Pop Foul (2006) User Reviews

Absolutely amazing...

[Matador · 10/10 · 2 February 2007]

I've had the pleasure of viewing Pop Foul twice now, once at Woodstock and once at Sundance. It just keeps getting better every time. The cinematography, music, the writing and direction of actors are all superbly confident. Molson shows an ability to get consistently great performances from his actors, even child actors. It's one of those rare shorts that points to a larger world, that doesn't seem constrained by the format. I'm anxious to see what Molson can do in features, he definitely seems ready for it.

All in all, an important movie, told with an important voice.

10/10

An incredible short film

[brianamos · 10/10 · 1 February 2008]

I helped organize a festival that showed Pop Foul, so I was able to see it a couple dozen times. Upon first watching, you'll recognize how good it is, from the writing to the cinematography to the acting, and will really feel the punch of the ending. Upon repeated viewings, you'll see the subtleties and complexities, and the amount of care that went into making every aspect of the movie. For example, in a story about a son navigating his way through his parents' wishes and learning lessons from their actions, his first line in the entire film is "It's hereditary".

If you can catch a screening or find a copy, it'd be well worth your time to do so.

see this short

[cmj2010 · 10/10 · 25 January 2008]

This tops my list of best short films of the last decade, and I have seen many. If you have any personal investment in film-making, you owe it to yourself to track down a screening or copy. That's all you really need to know but I am required to enter ten lines here. Let me put it this way: the short film is a notorious paradox of form... too short to take on large issues, yet instantly disposable if it doesn't. Many good shorts make the grade by being entertaining in the moment, offering a great twist, or finding one terrific element to command word of mouth. "Pop Foul" is the rarest of rare short films, managing the compelling depth, beauty, and insight achieved by the occasional feature, and almost never by a short.

great short

[proverb124 · 10/10 · 15 December 2009]

I really liked the suspense of this short. I thought every scene and character exchange in some way engaged the nature of lying and telling the truth - the exchange of secrets and revolving allegiances. The dynamics were really interesting for what outwardly appears to be a small family drama - the actual mechanics of the drama make it play more like a detective story or a crime film in which you know the culprit from the start then track the attempt at the character's cover up. But rather than get away with money or a murder, dad's just trying to get away with his pride. I thought the sleuthing mom was particularly funny, especially in a non-linear bathroom scene. The kid is great, but I really liked dad. I felt for him but never pitied him - he had a kind of quiet dignity which could have come off corny with the wrong actor but which really made me respect him. Overall i think the director's emotive but impartial eye for characters motives and focus on the stickiness and moral ambiguity of even a simple lie elevated the material out of potential family melodrama into something more dramatically relevant and tautly constructed.

A "POWERFUL" Short Film

[Rolando23 · 10/10 · 1 May 2011]

A POWERFUL & PERFECT Example the qualities a short film should have. Peripety at its best. All the turning points from the inciting incident to the 1st act climax to the Mid point reversal to the 2nd act climax to the Crises / Climax moment and finally to the Resolution. It's all there. These are the qualities that make a great short film. A Visual film not verbal. Very well written. The Director Moon Molson is a Director to be watched. The pacing of the Conflict is very well crafted. It always escalates & the Dialogue isn't just talking heads but used for exposition through the form of conflict. AMAZING FILM. If you haven't seen it ? I highly recommend it !!