Robert Reynolds
This is a short produced by the National Film Board of Canada. There will be spoilers ahead:This is a quirky, charming short taking a nostalgic look back at the first year the narrator became a school bus driver. The woman has had dreams of being a bus driver, finally gets her license but winds up having only one opportunity-a rather beaten-up school bus. Her boss is a rather crude and taciturn man named "Killer" who, funnily enough, has a dog named "Fatty".We see the driver go through her first day, where her excitement is gradually temped by reality. The children are behaviorally a mixed lot, the roads are rather erratic and the job won't be all she hoped it would be. "Killer" is a surly boss, she gets an apple core thrown at her and is taunted by a student or two.The seasonal changes are rather abrupt, to say the least. The leaves fall off one tree en masse, the driver shears off a side mirror swerving to avoid a crash and she's told, "'Killer's' gonna kill her!" and the job is less fun.Winter happens just as quickly and "Fatty" has a really bad day. The driver has to come in even when she's sick and "Killer" continues to be "charming", particularly when she puts the bus into the ditch. Through all this, she perseveres and she's asked if she'll be coming back next year. The ending of the short indicates that, one, she comes back and, two, "Killer" is in for interesting times.This short is available for viewing and is well worth watching. Recommended.
John Doe
Why is it that whenever a woman gets a chance to make a short movie, it always has to be a sappy retelling of her own personal life? While male directors make thrillers and comedies and musicals and sci-fis about all sorts of strange characters; women only want to make movies about themselves, and whether you're watching the Oscar nominated shorts or a bunch of shorts from film students, it's always the same. Short movies made by women, are all about the director's own life stories.This wouldn't have been a problem, had all female filmmakers lived spectacularly interesting lives, but sadly this is not the case, and time and time again I've had to sit through terrible films like this, where a woman tells her "fascinating" story, about the time she drove a bus. Whoohoo, please tell me more about how you had trouble shifting gears.You see the same trend amongst bloggers: Men blog about politics and technology and cars and all kinds of stuff. Women blog about themselves, because they think they're such special snowflakes.Yuk.
MartinHafer
"Bus Story" is my favorite of the commended films. I'll be very honest, however, the art style is very crude and looks rather poor compared to all the other films shown at this special presentation. But, it manages to be very entertaining and clever--and a bit dark in places. I really enjoyed it though my daughter thought I was crazy because she didn't enjoy it very much. My best friend also wasn't so taken by this one as much as I was. I guess I just enjoyed the quirky style of the movie as it told a likable story about a person who always wanted to be a school bus driver...and learns it's not quite as much fun as she'd assumed it would be. I'd love to know what you think.
Hellmant
'BUS STORY': Three Stars (Out of Five)An 11 minute animated short film (featured in theaters as a 'Highly Commended' animated short; played with the '2015 Oscar Nominated Animated Short Films'). It tells the tale of a woman who desperately wanted to become a school bus driver; only to be somewhat let down by the hardships of the job, when she finally achieves her dream. The film was written and directed by a filmmaker named Tali; who based the short on their own experiences bus driving, in southeastern Quebec. The movie is funny and the animation has a lot of charm and character to it. There's not a lot of depth to the story, or characters, but it is fun to watch.Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: http://youtu.be/D17O2xOoOCw
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