I’m back! My business manager Jeff has stressed the importance of posting more frequently and I hope you’ve all been waiting breathlessly for my next posts anyway. 😉
Academy Awards season is of course the best time of year for film buffs and I’m a fan of short films the whole year. What’s wonderful is that since 2006 ShortsTV has theatrically released all of the short film nominees, grouped by category.
I came up with a very inspired idea of pairing posts about this year’s nominees with posts about the winners from a year that gets me very excited. Read on and you’ll learn more!
I’ll start off with the animated short nominees for this year.
Animal Behavior– This was hilarious! Although you can easily see jokes about anthropomorphized creatures acting stereotypically for their species on BoJack Horseman, I enjoyed an additional dose. Plus, like BoJack, this didn’t rely entirely on that. There was also as much character-driven humor as you could fit into 14 minutes. Highly recommended!
Bao– Sorry, I found the baozi bun thing annoying, although I’m guessing many people found it cute. Call it “Olaf Syndrome”. I suppose I can appreciate the theme but I also feel like the “overprotective Asian mom” thing has been done to death. Maybe not in mainstream movies (which can be lacking in representation) but I watch a ton of shorts and indie movies.
Late Afternoon– I like films showcasing elderly characters when they were young. I feel like it’s important for all of us to get reminders that old people, even ones with failing physical and mental faculties , were once young, vibrant, and maybe even beautiful. That’s a big reason why I loved an Oscar-nominated film with a completely different plot this year-The Wife. That said, the twist at the end reminded me too much of (spoiler) the 2008 film Lovely, Still. Granted, most of you probably haven’t watched that or even ever heard of it. Even I’ve only heard of it because it was a Spirit Awards nominee that year and I watched a screener. I would still recommend Late Afternoon for anyone.
One Small Step-This felt like a combination of First Man and the video for Christina Aguilera’s song Hurt. Yes I keep watching these films and getting reminded of something else I saw but that’s how my brain works. There’s so much stored in the memory bank it’s hard not to remember something, LOL. Anyway, One Small Step it beautiful, heartbreaking, and ultimately uplifting.
Weekends-Sorry, I didn’t really get the point of this one nor were there individual moments that resonated with me. Pass.
Since animated shorts often tend to be particularly short typically this program is filled out with “Honorable Mentions”. There were two this year.
Tweet-Tweet-The idea of showing someone’s life from beginning to end in some sort of rapid succession is kind of clichéd. The hook this time came from the bird, hence the film’s name, but I’m not really a bird person. That said, there were definitely moving moments. Mild recommendation.
Wishing Box-Beyond hilarious! Plus great message. Okay more the first part but definitely check it out!
Next up-the best animated short from six years ago!
Final Verdict: Very worth it, even though some are much better than others.
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