With my Sunday afternoon ‘to do list’ clear and up to day (my Monday onwards list is insane though) I thought I would head into the internet and find myself something wonderful to watch. Did I succeed? Well yes actually I did. I headed to this website https://joerussofilm.com/short-films 

If you do as I did and heard to that same website, youll see that this is the official website of writer, producer, director, podcast genius Mr Joe Russo. Joe has done so much that If i wrote what Joe has worked on, then this article would never get to the point of why i’m writing it. so Ill skip what Joe has done (if you want to know you can head HERE too and check out Joe’s IMDB credits but as a teaser, Joe has worked on gems such as Nightmare Cinema, The Locksmith, The Greatest Beer Run Ever, Killer Family: A Nanny Nightmare (which I know as The Au Pair Nightmare) and much more.

But this isn’t an article blowing smoke up Joe’s rear end (here’s hoping that phrase isn’t just a UK phrase or there will be a lot of confused non UK people) this is an article to let you know that if you want some really cool short films to watch. Then you can see some over at the website I mentioned. Yes this one  https://joerussofilm.com/short-films 

First up I went for Midnight Clear (written by John Jesensky& Joe Russo), which is just short of 9 mins and takes us into the family home of David (played by Kurt Kubicek, who also appears in Killer Family: A Nanny Nightmare ) and Julie (played by Evil Bong 666’s  Jessica Morris) who on the eve of Christmas celebrate a far from normal happy joyful yuletide with their two young children. To go into any more plot explanation than that, will ruin the experience of watching this wonderfully directed short film which may just be slightly over the 8 minute running time mark, but will keep you thinking about what you’ve seen far far longer than that (and I mean that as a huge compliment) As id mentioned Midnight Clear is wonderfully directed but I also have to give a shout out to the gorgeous cinematography by Andrew Russo.  This short film looks better than about 90% of feature films and I’m sure it didn’t have the budget of 99% of films but you cant tell. Great work Team Midnight Clear! 

Next up I went for Take Out, a 2009 short film directed by Joe Russo and written by Chris LaMont) and starring Bob Rue, Dean Matthew Ronalds, Debra Watt, Ivan Lugo and Crystal Lubahn)

After deciding they would like take out food for dinner rather than eating left overs Robert (played by Bob Rue ) and Doris (played by Debra Watt) head out to pick up some food (Italian, Chinese or Thai, they cant decide) but their evening meal plans are soon stalled when they encounter Steve (played by Dean Matthew Ronalds ) whos stranded on the side of the road. We the audience know they shouldn’t, but hey this is a film and so the couple suggest they can give Steve a ride. Oh No!. I mean we all know that you should never pick up a hitchhiker. Take Out is a cracker of a short film once again directed by Joe Russo but this time the great looking cinematography is by Andrew Hendrix.  Take Out definitely gets my two thumbs up but I think ill skip dinner for a few hours after watching this one. 

Next Up was ‘Peeping Tom’ a 3 minute short film starring Eva Hamilton, Tyler Janes and Dean Veglia. Directed by Joe Russo and written by John Jesensky and Joe Russo. ‘Peeping Tom’ tells of Tom (Dean Veglia ) who comes home early to find his wife Alexa (Eva Hamilton) in bed with another man (played by Tyler Janes) How will he react to this? Well find out when you watch the film. Definitely  a fun film that’s for sure.

The final short film I watched for today was ‘Be Mine’, a 2009 short starring Marty Dew,  Adam Dunnells and Jessica Morris (who you’ll remember was also in Midnight Clear) as a couple who plan to have a nice sensual romantic Valentines Day but whose plans certainly don’t end up that way in this blood soaked short. Just over the 2 minute mark this short film doesn’t need too much more detail about its plot,but I do highly recommend you check it out if you love bonkers holiday films and stories.  

So, what did I learn today.Well other than having seen four new short films that I hadn’t seen before and all three were great in their own different ways. I didn’t learn anything new. I already knew that Joe Russo was and is a great director of films having seen The Au Pair nightmare a while back), I also knew and know that Joe Russo is a cracker (meaning ‘firecracker, a.k.a. great) of a writer too having seen other projects he has written the stories and scripts for, so that wasn’t anything new that I learned today. What I was reminded of and watching these short films reinforced this for me. Is that a short film is a great showcase of someones filmmaking skills and one thing I do crave is that Joe Russo direct more feature films. Looking at these four short films today, all of them look stunning, all are perfectly directed and tell really interesting stories. If Joe Russo does that with 8 minutes, another 8 minutes, 3 minutes and 2 minutes then for the love of the movie gods. Get this man some feature film directing gigs 

Thanks to Joe Russo and all the cast and crew of these films. and once again if you want to be really entertained after reading this.  Head Here  https://joerussofilm.com/short-films