Shorts

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Shorts

PG

2009

1h 29m

Adventure

Comedy

Action

Fantasy

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

47%

Tomatometer

100 Reviews

32%

Popcornmeter

100,000+ Ratings

In the little town of Black Falls, every house looks the same and almost everyone works for Black Box Unlimited Worldwide Industries, purveyors of a device that is sweeping the nation. Toe Johnson, 11, is unimpressed with the company and its wares; he just wants a few friends. Then, a wish-granting rock falls from the sky and changes everything. The town swarms with wishes gone amok, but the trouble really begins when adults get their hands on the rock.

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Critics Consensus

Shorts has imagination and energy, but most viewers beyond elementary school will likely tire of the kiddie humor and sensory overload.

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Keith Uhlich

Time Out

Nov 18, 2011

2/5

Whether he's doing Sin City or Spy Kids, Rodriguez always infantilizes his audience, jolting our synapses and indulging our slavering desires for goop and gore.

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Sandra Hall

Sydney Morning Herald

Oct 2, 2009

3.5/5

All of these adventures call on Rodriguez's fascination with visual effects, which could be tough on his human cast, but he has the wit to keep them in focus. All up, it's good fun.

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Ed Gibbs

Empire Magazine

Sep 1, 2009

3/5

Dives straight into whiz-bang gizmoland, opting for "pause, rewind" flourishes. Cute and enjoyable family fare, then, if a little forced.

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Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

Nov 29, 2020

7/10

Childish, unrealistic, and immature - in a good way.

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Richard Propes

TheIndependentCritic.com

Sep 23, 2020

3.0/4.0

Featuring Rodriguez himself in no less than eight roles and six members of his family in the cast.

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Michael Dequina

TheMovieReport.com

Jan 25, 2014

3/4

Light, silly fun, amiably performed by both its veteran cast and exuberant young 'uns.

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Jude D

@RT23538381 Jun 17, 2026

This movie is very amazing and I love it so much. I used to watch it when I was a kid all the time and I wish it was still on Netflix cuz I would watch it right now It may be a little stressful and weird but my brain is always stressful and weird and I just am a little goober and I love this movie and I hope you all like it when you watch it. And if you're one of the haters who put one star when a half all that shizz You guys are bums like I actually am exploding whenever I see a bad review so I'm just here to say this is an amazing movie and everyone should watch it and I think they should put it back in theaters and they should put on every platform. And if you don't have the DVD, you're a mung bean

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Nicholas t

@nicktalbert2025 Oct 20, 2025

shorts bad movie just kids movie

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Mark M

@RT96555914 Apr 4, 2025

Was fun to watch as a kid but it's garbage when you get older

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XD- Darioks T

@RT48975838 Mar 28, 2025

Change my mind, This movie is weird but I have seen worst

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thiago s

@Thiagostone Jan 11, 2025

Filme bacana, o roteiro é mais ou menos, o elenco é legal, as cenas de ação são bacanas, mas o ruim do filme é que tem coisas de crianças

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Alexander M

@RT98151392 Sep 5, 2024

It's been fifteen years since I watched this movie when it first came out in theaters. I was twelve. To this day, whenever someone asks about the worst movies I've ever seen, this is the first one that comes to mind. Whenever I make the unfortunate mistake of recalling this movie's existence, it brings back the pain and suffering during that fateful hour and a half of my life that I will never get back. But since this movie still haunts me, it has stolen much more of my life than just the ninety minute runtime. Save yourself while you still can.

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Synopsis

In the little town of Black Falls, every house looks the same and almost everyone works for Black Box Unlimited Worldwide Industries, purveyors of a device that is sweeping the nation. Toe Johnson, 11, is unimpressed with the company and its wares; he just wants a few friends. Then, a wish-granting rock falls from the sky and changes everything. The town swarms with wishes gone amok, but the trouble really begins when adults get their hands on the rock.

Director: Robert Rodriguez
Producer: Robert Rodriguez, Frank Mancuso Jr., Tara Pirnia, Elizabeth Avellan, Luz María Rojas
Screenwriter: Robert Rodriguez, Víctor Ugalde
Distributor: Warner Bros.
Production Co: Imagenation Abu Dhabi FZ, Warner Bros., Media Rights Capital, Troublemaker Studios
Rating: PG (Some Rude Humor|Mild Action)
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Action, Fantasy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 21, 2009, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 10, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $20.9M
Runtime: 1h 29m
Sound Mix: SDDS, Dolby Digital, DTS

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