It’s unfortunate when something fits the usual mode of criticism. In the case of TINY CINEMA, it’s the general wisdom that the vast majority of horror anthology films are uneven at best. Even if all segments are helmed by the same director and/or screenwriters (as is the case here), it’s still hard to maintain the level of quality and impact across all chapters. While there are two standout shorts in the 84-minute runtime, there is a similar thread of subject matter running through all six chapters. Despite the failings of the stories told, the entirety of TINY CINEMA boasts excellent technical work and real talent that could shine brighter if redirected towards better material.
As noted, TINY CINEMA is broken up into six parts with wraparounds for each one presented by a host (Paul Ford). The six chapters are:
- Game Night, in which a man is terribly vexed by a common phrase.
- Edna, following a lonely woman’s desperate attempt to have a man in her life.
- Bust, a story of friends going all out to help one of them realize his dream.
- Deep Impact, a time travel story where a future self tells his past self he must do something drastic to avoid catastrophe.
- Motherfuckers, involving mobsters whose reaction to a joke goes horribly awry.
- Daddy’s Home, where a blind date is going well until one of them is tricked into snorting the ashes of the other’s father.
Obviously, there’s more to each of these tales than the synopses suggest, often with a twist that’s more of a punchline than some O. Henry gutpunch (hell, even four of the titles are puns). And while this write-up seeks to avoid spoiling the direction each takes, it’s pretty difficult when viewers are able to quickly figure out where it’s all ultimately headed. Most of the time anyways.
Directed by Tyler Cornack (BUTT BOY) from a script he co-wrote with Ryan Koch and William Morean, TINY CINEMA is the feature length assembly of a YouTube channel that was active from 2016-2018 and produced over 80 videos with each running about one minute long. And here’s the thing: that was the perfect format for the tone and types of stories being told.
The two best entries are Motherfuckers and Daddy’s Home. These seemed like the shortest segments which is probably a better testament to their narrative efficiency than the actual length. The all killer no filler attitude in these makes for brisk viewing that doesn’t shortchange the story or the characters and in fact greatly improves how they land with audiences.
Unfortunately, the rest of the film doesn’t work as well, mostly due to timing issues (which is kind of everything in comedy and in horror). Too many of the entries either spent too much time in the set up or lingered afterward in the payoff, draining the humor of its impact due to either the punchline becoming increasingly obvious or spending too much time after the “joke” is revealed so its inherent comedy becomes diluted. Deep Impact is probably the worst offender of this as the bit is obvious from the jump and no amount of “The Aristocrats”-esque long build up can make it work any better when it arrives (it also doesn’t help that variants on this particular joke have been done in many other places for many years, including the Upright Citizens Brigade ‘90s TV show and even the recent GLORIOUS).
Even with the languishing storytelling, TINY CINEMA excels from a technical standpoint. The camera work and sound design are especially effective, making it seem much more polished and financially impressive a production than it probably was given its indie status. That is a hard feat to pull off, and it’s aided by terrific acting across the board and an excellent score by Feathers. As noted, the visuals are outstanding with the cinematography by Joel Lavold and William Morean along with production design by Lauren Paonessa aren’t just well done but do a great job of juxtaposing against much of the puerile and subversive content of the tales.
TINY CINEMA is a mixed bag where, much like Cornack’s BUTT BOY, it shows a great talent for filmmaking and an inventive sense of play that makes for clever ideas taken to hideous extremes. But the stories worked better as bite-sized videos on YouTube that lasted one-to-two minutes to get the most bang for the buck. I would recommend folks check out Motherfuckers and Daddy’s Home but I would be hard pressed to ask them to watch the whole movie.
TINY CINEMA is currently playing select limited theaters and is available for rent/purchase on most digital platforms.
Tags: 2022, Anthology, comedy, Corpse, Dread Presents, Horror, Joel Lavold, Lauren Paonessa, Paul Ford, Ryan Koch, Sci-Fi, Time Travel, Tyler Cornack, William Morean, YouTube
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