The current cycle of sword-and-sandal films has been riding the wave of the success of Gladiator since 2000, and its end has been projected many times. In the introduction to his edited anthology Of Muscles and Men: Essays on the Sword & Sandal Film, scholar Michael G. Cornelius projected that these films, hereafter referred to as neo-peplum films, were already seeing a periodic decline in 2010/2011. After Gods of Egypt (2016) had performed poorly at the box office, Pamela McClintock of The Hollywood Reporter noted that other recent neo-peplum films such as The Legend of Hercules (2014) and Pompeii (2014) had also performed under expectations, thus also mimicking Cornelius’ thoughts that the cycle was in a rut.

In one of the more touching blocks at this year's HollyShorts, this selection of films focused on films made by members of the disabled community. It's a beautiful look at some of the members of this community and the wonderfully creative spirits they have as artists.

Another block of incredible films came in on Friday, with several major projects coming together beautifully. Despite it being another smaller block, these films really captured some of the creative spirits of these talented artists.

While there wasn't a major theme to the Friday blocks of this year's HollyShorts, there were still plenty of amazing films to see and enjoy.  With only a few films in this block, each is an incredibly special look into the creativity of some terrific filmmakers.

The curiously named #40 block on the final day of HollyShorts had some very interesting film in its lineup. With several great films in this block, it's time to take a good look at a very diverse film line-up.

This year at HollyShorts, one of the more anticipated blocks of films seemed to be the Romantic Comedy Block. With nearly a dozen films on display, it was a pleasure to get to see the wonderfully hilarious and heartwarming films that appeared this year.

Fanbase Press Contributor Russ Pirozek reviews several of the films from the HollyShorts 2016 Coming of Age Block.

Fanbase Press Contributor Russ Pirozek reviews several of the films from the HollyShorts 2016 Musical Block.

There have been so many wonderful films at this year's HollyShorts Film Festival, but the second Documentary block had some of the most moving films of this year's festival. These documentaries, while short, were incredibly powerful and very entertaining.

This year's HollyShorts Alumni block had a huge variety of different films of all genres. This selection ran the gamut between funny and scary, heartbreaking and powerful, and everything in between.