Screen Test and Grumpy Man

At the invitation of the lovely Jeroma Leavey we went to see “Screen Test” at the mac last night, at which for a mere two quid you can see six rather fine locally produced short films.

I was prepared to be unmoved by the quality, but actually found it very high. The clear highlight for me was William The Cog by director Paul WJ Martin which echoed Tim Burton and Terry Gilliam in 3d CGI to great effect being well produced in every way, touching, charming and inspiring.

We missed the first film due to lateness (sorry – tho at least we had the common courtesy to wait until we heard the applause at the end of the first film before taking our seats).

The audience is asked to rate the films out of ten with the winner going on to a final night gala in 2008 which has got to be a “must see”.

I found it hard to separate the remaining films for quality as they were very diverse, ranging from Stoned – a quite inspiring documentary about a sculptor, The Ungone – well funded and slick SciFi but a little predictable and perhaps with some slight illogicalities, Decsurveillance – an interesting acting cum dance piece with good music distilled from a multi-camera installation and Gas Board Bill – a somewhat Aardman style romp through a comic song from the Barron Knights.

From there a short walk up to the Bulls Head in Moseley to enjoy Grumpy Man – featuring an array of quality “miserablist” music which makes a very welcome alternative to the usual pub DJ fare.

Rich
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