Image copyright © by Marcus Trahan

Movie Reviews

75th Annual Academy Awards Short Films

(2003)

Every year if you watch the Oscars, as we do religiously, there comes a time when they give out the awards for short films, and you see a five-second flash of movies which, unless you live in Los Angeles, I can practically guarantee that you have never seen, as they have played in maybe three theaters in the whole world. The winners are some of the most grateful of the evening: this is their 15 minutes before a billion television watchers. It’s a shame, really. I’m old enough to remember when a double feature at the movin’ pitchers included a cartoon or two, and a “short subject,” a travel documentary or the like. I even caught the tail end of what used to be a theater staple: the newsreel. These films are too good to be as neglected as they are. Now the Academy has released a DVD of all the nominees for 2003. I can only hope they’ll continue to do so, and maybe start working their way back through the years.

Best Animated Short Films

  • The ChubbChubbs!(USA).The winner. I find myself thinking back to what was a mind-blowing film at the time: Tron, from 1982. It was the first film to include what we’ve come to call Computer Generated Imagery, CGI. Now films like the Lord of the Rings trilogy are more than half CGI, and some it is so good you can’t be sure which is real and which is CGI. It is still fairly expensive, but so was Tron, and those pioneers were able to produce images (so slowly it would break your heart to contemplate it) not a millionth as complex as a little black box game can now generate in real time. CGI now dominates animation. This is a very good example, with a lot of wit and the amazing lighting effects and textures we have come to expect …
  • Rocks “Das Rad” (Germany) … and yet this little 8 minutes of more traditional stop-motion whimsy was my personal favorite of the 5 nominated shorts. I won’t spoil what will be a truly amazing “Ohmigod!” moment by describing it, except to say that this film gives new meaning to the term “geological time.”
  • Mt. Head “Atama Yama”(Japan). Old-fashioned drawn animation, possibly on paper. Maybe even rice paper. An odd Japanese fable.
  • Mike’s New Car(USA). This is a spin-off of Monsters, Inc., with John Goodman and Billy Crystal’s characters. Amusing, but definitely minor.
  • The Cathedral (Poland). Gorgeous to look at, but not really something I could love. But the use of CGI light and shadow will leave you gasping.

Best Live Action Short Films

  • This Charming Man “Der Er En Yndig Mand” (Denmark).The winner. The longest of the entries (short films can’t exceed 40 minutes; this is 29), a nice comic story of mishaps, mistaken identity, government bureaucracy, and … surprise, racism! Seems they have it even in progressive Denmark. Joke: “I heard an atomic bomb went off in Pakistan.” “How many people did it kill?” “None, they were all over here.” Another joke: “When is it okay to spit in a Muslim woman’s face?” “When her mustache is on fire.”
  • I’ll Wait For the Next One “J’Attendrai le Suivant” (France). A truly poignant vignette that I can’t say anything about without spoiling the surprise.
  • Gridlock “Fait d’Hiver”(Belgium). My favorite, a very, very black humor piece that sort of strangled the laughs out of me. Again, can’t say anything without spoiling it.
  • Dog “Inja” (Australia).Produced for Australian educational television, this is a rather routine object lesson about racism and cruelty.