BUSTER KEATON, ‘ONE WEEK:'
Don’t let the fact that this is a silent film scare you away. Despite being over 100 years old, this 1920 short is ludicrously funny and entertaining. Keaton is known for packing his movies with death-defying stunts, and One Week is no exception. It easily makes you forget that it was made before the advent of computer generated imagery. At 25 minutes, it’s a well-oiled machine, delivering laugh after laugh along with a meaningful, subtle critique of married life and the American Dream.
HAYAO MIYAZAKI, ‘ON YOUR MARK:’
Throughout his career, Studio Ghibli co-founder and director Hayao Miyazaki has frequently dealt with themes of pacifism and conflict between the industrial and natural worlds. His little-known film “On Your Mark” is no different, but it showcases Miyazaki’s experiments with science fiction, a genre he has seldom worked in. The movie’s beautiful animation and unique atmosphere make it worth sitting down for its scant seven-minute run time.
ALAN RESNICK, ‘THIS HOUSE HAS PEOPLE IN IT:’
Part of Adult Swim’s infamous short film series, “This House Has People in It” is an internet horror classic. It’s filmed entirely through CCTV cameras, making an initially simple family dispute terrifying. It has the mystery and simplicity of a 2010s creepypasta, inviting endless theories that are just as rewarding as the film itself. A Lynchian horror and commentary on suburban family life is packed into a neat twelve-minute package.