1/5 "I Wish I Was a Big...Dung Beetle."
  by Mark Baker (Santa Clarita, CA United States)
The story is told to us by Toby "Toe" Thompson (Jimmy Bennett). He lives in Black Falls, a special subdivision built around the plant that creates the Black Box. All the adults work in the factory. These devices not only serve as cell phone, computer, and PDA, but they also toast your bread, groom your dog, and do anything else you could want them to do.

One day while being attacked by bullies, Toe finds a special rainbow colored rock. Following the instructions he hears, he makes a wish for friends, only to find small aliens following him around. But things get out of hand at school the next day, and the rock begins a journey around the neighborhood. As various people unknowingly make wishes while holding the rock, crazy things start to happen. Will life for the citizens of Black Falls ever be the same?

I will confess, I saw this movie because the previews I saw for it made it look like a mindless funny family film.

If only I had know.

Before I get to trashing the film, let's discuss what I did like. Some of the situations were funny, and one running gag involving a brother, sister, and a staring contest was great.

The problems with the movie? Where do I even begin?

Unlike the movie, let's start at the beginning. The movie is told is a series of smaller stories. You could call them chapters, really. These short sections are how the movie got its name. But we aren't told the story in chronological order. I'm not exactly sure why since all this convention did was distract me from what was on the screen.

Now I knew from the previews that this movie would feature some pretty far fetched fantasy that was going to be played for laughs. That's how the movie started, but as it went, it lost the comedy and left me bored counting down until the climax.

And don't even get me started on the giant booger monster.

Or the ending. This has to be one of the lamest climaxes I have seen in a long, long time. To say more would be to spoil much, which I am not going to do. Let's just say the ending would make the ancient Greeks and their deus ex machina proud. Plus, they crammed the moral down our throats instead of letting it be part of the story.

This movie is rather special effect heavy, and they were a mixed bag as well. Some looked absolutely great; some looked completely fake.

The characters were little more than one dimensional cut outs, so it was hard to care about the outcome. The acting didn't help. It was routinely over the top, a choice I think that was made on purpose. For the kids it worked, but it left the adults looking stupid and the audience annoyed.

What looked like a fun premise for a movie turned into a colossal waste of time and money. Trust me. You'll be sorry if you waste even a short amount of time on this one.

4/5 Good Movie. 4 out of 5 Stars.
  by Damon Smith (USA)
I love Robert Rodriguez movies and after hearing that he is the main director of Shorts (A Not-So Tall Tale) then I had to see it. I must admit Shorts is a lot better than I expected, its not perfect but its enjoyable for the whole family. Its like one of the reviewers for this movie said, "not as good as UP or Smithsonian but better then other previous kid films (G-Force for example)." Shorts is basicly like in between G-force, UP and Smithsonian. But good enough for me to give this movie 4 out of 5 Stars at least. The adult humor in Shorts is better then G-Force. Obveiously because its Robert Rodrgiuez's film. That and Robert Rodriguez at the end credits has made some familiar music from his other adult films he has made. Giving Shorts music a more hardcore feel instead of regular kids music which I enjoyed from this movie, that and at the same time its clean. Although there are a few humorous scenes that might sound too childish but that is also what I enjoyed about Shorts. The plot is nice and you might learn a few things about life (depending what you know) in this movie on the way. The story is out of order and divided into 5 Episodes. Shorts can be a good example why I enjoy Robert Rodriguez films and he is one of my favorite Directors. Kodos to Robert Rodriguez for making Shorts! Good movie for the whole family overall!

5/5 Awesome Family Fun!!!
  by Pumpkin Man
I thought this was a really good and very funny movie that the whole family will love! It has an awesome plot, funny situations, and lovable characters. The movie is told out of order in a series of 'short' episodes! In the town of Black Falls, all the adults work for Black Box Unlimited Worldwide Industries Incorporated. Toby Thompson is a lonely kid who gets picked on gets picked on by Mr. Black's kids, until Toby finds a Rainbow colored wishing rock that will grant his every wish. Toby is just one of the many kids who have found the rock, like Nose Noseworthy, Loogie, Cole, and Helvetica Black. When Mr. Black gets ahold of the rock, he uses it for world domination. Can the kids of Black Falls stop him before he becomes mad with power? I highly recommend SHORTS!!!



3/5 ***1/2 = Definitely not as good as "Up" or "Smithsonian" but is better than lots of the current children's films.
  by E (New York City)
We've been in a year with hit-and-miss films. Most of the misses were a bunch of crappy kid's movies. I mean, not all children's films this year were good or bad, but there was actually a bit of mixture. The greatness came from the 8 month delay of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" along with "Up," "Coraline" and "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian." And the worst came from movies like "Ponyo." While this weekend, you'll get Robert Rodriguez's best friend Quentin Tarantino also releasing a film this week where they'll do nothing but "killing NAH-ZIES," Rodriguez on the other hand will be making something tailor made for children alike.

So, I went into "Shorts" not expecting the movie to be the best children's film ever made. But I went out of the theater with a more positive reaction than I had with a certain kid's movies like that. Sure, it's pretty childish for people who are younger than 13 but in a good way, it does appeal to me in some sort of way. I wouldn't recommend it for a 35 year old as long as they take their kid's to see it.

"Shorts" is so stupid that's it's actually funny. I mean it's more funnier than a lot of disgusting kid's movies.

"Shorts" tells 5 different stories of a dysfunctional neighborhood, Black Community Falls, using a wishing rock. Toe Thompson (Jimmy Bennett) gets picked on and bullied in school. He starts having only one friend but he soon finds a wishing rock that grants him his wish. Then the whole neighborhood takes advantage of the rock which turns it into chaos. So the whole neighborhood wants to find a way to get rid of the rock and have all the wishes be unwished.

Two of the most important lessons that you can get out of "Shorts" is: 1. Be careful with what you wish for. Otherwise, it may come true. 2. Let the past go. Let it fall behind you. Let the slightest thing roll of your back. Even walk away from the situtation wouldn't be such a bad thing after all. And there are moments that I would want to learn from after watching this movie.

Director Robert Rodriguez does come from all types of movies whether it's horror-action like "Planet Terror" to the children's movies like "Spy Kids" series or "The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl." Heck forget those movies, because "Shorts" beats out some of them. The story does seem to reek at most points telling 5 different stories that are not in chronological order but otherwise it did made sense for a conclusion.

Overall, take your kids to see "Shorts." The parents may not like it, not even children my age. But if you're like me that wants a good kid's movie with a great message, just go and have fun...oh yeah and learn, too.

3/5 Shorts Movie Review from The Massie Twins
  by thejoelmeister (www.GoneWithTheTwins.com)
Robert Rodriguez' Shorts is childish, unrealistic and immature - in a good way. It's by no means a masterpiece, but once again the director has proven he has a way with children's films. The plot is jumbled up and out of order like a Tarantino movie and doesn't demonstrate a particularly unique idea; what it does masterfully accomplish, however, is creative entertainment. The look and feel of Shorts is wildly inventive, fantastical, definitely kid-worthy, and quite simply a whole lot of fun.

To tell the tale of the crazily kooky adventure granted to the usually uneventful town of Black Falls, narrator and star Toby "Toe" Thompson (Jimmy Bennett) skips ahead, rewinds backwards onscreen and dodges through the timeline of events. He decides to tell the story completely out of order in a series of shorts. While messing with chronology is typically a nuisance, it works well for Rodriguez, keeping things continually interesting and building upon minor characters, while effectively holding the attention of kids.

Black Box Incorporated is the center of interest for the entire town. It's run by the ruthless Mr. Black (James Spader), who is only concerned with upgrading his all-in-one black box multi-tool invention to outdo his many competitors. The box works like a Transformer, reconstructing itself automatically into a cell phone, vacuum, toaster, grenade, dog trimmer, baby monitor and much, much more. His team leaders (Leslie Mann and Jon Cryer) are the parents of Toby, and his daughter Helvetica (Jolie Vanier) - or "Hel" for short - makes Toby's life miserable, bullying him incessantly at school. When neighbor Loogie (Trevor Gagnon) discovers a magical rock that grants wishes, Toby's real troubles are about to begin.

Although a movie about wishes run amok isn't entirely new, the family-friendly, clean setting and bright tone of the film contributes to solid entertainment. While it serves as a fantastical, quixotic tutoring on wishing for something worthwhile and being careful what you wish for, the execution and planning of the muddled events is truly worthwhile. Little green aliens can't fix Toby's "lack of friends" problem, prevent an army of crocodiles from eating Loogie's homework, protect the Short brothers from pterodactyl abduction, or save Nose Noseworthy from the Big Bad Booger. Boiling down to the basic carefree fantasies of kids, the welcome notion of getting anything you can imagine, and the realization that understanding and friendship can resolve more than wishing yourself out of a predicament, Shorts playfully amuses with a vastly creative eye for merriment and nonsense. This is a film that proves pure fantasy can be pleasant and adults don't have to be bored to death with the material their children drag them to.

- Mike Massie