This weekend will see the second-annual Haymaker Film Festival lighting up screens at the Brewvies Cinema Pub in Salt Lake City, Utah. That’s two days culminating two feature films and two shorts blocks, along with a special spotlight for Utah filmmakers including Kent Lloyd (“Waterlogged”).
You’ll be hearing from me on the feature films this week as well, but I’m going to set things up accordingly with a roundup of the shortfilms that will be screening this weekend. Mind you, I’m only doing eleven of these since I’ve already seen and featured the rest in some capacity or other on this website, including Stephen Reedy’s Box, David Lavallee Jr.’s Contagious, and Eric Jacobus’s Bag Lady among others.
Read on, and hit up the Haymaker Film Festival website for details, tickets and more.
Kicking off the Friday Shorts Block, Vlad Klimchuck’s One More Opening Sequence shows us what happens would-be mugger Christopher Phi clashes with Toy Lei in the middle of walking her dog and hustling back to her episode of Jeopardy. Lei assembles the action here and puts on a fun little gem with Phi, alongwith the ever-talented Wilfred for one of of the most entertaining spots in this year’s Haymaker line-up.
Following that is a revisionist musical match-up set against Michael Jackson’s titular track in Bad. Inspired by the aesthetics of Martin Scorsese’s 1987 music video, performers Julien Daniel Huerta, Joseph Olmedo and Jack Sam Koumane mix it up in 2v1 fashion between fight beats and key dance moves, directed by Toni James Dickens. Not “bad” at all!
Killer Academy puts Christopher Sheffield back on my radar for the first time in a while. The Split Lip director steers Kristin Vasoyan in the lead role of a tale that puts an assassin through the mill, ultimately pitting her against a row of killers, as well as her handler, played by Freddy John James. Cool stuff!
The Ticket brings riotous laughs to the short story of what happens when an ex-con wins the lottery and his best friend can’t contain herself. Jayla and Jaylin Hodge, and Jerrin Milligan wrote, produce and direct a delightful, snackable action comedy starring Milligan, and actress Tatyana Guchi.
By far one of the best shorts I’ve seen this year comes from France with Shaolin Office, directed by Alexis Bouillé. An epic martial arts battle for the ages in a cramped office space pits a desk jockey and a janitor against one another in the ultimate kung fu contest for conquest, only to realize their true foe at hand! Starring Emmanuelle Gragh, Giovanni Dubard, Jérémie Delaboudinere, and Nils Lau Guerraz.
Screening as part of the Utah Filmmakers Spotlight, The Masters Of Dance-Fu takes Grahm Molloy’s action comedy into Bruce Lee territory starring Lincoln Molloy as a martial arts park instructor confronting an unorthdox dojo for poaching his students. This one was pretty impressive and entertaining to watch, co-starring Benson Adams (a.k.a. B-boy Air Suga) and Thatcher Ellsworth, and “dance-fu” talents Natalie Campbell, Kirk Titan Jackson, and Kai Drakos.
Michał Wojciechowski walks into a bar, making it clear that he’s no joke in It Was Always This Way, delivering a brutal and appetizing bar room and billiard noir for action fans. Małgorzata Kocik, Piotr Popko, Katarzyna Sterniak, Paweł Semba, Mirosław Pisarek, Adam Banaś, and Marek Łojek also star.
Fast, slick and brutal with a psychological twist, George Chuang’s The Pill details nightmarish introspection as a soldier comes to terms with killing a defector in the wake of rebellion. William Tang and Kaiser Tin-U star.
Prosaic is all you need to know about Zac Sultzer’s ironic action short about a man forced to fight his way from captivity. Featuring Arien Jones, Ryan Ho, and Andrea Blanchard, enjoy this one with a good slice of pizza. Topping optional.
Kent Lloyd’s second year attendance in a row for Haymaker lands audiences with Use Your Words, unraveling the story of two brothers forced to settle their differences in the only way they can when civility isn’t an option for one of them. Created by Lloyd via his Spearhead Stunts label and also starring Aden Andrus and Lexi Jackson, a lovely dog named “Maggie,” and engaging cinematography that puts you right in the action.
Canadian outfit Frontkick Productions puts you in the passenger’s seat with Dangerous Delivery, casting Catherine R. Jeannotte, Jeremie Earp, and Antoine Beaulieu. The plot? A case of mistaken identity and sees a delivery woman, and two rideshare passengers clash in what looks to be a contender for Best Carpool-Fu Fight Scene if there ever was one, kicking and punching in tight corners and what have you.