Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel (1990)

The repeated actions, the blood on the petals, the rustling under the floor…An ambient short horror film takes us into another realm.

A quiet film that does not demand your tears but earns them. It explores love that lingers, timing that fails, and the silence between what was and what could have been.

In the film adaptation, director Jon M. Chu turns each musical number into a massive show stopper, with grand set pieces and a wealth of diverse dancers. Yet, in this attempt to show reverence for the people of the Washington Heights barrio, Chu, or maybe more specifically those in charge of casting, left out a crucial part of the community, Afro-Latinos.

Those perfect Summer or Fall days. The sun is shining, the temperature is JUST right, and you've got nothing else to do. Therefore, isn't it time to get outside and take a nice stroll through the park, or along the shoreline (should you be that fortunate), or even just around the neighborhood? Sure. BUT.....if one lives in the America found in the newest film adaptation of the work from horror author/cultural icon Stephen King.....doing this SHOULD be the LAST thing you hope to find yourself engaged with.

Monster's plot is built around Steve Harmon's false accessory to felony murder accusation, and the anxiety and desperation experienced by him during incarceration and the corresponding trial.

In this short film, writer/director Nikita Hattangady focuses on Jai, a starving artist rooted in the latter category. Though unhoused, he works hard.