Art, Entertainment, Brevity

By Scott Smith in Arts & Entertainment on Oct 2, 2006 5:13PM

Who can argue with those? You're reading Chicagoist right now because, well, you can appreciate art. Chicagoist is all about the art. Oh sure, sometimes we're also entertaining too. A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down. And brevity is the soul of wit, which is why we keep our musings under 350 words each (usually).

Chicago Short Film Brigade, a new organization, aims to showcase international short films with an ongoing series of quarterly screenings beginning in January. Local wunderkind Andrew Bird is helping jumpstart things by launching a four-city midwest tour to benefit the new group. Alas there aren't any Chicago shows in the lineup, but if Dubuque, Cedar Rapids, Minneapolis and Madison want to help subsidize Chicago entertainment it's fine by us. (To be fair, once the screenings get going they'll be held at other midwest venues in addition to Chicago.)

The great news is that CSFB is still looking for submissions so it's not too late to get in on the act. We know what you're thinking. Why bother when there's YouTube? While there are many cool things about YouTube, a long memory isn't one of them: today's hot clip is yesterday's forgotten fad.

Remember the Japanese clothes-folding video? We didn't think so. Despite living in the age of digital-on-demand, there's still something about sitting in a room full of people watching a thoughtful assemblage of diverse films that's more satisfying than eating leftover pizza alone in front of a computer monitor and watching a woman fold a shirt. As Mr. Bird explains, “It's refreshing to watch some crazy entertaining short films engaging different parts of your brain, all while enjoying popcorn and good company. You can spend a few comfortable hours out of the house, away from the telly with your fellow citizens.” Amen.

Thanks, Rob!