“Boys Will Be Boys” is the name for Program 52 of the LA Shorts Film Festival. Featuring 78 programs, with 450 films, this reviewer chose this program at random for reviews. As luck would have it, one of the films (“Apple Jack”)shown during the Saturday afternoon presentation got voted “Best of the Festival” and another (“Flights”) is being featured at the upcoming Hampton’s International Film Festival next weekend in the Guggenheim’s “Crisis & Resolution” portion of that fest.

Based on the director/writer’s novel “Not Our Father’s Dream”, this
short film captures the essence of how an ordinary evening at a Williams
College dorm in 1968 turns into a night of discovery. Bypassing savage
imagery, Herzog’s film glides into our psyches with an uncertain
quietness, reminiscent of screenwriter Robert Wise’s approach. It’s
during FLIGHTS rooftop sequence that it really takes off (pun intended).
Picturing a defining moment is no easy task, but Herzog manages to
paint a tableau of that time that rings true using little more than
paper airplanes, matches, and, of course, talent. None of Peckinpah’s
fireworks or Coppola’s sturm and drang –just an insider’s view of a time
that all-too-readily reminds us of today.

Fong, his main character says, “Shouldn’t living be connected to what
you want, not just avoiding what you didn’t? It’s this ‘Fongosophy’ and
depth beyond the words on paper or the scenes on the screen that leave
us wanting more from this emerging filmmaker. This effervescent study of
conflict between what the writer terms citizenship and morality could
not be more timely. Herzog says that the film captures “an almost true,
but entirely surreal experience”. It’s only in the canvas of long-form
that we’ll see if Herzog lives up to his potential. FLIGHTS is featured
in the Hampton International Film Festival’s Conflict and Resolution
section and was named “best film short subject” Cinevue International
Film Competition, Florida. For more information refer to the website
www.thezog.com.

Reviews by Joyce Schwarz, author/writer, emerging entertainment analyst, www.joycecom.com.