The weekend in short(s)

[bironic]

I went to see the bundled live-action and animated Oscar-nominated short films this afternoon. Neat experience, and the films were fabulous. These were my favorites in order of presentation. The official site has blurbs and trailers, but those trailers seem to have been chosen at random rather than to show the best attributes of each film, so here are some better links.

• A Morning Stroll (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEqbr5stBE4), in which a chicken takes a walk in a city in 1959, 2009, and 2059. Three distinct animation styles for the three time periods combined with the comical chicken, sly commentary on today's youth's technology saturation, and zombie jokes to produce a thoroughly enjoyable seven minutes.
• La Luna (http://insidemovies.ew.com/2012/02/13/pixar-la-luna-enrico-casarosa/#more-62106), Pixar's contribution to the set, felt confident and beautiful. The light effects were stunning—the lamp and moon's reflection on the water, the metallic glow of the stars. The sound effects really brought the environment and two older characters to life, too. Funny to hear the audience laugh when they got the ending, if they hadn't seen it coming.
• The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore (whole 15-min. film at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Adzywe9xeIU), I confess, made me tear up in the way Up was supposed to but didn't. A tornado portal to another reality, a bone-deep passion for books, and the story of one man's life.
• Wild Life (http://www.nfb.ca/film/wild_life_making_of) didn't grab me with its plot or characters, although it had its moments (and a nice central metaphor)—maybe it's something closer to the hearts of Canadians who are interested in the time period when English gentlemen moved in for a taste of the 'wild west'—but the watercolor animation techniques were gorgeous. The "making of" featurette reveals that the film started with hand-drawn Flash animations that were then printed out frame by frame (cel by cel), hand-painted with gouache and shot with a 35-mm camera.
• Skylight (http://www.skylight-short.com/ ETA: whole film at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_MK2YZ9uOc ! warning: flickers and jumps a lot) didn't make the official nominations list but was included among a few commended shorts. Penguins and other "inconsequential wildlife" are threatened by… is that a UFO beam? No, it's a hole in the ozone layer. Hilarious.

Then there were the live-action films, longer and generally more serious.

• Raju (http://theoscarshorts.shorts.tv/thefilms2.php?id=24) was well done but suffered from 'white Westerners visit a less privileged country and discover Problems there' syndrome. Hm; the summary on the site suggests that the main character realizes he's "part of the problem," which I didn't get from watching the film—it seemed more like he was shocked to discover the problem and that no one in India had noticed or was addressing it, and that it was his duty to set things right in some small way (while his wife was too emotional to agree)—but which would be promising.
• The Shore (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP_o44wEZJQ), in which Ciaran Hinds gets to do all the acting denied him in Tinker, Tailor and The Woman in Black. Nice, quiet, personal tale of old friends and family in Northern Ireland and the man who's spent the last 25 years hiding in America. Had a few drawn-out comical scenes that seemed particularly Irish/British. The only off note was the actress playing Hinds' daughter; several lines were delivered (or ad-libbed?) poorly, which drew attention to what could have been more robust writing. But overall very enjoyable.
• Time Freak (http://theoscarshorts.shorts.tv/thefilms2.php?id=26), or, What happens when a neurotic college nerd with perfectionistic tendencies builds a working time machine. Hint: He keeps trying to get yesterday right, and "I haven't made it past 2:30." Pitch-perfect ending. Also: eminently McKay/Sheppard-able.
• Tuba Atlantic (http://vimeo.com/35810352, http://theoscarshorts.shorts.tv/thefilms2.php?id=27 ) felt the most like a complete film and might have been my favorite of the selections, an alternately quirky, morbid, deadpan and eerie tale from Norway about a dying man, his long-lost brother, and their trans-Atlantic sound machine. Not to mention the "Angel of Death" girl scout sent to aid in his palliative care, a machine gun, a fish stuffed with dynamite, a realization about life, and a lot of murdered seagulls.

In other news, spent a little while over at deelaundry's yesterday to celebrate the completion of her first vid, in which she managed, somehow, using only Windows Movie Maker and footage from the travesty of a movie known as Tango & Cash, to cram about 50 kinks into two and a half minutes. Boom

Also attended a concert (friends and Rachmaninoff!) and a costumed dinner party (other friends, plus boots and cape!); both most excellent. Had an embarrassing but thrilling epiphany in which my brain finally made the connection that someone at the dinner party & whom I have met a couple of other times is actually also a favorite Inception writer.

Oh, and watched the remaining few full episodes of Frankenhole on the official website. The first halves of the Hitler and the Were-Lawrence episodes were the most consistently funny of any I've seen (Victor Frankenstein and Dr. Polidori like building flying sharks and fanged horses so they can shoot them! …er, it's actually less creepy than I just made it sound), and the Scary Monster Contest featured the magic triangle of Frankeinstein's creature, tentacles, and a T. Rex. (See 2:30 in the second half of http://video.adultswim.com/mary-shelleys-frankenhole/hg-wells-scary-monster-contest.html)

Now to figure out what to do with the rest of today. Hope you are all enjoying yourselves!

Comments

[chibi-lurrel.livejournal.com]

I thought that Raju definitely showed that he knew he was part of the problem -- for one, he recognizes that he doesn't have a right to determine what constitutes "a better life," and his wife's insistence that the orphanage must be legitimate because the German government pointed them there. I'm still ruminating over it, at least.

[damigella-314.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen it, but der Spiegel (http://www.spiegel.de/kultur/kino/0,1518,817298-4,00.html) claims they definitely know they're part of the problem.
Es geht im Film um Kindesentführung, vor allem aber um die Erkenntnis des Paars (...) dass es selbst eine Mitverantwortung daran trägt.
The movie is about child kidnapping, but even more about the acknowledging by the married couple that they themsleves carry a co-responsibility for it. (sorry for the lousy translation).

And don't confuse Starsky and Hutch with Tango and Cash! I had such a crush for the Hutch of the tv series, LOL. (30+ years ago). (I don't want to see the movie EVER)

[bironic.livejournal.com]

You saw more in his angsty silences than I did, heh. You're right, though - the more time passes, the more credit I'm willing to give the film.

his wife's insistence that the orphanage must be legitimate because the German government pointed them there

Yes, I agree by that point he had a very different opinion of the situation than she did, and he was resigning himself to the fact that she didn't want to come around to his point of view.

he recognizes that he doesn't have a right to determine what constitutes "a better life,"

Yes - good way to put it; life in the upper (middle?) class West vs. being with blood family in one's home culture.

[deelaundry.livejournal.com]

from the travesty of a movie known as Starsky & Hutch,

Tango & Cash. I heard the Starsky & Hutch movie was bad too, but probably not as kinky as T&C.


Victor Frankenstein and Dr. Polidori like building flying sharks and fanged horses so they can shoot them! …er, it's actually less creepy than I just made it sound

No, it's not! It's quite creepy and that makes it AWESOME.

[bironic.livejournal.com]

*facepalm* Fixed the movie title. I will never keep these all straight. At least I didn't say Turner & Hooch? (which was confused for it at the dinner last night)

[deelaundry.livejournal.com]

If it had been Turner & Hooch you would have let me keep in animal play. : ) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098536/

[deelaundry.livejournal.com]

The shorts sound awesome. Do your links have the full shorts or just segments from each?

[bironic.livejournal.com]

All but one (Mr. Morris Lessmore) are clips or teasers. If you find the full versions somewhere, please link!

Ah! Also the silly penguins one! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_MK2YZ9uOc