Thursday, March 4, 2010

Oscar Shorts

Collected for your enjoyment, here are some of the short films up for the Oscars this year.

First, from the Live Action category:

Miracle Fish (17:44): A young boy hides out after being bullied at school, only upon waking to discover that everyone has disappeared. A decent film, with a twist that is relatively foreseeable. Doubtful it's going to win.



Three of the other Live Action films (The Door, The New Tenants, Instead of Abracadabra) are available on iTunes for $1.99 each. The fifth (Kavi), appears to be unavailable on the web.

As to the Animated films...

First: French Roast (8:18)-- A Frenchman has misplaced his wallet, leading to him ordering more and more coffee until he can find a way out. Cute and silly, but too slight to win the Oscar.



Second: Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty (6:01): An elderly woman frightens the bejeezus out of her grandchild as she tells her version of Sleeping Beauty. Funny, but also too one-note to win.

Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty from Darragh O'Connell on Vimeo.



Also, Granny reacts to her nomination:



Third: The Lady and the Reaper (8:21): An elderly woman is caught in a tug of war between Death and a Doctor. Another funny one and rather inventive, this could pull out a win, but I'm doubting it has enough pull to do so.



The remaining two films (Logorama and Wallace and Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death) are available on iTunes for $1.99 each. Wallace and Gromit will almost certainly take the prize, but I would highly suggest spending the $1.99 to watch Logorama. It' a 17 minute short, populated entirely by corporate logos. Ronald McDonald has committed a crime, and it's up to the Michelen Men to stop him. Violent and profane, the little short goes balls out in critiquing today's corporate culture.

2 comments:

john said...

I caught The Lady and The Reaper and French Roast. I'm rooting for Lady as I thought it was really cute. I don't want to give away anything, but the little things, like the bit with the boat killed me.

FDot said...

The boat was a great throwaway little joke. In a different year, The Lady might have what it takes to win, but Nick Park has never lost when nominated in this category and Wallace and Gromit is so beloved, I can't see an upset here.