http://www.filmthreat.com/reviews/10196/ At a Glance Director: Eugene & Birg Category: Animated Music Video Country: Belgium Style of chocolate: Standard, somewhat bland, chocolate-covered nut center. Straight-up animation set to music. But the animation and the images don’t seem to have that much to do with each other with (to my eye at least), the animation being more interesting and well crafted than the song, which seems to drone along by itself.
Title: Spin Director: David May Category: Live action w/sfx Country: USA Style of chocolate: Dark chocolate outside, coffee flavored taffy inside so chewy it will keeps you occupied for a while. It’s tasty, but you are ready to move on by the end. A step up from the first selection, this one has an intriguing storyline that bends time with predictably unpredictable results. This one makes you want to try the next one.
Title: Fetch Director: David May Category: Live action Country: USA Style of chocolate: Somebody slipped a Mars Bar in here. Clean and respectable but maybe not what you’d expect in a box of Best of Shows. If the Toofy Fest was built on the premise “Best Films Made In Colorado,” this one would make more sense. The core idea is based on a Darwin Award winner. Not bad, not great, and there’s no reason why it can’t be your favorite.
Title: Learn Self Defense Director: Chris Harding Category: Animation Country: USA Style of chocolate: Milk chocolate around a layer of 1950s caramel with a surprise political jalpeño center. This one starts slow and sneaks up on you. By the time you figure out the gag at the center, you’re in a completely different cartoon. Not what I expected when I started but well worth the trip.
Title: Revenge of the Roadkill Rabbit Director: Eric Stough and Graham Hoof Category: Live action w/puppets Country: USA Style of chocolate: A plain old chocolate malted milk ball that delivers the goods. I could eat a whole bag of these babies. It’s a sentimental favorite with Boulder roots. Again if “Toofy” = “Made In Colorado,” you’d have to have included this one. And it doesn’t hurt that South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker are in the credits.
Title: Marvelous, Keen Looney Bin Director: Lizzi Akana Category: Animation Country: USA Style of chocolate: White chocolate with flakes of... well, who knows what, covering something that’s sort of jelly looking, only crunchy, that tastes like maybe mangos or maybe toothpaste. Whatever it is, it’s original and unexpected... and that’s a treat. But there’s a strange non-sweet after-taste that will leave you asking ‘what was that?” ... monkeys with balloon heads? I happen to like the surreal odd-ball stuff, so I liked this one.
Title: Eat Your Peas Director: Paul Hargrave Category: Animation Country: USA Style of chocolate: A foil-wrapped hunk of milk chocolate in the shape of a hollow rabbit. The foil is shiny, but inedible, and it makes you think that there is more here than there really is. The chocolate is fine but there’s that disappointment when you get to the middle and there’s nothing there. Though wasn’t it pretty foil?
Title: Maree Director: James Pellerito Category: Live action Country: Italy/USA Style of chocolate: Really fine, dark, European-style chocolate with four-star truffle center. What is this doing in the box with the other stuff? It’s enough to bring tears to your eyes and that’s the whole point. If the whole program was this rich, you could only watch one of them per day.
Title: La Revolution Des Crabes Director: Arthur de Pins Category: Animation Country: France Style of chocolate: Another surprise European specialty chocolate, this time with an amusing peppermint flavor. But it’s garnished with a light dusting of salt that makes the whole that much sweeter. Damn those French chefs, how do they know just what to use? ‘La Revolution’ has an original animation style that adds to the film without being the point of the film.
Title: Moving Along Director: Patrick Smith Category: Animated Music Video Country: USA Style of chocolate: Plain old American milk chocolate around a center of bubble-gum-flavored cream and beer nuts... startling, yet you’d eat another if there was one available. In stark contrast to At a Glance, the animation and music (rap in this case) work together in a disturbing way that makes the whole greater than the sum of its parts... and really, isn’t that what a confection is all about?
Title: City Paradise Director: Gaelle Denis Category: Animation w/live action Country: United Kingdom Style of chocolate: Another surprising winner... leave it to the English and their love of strange-tasting candy to come up with sushi flavored taffy. Perhaps not to everyone’s taste, but you’ll remember it tomorrow. It might be a bit overly stylized, yet I was afraid to look away for fear of missing something. You’ll want to watch this one a second time.
Title: Stealing Innocence Director: Nancy Stein Category: Live Action Country: USA
