With the Oscars on the horizon in a few weeks me and the SO decided to take in the animated and live action shorts that were nominated for an Oscar this year. As usual the collection was a mixed bag of effort and herewith my rundown of the carnage.
LIVE ACTION
PENTECOST: A young boy isn't allowed to follow the world cup by his father after he messes up his altar boy duties but he's given a second chance to get the duties right and hilarity ensues. Okay not really, it was light snicker kind of chuckle funny not guffaw funny. It's one of 2 shorts from Ireland and continues the tradition of having a short with a Catholic theme being nominated. It wasn't anything special--who did the director know (or f***) to get this thing nominated? Not a chance.
RAJU: A heart-wrenching story of a German couple who go to India to adopt a boy who turns out to have been kidnapped and the husband and wife fight over whether to give him back to his parents--he says yes--she says no--then hilarity ensues! Okay I made that up but this was about giving the boy a good life or doing what's right. It was very German but well done, has a chance to win.
THE SHORE: Or as I like to call it The Bore. This was the second film from Ireland about a man who returns to his small hometown in Northern Ireland after living in the states for the last 35 years. He comes to make amends with his old friend and former girlfriend (who got married). God this was dull, with a small moment of a laugh. It stars Ciaran Hinds who plays the heavy bad guy in every movie he's been in--except this one. This one probably has the best chance to win just because it has a celebrity and well that's all I got.
TIME FREAK: A man builds a time machine but only is using it to fix minutiae moments of his life from the past three days that he feels he got wrong. It's like Woody Allen meets Quantum Leap. Then his roommate comes to find him and stop him and more hilarity ensues--sort of. It was cute and who knows it could pull an upset and win especially after the silliness of last years surprise winner God of Love. (ugh)
TUBA ATLANTIC: This was from Norway and god do they have a bizarre sense of humor. Some old guy finds out he has 6 days to live so he decides to contact his brother who lives in the states by firing up this gigantic tuba they built as kids. In the meantime he shoots down seagulls with machine guns and is taken care of in his final days by a young girl who is trying to get her angel of death badge. Yeah I didn't get it either and we all sort of shook our heads and sighed "oh those wacky Norwegians!" If this was one of the best five just how bad were the other submissions? I say not a chance but in this category stranger things have happened.
We'll find out on February 26th which gets this prize then we can move on because we will probably never hear from these people again. Next time I'll cover the animated shorts.
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