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Synopsis

With films having appeared at countless festivals since the 2003 debut of his award-winning short Why the Anderson Children Didn't Come to Dinner, director Jamie Travis—often compared to David Lynch, Todd Solondz, and Wes Anderson—is a talented cinematic voice to keep your eye on. This exciting new DVD compiles five of his most talked about short films on one disc. In addition to Anderson Children, you will also find his 2006 short The Saddest Boy in the World and, of course, The Patterns Trilogy.

The Patterns Trilogy:

A woman waits by the phone. A man watches a tea cup spin. Are they lovers? Yes, they are. Now let’s watch them sing and dance. A suspense thriller, a love story, a dreamscape and a musical extravaganza, The Patterns Trilogy presents, in three parts, the epic anti-romance of Michael (Christopher Redman)and Pauline (Courtenay Webber).

Patterns
Pauline waits for a phone call, misses the phone call, gets the phone call and regrets the phone call in this first chapter of The Patterns Trilogy. Stop-motion animation adds chilly unease to Pauline and her mystery caller’s unusually intimate conversation.

Patterns 2
After finding some mystery Chinese take-out at his doorstep, Michael finds himself unable to resist phoning the woman he suspects sent it. In this second chapter of The Patterns Trilogy, the identity of Pauline’s mystery caller is revealed and Pauline’s innocence is put into question.

Patterns 3
A vibrant split-screen musical finale to The Patterns Trilogy. Pauline, having washed her hands all night, suffers from the driest of hands. Michael, having sent her paper airplane love letters all night, has a bad case of paper cuts. With damaged hands and anguished hearts, Pauline and Michael reveal—through song—the nature of their enigmatic relationship.

Also Included:

Why the Anderson Children Didn't Come to Dinner
The award-winning short film Why the Anderson Children Didn’t Come to Dinner tells the “gloriously surreal” story of three seven year-olds forced to endure their mother’s culinary abuses. Anderson Children premiered at the 2003 Toronto International Film Festival and went on to play at over forty festivals worldwide, including Leeds International, South by Southwest and Slamdance. In 2004, the film found its way on to television screens—in Canada, on the latenight CBC series ZeD; and in the US, on the PBS series Independent Lens, hosted by Susan Sarandon. “Sumptuously visualized” and “darkly hilarious,” Anderson Children has drawn comparisons to the works of Wes Anderson, David Lynch, and Peter Greenaway. The critics of Film Threat voted Anderson Children the No. 2 short film of 2004 in their annual Top Ten list.

The Saddest Boy in the World
Timothy Higgins (Benjamin B. Smith), picked last for the team, is The Saddest Boy in the World. Friendlessness, suburban complacency and prescription drugs have conspired against the youngster to make this his worst year yet. Musical Chairs and birthday cake can't save him now—at his ninth birthday party—where Timothy prepares for a show-stopping suicide.