So, the Oscar's are fast approaching and they just so happen to be my favorite event of the year! I'm not kidding, I wake up early for nominee day, I feel robbed when my pick doesn't win, and am urged to stop watching with stuff like Benjamin Button or War Horse wins things (sorry shrinking men and horse lovers). One of the things that makes me LOVE DC, through the traffic and angry escalator people, is the movie scene here. Each year they put all of the nominated short films in the theatre and you see them all as one big movie. They also do a Best Picture marathon that last 18 hours and ends at like 5am. DCians are hardcore.While I have seen most of the best picture so 18 hours is not for me, the shorts make me beyond happy! I love sitting in the theatre for 5 movies in a row! So, this weekend we did just that. Took the afternoon and saw all of the nominees for Animated and Live Action short films. And because I am a lover and maybe you will actually watch the Oscars and this could help I wanted to give a brief review of them:
Live Action
Pentecost (Ireland)
This is a super cute and funny story of a little Irish boy who fails at his first shot at alter boy and is given a second chance when the Bishop comes to visit. They lightly play at the pressure of a Catholic service by talking about it in terms of a soccer game (or to the more traveled Europeans in the crowd, football). They have a pre-mass pep talk, they talk about trading the alter boys, and build up the hype of the mass. It is silly and cute and a funny premise but all and all it was a bit too silly.
Raja (German/India)
This was INTENSE! It is the story of a German couple who adopts a child from India. On their first day with the child they lose him in the crowd. In the craziness that follows to find the father finds out that the boy has parents and was taken from them to be sold to new families. He confronts the orphanage and finds there is really nothing he can do in this foreign country. Meanwhile, the police find the child and return him to the couple. The husband tells his wife that this boy has a family that reported him missing and she asks him to forget about it. What could you do in this situation? The mother has bonded with this child, the adoption is complete, they are leaving the next day and they find out he has a family. I'm not going to spoil it but it was an intense 20 minutes! The music alone made me think someone was always going to die. It was good! I think it could definitely be a contender. Definitely brought up some stirring questions.
Time Freak (USA)
Oh the American! Last year an American one won this category. I thought it was horrible and therefore am a bit bias on my home country's short films (just ask Brad for my rant).So, this was a silly little film that had the audience cracking up in our theatre. It is about a 20 something who creates a time machine and instead of going back to Ancient Rome - his dream - he ends up re-doing his last day for over a year to avoid 2 awkward conversations. It was a funny idea. He is embarrassed by overreacting to a dry cleaner and each time he goes back to redo the conversation he makes it worse and worse. He runs into a girl and gets progressively more awkward with her with each redo. It was cute and annoyingly I feel like the academy would go for it. I don't think it was Oscar worthy but it would definitely be a good "Funny or Die!"
The Shore (Northern Ireland)
I would say this was my least favorite. The story surrounded a man who brought his daughter back to Ireland from America after being away for 25 years. He tells his daughter that when he left he ditched his fiance and best friend (who are now married) and lost touch with them. He feels awful and thinks it is time to make amends. That pretty much sums it up. There there some cute lines and funny moments but all and all the premise seemed dull.
Tuba Atlantic (Norway)
Best for last! This is the story of an old man that is given 6 days to live. He returns home to die in peace but is visited by a young girl that is his "Angel of Death" to help him cope with this phase. He is grumpy, she is overzealous, it is perfect. He spends his last days hating seagulls (which is hilarious) and building this large machine you don't quite understand. He finally explains that it is a tuba and when he was a kid he and his brother always thought they could build one that could be heard across the sea. His brother now lives in New Jersey and they haven't spoken in 30 years. Before he dies he just wants to hear from him. On his 6th day he makes the tuba work! It blows out windows, knocks sheep into the sea, and is all over the news. It is also heard in the U.S. and a Norwegian man living there says he knows the cause. You hear him on the radio saying "We did it!" as the old man dies. It is heartbreaking and happy and funny. I am banking on this one! It was wonderful!
Animated
Dimanche (Canada)
This means Sunday in French (thank you Peace Corps language program) and is all about this little boys imagination on a lazy Sunday. He visits his grandmother, sits through church, and wandering through the boring world of adults all while imagining funny scenarios. Really not a whole lot happens but it is a cute lazy Sunday with a cute little boy.
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore (USA)
As mad as I am at Americans for live action shorts, Americans make some wicked awesome animated movies! This is a story of a man who is sucked into a tornado and ends up in a sad black and white world. He stumbles upon a magical library full of color and flying books. Seriously the flying books are amazing. It is so hard not to see them as little creatures. He spends his time taking care of the books and writing his own. It ends with a tear jerking goodbye (I may have cried a little but that means nothing because as Brad says I cry over Chimpanzee trailers - which if you have seen that trailer you would understand..so sad!!) I think this could win it but I am between this and the next. A lot of the buzz is that this is too pretentious and self important. I think anything that makes books magical is worth my vote!
Wild Life (Canada)
Here is the Debbie Downer of the animated series. This is the story of a young British buck in the 1900s moving to Canada to be a cowboy (this made all of the American audience laugh) and in the process learns how lonely and unhappy he is. He pretends he is making it on his own all the way until the final letter he writes his family before walking out in the snow to die. It is sad and depressing but beautiful! The story is compelling and the art of the animation is amazing. It is just a moving piece of art. It may not have made me cry like flying books but I think this could (and probably will) take the category. It was just stunning.
A Morning Stroll (U.K.)
This cute story shows one scene of a man walking down the street when a chicken passes him, walks up to a house, knocks (with his beak naturally) and is let in by an unknown person. But, the kicker is it shows this same scene from 1959 in black and white with stick animation, to 2009 with technicolor, hip hop, iPhone awesomeness, to 2059 in a zombie post apocalypse world. Each of the eras are fun and make fun of themselves and all together it is good. I will not endorse this however because in the 2059 version the man steps on a head of a dead zombie and it is gory. I did not like this.
There you have it. If you made it this far I'm impressed and grateful and hope this helps in your Oscar pickin! If your town does this, I highly recommend seeing the films. I mean you can't beat only needing to pay attention for 15 minutes at a time!
Chelsea
