Along with its amazing array of genre features, Fantasia International Film Festival also boasts a wide array of short films. Here are reviews of two high-energy mind blowers.
BULLET TIME (U.S., 2025)
Official synopsis: In a surreal world fueled by retro gaming nostalgia and Saturday morning cartoon mayhem, Bullet Time follows Bullet — an emotionally unstable bull terrier — as he battles his way through a bizarre digital gaming universe.
Take the insanity of classic Nickelodeon cartoons like The Ren & Stimpy Show and Rocko’s Modern Life, crank that madness up to maximum like a combination of a sugar high with too much energy drink and a short attention span, and you are on your way to knowing the experience of watching creator Eddie Alcazar’s hyperactive animated pilot Bullet Time. Bullet the Bull Terrier has a hard time focusing on his tournament video game with food and other distractions nearby, but viewers will need to focus hard on the proceedings because they fly by at a rapid pace.
The talent behind Bullet Time is undeniable: Animation Director Bob Jaques worked on Ren & Stimpy and Spongebob Squarepants, lead Voice Actor Eric Bauza is known for Looney Tunes Cartoons and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and he is joined by impressive Voice Actor castmates Luis Bordonada, David Firth, and Ulyana.
Composer Danny Elfman is pretty much a household name, and he does excellent work here, as expected.
Anyone who spent part of the 1990s watching Nicktoons and playing console video games is going to be hit with an instant nostalgia blast. Buckle up and get ready, because you can watch the full pilot episode of Bullet Time here:
SHRIMP FRIED RICE (Canada, 2025)
Official synopsis: In this zany mockumentary, a talented shrimp chef with an ego that outweighs his tiny body carries out his vendetta against a certain culinary-inclined rat which puts The Shrimp’s human puppet at risk of deportation.
Director Dylan Pun’s short mockumentary film Shrimp Fried Rice may go all in with the zaniness, but there’s a social message at play, also. Chef Dave (Jeff Yung) is talented at his craft but is being controlled by a shrimp under his hat. Winningly voiced by Marty Stelnick, the shrimp considers himself to be the creator of the titular dish, and manipulates Dave with obscenity-laced tirades in the kitchen of the Chinese-Canadian restaurant where they work as well as on the set of a cooking competition television show.
Yung is solid as the mild-mannered Dave, who fears deportation, and that is where Pun and his cowriter Michael Turk deliver food for thought along with the delicious daffiness. Pun keeps the proceedings going at a frenetic pace, crafting a highly entertaining and thought-provoking short.
Bullet Time and Shrimp Fried Rice screen as part of Fantasia 2025, which takes place from July 16–August 3 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Both films are also scheduled for future release on Shudder.
