Short 2: Dreams
This reissue of the second release in a series of DVD anthologies of  short  films, like its fellowShorttitles, is loosely organized around a  common theme--in this case, the terrain of the subconscious. The big fish  here is Chris Marker's 1962 classic,La Jetée, the forever- haunting, post-apocalyptic story of a man's descent into a time-tripping dream state, where his origins and destiny fold together in one fleeting moment at an  airport. If that scenario sounds somewhat similar to a certain Terry  Gilliam feature (oh, OK, it's12 Monkeys), you're right, and  Gilliam can be heard on an alternate  soundtrack here talking about the challenge and fun of being "inspired by"  Marker's film. (Yet another alternate soundtrack features commentary by12 Monkeysscreenwriters David and Janet Peoples.) Not  surprisingly,La Jetéeturns out to be a hard act to follow, and  there's not much onShort 2that even comes close to its league.  Alison De Vere's 1974 animated piece,Café Bar, about a blind date at a coffee  house, is more intriguing for its historical value as a "brushsticks style" of  crafting images than as a work of art. Joachim Solum and Thomas Lien's wateryDepth Solitudeis an effectively blunt and bizarre--but ultimately  obvious--fable about a pool cleaner who lives in his deep-sea-diving suit at  the bottom of a public swimming facility. The best thing going for it is an English-language narration by Max Von Sydow, who unfortunately is not  involved with Carmen Elly'sA Guy Walks into a Bar. This competent but  wearying film, about a college-bound young man (Fred Savage) who meets up with  a sexy hitchhiker (Allison Moir) and finds his world changed, does not  inspire thoughts of a second viewing. On the plus side, there's an interview  with independent director George Hickenlooper and an accompanying,  interesting bit showing us a pre-production prototype of select scenes from Hickenlooper'sThe Big Brass Ring. If you've seen the latter movie in  its finished state (based on an original script by Orson Welles and Oja  Kodar), it is startling to watch an entirely different roster of actors  (including Malcolm McDowell) in roles that Hickenlooper ultimately recast  with William Hurt, Nigel Hawthorne, Miranda Richardson, and Irène  Jacob.--Tom Keogh