Academy Nominated Shorts

Kate, Charlotte and I went to see the animated shorts last night. Dinner prior was delicious as was the conversations. The animated shorts were all interesting, They showed some that were not Oscar nominees as well as the 5 that were. Most of them were funny. My favorite was the Grim Reaper and the Old Woman. The poor old woman who is missing her husband and is ready to reunite dies in her sleep and the grim reaper comes for her. Some how (not explained) she ends up in the ER with the over zealous doctor who thinks he needs to revive her and the tug a war between the doctor and the grim reaper begins. Kate and I both felt strongly that this scenario is played out in real life much too often.

Kate and I then stayed for the live action shorts. (Charlotte had to work early in the morning.) These were much less fun. The one from India was a little like Slum Dog Millionaire with all the happy upbeat parts taken out. The one from Denmark was kind of fun though a little dark. Two young gay men move into a new apartment and are sitting at their breakfast table. One is very caustic and pessimistic about the world. The other one just wants to eat his breakfast without his partner blowing smoke in his face. A knock on the door brings an old woman from upstairs looking for flour. She is making her niece's favorite cinnamon rolls. The boys have none but she is very chatty and one of the guys finds a bag in the kitchen from the previous owner who the woman reveals was murdered in the apartment. The woman leaves. Another knock on the door and in walks the husband of the niece of the old woman who is looking for the guy that his wife is cheating with. After a long conversation a drug dealer shows up looking for the heroine which of course was the "flour" they gave the old woman. Very darkly humorous.

Our favorite was the Swedish film about a underachieving young man who wants to be a magician. The caliber of acting in all of the live action shorts is above average. I suppose that is one of the things that elevates them to Oscar nominations. But over all we were very disappointed. Kate and I had seen the live action last year and they were much better in terms of story and more subtle in their point of view. The thing I find most interesting though is how you can tell a complete story in 20 minutes or less.