Cecil, a short film by Terribly Timely and the Fashionably Lates

November 8, 2008 5:31 PM

Cecil, a short film by Terri Timely (SLQTP)
posted by ambulance blues (10 comments total)

That's pretty effed up.

I didn't hate it, but not sure I got the point.
posted by cjorgensen at 6:15 PM on November 8, 2008

The point is Cecil craves approval and validation from someone who is incapable of giving it. When he gets it from a computer generated image of a human it moves him to tear up.
posted by longsleeves at 6:35 PM on November 8, 2008 [2 favorites]

Same plot as MetaFilter, but with images.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 6:46 PM on November 8, 2008 [1 favorite]

i liked it. redonkulously well lit. such purposefully flat images (until the last scene).
posted by matt_od at 7:18 PM on November 8, 2008

ambulance blues -

You posted this, so you must have thought there was something special about it. It's a bit meh for me. What was it that got you fired up enough to make an FPP about it?
posted by MythMaker at 9:27 PM on November 8, 2008

I guess Cecil is virtually strong. Irony.
posted by rageagainsttherobots at 9:27 PM on November 8, 2008

Some people I've shown it to didn't see the tear at the end. I was pretty eh about it until the last scene, then the whole short struck me as sincere and pretty heartbreaking. There's an outside chance that the guys that made this were being point-and-laugh, but I just don't think so / hope not.
posted by ambulance blues at 11:11 PM on November 8, 2008

This reminds me of a lonely old woman I know, who after her first purchase from Ebay, was really proud that that she had been identified as an excellent, excellent buyer in her feedback.
posted by StickyCarpet at 7:43 AM on November 9, 2008 [1 favorite]

I liked it, but find myself wishing he wasn't shown to be crying at the end - that's laying it on a little thick and, it'd have been more interesting I think, if he had just stood there, sad and lonely and proud and hopeful.

Of course, that's probably just me, who always like it subtle, which I feel is more powerful - but people are already asking what the point of it was, so...
posted by Ira_ at 8:46 AM on November 9, 2008

The short films on the Terry Timely site are really good - especially Children are a Gift, which is hilarious and adorable, and the two about love of animation.
posted by Ira_ at 9:08 AM on November 9, 2008