The Old Man and the Seymour

"The Old Man and the Seymour" is perhaps one of the most creative short films I've ever seen.  Starring CollegeHumor's Amir Blumenfeld (previously mentioned in Amir's video letter to Santa) and Streeter Seidell, the film follows the recent events is Lewis Plunkett's life.  He is a 47-year-old with a growth hormone deficiency that often leads to him being mistaken for a high-schooler.  When his brother dies, he reluctantly gains custody of his high-school nephew, and is mistaken for the new kid at school.  The film is hilariously taglined, "Over 90 million Americans use products or procedures to fight the visible signs of aging.  Lewis Plunkett isn't one of them."  It received a multitude of awards including, Director's Choice at the Sacramento Film and Music Festival 2009, Audience Award at the Portable Film Festival 2009, and Best Cinematography at the NYU First Run Film Festival 2009.  It also played at a series of other accredited film festivals.

Only 31 minutes in length, "The Old Man and the Seymour" focuses mainly on the jokes and less on the story line, but it still is hilarious, and any fan of Amir would enjoy it.  Even the trailers are hilarious.  Then second trailer featuring "Requiem for a Dream" can be found here.  The entire short film can be watched online, through Vimeo here.

This short film makes me optimistic that comedy can come in any form, even if the concept seems depressing at first, jokes can precede story, and Amir can make me laugh in any situation.

Amir's video letter to Santa

Around this time of year a lot of people are getting really excited for Christmas, and a big part of Christmas is Santa Claus.  Now I know most people are too old to believe in Santa, so that usually means there's a lot humor in a grown who still believes that Chris Cringle still comes sliding down their chimney on Christmas Eve to bring them gifts.  And perhaps the people who grasped that humor best are Jake Hurwitz and Amir Blumenfeld, stars of CollegeHumor's shorts entitled Jake and Amir.  Together they write, film, act in, and produce shorts made specifically for the internet viewers.  Amir Blumenfeld won the People's Voice Webby Award for Best Individual Performance and Jake and Amir won the People's Voice award for Comedy Series this year.  Some of Jake and Amir's best videos are featured here.

But back to holiday spirit and comedy.  Jake and Amir created a short last year around Christmas that takes the best of a twenty-some year old who still has faith in Santa, a misunderstanding of Jewish principles, a complete lack of understanding of various expressions of speech, a hostile video letter to Father Christmas himself, and open threats to the Big Man if he doesn't give the bad boy all the toys and leave his reindeer behind.

You can watch this fantastic holiday video here, but just a quick warning, it doesn't contain the cleanest language even if some is bleeped out or the word "fooey" is substituted.  But it will most likely get a laugh out of you and make you just a little bit more excited for Christmas to roll around.  Jake and Amir make me optimistic that I'll always have a constant source of laughter, even if their videos only come out on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

P.S. If you were wondering what my favorited Jake and Amir video is, it's Nutrition.  Thank you Amir for making even poor health choices funny.