Live Action and Animated Oscar Nominated Short Films, 2012

On Monday night, Mom and I went to the Academy to see the Live Action and Animated shorts. The way it works is, the members get the ballots right there, watch all five of the nominees, then vote immediately. We are not members, unfortunately, it was my father who was the Academy member, but once the member dies, the widow still gets to go to the screenings, they just don’t get to vote for anything. They have the Documentary shorts as well, but they are longer than the Live Action and Animation ones, so it’s a bit much to see all three categories in a row.

Last year was the first year that I went to the shorts, and it was just such a great experience that I couldn’t wait for them again this year. By the time the Oscars actually air, everything seems so inevitable that you sort of nod, bored, as the winners are announced. But when they announced the shorts last year, I was bouncing up and down, hoping that my favourites would win. which they all did, last year! All three categories! Were I in an Oscar pool, they would have put me over the top. I’m not saying that I am the oracle of the shorts, but here is some info you can use for your own Oscar pools.

In reverse order, here are my faves.

Live Action

5. Raju

One nice thing this year was that four out of the five shorts were basically cheerful, no weepies like The Confession last year, which ripped your heart out of your body and stomped on it. Raju, however, was the fifth.

A German couple goes to Calcutta to adopt a little boy, and not only every parent’s worst nightmare occurred, but every adoptive parent’s worst nightmare. The film is really only saved by the casting of the cutest four-year-old in Calcutta as the title character. Well-made, but predictable, and it wasn’t helped that it aired last, after some really amazing films.

4. Pentecost

This is the story of the worst altar boy at his parish in Ireland in 1979. The boy really loves football, and his father tells him that he can’t watch any more football after messing up at mass. He then gets another opportunity, and if he gets through the mass without any mistakes, he’ll be back in everyone’s good graces again, and will be able to watch Liverpool play the cup final.

This is extremely slight, amusing but not much else. The whole reason it was nominated was for the pre-mass speech given by the priest (or possibly deacon, since they call him mister and not Father) to the altar boys, that is a very funny take on a locker room speech by a coach before the big game. Otherwise, not really Oscar-worthy.

3. The Shore

Another Irish film. Last year we had two British ones, this year is the year of the Irish. And yes, I know that The Shore takes place in Northern Ireland, but I don’t want to hear that that means that it’s British.

This is a terrific short, absolutely stunningly shot, about a man (Ciarán Hinds) returning to Belfast after being away for years, and reconciling with the people that he left behind. It’s a good story, interestingly told, very funny at times (the scene with the horse chasing the guys gathering mussels at low time is a scream), and moving, but what it really has going for it is the cinematography. When you hear the word “Belfast”, what do you think? Yeah, me too. What you don’t think is that it’s absolutely freakin’ gorgeous. Who knew? And though the troubles are discussed, it’s not what the film is about, which is another treat.

I think it has a strong chance of winning, even though for me it is #3.

2. Tuba Atlantic

Loved this one. It’s a Norwegian film about an old man who finds out that he has six days to live, and spends that time trying to send a sound via a giant tuba to his brother in New Jersey, with whom he hasn’t spoken in 30 years. Also, he wants to kill as many seagulls as possible. He is joined by a girl from the Jesus Society, an Angel of Death, to help him on his journey to Paradise, though she ends up helping him with the giant tuba. And the seagulls. Honestly, I’m a really softie about animals, I’ll spend 20 minutes rescuing an uncooperative spider from the tub, but I found the seagull carnage to be absolutely hilarious.

Terrifically funny, really well-performed and made, I loved it.

1. Time Freak

My favourite. A guy invents a time machine in order to go back to ancient Rome and have adventures, but gets stuck in making the minutia of everyday life perfect instead.

I complained that Pentecost was too slight for the Oscars, and Time Freak is frankly even more slight, but it’s just so perfectly done, so well-plotted, shot, edited and performed that I think it deserves to win, and if I were voting myself, it would absolutely get my vote. If people vote for the one they think is the most worthy, it’ll be The Shore, if they vote with their hearts, it’s be Time Freak.

And if you want to see something super-cute, here are the husband and wife team who made Time Freak finding out about the nomination. Good luck Oscar night, guys! I will be rooting for you!

Animation

5. Dimanche/Sunday

What I love about the animated offerings is the incredible diversity of animation. Even Dimanche/Sunday, a film I didn’t care for one bit, but I still admired the animation. It’s about a little French-Canadian boy on Sunday, bored in church, bored at his grandparent’s house, putting coins on the railroad tracks so the trains could smash them flat.

The problem with making a piece of art about someone who is bored is that it is so easy to bore the audience. The kid is bored. And so was I.

4. Wild Life

This is the only film out of the five with any dialogue at all; the year of The Artist is also the year of dialogue-free animated shorts. Two of them, Dimanche/Sunday and La Luna have people making noises that aren’t words, A Morning Stroll uses title cards, and Flying Books only has words in the books. Wild Life, which played last, had actual talking, which seemed kind of startling after such good use of wordless-ness.

The second Canadian offering (sorry, Canada, I didn’t like your films this year), Wild Life is about a British man emigrating to the wild west of Canada, getting a plot of land and a shanty, and having no idea what to do from there. It is well-animated, beautiful and painterly, but not that interesting.

3. La Luna

When the Pixar logo came up, I was sure it would be the Toy Story short that I understand played before Cars 2 in the theatres, but not at the Academy, so I was looking forward to seeing it! However, there was no Buzz, no Woody to be found. Instead, it was an absolutely charming film about the janitors of the moon. You didn’t know that the moon had janitors? Well, Pixar knew, and they blew the lid off the story!

It’s lovely, and I really liked it, but it still comes in third.

2. A Morning Stroll

Based on the short story, The Chicken, which I’m pretty sure I read at one point, this movie is about a guy seeing a chicken walk down a city street, peck at a door, and go inside. This happens three times, in 1959, in 2009 and in 2059, all with appropriate animation.

Very funny, extremely well-made. This is the one with the title cards to include a small amount of talking.

1. The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

If this doesn’t win, I will be very surprised indeed. A silent film starring an animated version of Buster Keaton (he kind of looks like him, but it was made abundantly clear that that was Buster when he fell out of the house, did a spin on his shoulder and head, and ended up sitting on the ground with his legs sort of in a vee shape. A classic Buster Keaton fall) who is blown away in a hurricane in New Orleans to a land where books are alive and can fly, and he becomes their caretaker.

Absolutely beautiful, I wept and cried, loved it more than anything I have seen since last year’s winner, The Lost Thing, which is still the best animated short I have ever seen. It’s currently free on iTunes until the Oscars, and it’s also an iPad app.

I know that a lot of places do screenings of the Oscar nominated shorts, and if you have a opportunity to see them, run don’t walk, because they are really worth the time, and it’ll give you a rooting interest in the categories come Oscar night!

STAR RATING OVERALL
****

INDIVIDUAL STAR RATINGS
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
****
Time Freak
****
A Morning Stroll
*** 1/2
Tuba Atlantic
*** 1/2
La Luna
*** 1/2
The Shore
***
Pentecost
** 1/2
Wild Life
** 1/2
Raju
**
Dimanche/Sunday
**