johnmartindj
Possibly the best short film I have seen in years. Exciting, suspenseful, quick paced, full of stars, villains, energy. Everything you would want from a thriller. I think everyone who has any interest in justice, criminal or otherwise would be satisfied by this 40 minute thrill ride.
bettycjung
1/9/18. Juan Catalan was lucky he went to see the Dodgers at the stadium. He was lucky the Curb Your Enthusiasm crew was filming an episode at the stadium that caught him on camera. He was lucky the phone company tracked his cellphone calls so he could be located on the grid. Lucky, lucky, lucky. Makes you wonder what would have happened to poor Juan if he wasn't this lucky.
Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de)
"Long Shot" is an American 40-minute documentary from September 2017, so this one is only about a month old and has made quite some waves already that you could say that this Netflix production is among the earliest contenders for the 2018 Best Documentary Short Oscar. It was directed by Jacob LaMendola and tells the story of Juan Catalan who was accused of murdering a witness from his brother's trial through a shot to the head. And while early on, there is still a bit of an element of suspense, the longer it runs the more obvious it becomes that he did not commit said crime. His alibi is that he was at a baseball game when it happened and what a coincidence that the hit show Curb Your Enthusiasm was just filming there and got him on tape to confirm his alibi. Phone recordings help his matter too.I personally enjoyed the watch here from start to finish. It may not have made the emotional impact on me as it made on others, but that's just subjective I guess. And who knows maybe he'd even have been acquitted had he stayed at home. I maybe would have hoped for a more in-depth explanation about why he would have killed the lady in the first place. They never really offer a motive, on the contrary actually as it doesn't sound like her testimony was crucial against the brother. Anyway, it's hard for me to believe the protagonist here could have been convicted based on a drawing that looks like him and honestly a small patch of chin hair just cannot be enough. I guess they would have included that if it had been a 90-minute film we got here. But yeah, it is a lot shorter and if you didn't know already: Larry David can save your life. What a coincidence. Makes me curious about the new CYE season that will be released soon. But back to these 40 minutes here: I think you may want to check these out as it is a fairly interesting story that they elaborate on in here. I give it a thumbs-up.
wlee08
On the front of the law library building near to where I live there is the famous quote, written in both French and English - It says "Leave no stone unturned". The French is "Remuer ciel et terre", literally, "shake up the sky and the earth". What happens in this documentary is closer to the sky than the earth. It is perhaps the alignment of stars, something inexplicable intertwined with something very human. If you're reading this you probably already know it's a documentary about a man who was accused of a murder. I won't say anything further because it really is quite the story, of people and actions that came together, intentionally and unintentionally.
AD
