Black People Hate Me and They Hate My Glasses

When a bespectacled white guy (Andrew Gurland) gets his glasses broken, he builds a conspiracy theory about why they keep getting broken. A simple and silly plot that should be told in about a minute would probably make for some mild, nervous amusement, in the same genre of listening to the crazy guy on the streets of Berkeley trying to peddle his "voice of the people" paper. But "Black People Hate Me and They Hate My Glasses" is not just the simple plot. In fact, it's really about the glasses-wearing main character and his inability to--no matter how desperate he tries--fit in with society. The hilarity is derived from the subplots that are merely digressions of the main plot. From these digressions, we become familiar with both the tangential storytelling technique of the main character portrayed by Gurland, and various aspects of Gurland's social life. Borrowing from New Yorker-type humorists like Seinfeld and Woody Allen, watching this hip, neurotic, paranoid funnyman is quite entertaining in a non-mainstream, gen-x kind of way. Four stars. Josh Bob says check it out, if you like funny, non-mainstream, gen-x type movies.

When you watch this short, you really WANT to like it. And some parts of it really are very funny, but other parts seem so worn-out that you're making an effort to laugh, and you know the punchlines before he even makes the joke. But either way, it's cute and original, well put together, and has some excellent lines. Definitely worth the 20 minutes you spend watching it.

It's rare to see a short film that is as funny or as well-made as this one. "Sex", by Chad Peter is almost as funny, and "Drugs", also by Peter, is about as well-made, but less entertaining. The main character is very well-played, and is very reminiscent of Woody Allen, and at times, Seinfeld. The plot is very good, believable and real(yes, it is based on a true story, but still). It moves along at a nice, slow pace, yet still manages to entertain you and tell a full story, in just under 15 minutes. The non-linear timeline works very well in the film, and makes it interesting and re-watchable. The actors all perform good enough, considering that most of these are new at acting. The humor in the film is a mix of Woody Allen and Seinfeld. The film tells the story very professionally, while being very laid-back and funny, and it's edited together very well. I would imagine that most fans of short films will find this a worthy addition to the genre, and many wannabe filmmakers can learn a lot from how well it's put together. I recommend this to most fans of short films, it's quite entertaining and a good way to spend less than 15 minutes. 8/10