2012 Oscar Nominated Shorts Hit Theatres

With the the annual Oscars ceremonies occuring in a the next few weeks ( Febuary 26 to be exact ) we movie buffs may want to check out some of the nominated films prior to the many red carpet shows that day. For most of the big catagories, it’s just a matter of heading to the multiplex ( where films like THE ARTIST are still playing ) or marching into your video store, finding a vending dispenser, or logging into movie rental site ( for films like THE HELP ). Yes, for the feature films it’s pretty simple. But what about those two mysterious short film catagories : live-action and animated ? For many years, their only real exposure was a very brief sequence ( a few seconds, really ) as each film’s title was announced by the presenters during the big telecast. This was not the case during Hollywood’s golden age. A night at the old Bijou ( or Majestic, etc. ) would consist of two feature films with previews ( we’ve still got those, but at the start of the single feature ) and several shorts. Back then each studio had busy departments producing these mini-movies. MGM had the usually comedic Pete Smith Specialties and the dramatic ” Crime Does Not Pay ” along with footage of faraway places called travelouges. Columbia was best known for the 25 year old short series starring the Three Stooges, while the Hal Roach studios gained world wide fame for their short subjects with Laurel and Hardy and Our Gang ( AKA the Little Rascals ). This usually ran fifteen to twenty minutes. And each studio had a cartoon division or distributed them from independent houses. This was the case with Walt Disney ( some via RKO, United artists, and Columbia ) and the Fleischer Studio ( their Betty Boop and Popeye shorts were released through Paramount ). Other studios had in-house animation shops like MGM with Tom and Jerry, Universal with Woody Woodpecker, and Warner Brothers with Bugs Bunny and his Looney Tunes pals. The popularity of television in the 50’s forced most of the studios to shut down their shorts departments.Oddly, because of TV you can now occassionally catch a short on one of the preimium channels, filling time between features ( in limited markets ShortsHD is availible ). Just recently new animated shorts ( usually with established stars ) have been paired with features  ( a new Looney Toon, DAFFY”S RHAPSODY, is paired with JOURNEY 2 : THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND ). But where can you catch those nominated animated shorts along with those illusive live-action shorts projected on the big screen? Well, starting this Friday, Febuary 10, you can see them in selected theatres all across the country! When you watch the big show, you can ” have a horse in the race”, so to speak.

So, what awaits you in this cinematic smorgasboard? Let’s first take a look at the  animated shorts. Although Pixar’s CARS 2 was snubbed in the Best Animated Feature catagory, the studio is recognized here with LA LUNA directed by Enrico Casarosa. It’s a sweet story of a little boy sharing a canoe with his big, gruff, burly daddy and his fiesty, ancient grandpop. The elders clash as they attempt to pass on the skills of their family business to the yougster. This pertains to the short’s title. Nice little flick, but so is it’s biggest competition, THE FANTASTIC FLYING BOOKS OF MR. MORRIS LESSMORE directed by William ( ROBOTS ) Joyce and Brendon Oldenburg. It’s a delightful fantasy about Mr. L ( who bears a striking resembelence to an icon of silent comedy ) and the magical tomes of a library. The short is from the upstart Moonbot Studios  out of Louisiana and benefits from the designs of Joyce and caricaturist extrodinaire’ Joe Bluhm. The third CGI short is from Great Britain : Grant Orchard and Sue Goffe’s A MORNING STROLL.  It uses different art styles to illustrate a strange street incident that occurs three times during 100 years. It’s great to compare the looks of each telling, and the film has a great punch line. For classical hand drawn animation, we turn to the Film Board of Canada for the other two shorts. Patrick Doyon’s DIMANCHE ( SUNDAY ) uses a simple thick pencil line technique ( almost like a New Yorker magazine cartoon ) and limited color to tell the story of a little boy being whisked off to his Grandmother’s house for a big family Sunday dinner. The boy’s fascination with putting coins on the railroad tracks ( and a big stuffed bear ) add to the comedy. The stronger of the NFBC films may be Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby’s WILD LIFE which uses a moving, painterly style ( the paint strokes seem to move and breathe ) in telling the story of an inexperianced Brit moving to the Great White North in the wild and wooly late 1800’s. His struggles to be a ” cowboy” are intercut with interviews of his frustrated family, bemused Canadian neighbors, and letters he writes to the folks back home. Four bonus ” mystery ” shorts ( perhaps previous Oscar winners? ) will round out this program.

The live action program has more of an international flavor. I’ll start with the drama, Max Zahle and Stefan Gieren’s RAJU a Germany / India production. The thirty minute film is part thriller, part moral drama about a young German husband and wife who travel to India to adopt a little boy of seven or eight. It’s got some great location work and powerful performances from all the actors. I could see this easily expanded to feature length. The next film has dramatic moments, but is more of a nostagic study that stars a very busy actor from feature films : Ciaran Hinds ( most recently THE WOMAN IN BLACK ). THE SHORE from Terry George and Oorlagh George tells the story of Hinds’s character returning ( with his American born twenty-something daughter ) to the small Irish seaside village he left decades ago. He’s coaxed into re-uniting with a his best childhood pal despite his remorse over his relocation in the States. It’s a bittersweet tale of regrets and misunderstandings. A more pure comedic story, also from Ireland, is Peter McDonald and Simear O’Kane’s PENTECOST. This little gem, set several decades ago, tells the story of a pre-teen lad who gets another chance as the incense boy at mass ( an earlier incident caused his Dad to banish him from watching his beloved football team ). Also very funny, in a very,very dark way, is Norway’s TUBA ATLANTIC from Hallvar Witzo. It’s the story of a grizzled seventy year old man given a short, short time to live. He decides to spend this time wrecking vengeance on some pests and trying to communicate with his brother in New Jersey, USA. All this is compicated by a visit from his upbeat, teenage angel of death. But trust me, it’s really funny! Also very funny is the American nominee, an eight minute or so jewel that packs in more laughs than most big budget features : TIME FREAK by Andrew Bowler and Gigi Causey. As the title infers, this has to do with time, specifically time travel. What if a science geek who’s more than a little anal retentive could go back in time for unlimited ” do-overs”. This is in the great tradition of those Golden Age gut-busters. If I were an Academy member, I’d have a tough time choosing between the last two, while a film pal was bowled over by the questions raised in RAJU. All in all a great sampling of cinema!

Now this is a limited engagement, so check your local theatre listings.

In St. Louis, the Tivoli theatre will be showing the Oscar Nominated Short Films of 2012: Animated starting Friday, Febuary 10 at 7:15 PM ( with Friday, Saturday, and Sunday matinees at 1:15 PM ). The Oscar Nominated Short Films 2012: Live will be screened at 4:30 PM and 9:30 PM daily starting Friday Febuary 10.