Unofficial "Movies on a Shoestring" 2005 Haiku Summaries

The Movies on a Shoestring festival is underway for 2005. This year I decided to try rewriting the summaries as haiku — in part to make the descriptions more compact, but also for the fun of it. For the most part, I haven't seen any of the films, so I'm just guessing based on the official descriptions printed in the Movies on a Shoestring website available at http://www.rochesterfilmfest.org. My reviews were created as part of the weekly events listings at http://JayceLand.com.

Thursday, May 5, 2005, 8 p.m.

Title	Authors	Summary
Post-Partum	Marie-Josee Saint-Pierre, Montreal, Canada	Remember the past: It may not be so far back. Again and again.
Donna's Room	Stephen Lindsay and Michael Bartolotta, Rochester, NY	A woman's hands bound. Is this a weird metaphor? It makes sense later.
O (Circle of Life)	Keum-Taek Jung, Rochester, NY	Life sucks, then you die. Buddhism is sad that way. Repeat at step one.
The Adventures of Arthur Conan Doyle	Michael Vaingauz and Erynn Midwall, New York, NY	Sherlock Holmes is dead? Kidnap the author's daughters! Doyle is on the case.
Juliet	Kristina Jessica Doyle, Santa Clarita, CA	We do crazy things. Fear and desire bring it out. How far will one go?
Lis and Ogre	Jim Bruck and Vale Bruck, Jackson, NJ	A fantasy land ... Spectacular adventure! Oh, how will it end?!
The Sky is Falling	Adam J. Kreps, FSU Tallahassee, FL	The Great Depression: "Jump from the roof," they suggest. The bellboy says, "no."

Friday, May 6, 2005, 8 p.m.

Title	Authors	Summary
Lamia	Katerina Slantcheva, FSU Tallahassee, FL	A pretty model ... Supernatural events ... Let sleeping dogs lie.
Glass Crow	Steven Subotnick, Providence, RI	Just leave Prague alone. Nobody listened to them. Then the war started.
Parallel Worlds	Dave Puls, Rochester, NY	People are people. You have no right to abuse. Have we learned nothing?
Rainbow's End	Chris Mancini and Bill McCullough, Sherman Oaks, CA	Catch a leprechaun Then he gives you his treasure. Pay up, little guy!
Hunting Camp	John C. Lyons, Erie, PA	Two men go hunting. Deception, lies, betrayal. One deadly secret.
The Meaning of Life	Don Hertzfeldt (also at Internet Movie Database), Goleta, CA	Hertzfeldt meditates. Everything that could have been ... Think about life now.
Sailing for Madagascar	Tom Oesch, Los Angeles, CA	After Pearl Harbor, two kids can't be friends anymore. War ruins your day.

Saturday, May 7, 2005, 4 p.m.

Title	Authors	Summary
The Murder of William Lyman	Michael Keene, Pittsford, NY	Killed in Rochester. The names were not even changed. It's just the facts, ma'am.
Tokyo Equinox	Yuri Makino, Tucson, AZ	Two American sisters Their father stayed in the past. They meet him again.
If You Step on a Crack	Jennifer Atkins, New York, NY	Bad luck sticks around. Some things are worth fighting for. Never give up hope.
Up	Suruchi Pahwa and Hardeep Kharbanda, Chantilly, VA	An average guy, Suddenly in the spotlight. It is not much fun.
A Story of the Woods	Jihong Min, Provo, UT	A weird day long ago. Then it happens again now. That is really strange.
House of Elegance	Amy Bench, Austin, TX	Socialite stylists. That's what it is all about. More than a business.
The Abbey of the Genesee	Paulo Almeida and Joshua Morrell, Rochester, NY & Boston, MA	Monks live for labor. There is more to it than that. The movie explains.

Saturday, May 7, 2005, 8 p.m.

Title	Authors	Summary
Stopover	Evelin Longo, Santa Monica, CA	Work and family. Trying to strike a balance. Is she successful?
This Moment	Leena Pendharkar, San Francisco, CA	Marriage proposal. Does love really conquer all? I don't know either.
Fields of Mudan	Stevo, FSU Tallahassee, FL	Brothel of child slaves. They dream of a better life. It is very sad.
Golf	Casper Frank and Talia Raine, Hollywood, CA	American Dream. Is it just an illusion? Find a different path.
Oedipus	Jason Wishnow, Long Beach, CA	Somewhat like Ben Hur ... Oedipus in 8 minutes ... With vegetables.
Sophie Matisse, a New York Painter	Christine Lombard, New York, NY	A Manhattan painter, Post-September Eleven. A hard task, indeed.
Death as a Tango	Valerie C. Plimpton, Simi Valley, CA	Dancing with death. Find that part that wants to live. Then you'll be okay.

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