Stories of Lost Souls (2004)

Stories of Lost Souls. 2005. Six shorts, each showing a soul who is lost in one way or another.A whole new day. 1999. 4/10. A man wakes up and everything in his life is gone.Euston Rd. 2004. 3/10. A strange man makes a bet.New Year's Eve. 2002. 2/10. Bad behavior at a party.Standing Room Only. 2003. 4/10. A fight for a place in a waiting line.Sniper 470. 2002. 2/10. For 20-plus minutes we watch Billy Boyd wait for something to happen. Finally something bad happens.Bangers. 1999. 1/10. A woman loses it.Overall, 3/10. Some of them have their moments. Most are pointless, all are disturbing in one way or another. Short as each is, they're not worth the time.Each short has its own IMDb page: most with glowing reviews by people who wanted to see just such a disturbing short movie.

"Supermarket" is a waste of time. I think it's supposed to be a comedy but the hopeful/has-been meeting a real star just falls flat with little else left. The slapstick routine with an incompetent trolley girl would have been better left out altogether. Good editing would have left this at less than two minutes and it still would have been dead. (0 points)"New years eve" is, I suppose, a good example of a shaggy dog story. Pointless and doesn't go anywhere. (0 points)"Bangers" works as an illustration of mental illness but is still fairly weak. This is where I started to award points. (5 points)"A whole new day" falls flat almost from the start as it's based on such a ridiculous premise (she took everything, even the paint off the walls?) Though there is a slight element of entertainment value. (4 points)"Euston Rd" has some merit. I could almost believe that this was done as a five minute short and the rest was added as padding to attempt to make a feature length. (7 points)"Standing room only" is just plain silliness at work. Though there are plenty of bits to elicit a chuckle. (5 points)"The same" is just plain sick. Freaks are only allowed to look at other freaks, what sick mind allowed this in here? I gave a massive point deduction for this one."Sniper 470" was not on my disc. I found it by googling and watched it online. Why was it removed as this was definitely the strongest item.If you are planning to see "Stories of Lost Souls" make sure you get a copy that contains "Sniper 470".

The acting and directing were great, but most of the stories themselves were boring, uncomfortable, and pointless (a bad combination). I think I wouldn't have been disappointed with the film if the synopsis on the DVD, instead of saying "hard hitting" would say "attempts to be hard hitting".The exceptions were "A Whole New Day" (Gandolfini), and "New Year's Day" (Knightley) which were both entertaining. A gave "New Year's Day" a 7 below because it was the only one that made me laugh. Since these are separate stories I'll rank them independently.6 for "A Whole New Day"; 4 for "Euston Road"; 7 for "New Year's Eve"; 5 for "Standing Room Only"; 5.5 for "Bangers"; it is very boring and uncomfortable but gave me some insight; 4 for "Sniper 470"

The stories are (1) "A Whole New Day" with James Gandolfini; (2) "Euston Road" with Paul Bettany; (3) "Standing Room Only" with Hugh Jackman, Michael Gambon, et al.; (4) "New Year's Eve" with Keira Knightley and other more interesting people; (5) "Sniper 470" with Billy Boyd; (6) "Bangers" with Cate Blanchett.These are all made very well, but they are pointless. When each ends, you ask, "But what was that all ABOUT." I can see a case for "Sniper 470" and for "Bangers." In "A Whole New Day," Gandolfini's character wakes up with a hangover, in his own apartment that's been emptied of family, furniture, and decoration. His cell phone works, but he can't call his wife, because she, in their stuffed home with screaming kids, is calling around looking for him. The story looks like it will turn Twilight Zoney, but very soon we learn the boring reason for it all.In "Euston Road," con man Bettany invites a gullible mark to make seven guesses as to why the con man has no money. The mark bites, the con man wins, the end."Standing Room Only" has no dialogue. You see people line up for a stage show, and one character gets in a snit because she can't get one of the last tickets. Later, after the show, the people who were in line meet up outside the backstage door, and take pictures of each other. A trick is revealed. You will know what the trick is long beforehand, because of the heaviness of heavy makeup.In "New Year's Eve," a shallow man gets a comeuppance. However, others deserving the same are not touched."Sniper 470" is a long piece, or at least it feels long, with Billy Boyd as the title character and no one else is in view. He is a sniper in space during an interplanetary conflict, and most of the short shows what he does during his actionless days in weightless space. The boredom leads nicely into a terrifying (for him) ending."Bangers" shows a Cate Blanchett's character preparing bangers and mash for herself and her mother, all the while talking to the cat and showing that she is coming apart at the seams. I would give Ms. Blanchett an award for this one - she is utterly convincing.