YouTube short films…

I made the unfortunate decision last night to check out YouTube and search for shorts…it can always be a mixed bag and I was up far too late with very little to show for it.  Sometimes the ‘related’ YouTubes can bring up some very good things but last night it was bringing up ones for suicide, bulimia and anorexia for some reason.  I presume that they use the most-viewed-model for their links which is a bit worrying actually if that is what people are watching this time of year. 

Anyway, came across these shorts by the brilliant Shane Meadows and Paddy Considine.  Shane Meadows has directed some excellent films over the last few years with the gripping Dead Man’s Shoes (an unforgettable Paddy Considine as the lead) being my favorite.  Paddy was also in another excellent film that year called My Summer of Love. 

Shane more recently directed/wrote This is England which was released this year and is a very powerful film- he is excellent at bringing out the best in his actors and the story and characterisations in this film are nothing short of brilliant. 

I would say Shane’s World is not excellent but is a good way of working out some ideas and features some good character acting with Paddy (and his 3 brothers evidently).  They are quite lengthy so I will admit that I haven’t actually watched all of them but will at some stage.  There are 4 episodes but they are spread out over the 7 YouTubes- with there being so many I am  putting in links instead of embedding them.

Shane’s World

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7

Some of the better YouTubes I did come across last night are below.
Chance: strong drugs related material here but excellent acting

Rent-a-Person:  Hilarious idea- a bit patchy and could have been a bit shorter but still very funny