There are few directors that I rate high when it comes to true innovation and creativity in the realm of filmmaking. Most directors are content to stay within the boundaries set by film schools and the Hollywood status quo. Ranking high on my list is Robert Rodriguez. Like most directors, only a few of his films are really great as far as the entertainment value goes, but unlike other directors ALL of his films show what a creative (and frugal) genius he is when it comes to delivery. Rodriguez also has the distinction of crossing boundaries that very few directors cross. He has made films like “El Mariachi”, “Desperado”, “Once Upon a time in Mexico” and “From Dusk ‘Til Dawn”, and “Sin City,” all of which are bloody and excessively violent. In between these films he created the “Spy Kids” series as well as “Shark Boy and Lava Girl”, both of which are enormously popular with the younger set.

Most of his career has been spent making movies almost literally out of his home in Austin. He may have to shoot on location or on green screen sets, but when it comes to editing, adding special effects, even scoring the films… he does it all himself in his little studio. Anytime you pick up a DVD of one of his films and take the time to watch his Ten Minute Film School videos, you get to see a little of this studio and how he does the work. It’s nothing short of amazing.

While I extol the virtues of being an innovator like Rodriguez, I also need to tender the other side of the coin. In his case it has to be the quality of the finished product. His films geared for adults are excellent top a fault. But his kid’s films, which look absolutely amazing, are rather over the top and not very well written. The first “Spy Kids” was pretty decent, but the sequels were rather ploddish. Even the popular “Shark Boy and Lava Girl” was just not that fulfilling in the area of plot.

Rodriguez’s newest effort is “Shorts.” Like his earlier efforts, “Shorts” comes at you like a live action cartoon, weaving a tale of a town under the control of an evil villain (James Spader). Everyone in the town works for him. But one day a rainbow colored rock falls from the sky and lands in the hands of little Toe Thompson. If the rock were just that, there would be no problem. But it turns out to have the magical power to grant wishes and before you know it, the town is turned on its ear.

We are told the story of “Shorts” in a series of vignettes, given to us out of order (kinds of like “Pulp Fiction”) and the insanity doesn’t end from the moment the movie starts to its final moments. It is full of gross out humor, which everyone expects will be a hit with the kids, while making parents groan. I personally didn’t have a problem with the gross out humor (you’re talking to a guy who liked “Bruno”), it was the fact that the story as a whole just wasn’t very well told. There was too much happening, all the time. And the delivery was a little off as well. There were a few good laughs, but not as many as the film needed to keep the attention of a parent watching it with their kids.

In a way I think what Rodriguez is doing, aside from dazzling us with his ability to do everything, is trying to create kid’s movies that look like they were created by kids. He uses their sensibilities and their point of view. So perhaps he is succeeding and I don’t know because I’m not a kid anymore. I’m still waiting to let me daughter watch it to decide if it works at all on her level.

I have to bring this around to original statements that Rodriguez is indeed innovative. And regardless of whether or not these kid’s films are any good from a narrative standpoint, while important to the overall experience, there is no denying the technically creative talent that the man wields. I feel strongly if he were to team up with a truly original children’s writer, he could deliver the product he is so desperately trying to create.

Warner Brothers’ Bluray release of “Shorts” offers up a transfer that really makes everything come to life on the screen. As the film looks like a live action cartoon and has the colors to match, everything you see just pops off the screen. Thankfully there was no attempt to deliver a home 3D experience as this is yet to work in the home theater market.

This set also includes a DVD of the film and a Digital Download. As for extra features, you’ll find a brief ‘Making of’ documentary as well as video of some of the kids while they are messing around onset. Additionally, Rodriguez gives us a new “Ten Minute Film School” video and a “Ten Minute Cooking School” video where he shows us how to make Chocolate Chip Volcano Cookies.

Overall, “Shorts” is kind of a mixed bag of goodies. Some are sweet and delicious while parts are a little stale.

Directed by: Robert Rodriguez
Starring: James Spader, Jon Cryer, Jimmy Bennett, Leo Howard, Devon Gearhart, Leslie Mann
Extras: The Magic of Shorts; Shorts: Show and Tell; Ten-Minute Film School: Short Shorts; Ten-Minute Cooking School: Chocolate Chip Volcano Cookies; BD-Live; DVD; Digital Copy
Specifications: 1080p (1.78:1), Dolby TrueHD 5.1 English, DD 5.1 French, DD 5.1 Spanish, DD 5.1 Portuguese
Studio: Warner Brothers
Release Date: 11/24/2009
MPAA Rating: PG
http://www.shortsmovie.com

We'll give Shorts (Bluray) a C+.