An embittered man-child rails against women for being so mean. Written by and starring John Reynolds, “Women Are Mean” follows Greg around Brooklyn on a rainy day as he rants about his issues with the opposite sex. The recipient of many of his complaints is his own wife, Bethany, whom he resents because she won’t him hang up any of his posters (also: “She’s a monster. She drools”). Who he actually likes is nice, muscle men — his favorite movie is “300”; “these guys are so jacked, but you can also tell that they are nice” — and he takes zero responsibility for the unhappiness in his marriage. Then, all of the sudden, in a rare moment of introspection, he speculates whether everything actually is his fault. As he takes to the East River to reflect on his life (he’s not the only man staring at the water reckoning with their lives), he questions everything, including whether his wife’s affair with a man named Rick may have been justified. Reynolds is hilarious as the clueless Greg, a character particularly urgent to expose now, a man hiding behind affability and exterior softness to harbor backward thoughts. Doron Max Hagay (whom we’ve featured & praised at length) directs the project and takes a step up visually while maintaining his brand of loose absurdity. (6 minutes). Written by and starring John Reynolds. Directed by Doron Max Hagay. D.P. Eric Schleicher. Edited by Michael Mezzina. Featuring Micah Sterenberg, Phil Meister, Wes Haney, Gary Richardson, Carmen Christopher and Kelly Cooper.
The dad and step-dad of Branson, a 13 year old boy who loves Skippy peanut butter, try their best to connect during a visitation exchange. Directed by Tynan DeLong (our unofficial resident filmmaker, prolific output here), “Dad & Step-Dad,” merges the mundane and absurd, call it cinéma vérité sketch comedy…