Roaring Leo Presents: Best of Breed Volume 1

I stumbled across this DVD while looking up Leah Meyerhoff. I was a huge fan of her film Twitch, and wanted to see some of her early work.

Her short "Wonderfluff sandwiches" explores the sensuality of sandwich-making,leather chicks, and 50s housewives. It's clearly an early film, but I was surprised to find an effective range of moods through out the piece, and some startling moments brought on by, of all things, the outrageous costumes. There's something wonderful about how "hand stitched" the film feels.

It turns out the whole DVD was up my alley- consisting of four, "lo-fi," avant-garde, creative pieces from provocative young filmmakers. In addition to the eerily erotic "Wonderfluff Sandwiches," There's the haunting "Encounter," where a young-man is propositioned by a very lonely, unfortunate soul, The ponderous and visually-breathtaking(!) "Plastic," Which follows a very-wounded, illiterate, bisexual (?) street-punk thorough a tragic lifestyle of his own making, and my personal fave "The Process" Which is a sort of Frankenstein meets Eraserhead short about the quest for the perfect mate- complete with severed limbs and stitching.

The DVD is worth it alone just for some of the images in Plastic and The Process, (both have unusual visual effects and animation that is hardly ever seen anymore) but is twice as satisfying with the "slightly" more grounded, dramatic work of Wonderfluff and Encounter. I'll never look at sandwiches the same way again.

Check the DVD out. I'm looking forward to whatever comes next from these filmmakers.

I was surprised at how different these short films are while still having a common theme – that being "gay." These are real films that well-made, dramatic and artistic – guys looking for a quick thrill need not apply. Sure, there are some bare chests, but this delves deeper into the human condition. All four of the shorts are interesting in their own right. Wunderfluff Sandwiches, the sole Lesbian-themed short, is actually my favorite because it's so bizarre! According to the package, all the films won awards in film festivals too and I'm not surprised. It's great to see something like this out there! Check it out if you're looking for something different. Not just for gays either!

I would have given it a negative number rating if possible. The lack of interesting stories was only surpassed by the poor production quality and sound.