Friday, February 10, 2012
Movies Oscar Countdown: Live-action & animated shorts
Posted by Curt Holman @Curt_Holman on Fri, Feb 10, 2012 at 9:58 AM
In advance of the Academy Award ceremony on Feb. 26, Screen Grab will predict the winners in all categories. Coincidentally enough, the annual program of The Oscar Nominated Short Films is now playing at Landmark Midtown Art Cinema.
Live Action Short Film: "Pentecost," "Raju," "The Shore," "Time Freak," "Tuba Atlantic."Hotel Rwanda's Terry George wrote and directed "The Shore" and cast Ciarin Hinds in a meaty central role as an Irishman trying to reconcile with an old friend after living for decades in the states. At 30 minutes, it's both the longest short and the one with the most famous people involved, but my impression is that the category doesn't always recognize the shorts with the biggest stars. "The Shore," like most of its competition this year, puts to much emphasis on a labored joke. "Time Freak" evokes Groundhog Day and Primer in a kind of extended comedy sketch about a young man's time machine. "Pentecost," also from Ireland, finds a parallel between altar boys and a team of soccer players on the eve of a big game. Norway's "Tuba Atlantic" finds some laughs in its tale of a dying old man trying to contact his long-lost brother through outlandish means, but overdoes the grisly slapstick.
Prediction: "Raju." A German couple adopt an orphan from Calcutta in this devastating short drama that turns Western guilt on its head.
Animated Short Film: "Dimanche/Sunday," "The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore," "La Luna," "A Morning Stroll," "Wild Life."
"The animated shorts are by far the most entertaining and lively of the categories," Alison Wilmore concludes in a fine essay about Oscar-nominated shorts in The A.V. Club, putting into words some of my own thoughts about the category. This year's contenders are so strong enough to outshine Pixar's more or less annual entrant, "La Luna," a reliably charming and warm-hearted fable about a boy learning from his father and grandfather the family trade by the light of the moon. Canada's "Dimanche/Sunday" offers a well-observed childhood reminiscence that's ultimately forgettable, but "Wild Life," also from Canada, offers a comical yet melancholy portrait of a young Englishman with more ambition than sense attempting to become a cowboy in the reaches of Alberta. The inventive "A Morning Stroll," inspired by a anecdote in Paul Auster's True Tales of American Life, repeats the same incident involving a chicken and a New York street in three drastically different time periods and animation styles.
Prediction: "The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore." When I wrote my own recent story on short films, I extolled the blissful, whimsical look at reading and the silent film style of Buster Keaton, co-directed by Brandon Oldenburg and beloved children's book author William Joyce. At the time it struck me as the likely winner, and having seen its competition, I haven't changed my mind. (It has a similar fantastical look and bittersweet tone to last year's winner, "The Lost Thing.") I wouldn't mind if "Wild Life" won instead.
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore from Moonbot Studios on Vimeo.
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