Blogcritics The critical lens on today's culture & entertainment
When you build a film festival around a belief system, as does the Anthem Libertarian Film Festival, there is a danger that you can just get too darn serious. That’s not the case with Anthem, part of FreedomFest, which ran this year from July 17-20 at the Paris Resort Las Vegas. Libertarian film makers definitely have a funny bone.
My favorite short comedies included The Surge, Love Gov 2, The Last Straw, and Demand Curve.
The Surge
The Surge, winner of Anthem’s Best Comedy Award, is an amazing satire and creative piece of filmmaking because it works on multiple levels at once. On the surface, it satires the film The Purge.
As The Surge begins, the viewer finds out that to prove to Americans how much they need the government, Congress suspends all laws and regulations for twelve hours, and announces that all crimes will go unpunished.
The story follows a cable TV field reporter and the anchorman on CNNBC as they attempt to cover what they expect will be carnage. The send up of cable news is hilarious.
On the third level the film skewers expectations about how much we need the government. It has a couple of twists at the end which will leave you in stitches (as long as you’re not an AOC fan). You can watch The Surge for free on it’s Facebook page.
Love Gov 2
Love Gov, in 2016, won Anthem’s Best Libertarian Comedy Award. The protagonist, Scott Govinski, whose actions bear a striking resemblance to those of a government with which we’re all familiar, was spurned by his millennial girlfriend in the first season for trying to control her life.
He returns in Love Gov 2 determined to help a group of young people starting out in the workplace with housing, health care, and anything else he can talk them into being dependent on him for. The trailer for Love Gov 2 is linked below, or you can go directly to the Love Gov season 1 or season 2.
The Last Straw
Dating apps help people get together. Maybe the government should step in and protect people. That’s the premise of The Last Straw, which takes place in the not-to-distant future when the only dating app is the government sanctioned Partner Pairing.
What’s new about this app? Too many swipes in the wrong direction and a man can get sent to a purification center.
The film, directed by Katie Christofferson, takes us along on a first date. Hint: the guy gets a lot of swipes. No link is available for this yet, but watch for it. It is funny.
Demand Curve
In Demand Curve, Anthem’s Best Short Narrative Award winner, a nerdy professor of economics, played by William Castrogiovanni, just can’t get his students motivated. On his way home from work he gets kidnapped.
His kidnappers make a demand for his return, but the amount is so low, he’s offended. He begins a class on how they can drive up the price they should get for him. Finally, he has motivated students.
You can find out more about Anthem, including info on all their films, at their website and Facebook page.
