Curfew: A Masterpiece in 19 Minutes


Shawn Christensen, Fatima Ptacek, in “Curfew”

I called it.

Curfew, 19 minutes long, which I saw at the Tribeca Film Festival this past year, is a masterpiece. Here is my review.

Curfew is nominated for an Academy Award this year in the Best Live Action Short category. Directed by Shawn Christensen (as well as written by, and starring), Curfew is a whimsical piece of condensed poetry and pain, a love letter to New York City and New York movies, entertaining, gorgeously shot, with a sucker-punch of an ending. I loved every second of it, and am so pleased to see it racking up awards on the festival circuit, culminating in an Oscar nom. For a short moment there, I was the only person who reviewed it.

Here is the interview I did with Christensen about his film.

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9 Responses to Curfew: A Masterpiece in 19 Minutes

  1. David says:

    You definitely called it!

  2. sheila says:

    Member I made you watch it? Twice??

  3. Melissa Sutherland says:

    The Colonial in Keene is showing all live action shorts (and animation, documentary) days after the Oscars. Am DYING to see this. Did you see the review in Slate? hahaha. I’d take your “take” any day. Can’t wait.

    • sheila says:

      Melissa – I haven’t seen the Slate review. I have been noticing some hostility towards Curfew (there’s a piece on Slant – but they’re usually hostile towards things that I respond to favorably – just a different perspective on film, I guess). I absolutely loved this film. It is perfection – not a minute too long, or too short. Although I would have loved to see an entire film of this relationship.

      It’s magic. Please let me know once you’ve seen it!

  4. Melissa Sutherland says:

    Correction: Slant not Slate. Sorry…… Will let you know as soon as I’ve seen all of them. They are doing a 3-night thing, one night each for live action, animation and docs. I may skip animation. For some reason it always spooks me. Can’t explain.

    • sheila says:

      Also, Slant spelled Christensen’s name wrong THROUGHOUT.

      I know some of the guys who write there, and everyone is super nice – although one did refer to my Elvis stuff as “fan fic” on Twitter, so he will forever be my enemy and I will never read a word he writes ever again. :)

  5. allison bennett says:

    Yes…Sheila, you totally called it. A few days after you saw it, you regaled me (more like assaulted me) with a second by second summary of the film, complete with vivid descriptions of each shot. I seem to recall you describing a scene involving a bloody man, a free-standing bathtub, and a red telephone. It might even have been a rotary telephone. Is this right? Listening to you, the imagery was almost as clear as if I’d seen the damn thing myself. Which of course I need to do now.

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