“A Sloth Story” by Tania Vincent and Ricard Cussó is an Australian animated movie about a family of Mexican sloths who are forced to run a food truck in Sanctuary City after their family home and restaurant are destroyed by a storm.

The movie’s animation is clearly inspired by “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”. That means the film has a low framerate throughout the movie, creating a unique look.

The movie has a pretty clear theme: family is important, but it shouldn’t be everything.

It illustrates this through the main family working together to make it in the city, and also through the main character Laura (Teo Vergara), being too busy to hangout with her friends once the food truck becomes a success.

I liked this movie and I hope it eventually gets some more recognition.

Up next is “The Low End Theory” by Francisco Ordonez.

The movie is about the daily life of a music producer and gang member named Raquel Pacheco (Sofia Yepes), and her affair with Veronica (Sidney Flanigan). Throughout the film she tries to find a way out of the gang so she can escape with Veronica and have a happily ever after.

The film’s message is that life is short and there are no rewinds. I had a hunch this was the theme the first time they said it, but I really got it after the sixth time they played the same audio clip of Efraim (Rene Rosado) saying it.

My biggest issue with the movie is the cinematography. This movie has some of the worst handheld footage I’ve ever seen on the big screen.

Characters are constantly dipping in and out of the frame because the camera guy has shaky hands. It’s even worse inside vehicles, the frame just bounces around all over the place.

I don’t know if a tripod was outside the budget or if this was done for artistic reasons, but it just looks bad.

There’s also a film grain effect on the whole movie which is just slightly too intense and makes things look off sometimes, especially in darker scenes like at the strip club.

One positive I will give the movie is the acting. I think all the actors did a phenomenal job, Yepes especially. There weren’t any bad performances which is rare for movies, even with a budget 10 times this.

After this movie, Jeff and I watched some shorts made in Arizona. These are all close to 5-minutes long.

The highlights include “Let's Do it…?”, a comedy short about two people making a pros and cons list before they have sex; “Tight Knit”, a movie about a grandma who punishes her family with voodoo dolls; and “Jacob & Jane: A is for Absent”, a short about two high school students who learn from each other through a bet.

The next movie we watched was an international feature. “State of Emergency” by Jan Hrebejk is a film from the Czech Republic.

The movie’s about Czech Radio reporter Karel Beran (Ondrej Vetchý) who secretly leaves his post in the fictional middle-eastern country of Kambur so he can check if his girlfriend is cheating on him. Unfortunately, while he’s gone a civil war breaks out, and now he must fake being in Kambur using elaborate sound effects and props or he’ll be fired.

The movie is a comedy, and while I didn’t laugh as much as Jeff did, I still thought the film was funny. It delivers a great message about how easily misinformation can be spread.

The main character’s reporting ends up being the biggest thing in the world, and every major international news outlet buys the story. No one figures out that the gunshots they're hearing over the radio are hand clappers, and the tanks are just the hum of a microwave.

We don’t get to see the consequences of this reporting which is something I think the film should have focused on a little more.

I really wish this film got a theatrical release over here so more people could see it. The message is very relevant, and the movie is pretty funny.

The final film of the night was “Jimmy & Stiggs” by Joe Begos.This one was my favorite of the night.

The film is about horror directors Jimmy Lang (Joe Begos) and Stiggs Randolph (Matt Mercer) fighting off aliens while doing large amounts of cocaine and drinking enough alcohol to kill a herd of elephants.

The plot might be simple, but it’s executed in an awe inspiring fashion.

Begos and Mercer both do amazing jobs as two coked up dudes who are losing their sanity with every passing second. Begos and Mercer have worked together before, and they have great chemistry with each other. You can really buy that Jimmy and Stiggs were friends for 20 years.

The aliens used in the movie get dismembered and destroyed, and there’s alien guts through the whole apartment. It’s cool to watch the place get messier and messier as the film goes on.

The camerawork is very impressive, and there are some really impressive looking shots in this movie. They make creative use of a mirror at one point to spice up a conversation instead of flipping between closeups.

What’s even more impressive than the camerawork is the editing. This was filmed from 2020-2024, but it was seamlessly edited together and it’s near-impossible to tell.

This film was a joy to watch, and you can just tell Begos and Mercer had fun filming it. My only complaints are that it goes on a little too long, and the flashing light could be intense at times.

The Phoenix Film Festival is a great place to see interesting movies. Everyone should go if they can, it’s not often films like these are seen otherwise.