Bathtime in Clerkenwell (2002)

Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

This is a rather curious and infectious short. There will be spoilers ahead:This short was inspired by a track from an album by The Real Tuesday Weld. The title of both the track and the short are the same.The premise of the short is that cuckoos have decided they wish to take over London and they start with one man. They have difficulty gaining traction until they begin mass producing cuckoos from his cuckoo clock. They finally conquer him and then set out across the city.Ultimately, a large cuckoo emerges from "Big Ben" and London is theirs. There's a beautiful ending to this which I won't spoil. It's a most engaging short just over three minutes or so in length. It looks for all the world like a music video.This short is available on DVD, as part of The Animation Show, Volume 1. This short and the DVD as a whole are highly recommended.

IMDb has imposed a rule that all reviews must be at least 10 lines long and I usually love this rule. However, with a very short film like BATHTIME IN CLERKENWELL, it's hard to come up with 10 lines, as there really isn't much to talk about other than it's short and fun to watch. Here goes: The film begins with lots of very simple animation in black and white. At the same time, a jaunty song plays and the animation is timed perfectly to the tune. Is it life changing? No. But somehow it's oddly satisfying and addictive. You can't help but tap your feet and pay attention to this cute film. I would love to see more from the same team that made this--it's creative and they've quite a touch with animation. Good job.

If you want something to make you upbeat in the morning, but have just realized that that fourth use of the last of the coffee grounds has diminished its effectiveness, you could probably use this short as a substitute (which is kind of ironic, considering its subject matter...).REVOLT! Cuckoos are tired of the mistreatment of their master! Time to take over the apartment! No! THE WORLD! This short uses a particular approach to sound where the action and the sound are similarly reactive, so that something that happens in the movie changes the score or maybe vice versa. I'm not sure which was written first or how this came to be made. But it's basically a music video, of the kind you would probably see on some children's television if not for the relative violence of the situation. There's nothing bad here but it is kind of aggressive.I like it, I think it's funny. But be forewarned, it can be a little overstimulating, don't watch during times of headache and ill-ease.--PolarisDiB

As the music plays we see lots of shadow figures mouthing along – most of these are small crows with rolling eyes. As they sing the song, the action continues with some of them having unfortunate run-ins with others. My opening sentences are usually plot summaries but I must admit that I'm struggling with a film that is essentially about nothing and really, I was surprised to find it on this site because, although I saw it at a film festival, my impression of it is that it also served as a music video for Real Tuesday Weld.Regardless of what it should be classed as (I'll leave that for the pedants), the one thing that I am sure about is just how entertaining the whole short film is. First of all the music is pretty cool; I was trying to think of a way to describe it but have been struggling – it is repetitive and sounds like a mambo of sorts? Anyway, by itself the music is fun and I would listen to it again on its own. Luckily the animation is just as cool and as fun; again hard to describe but lots of cute and cool cut out crows singing along and lots of stuff happening. The animation appears simplistic (I'm sure it's not) but it is very effective and matches the mood of the music – both complimenting each other in fact.Overall, it may be a music video as much as a short film but it works very well – it is cool, entertaining and fun in both the music and the animation and for both of these it is worth hunting the web for.