Bottom Line: This is a sweet, heartfelt web series about a woman getting through life with two “fans.” What’s a fan? Think of him as a friend whose job it is to make you feel better. While a little heavy on the sap for some, My Two Fans is a good choice if you like your comedies with a touch of saccharine.

My Two Fans is an episodic web-series following the life of an average single female woman, Kate Maxwell. Set in Los Angeles, we watch as Kate rebounds from a broken heart with the help of her two biggest fans: Franklin and Teddy.

Fans – not friends – the guys insert themselves into Kate’s life, root her on and clean up her dating disasters (all in coordinated “We love Kate” accoutrement). When it comes to Kate, there is no task too big or too small for her fans. They figuratively and literally pull her up by her bootstraps when she is down and out. Their objective is to enable Kate to find love and happiness. In essence, to become her own fan. But the question remains: if/when that day comes, will she still need them?

Details

Cast: Barret Swatek, Todd Felix, Bill Escudier, Dan McDermott, Valentina Garcia-Loste, Michael Cornacchia, Reid Scott
Website: My Two Fans

YouTube: Watch Us On YouTube
Facebook: Join Them On Facebook
Vote For It: My Two Fans

Ratings

Style 3

Pacing 3.5

Storytelling 4

Polish 3

Watchability 4

My Two Fans is a strikingly unique take on the dating procedural. Novelty 4

Overall Rating: 3.58 out of 5 stars

Bottom Line: A sweet, sentimental and poignant look at love and romance. If you can get past some of the sound issues, what you will find is a heartfelt and personal look at some of the pitfalls of relationships that might actually touch something inside of you.

LUVumentary is a mockumentary web series that explores LOVE and takes an intimate look at the journey women go on to have it.

Details

Creator: Jenn Page
Website: LUVumentary

YouTube: Watch Them On YouTube

Ratings

Style 3

Shot as a documentary this series moves at a slow, deliberate pace and is meant to be watched back to back. If you do, what you will discover is one of the sweeter more heartfelt tellings of the unrequited love tale in webseries land. (Pacing 3.5)

I truly enjoyed this story. The awkward moments between Lola and Jimmy are really painful to watch, they both do a fantastic job selling the often confusing and contradictory universe of male/female relationships. Storytelling 4.5

As a lower budget production you are bound to get some hiccups, in this case the biggest distraction is the sound. Often when there is foreground noise, the dialogue gets drowned out. If you play with the volume and take the show for what it is, you may be happily surprised. (Polish 2.5)

Watchability 3.5

Novelty 4

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Dystopias don’t do too well on a low budget. They almost always end up seeming too cheesy to really sell the theme. Oasis might be the exception to prove the rule. The story surrounds one man’s search for the Oasis, a legendary Eden that might restore man to his former glory, the real action though comes in the form of his fight against an opposing band of survivors and what he discovers about war, friendship and humanity.

It’s dirty, gritty and an all around good showing for the genre.

If you want Sci-Fi that doesn’t rely on camp, Oasis Terminal might just be your, er, Oasis.

Creator’s Description

25 years into the future, civilization has been destroyed by nuclear war. Andres, one of the few survivors, searches for a mythical place called The Oasis, the only hope for mankind.

Details

Cast: Andres Sandoval, Ruben Di Pietro, Rey Vazques, Catalina Navas, Julian Caballero
Executive Producers: Veronica Echeverri, Lucrecia Villa
Vimeo Channel: Oasis Terminal
Website: Pacifica Films

Ratings

Really good costumes, nice gunfire effects and an overall sense of oppression missing from a lot of other independent dystopias. (Style 4.5)

For a story driven primarily by action and flash backs it does move pretty slowly. There is probably a minute or two that could be cut out without effecting the strength of the narrative. (Pacing 3.5)

Storytelling 4

Polish 4

Good characterization, good storytelling and top tier execution. (Watchability 4)

Novelty 3.5

Overall Rating: 3.91 out of 5 stars

Bottom Line: Sometimes this is almost too good a parody, IKEA has never seemed so angsty. The fact that they managed to film all of this in the store while people were busy shopping makes it all the more amazing.

This is worth watching if only for the sheer level of creativity that went into something up the shoot.

Ikea Heights is a melodrama shot entirely in the Burbank California Ikea Store without the store knowing.

Details

Creators: Dave Seger, Paul Bartunek, Delbert Shoopman, Spencer Strauss, Tom Kauffman
YouTube Channel: Ikea Heights
Website: Ikea Heights
Support the Show: Watch Their Show On Channel 101

Subscribe

Feed: Feed
Vimeo Channel Ikea Heights

Ratings

Style 3.5

Pacing 4

Storytelling 3.5

Polish 3

If you hate even thinking about watching a soap opera then this isn’t for you. It has amnesia, murder, infidelity, gritty detective work and all sorts of other day time television tropes. The parody is spot on though, so if you love to hate soaps start watching this now. (Watchability 4)

This show is filmed inside a real IKEA store with real customers shopping during the shoot. Add to that fact that it’s a brilliantly creative parody of over-dramatic soap operas and you have a recipe for a show that deserves at least one viewing. (Novelty 5)

Overall Rating: 3.66 out of 5 stars

It was hard writing this review because I can’t quite put a finger on why I like this film so much. The animation is stunning and has a kind of visual richness that is missing from many short animations that believe that technical flourishes can make up for good visual storytelling.

The music is also wonderful and it drives the story forward in a way that might have been impossible with dialogue.

While those are reasons for the good review, they aren’t why I like it so much.

When it comes down to it, there is just something sweet about this film. It’s a story of loneliness, friendship and hope told in less than ten minutes and with cartoon sensibilities. It’s like a bedtime story and I love it for the same reasons, it shows how magical and tenuous friendship can be.

It’s a story I wish was told this well more often.

Creator’s Description

Harmony is a young girl living on a cold and desolate Earth, alone and longing for friendship. While trying to tune into a station on her home radio one night, she picks up a melody that leads her to the moon.

Entropy is an emotional and dreamlike short that articulates feelings of loneliness, hope, and love.

Details

Creator: Dane Jacobs, Jeremy Hay
Youtube Channel: Rhubarb Zoo
Website: Entropy

Ratings

Style 4

Pacing 3.5

Fantastic visual storytelling. (Storytelling 4)

This is an absolutely beautiful film, from the animation to the ending theme. (Polish 5)

Watchability 4

Novelty 4

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Bottom Line: It’s not too often that you get a dramatic web series that manages to touch on complex social issues without devolving into a heavy-handed mess. Anyone But Me is surprisingly sharp and intensely engaging, easily one of my favorite dramatic series.

When 16 year old Vivian McMillan has to move from New York City to the suburbs, her relationships, past and present, are tested. And her identity goes through seismic changes. The daughter of a NYC firefighter, Vivian has no choice but to leave the city with her dad after health problems he suffered trying to save people on September 11th force him to retire. This moving, funny, and relevant new drama speaks to all ages and hearts as it follows the journey of six teenagers and the adults who try to understand them.

Details

Cast: Rachael Hip-Flores, Nicole Pacent, Joshua Holland, Alexis Slade, Jessy Hodges, Mitchell Adams, Dan Via, Barbara Pitts
Strike.tv Channel: Anyone But Me
Website: Anyone But Me
Support the Show: Visit The Anyone But Me Store

Subscribe

RSS Feed: Feed
Facebook Page Anyone But Me

Ratings

Style 4

Pacing 4

Anyone But Me tackles issues of displacement, sexuality and growing up at a steady pace and with an even hand. It’s one of the most profoundly interesting web series dramas I’ve come across and this is coming from someone who loves to hate the genre. The characters are believable, the directing is solid and Rachel Hip-Flores and Nicole Pacent sells their roles (Vivian and Aster) beautifully. (Storytelling 5)

Polish 4.5

This show has built on controversy. The main character is a teenage lesbian trying to come to terms with her identity. As such, it’s not for everyone. That being said, the writers of this series manage to cover a lot of complex social issues without the heavy-handed moralizing that might otherwise alienate wider audiences. If you can keep an open mind, this show will get you thinking. (Watchability 5)

They manage to take the tired old teen “coming of age” story and add enough twists to it to make it watchable again. (Novelty 4)

Overall Rating: 4.41 out of 5 stars

Bottom Line: Once you get past the fact that their coffee shop is very obviously a kitchen this clever, touching story of a group of emotionally damaged coffee shop employees may become one of your favorite web series of the year.

In the premiere episode, Mitch (Morgan Lee) starts his job at the Rose City Coffeehouse, where the pay is meager, the humiliation plentiful, and the customers are always wrong.

Details

Cast: Morgan Lee, Lara Kobrin, Leif Norby, Melissa Kaiser, Jessica Zodrow, Ehren Ebbage, Chris Bolton
Vimeo Channel: Wage Slaves
Website: Wage Slaves
Support the Show: Review The Show

Subscribe

RSS Feed: Feed
Facebook Page Wage Slaves

Ratings

Style 3

Pacing 4

Drama is hard with web series. Drama is really hard, so when someone makes the attempt I have to give them credit, when someone does it well it deserves a mention. Wage Slaves does it well. The story is not without its flaws, the supporting cast feels a little coarsely written and some of the jokes don’t work but the overall story arc is catchy and watching the main character develop is strangely compelling. It’s one of those shows you’ll need to get through a few episodes before it grows on you, but once it does you’ll find yourself watching the entire run. (Storytelling 4)

I am all for low budget productions, and honestly I like this show a lot but you can really, really tell that its being shot out of a kitchen. I wish that somewhere in the pilot they would have explained why that is, or told us it was a quaint bed and breakfast place that sold coffee or something. Without that, I found myself spending far too much time looking at kitchen fixtures and wondering why no one else seemed to notice how weird that was. (Polish 3)

It runs a little on the long side with episodes typically breaking the ten minute mark, but the upside is that you get to see a plot fully develop. What I like about this show as compared to shorter web series is that it doesn’t feel as clipped. It gives you room to start to feel something for the characters and get inside their head a little. (Watchability 3.5)

Novelty 3

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

This is a story about age, family and lose. A son and his father find their roles suddenly reversed. I thoroughly enjoyed this short film written by Nikos and Constantin Pilavios.

It’s a simple story beautifully told and while it is in Greek it’s subtitled for all of us with only one language under our belts.

Creator’s Description

Father and son are sitting on a bench. Suddenly a sparrow lands across them.

Details

Creators: Nikos Pilavios, Constantin Pilavios
Vimeo Channel: What Is That?
Website: Movie Teller

Ratings

Style 4

Pacing 3.5

For a story that comes in at under 6 minutes they manage to make their point brilliantly. (Storytelling 5)

Polish 4

It’s deliberately slow paced and rather sentimental, if you were looking for something more upbeat then you might want to take a pass on this one. (Watchability 4)

Novelty 4

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Short form documentary film making is a hard nut to crack. Either you don’t have enough time to make your point, or you make it too long to be palatable on the web. Donald Kilgore’s “Paper Flowers & A Little Patience” is a powerful example of what you get when you do it right.

It’s the story of a homeless man in Houston who makes paper flowers. It takes him about a day to make each and they are made entirely out of napkins. The entire thing is shot as he sings a song about his life, his experiences and living on the street. For only being 2:20 long, the depth of insight you get is impressive. It’s also unexpectedly and refreshingly upbeat considering the subject matter, showing one man who is taking the cards he has been dealt and using them for something positive.

I only wish that it was longer but as it stands it in an amazing snapshot of what had to be an amazing experience for the filmmakers.

For anyone interested in social change this is a must see video.

Details

Creator: Donald Kilgore
Vimeo Channel: Paper Flowers and a Little Patience
Website: Donald Kilgore

Ratings

Great cuts, great framing, nice use of black and white (Style 3.5)

You are never bored listening to this man tell his story (Pacing 4)

Storytelling 4

Great footage but a little mic noise throws it off (Polish 3)

Watchability 4

This is so much different than other “social change” films, it’s beautiful and refreshing. (Novelty 5)

Overall Rating: 3.91 out of 5 stars

Bottom Line: Although I would have loved if the film makers had spent more time with each of the people highlighted in these videos, it doesn’t take away from the fact that this is a clever, fun and strangely sentimental web project. I only wish others would take time to understand culture in such a creative way.

Five months later, this site is still about the same thing: Old Jews Telling Jokes.

The good news is we’ve got some new old Jews. Many of this season’s participants responded to our first round and contacted us. We know better than to deny an old Jew with a burning desire to joke.

I wrote before that these jokes shed a light on a culture, but they also reveal much about their tellers. Like playing the piano, telling a joke requires craft, artistry and style. Does the teller have the patience for the set-up? Can he or she remember the details that make the characters familiar? Will he or she commit to the voices and the accents and keep them consistent? Is there that innate sense of timing?

See for yourself. We weren’t disappointed. All the tellers bring their own individual talents and at least sixty years of life experience to the material.

If the first season of Old Jews Telling Jokes was “friends and family” then let us present the next concentric ring, one degree-click out on the map of Jewish geography.

Details

Creators: Sam Hoffman, Antonio Rossi
Blip.tv Channel: Old Jews Telling Jokes
Website: Old Jews Telling Jokes
Support the Show: Buy The Season One DVD

Subscribe

RSS Feed: Feed
iTunes Feed: Old Jews Telling Jokes

Ratings

It’s standup with one joke per show, if they added too much flair to it it would have lost its underlying humanity. (Style 3)

Sometimes it feels almost too short. Each episode comes in at under 2 minutes and a lot of times I was left wanting to hear more from the joke tellers. (Pacing 3.5)

Storytelling 4.5

The video is great but the sound can get really low in places. (Polish 3)

You can make it through the entire series in just about an hour, and you’ll enjoy just about every minute of it. (Watchability 4)

As high concepts go this has the right mix of anthropology and humor. I only wish they had given us a look into the lives of some of the people telling the jokes, that would have been interesting viewing indeed. Maybe on the DVD. (Novelty 4)

Overall Rating: 3.66 out of 5 stars