Horst in Translation ([email protected]) "God of Love" is an English-language short film from 5 years ago. It runs for almost 20 minutes, is black-and-white and I applaud Luke Matheny for what he did here in terms of writing, directing and acting. I do not often completely agree with the Academy, but I believe they got it right when they handed him the Live Action Short Film Oscar. Hilarious acceptance speech by the way. Check it out. Matheny has great recognition value due to his physical appearance and that elevated the film as well. I am really glad to see his recent success with the television show "Maron". I have not seen it (yet), but it sounds a bit like "Louie" to me. I hope Matheny can step into full feature films at some point too. I would certainly watch it.Now, about "God of Love": First of all, do not be misguided by the pretentious-sounding title. This film is everything but pretentious. It's simple, funny (very tongue-in-cheek) and creative and the title reference comes from the very last quote of the main character and it's not really meant seriously. Also the choir at the end is really just for comedic purposes. The story is as simply as effective. A guy (Matheny) loves a girl. She, however, loves his best friend. And his best friend won't date her because it would be wrong to hurt his friend like that. Quite a mess. Then, Matheny's character one day finds a dart with which he can get people to fall in love with each other, sadly only for 6 hours. After that, the two have to have made a real connection so that the love stays, even if the effect from the dart wears off. He tries it on a friend and it works. The two stay together. Sadly, things do not go that well with himself and the girl of his dreams. So what should he do? There were a handful hilarious references and scenes in here, like the diabetes part or the scene where all the girls are following our hero. I very much enjoyed watching these 19 minutes. Give it a chance, you will not regret it. One last thing I forgot, there is also nice singing in here.

artistgp I was extremely pleased with this short comedy. The film is incredibly well directed. The dialogue is quite pleasant throughout the story and very well delivered, especially by its leading man/director. The interesting thing about this film is that it is very well executed from all angles. Comedies often fall victim to standard or boring cinematography. "God of Love" however, is very well shot. It easy to see the consideration give to each and every piece of imagery.I found myself reciting pieces of dialogue for weeks after seeing the film. They also do a great job getting the viewer to join them on the wild ride that is the world they've set up in the film. We don't feel the need to question whats happening (the out of the ordinary aspects), we as viewers just buy in and enjoy the ride.Its hard to imagine any reasonable way this film could be improved. I strongly recommend it to anyone that enjoys watching movies. A+

doctorsmoothlove A dopey jazz singer is in love with a female band member who doesn't return his affections. God, or something else, provides him with magic love darts that make whoever they prick interested in the first person he or she sees for six hours. Dopey singer tries to make his crush fall for him, but her affections always wear off. Finally, he gives up and sets her up with a guy she likes. Maybe love will find him one day? I sure hope not. The movie is needlessly shot in black and white and has very sexist overtones. We aren't given any reason for this guy to get a girlfriend other than his desire for one. A bland indie "comedy" is lurking in this concept.Not Recommended

MartinHafer Well, I just got back from my yearly pilgrimage to see the nominees for the Best Live Action Academy Award. Compared to other years, this is an interesting field, as I actually liked all the films and see there being no clear winner. Usually I have at least a few of them I don't particularly like but this is a good crop...but there also is no clearly 'perfect' film as well. So, in light of this, my predicting that "The Confession" will be the most likely of the films to win is not at all certain--as I see this as mostly a three film race but any of the five could easily win.While I certainly would acknowledge that "God of Love" is not exactly profound, it is very different from the other nominees this year. While the other four films are all VERY dark in tone, "God of Love" is the opposite--a quirky little comedy that felt very refreshing when I saw it--it was a nice change of pace. While I don't think it's technically the very best of these films, it is my favorite and it has a good chance of winning since it is so different--although slight.The film is striking for two big reasons. First, it's filmed in black & white--an unusual but very artistic choice. Second, the actors (particularly the lead) are very non-photogenic--not at all the typical sort of actors you'd see in films. In many ways, though, it reminds me of some of Fellini's films, as he LOVED to but bizarre-looking people in movies and eschewed the typical 'pretty faces' you'd see in other movies. I loved this and appreciated how such non-traditional folks were given a chance.The film is about a likable loser, Ray (Luke Matheny--who also wrote and directed this lovely film). He is in love with one of his bandmates but she is only interested in his friend, Fozzie. And, Fozzie has no interest in her! So, in desperation Ray prays daily from help from God. And, since the film is a fantasy, the gods decide to help him--sending him a set of cupid-like darts through which he might be able to find the girl of his dreams. The film goes many different directions and never exactly goes where I expected--and I loved this. I also loved the film's quirky sense of humor, unusual style and plot as well as how incredibly artistic and well filmed the movie is--it's a real work of art.So will it win? Tune in and see--I'll update this review when I find out the results. I think that despite its slight nature it has a good shot, as the other films are all so similar that perhaps they'll fight each other for votes. Also, the other two best films of the crop ("The Confession" and "Wish 143" are so similar in many other ways that I can't help but think that "God of Love" might manage to slip through with enough votes to take the prize. Regardless, Matheny is immensely talented and I can't wait to see him in other projects--whether writing, acting or directing. An adorable and easy to like movie.UPDATE: Wow, this never happens. I actually picked this category correctly. In a conversation I had with a friend who saw the films with me, I told him that although I thought "The Confession" was the best film that it and "Wish 143" were so similar in tone and style that "God of Love" would win. Insanely enough, "God of Love" won and I think my prediction was correct--something that NEVER happens!