ENVIOUS IN ASPEN - Programs 5&6

Jealousy reared its ugly head last night at Program 6 here at the Aspen Shortsfest.  I never thought I could be envious of a total stranger, a student nonetheless.  I asked myself how someone so early in their career could create a piece so nuanced, so mature, so well done.  I'm writing of ON THE LINE, a 30 minute German/Swiss coproduction that is clearly the best film I've seen here so far.  That is saying a lot, since almost the entire program was stellar.  SPIDER is a devastatingly funny and unsettling film about practical jokes.  A lot of last nights films were unsettling.  WAVES, from Romania, is one of those films that say so much about the bad and good in people.  As is often true in life, who does bad and who does good is often unexpected.  The unexpected is part of what surprised me in X, actor Josh Brolin's directorial debut.  What was unexpected were the poor performances.  Generally, an actor who directs is able to get good performances out of their cast.  It's usually the story that suffers.  Unfortunately, X failed in almost all areas and was the weakest film in the festival so far.  Sometimes I think that stars who turn to directing may not have the time to devote to filmmaking.  Parenthetically, Brolin was forced to miss Aspen because he was in rehearsals for his latest film.  Still the programs here at Shortsfest have been spectacular, and I look forward to tonight's programs with baited breath.