Reviewer's Bias*
Loves: Wholphin, Good shorts
Likes: DVD magazines, interesting science, out-there movies
Dislikes: meandering films
Hates: Getting depressed by documentaries

The Story So Far...
Wholphin, part of the McSweeney's empire, releases a quarterly DVD magazine, which collects, as the subhead (which has changed back to that seen on the first four issues) says, rare and unseen short films. Six issues have been released to date. DVDTalk has reviews of the first six issues.

The Movies
Refugee All Stars (30:00)
I'm sad to be the one to say it, but it's really about time to look at Africa as an epic fail and see if there are fixable problems somewhere else. Warlords, pirates, guerrillas, plagues... if you wrote a movie with all these bad guys in on the action, people would laugh in your face for being ridiculous. But that's what we have in Africa. And, as with most every atrocity, there are cameras to capture what's going on. Wholphin already gave us a film about Darfur in issue No. 5, but we're back for a slightly more positive look at refugees from Sierra Leone touring with their music to help their fellow displaced countrymen. Like I said, it's slightly more positive, but the key word is slightly. The horrors of the dark continent need to be reported, but it doesn't mean I want to watch them.

Cold & Dry (12:00)
I am almost frightened to admit this, for fear of opening myself up for taunts in the DVDTalk reviewers locker room, but I didn't get this movie (more specifically the ending.) It's certainly based on the idea of cryogenics (here taking the form of freeze-drying) and there seems to be an issue made of the starring doctor's relationship with others, but beyond that, I'm a touch lost. Norwegian actor Kristoffer Joner has made an attractive and mood-drenched short, but it doesn't really come together as an effective whole.

The Discipline of DE (9:00)
Story by Wiliam S. Burroughs, direction by Gus Van Sant. There's not much more you need to say now, is there? The first film from the man who would go on to help integrate American independent film with the mainstream is part fictional instructional movie, as the benefits of the DE life philosophy are extolled and illustrated. Van Sant is in the gestational stage of his filmmaking style, and is a bit too eager to please the audience, but you can see the touches he'll carry into his feature films. A solid entry into the Wholphin series from both a film and historical point of view.

Nutkin's Last Stand (18:00)
One can get away with just about anything in the name of national pride, and the genocide of fuzzy little grey squirrels is on the list, as proven in this documentary on the reaction to the little nut-gatherers over in Britain. Admittedly, the grey squirrels carried a disease with them from America that kills the native red species, but you can't help but sense a jingoistic tone in the way the people respond to the Yankee squirrel invasion. The documentary is understated in its approach, letting the subjects truly be the focus, revealing the kinds of oddballs and oddball situations only real life serves up.

Field Notes from Dimension X (4:00)
I can't tell you how enjoyable Carson Mell's animated shorts are without explaining that they are an acquired taste. The bold style of animation (which fits in well with the underground comix scene of the '80s) combines with a style of storytelling that best appeals to men 18-49 to create shorts that would be personified by a grizzled man's man, perched on a bar stool in a dive bar, telling tales of a life lived in excess. Here, the story isn't as grounded as it usually is, as the story has a severe fantasy bent, but in the end, it's as entertaining as the other Mell-toons Wholphin has served up.

Choque (11:00)
Nacho Vigalondo, director of the cult-favorite TimeCrimes, made his name with some impressive shorts, including this rather straightforward story of jealousy set amongst bumper cars. Though the most striking part has to be the high-energy opening titles, the story is interesting enough to keep your attention for a short while, thanks to an absurd premise. Considering what a mindbender TimeCrimes is, I expected some sort of twist, but the sight of our protagonist at his most insane will have to be what we take away from here.

David Huggins: Experienced (7:00)
There's nothing all that exciting about this movie, which has a story told in voiceover, while the video shows someone painting. The tale, one of romance and loss, is predictable as all get out, but it's told pretty well, saving it from being a waste of time.

The Even More Fun Trip (16:30)
Anyone who saw Waking Life, A Scanner Darkly or maybe those financial services commercials will instantly recognize the style of this film, as it uses rotoscoped animation over filmed footage to create a very unique and striking look. Here, it's used on a documentary, making it even more unique, as we follow Ryan, an autistic man on a trip to a Texas theme park he visited three years earlier. Though it's not explicitly said, it's easy to make the assumption that the animation represents the experience Ryan is having, and without much of a story, watching him enjoy himself is the main joy of the film (along with its central sadness.)

Glory at Sea (25:00)
A post-apocalyptic tale of post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans, this is as epic as a short film can get, as Behn Zeitlin has done a brilliant job of crafting a movie that just looks and feels important. Following a band of survivors as they find their way in a watery world, it is ultra-stylish, taking full advantage of the aquatic settings, while building a mythic atmosphere that fits the story well. While I fear that Katrina stories will soon join Holocaust and slavery tales as go-to "serious movie" themes, here it's more of a jumping-off point, and the leap is an impressive and creative one.

Look at the Sun (5:00)
As much as I enjoy a good-looking nature documentary, I hate a depressing one, and this short collection of solar activity footage is both, with beautiful images of flares and swirling gases, and a doomsday message about a dying sun. If you like movies about the galaxy around us, this is a decent one.

William Tell (3:40)
Performance art tends to fall into two categories: so bizarre it's fascinating and so bizarre it just sucks. This four-minute exercise in silly efforts leans more toward the fascinating side, as is often the case when you have a guy covered in sheet metal standing alone in a field. That he's trying to shoot a can off his own head is also interesting, as is the pathetic nature of his attempts. But in the end, like most performance art, the weirdness has no meaning in the end.

Fantaisie in Bubblewrap (4:30)
Who hasn't experienced the pure joy of popping those little pillows of air in bubblewrap? Perhaps it's like Fight Club, and there's something about destroying something beautiful? Maybe it's like the innocent sadism of killing ants with a magnifying glass, expressing supreme power over some insignificant creatures. But what if those loud pops were cries of pain from happy, cute, smiling little beings? This animated short looks at just such a possibility, and the result is a disturbingly adorable little bubblewrap snuff film.

The DVD
Once again, Wholphin No. 7 is packaged in a cleanly-designed digipak, with a tray on the left side and a 39-page booklet glued into the right inside panel, while a content breakdown is on the back cover. Wholphin stays loyal to the magazine concept right down to the annoying, yet cleverly-written subscription card that falls out. Also in the package is a second disc in the now-standard Wholphin plain-brown cardboard sleeve, which has the issue's extras. The disc features animated menus with a list of content, but it's not your usual menu animation. What's in the background is the beginning of one of the shorts, which will keep playing if you don't select an option. This issue has three menu films, which can be chosen from a list in the lower right of the screen. There are no audio options, no subtitles and no closed captioning.

The Quality
Two of the films are presented in anamorphic widescreen (Cold & Dry and David Huggins: Experienced), while the rest are a mix of full-frame and letterboxed transfers. As has been the case with previous issues, the quality of the transfers is solid throughout, with the computer-animated The Even More Fun Trip looking the best, though the older Van Sant film looks its age, and David Huggins: Experienced is loaded with video noise. There were no obvious issues with compression artifacts, while dirt and damage aren't a concern.

While there's a lot to like about Wholphin, the fact that they only provide Dolby Digital 2.0 tracks feels a bit annoying, even though there's technically nothing wrong with the sound. While the 2.0 sound may just be the way the films were mixed, and are appropriate for some of the films, others feel like a surround mix would benefit them.

The Extras
There are no extras on the main disc, but the package has the usual fantastic booklet glued inside, with a well-written intro essay from Wholphin editor Brent Hoff, interviews with film creators and subjects, and short bios for the creators.

A second disc holds a unique extra, the interactive experiment "Select Your Intention," which is joined by some related documentary material, for 45 minutes of info about the work of the Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research (PEAR) program at Princeton, which explored some out-there ideas about the mind's ability to influence actual events. The experiment asks you to choose how you want a random event to proceed, then record the results and submit it to the researchers. That's interesting, but the documentary about the lab and the interview footage with the researchers who ran it is far better, illustrating the labs' unusual mission and the challenge of scientific research.

The Bottom Line
After Issue No. 6, a high-point for Wholphin, No. 7 was going to have a hard time maintaining that standard, and it's certainly not at that level, despite some excellent shorts. The "problem" is largely because the shorts are more "out-there" and longer, so there's a bit less accessibility and variety. The disc is well produced though, and the unusual bonus disc helps fill the gap. For Wholphin fans, it's well worth checking out, but there are better places to start for newcomers.

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*The Reviewer's Bias section is an attempt to help readers use the review to its best effect. By knowing where the reviewer's biases lie on the film's subject matter, one can read the review with the right mindset.