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Director: Thomas L. Phillips Writers: Thomas L. Phillips, Melanie Lynn Addington Starring: Lance E. Nichols,Candice Barley, T. Lynn Mikeska, Bo Keister, Elizabeth Connelly, Cindy Hogan, Johnny and Susan McPhail, Jennifer Pierce Mathus, Rob Myers, Blake Buck, Daniel Lee, Carlisle Forrester Jacob (Alex Walters) has been gone for a decade, but he has finally decided to return to his hometown. Some things have changed -- for one, he can no longer smoke in Patrick’s (Lance E. Nichols) restaurant because City Hall has taken to telling businesses what to do. (Ah, once again, smoking is used to represent individual freedom.) One thing has not changed, people have not forgotten what they believe Jacob did ten years ago; as Jacob explains, this is a place where “rumors are truths, accusations are facts.” Heck, even his own mother (Cindy Hogan) believes that he is guilty. Whatever horrible and unforgettable thing Jacob did ten years ago,...

Embedded above is the touching story of a pretty ukulele player and her pet puppet dog. It’s The Ballad of Friday and June, produced by the Jollyville Pictures filmmaking group in Austin, TX, which just this week relaunched their website. This specific film by them is directed by Tate English, whom I’ve never written about on Bad Lit before, and edited by Don Swaynos, whom I have.

There’s a strong streak of melancholia running through Friday and June that really makes the film absolutely endearing. The premise of pairing a ukulele player and a puppet would seem to anticipate a screwball comedy, but even though there are some very funny parts to the film, it really plays more like a heartwarming drama.

Part of the real key to the film’s success is the authenticity of the dog Friday’s dialogue, which sounds exactly like what a...