Talking Elvish's favourite short films
by DominicJones | created - 04 May 2013 | updated - 09 Apr 2014 | Publicfor ICM ranking and personal reasons, my favourite short films as recognised by IMDB
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1. Entr'acte (1924)
22 min | Short
An absolute dada movie. Somebody gets killed, his coffin gets out of control and after a chase it stops. The person gets out of it and let everybody who followed the coffin dissapear.
Director: René Clair | Stars: Jean Börlin, Inge Frïss, Francis Picabia, Marcel Duchamp
Votes: 4,195
2. The Land Beyond the Sunset (1912)
Unrated | 14 min | Short, Drama, Fantasy
A young boy, opressed by his mother, goes on an outing in the country with a social welfare group where he dares to dream of a land where the cares of his ordinary life fade.
Director: Harold M. Shaw | Stars: Martin Fuller, Mrs. William Bechtel, Walter Edwin, Ethel Jewett
Votes: 872
3. La Jetée (1962)
Not Rated | 28 min | Short, Drama, Romance
The story of a man forced to explore his memories in the wake of World War III's devastation, told through still images.
Director: Chris Marker | Stars: Étienne Becker, Jean Négroni, Hélène Chatelain, Davos Hanich
Votes: 37,043
4. It's Such a Beautiful Day (2011)
23 min | Animation, Short, Drama
Don Hertzfeldt closes his trilogy as Bill struggles to piece together his shattering psyche.
Director: Don Hertzfeldt | Stars: Sara Cushman, Don Hertzfeldt
Votes: 3,222
5. Night and Fog (1956)
TV-14 | 32 min | Documentary, Short, History
The history of Nazi Germany's death camps of the Final Solution and the hellish world of dehumanization and death contained inside.
Director: Alain Resnais | Stars: Michel Bouquet, Reinhard Heydrich, Heinrich Himmler, Adolf Hitler
Votes: 21,447
6. Sherlock Jr. (1924)
Passed | 45 min | Action, Comedy, Romance
A film projectionist longs to be a detective, and puts his meagre skills to work when he is framed by a rival for stealing his girlfriend's father's pocketwatch.
Director: Buster Keaton | Stars: Buster Keaton, Kathryn McGuire, Joe Keaton, Erwin Connelly
Votes: 56,930 | Gross: $0.98M
7. The Red Balloon (1956)
Not Rated | 34 min | Short, Comedy, Drama
A red balloon with a mind of its own follows a little boy around the streets of Paris.
Director: Albert Lamorisse | Stars: Pascal Lamorisse, Sabine Lamorisse, Georges Sellier, Vladimir Popov
Votes: 20,113
8. Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge (1961)
Not Rated | 28 min | Short, Adventure, Drama
In 1862, during the American Civil War, a Southern civilian is about to be hanged for attempting to sabotage a railway bridge. When the execution takes place from the bridge, the rope breaks and he begins his escape toward home.
Director: Robert Enrico | Stars: Roger Jacquet, Anne Cornaly, Anker-Spang Larsen, Stéphane Fey
Votes: 4,260
9. A Trip to the Moon (1902)
TV-G | 13 min | Short, Action, Adventure
A group of astronomers go on an expedition to the Moon.
Director: Georges Méliès | Stars: Georges Méliès, Victor André, Bleuette Bernon, Brunnet
Votes: 55,729
10. Un chien andalou (1929)
Not Rated | 16 min | Short, Fantasy, Horror
Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí present 16 minutes of bizarre, surreal imagery.
Director: Luis Buñuel | Stars: Pierre Batcheff, Simone Mareuil, Luis Buñuel, Pancho Cossío
Votes: 53,782
11. Zero for Conduct (1949)
83 min | Comedy, Romance
A naughty, love-smitten teacher sets in motion an audacious scheme to woo a charming final-year student who is in love with her fisherman beau.
Directors: Yannis Filippou, Mihallis Gaziadis | Stars: Ellie Lambeti, Labros Konstadaras, Dinos Iliopoulos, Fragiskos Manellis
Votes: 123
12. The House Is Black (1963)
20 min | Documentary, Short
Set in a leper colony in the north of Iran, The House is Black juxtaposes "ugliness", of which there is much in the world as stated in the opening scenes, with religion and gratitude.
Director: Forugh Farrokhzad | Stars: Forugh Farrokhzad, Ebrahim Golestan, Hossein Mansouri
Votes: 5,560
13. The Man Who Planted Trees (1987)
30 min | Animation, Short, Drama
The story of a shepherd's single handed quest to re-forest a barren valley.
Director: Frédéric Back | Stars: Philippe Noiret, Christopher Plummer
Votes: 6,112
14. The House of Small Cubes (2008)
Not Rated | 12 min | Animation, Short, Drama
To save his house from rising flood waters, an old man uses bricks to build it higher, then he relives events from his past while searching for his dropped pipe.
Director: Kunio Kato | Star: Masami Nagasawa
Votes: 11,645
15. Everything Will Be Ok (2006)
17 min | Animation, Short, Comedy
A series of dark and troubling events forces Bill to reckon with the meaning of his life - or lack thereof.
Director: Don Hertzfeldt | Star: Don Hertzfeldt
Votes: 3,070
16. Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome (1954)
38 min | Short, Fantasy, Horror
Historical, biblical, and mythical characters gather in the pleasure dome and become part of a visual feast of superimposed images, hallucinations, and decadence.
Director: Kenneth Anger | Stars: Samson De Brier, Marjorie Cameron, Joan Whitney, Katy Kadell
Votes: 2,354
17. Four Heads Are Better Than One (1898)
TV-PG | 1 min | Short, Comedy
Much to our amazement, an elegant and masterful illusionist detaches his own head effortlessly from his shoulders for a once-in-a-lifetime performance.
Director: Georges Méliès | Star: Georges Méliès
Votes: 4,011
18. Wallace & Gromit: The Wrong Trousers (1993)
TV-PG | 29 min | Animation, Short, Comedy
Gromit butts heads with a mysterious penguin lodger, who hatches a sinister scheme involving the ex-NASA Techno Trousers that have been modified by Wallace for walkies.
Director: Nick Park | Stars: Peter Sallis, Peter Hawkins
Votes: 57,379
19. Scorpio Rising (1963)
28 min | Short, Music
A gang of Nazi bikers prepares for a race as sexual, sadistic, and occult images are cut together.
Director: Kenneth Anger | Stars: Ernie Allo, Bruce Byron, Frank Carifi, Steve Crandell
Votes: 5,704
20. Eaux d'artifice (1953)
Not Rated | 12 min | Short
A woman dressed in an elegant period dress wanders through the water gardens at the Villa d'Este.
Director: Kenneth Anger | Star: Carmilla Salvatorelli
Votes: 1,786
21. Meshes of the Afternoon (1943)
Not Rated | 14 min | Short, Fantasy, Mystery
A woman returning home falls asleep and has vivid dreams that may or may not be happening in reality. Through repetitive images and complete mismatching of the objective view of time and space, her dark inner desires play out on-screen.
Directors: Maya Deren, Alexander Hammid | Stars: Maya Deren, Alexander Hammid
Votes: 15,195
22. Validation (2007)
16 min | Short, Comedy, Romance
A fable about a parking attendant who gives his customers REAL validation -- dispensing both free parking and free compliments.
Director: Kurt Kuenne | Stars: T.J. Thyne, Vicki Davis, Dave Kuhr, Pam Cook
Votes: 4,501
23. Rejected (2000)
Unrated | 9 min | Animation, Short, Comedy
A hilarious collection of animated television commercials that were rejected because of their creator's failing grip on sanity.
Director: Don Hertzfeldt | Stars: Robert May, Jennifer Nyholm, Don Hertzfeldt
Votes: 8,878
24. New York Subway (1905)
Unrated | 6 min | Short, Documentary
In one long take, the camera shows us the journey of a subway train as it makes its way from Union Square to the old Grand Central Station.
Director: G.W. Bitzer
Votes: 814
25. Harvie Krumpet (2003)
TV-14 | 23 min | Animation, Comedy, Short
The odd biography of a man who has Tourette's Syndrome, chronic bad luck, menial jobs, nudist tendencies, and a book of "fakts" hung around his neck.
Director: Adam Elliot | Stars: Geoffrey Rush, Kamahl, John Flaus, Julie Forsyth
Votes: 9,021
26. To Kill a Dead Man (1994)
11 min | Thriller, Short
An assassin kills a man from a rooftop and the traumatized wife of the victim is hospitalized. But is everything as it seems?
Director: Alexander Hemming | Stars: Geoff Barrow, Tim Bishop, Beth Gibbons, Dave MacDonald
Votes: 288
27. The Alphabet (1969)
TV-MA | 4 min | Animation, Short, Horror
A woman's dark and absurdist nightmare vision comprising a continuous recitation of the alphabet and bizarre living representations of each letter.
Director: David Lynch | Star: Peggy Reavey
Votes: 8,542
28. Wallace & Gromit: A Close Shave (1995)
TV-PG | 30 min | Animation, Short, Comedy
Wallace's whirlwind romance with the owner of the local wool shop puts his head in a spin; Gromit is framed for sheep-rustling in a fiendish criminal plot.
Director: Nick Park | Stars: Peter Sallis, Anne Reid, Justin Fletcher, Peter Hawkins
Votes: 43,403
29. More (1998)
6 min | Sci-Fi, Short, Animation
A worker in a factory learns a lesson about life. When is enough?
Director: Mark Osborne
Votes: 6,118
30. The Old Man and the Sea (1999)
20 min | Animation, Short, Adventure
An old fisherman goes out on his fishing trip and makes a huge catch, the biggest of his life.
Director: Aleksandr Petrov | Stars: Gordon Pinsent, Kevin Duhaney, Yôji Matsuda, Rentarô Mikuni
Votes: 4,575
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