A recent study found that the average human attention span is now just eight seconds. This is reportedly one second less than the attention span of a goldfish.1
Maybe that’s not surprising, given the rising popularity of YouTube shorts, Instagram reels, Clash videos, and of course TikTok, which has now surpassed one billion monthly active users. With only 58% of viewers committing to watching even a one-minute video in its entirety, short-form is where it’s at.2
Fortunately, film seems relatively inoculated to these trends. Average full-length movies still hover at the sub-120 minute run time, and average short films clock around 20 minutes.
Nonetheless, while I know my reading audience has an attention span far more evolved than our freshwater friend, I imagine you would not turn a cold cheek to some rapid-fire billiards movie-watching, all things considered. So, tune in – temporarily – and buckle up. Here are Five Films in Fifteen Minutes.
Pool Pool
If you’re a fan of sketch comedy, such as the “Van Hammersly” billiards skit by Bob Odenkirk from Mr. Show, then you’ll enjoy Pool Pool. Created by the Canadian duo Adam (Brodie) & Dave (Derewlany), Pool Pool is a farcical three-minute interview from 2008 for (the unreal) Unreel Sports #11 on the new sport of aquatic billiards, aka Pool Pool. As the Lord brothers, Adam and Dave blather on about the sport, from the origins of its name (an attempt to clarify the confusion around the nomenclature of the non-aquatic game of “pool”) to its uncustomary rules (e.g., “no intentional tilting,” “no titanicing”). In swim caps and floaties, the Lord brothers also highlight the game’s decorum, such as all “profanity is submerged.” By the time you get to the Pool Sharks ‘Battle of the Brothers,’ hosted by the International World Aquatic Billiard Federation, I dare you to stop smiling. Pool Pool is available to watch here.
Balls
While studying animation and visual effects at New York’s School of Visual Arts, Jennifer Fahey released in 2021 her short film Balls about a cocky and pretentious bar patron who is unsuccessfully practicing for an upcoming billiards tournament. His skills are obviously lacking, but the film’s humor is that the cue ball also won’t cooperate. It passes literally through the rack, rather than breaking the balls; it misses shots; and as the patron’s frustration mounts, it bounces recklessly throughout the bar on a flight path that shatters glasses, a neon sign, and eventually Grandma’s vintage lamp. Watching and documenting the pandemonium is the silent bartender, whose face contorts further with exasperation and disgust after every missed shot and accompanying grunt. The film’s coup de grâce is the bartender using a broomstick as a cue to pocket all the balls in a single shot, followed by presenting the patron with a bill for the damage that includes $15,000 of emotional distress. Balls is available to watch here.
Black Ball
In 2012, Canadian high school student Peter Lilly created the three-minute film, Black Ball, to submit to Your Film Festival, an online film festival aimed at YouTubers and backed by a-list director Ridley Scott. The movie begins on a battlefield, littered with dead bodies. We watch a lone, gas-masked soldier attempt to outfight an invisible enemy. The soldier is mortally wounded and finds himself transplanted to an underworld location where he must play Death in a game of pool. (For the record, the highly enjoyable and somewhat thematically similar anime film Death Billiards came out the following year.) Against an eerie, operatic soundtrack, the soldier and Death take turns shooting the balls, until only the black ball remains. Death pockets the ball, and our soldier dies, defeated. The film is available to watch here.
Among the Stars
At the age of 21, Michael Mike Canon created the two-plus-minute film Among the Stars. The 2013 film pits the cue ball against the other billiards balls in a battle for the baize. There are no actors, no dialogue. There are not even cue sticks. Just balls in motion, getting pocketed to unidentified classical music. Aside from the musical choreography, it’s pretty uninteresting, and other billiards short films (e.g., Killer Cueball; A Game of Pool) have better explored this theme. Fortunately, Among the Stars did not stymie Canon’s career. Several years later, his short film When a Flame Stands Still raked in a slew of awards. Among the Stars is available to watch here.
Pool
Finally, there is the 2014 sub-three minute Belgian film Pool, directed by Oscar Westrup. Candidly, this one is a bit hard to review since it’s entirely in Dutch (with no YouTube subtitle options). But, the plot looks fairly standard. Two hotheads enter a bar and start threatening the waitress, asking for “the boss.” She attempts to dismiss them, but they are not budging. The waitress’ boyfriend intervenes and challenges them to a game of pool. (I’m guessing the wager is, “If I win, you leave.”) The hooligans play an okay game, but they’re no match for the boyfriend, who proceeds to run the table. When it looks like the boyfriend will win, the two thugs resort to violence, and are properly whupped by the boyfriend. Game over, film over, review over. Pool is available to watch here.
- “You Now Have a Shorter Attention Span Than a Goldfish,” Time, May 14, 2015.
- Vidyard Video Benchmark Report, 2021.
