THE BEST OF ATOM FILMS By: David Visschedyk Recently the Internet Herald was lucky enough to be sent a DVD collection from Atom Films (http://www.atomfilms.com). Atom Films got a lot of pres as an online distributor of films. Of course that was during the Dot-Com boom, where anything with an internet angle would get loads of press. Of course, Atom Films is a lot more than just an online site where you can download films, they distribute films to airplanes, cable operators and release their own DVDs. Last year they released four DVDs, all of which are amazing. In an effort to save some space, all four will be reviewed here. Three of the DVDs were best of complelations. There was one DVD with seven nominated shorts from the Academy Awards, another claiming to be Cinema with an Edge, and the last just being Premier Films. All of them were amazing. I could not get over how well made these films were. Living in North America with Hollywood ever present, it becomes easy to forget that people working outside of the system have talent. Short films are fantastic for scouting new talent because while it may be intimidating to sit down to watch a two hour film by someone you've never heard of and staring actors you've never heard of, sitting down for ten minute segments is easy. To start off with, The Road To the Awards features some amazing movies. My personal favourite is "My Mother Dreams of Satan's Disciples of New York", which just so happens to be the Academy Award winner of 1999. For once the Academy picked a movie that was deserving of the award. The DVD features four shorts, ranging in length form fifteen minutes to forty minutes, and three animated shorts. The animated shorts do not grab the viewer like the shorts, but they are amazing. My favourite DVD was Cinema with an Edge. These were movies that tickled my warped funny bone. In my personal favourite, "Wheelchair Rebecca", a little girl asks her Mom why her doll is in a wheelchair. The Mom's answer is a little surprising, but extremely funny. This DVD also features Ben Affleck's movie "I Killed my Lesbian Wife, Hung her on a meathook, and now I have a Three Picture Deal with Disney". Thirdly, is Premier Films a great collection of shorts. Most of these movies are in the tradition of what Hollywood produces. The quality is good, the filming is as good as you'd find in anything at your local multiplex. Especially well made are "Bobby Loves Mangos" and "In God We Trust". Both will make you wish that instead of being twenty minutes each, they were three hours long. Of course, Atom Films is nothing without a little T&A. Along comes "Bikini Bandits", a full DVD worth of girls, guns and carnage. In the same vein as old Charlie's Angels episodes, with a little blaxplotaion thrown in for good measure. Described on the cases as "A hilarious tribute to Russ Meyer films and "outlaw" shows of the 70's." The problem is that there is about twenty minutes making up six different episodes. They could have added a lot more 'stuff' to this DVD. Adding other films or more episodes would have made this a better buy. That said, you can buy all four DVD's for an amazing price, and you'll be extremely happy if you do.