recommended

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

This is an animated short independently produced by Chris Jones. There will be spoilers ahead:I really had no idea what this was going to be like when I watched it the first time and had no expectations good or bad. I'm glad I watched it, because it's very good. The title has more than one meaning.This short starts off by showing a guy walking along, reading a book titled, "The Passenger". He walks past a yard and a dog starts barking and growling at him. The inference is that this is an expected and regular event for him. He catches a bus in the rain.The guy sits at the back of the bus next to a goldfish in a water bag. He ignores the goldfish, puts on headphones and starts playing a tape while reading. But the fish isn't a normal fish and each time the music starts, the fish morphs and it isn't pretty or safe.This goes on for a while until, purely by chance, the guy sees the fish in its altered state and the short kicks things up a notch. There a great interplay between the bus driver, who is oblivious to the mêlée at the back of the bus and his dealings with a fly, interposed with the events between the guy and the fish.Our "hero" is a bit slow on uptakes with regard to cause and effect, but he catches on and sets up a marvelous ending which must be seen, so I won't spoil it here.This short is available on DVD and is well worth getting. Most recommended.

I had never heard of Chris Jones, before i got to watch that short animated story, and now after watching the Passenger, which he completely produced on his own through years of hard work and polishing (so i heard... Wow!), i am only waiting to see what he will pull out of his sleeve on the next one, hopefully someone will grant him a full team to make a longer one... cause 6 minutes of this is just not enough!! Indeed both scary and funny at the same time, storyline is simple and catchy, I had a blast.... sorry, "we" had a blast as ordered the DVD right after the first screening.Great freakin short, and produced alone, Chris , you making a lot of people look bad, and a lot more very jealous ;) Adriano

Just watched on YouTube as linked from the Cartoon Brew blog and recommended by Amid Amidi, this animated short directed by one Chris Jones. In this one, a funny-looking person reading a book while walking outside as a storm is about to take place encounters a vicious dog stuck behind a gate as he waits for the bus. When it comes, he's the only passenger there as he sits next to a fish inside a water bag. Besides reading, he also puts his headphones on while listening to a cassette. I'll stop there and just say how things from then on becomes both scary and humorous to the point of being both a little frightened and relieved with laughter. Jones took a lot of years to make this computer animated short and his effort shows the worthiness of the thing. So on that note, I highly recommend The Passenger.