I was thrilled that Sing (Mindenki in its native Hungarian language) won the Oscar for best live action short last night. Piper, which won best animated, is also my favorite. It wasn't included in its category's presentation, but I found it online and you can see it here. If I find Sing online I'll update this post because the drama is so good that all my singing friends should see it, too.
About two weeks ago we saw the live action nominated shorts presentation on a big screen (every year the shorts are released in theaters a few weeks before the Oscars and are rentable online a few days before). All five films have subtitles. Mindenki /Sing (25 min) was first. It's based on a true story about an elementary school choir, and opens with beautiful music as a girl about 9 is touring her new school. Then stuff happens. The Oscar went to director/co-writer Kristóf Deák and his co-writers Bex Harvey and Christian Azzola. Here's its official site. Silent Nights, from Denmark (30 min), is about a Ghanaian homeless man and a Danish woman. It's a drama and very good, too. Timecode, from Spain (15 min), is a hilarious story about two guards at an underground parking lot--an unlikely setting for comedy. Enemies Within (Ennemis Intérieurs in its native French, 27 min) is a powerful drama about racial profiling, and La Femme et le TGV from Switzerland (30 min) is also based on a true story about a middle-aged woman who loves to wave at the TGV train every day as it passes her window. I thought it might win the Oscar instead.
About two weeks ago we saw the live action nominated shorts presentation on a big screen (every year the shorts are released in theaters a few weeks before the Oscars and are rentable online a few days before). All five films have subtitles. Mindenki /Sing (25 min) was first. It's based on a true story about an elementary school choir, and opens with beautiful music as a girl about 9 is touring her new school. Then stuff happens. The Oscar went to director/co-writer Kristóf Deák and his co-writers Bex Harvey and Christian Azzola. Here's its official site. Silent Nights, from Denmark (30 min), is about a Ghanaian homeless man and a Danish woman. It's a drama and very good, too. Timecode, from Spain (15 min), is a hilarious story about two guards at an underground parking lot--an unlikely setting for comedy. Enemies Within (Ennemis Intérieurs in its native French, 27 min) is a powerful drama about racial profiling, and La Femme et le TGV from Switzerland (30 min) is also based on a true story about a middle-aged woman who loves to wave at the TGV train every day as it passes her window. I thought it might win the Oscar instead.
Piper (US - 5 min) is about a baby sandpiper who learns to co-exist with the sea. It's wordless, very cute, and produced by Pixar, whose pictures often win the Oscar in this category. This went to director/writer Alan Barillaro. Last Wednesday we watched the rest of the nominated animated shorts program at home after paying $12.99 to iTunes. Blind Vaysha (Vaysha L'aveugle - 8 min), a Canadian film in English, is a depressing fantasy about a little girl who can see only the future with one eye and the past with the other. Borrowed Time (7 min) is American, about a sheriff who relives a traumatic incident. Hated it, too (Jack didn't hate Borrowed Time). Next was Pearl (6 min), made in the USA, which was my favorite of this show, but I didn't love it. A homeless dad and daughter live in their car and stuff happens. It's not as depressing as it sounds. I had already seen it, and you can, too, on this link. Pear Cider and Cigarettes (35 min) hails from Canada and is a long involved story, narrated in English about a guy trying to save his friend from from addiction. It's cool, with great music, but pushed a few buttons for me. The filmmaker is selling it on his website and you can view the trailer there.
Added up together, missing Piper, the animated shorts program would have come to under an hour so it's padded with "commended" shorts. Indice 50 (7 min), from France, is a silly little fluff about a family on a beach with mosquito problems. We're pretty sure that SPF (sun protection factor) translates to indice in French. Once Upon a Line (8 min), USA , has imaginative drawing that reminds me of one of my favorite childhood book serieses, Harold and the Purple Crayon. A man leads a dull life, meets someone, and stuff happens. The Head Vanishes (10 min) is from France and Canada and our version was dubbed into English, about a woman who carries her head in her arms as she takes a train trip, while her strange companion calls her Mom. I've gone completely blank on Happy End (6 min) from the Czech Republic. It opens with a fat man driving a tractor and drinking. Sorry. Last was Asteria (5 min) from France, a comedy about human space pioneers.
We didn't see the documentary shorts. Here's the website for all the programs. You can rent them there if you want.
Added up together, missing Piper, the animated shorts program would have come to under an hour so it's padded with "commended" shorts. Indice 50 (7 min), from France, is a silly little fluff about a family on a beach with mosquito problems. We're pretty sure that SPF (sun protection factor) translates to indice in French. Once Upon a Line (8 min), USA , has imaginative drawing that reminds me of one of my favorite childhood book serieses, Harold and the Purple Crayon. A man leads a dull life, meets someone, and stuff happens. The Head Vanishes (10 min) is from France and Canada and our version was dubbed into English, about a woman who carries her head in her arms as she takes a train trip, while her strange companion calls her Mom. I've gone completely blank on Happy End (6 min) from the Czech Republic. It opens with a fat man driving a tractor and drinking. Sorry. Last was Asteria (5 min) from France, a comedy about human space pioneers.
We didn't see the documentary shorts. Here's the website for all the programs. You can rent them there if you want.
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