Review
I already wrote up my review of the animated short films which you can read here, but I viewed the live-action shorts up for the Oscar statue this year as well. Overall I was less-than-impressed with the quality of the films considering the pedigree (this is the Academy Awards for crying out loud), but here are my thoughts that can hopefully help you snag those much-needed points to rise above the rest on your Oscar party ballots…
THE SHORE
Starring well-known Irish actor Ciarin Hinds, this tells the story of two boyhood friends reuniting after 25 years over a misunderstanding between the two. It’s a decent film that does a nice job capturing the feel of Northern Ireland, but the filmmaking is very by-the-book and the script needlessly expository, to the point that it starts to feel overlong far too quickly. Trailer below:
Rating 3/5
Rating 4.5/5
TIME FREAK
Certainly the most comedic of the the nominated shorts and with the best high-concept story idea: a goofy inventor creates a time machine, but is so caught up with fixing every little mistake that he continues to travel over-and-over again through yesterday. Time travel stories always lead to a lot of fun, and the main gag here never grows old. But the acting feels falsely indicative rather than natural and, once the gag runs out, the story ends on a rather cheap joke, and the whole thing feels like an above-average Internet short or student film rather than an Oscar winner. Trailer below:
Rating 3/5
TUBA ATLANTIC
This Norwegian film is without question the most off-beat of all the shorts. In what could be called a mixture of the plots from Up and The Straight Story, an elderly man is told he has only six days to live. When a young girl shows up at his doorstep to “help him die” he at first turns her away, but ultimately uses her to help him reconnect with his brother living in the United States using a giant tuba. Along the way they also take pleasure in killing a lot of seagulls in bizarre ways. Solid acting, a very unconventional story, and some very funny (if twisted) visual gags make this one rise above the rest, though it may be a little too bizarre for enough Academy members to vote for it. Trailer below:
Rating 4/5
PENTECOST
Another entry from Ireland, this film concerns a young soccer lover who rebels against his father and Catholic upbringing during their altar boy ceremony. Ultimately I thought this was a very weak film that acted as little more than a build-up to one final gag, which ultimately is not anywhere near as funny as the filmmakers thought it was. Trailer below:
Rating 2/5
COMMENTS