Films.

Why Watch? Equally sharp and absurd, this short film from Stuart Blumberg features Marisa Tomei and Elodie Bouchez as a couple who are close to ending their marriage, David Wain as a high-fiving mediator, and a few ridiculous flashbacks. Each piece of their shared history that they fight over forces them to remember the full spectrum of their relationship while creating some very funny scenarios. Especially if you’re into Aubrey Plaza making “fox babies.” The dialogue is sly, and it’s often difficult to figure out whether a line is meant as an insult or flirtation, and the talent here delivers.  It’s also sleek with smart visuals and seductive — both while sharing the calm power of generosity and when sliding a loose dress slowly up the back of its star’s legs. This comedy is a long, slow pour of whiskey with a smooth finish. What Will It Cost? About 7 minutes. Skip Work. Watch More Short Films.

Why Watch? Incredibly easy-going, this short animation continually draws back our perspective through hazy landscapes until we reach a destination. Floating on piano keys, it’s a small hint of minimalist beauty — like the last bite of dessert. Nothing overwrought. Everything balanced. A nice showcase of simplicity. What Will It Cost? Around 2 minutes. Skip Work. Watch More Short Films.

Why Watch? Betty Boop is mostly remembered these days as America’s first cartoon sex symbol, with her Jazz Baby get-up and high-pitched squeal. That’s the general thrust of her cameo in Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, certainly. She’s was the animated incarnation of Pre-Code Hollywood decadence, at least in her early years before Fleischer Studios made her more demure and redirected the cartoons from adults to children.

Why Watch? Her name is Rosie, and her father’s just been bitten by a zombie. Alone except for her, he swallows his own emotional devastation in order to ensure that his infant daughter survives in a world that’s doomed him to walking death. Beyond the smart twist of the genre concept, this moving short film from Ben Howling and Yolanda Ramke has a host of small touches that hit home without pouring sugar in the wound. Their leading man is facing a tragic, challenging scenario, and the production tackles the largeness of it with clear touchstones — communicating instant information to get the best of the short runtime. In other words, it’s tight, but the impact is powerful thanks to beautiful cinematography and the excellent execution of a clever concept. Hat tip to io9 and to Rod P. for sending it my way. What will it cost? Around 7 minutes. Skip Work. Watch More Short Films.