Oscar Short Reaction

As part of my ever increasing preparation for the Oscar ceremony, I made a point to get to may local theater to see this year's Oscar nominated short films. None of them are long or meaty enough for an entire Reaction, so I figured I'd go through and give a few thoughts on each. I'll try to keep the Oscar prognosticating for later.

Live-Action Shorts

Ave Maria
An Israeli convent is disrupted by a Jewish family who accidentally wrecks in front of their building.
This was a nice way to start. It's a fairly slight film. It's funny without making me laugh out loud. Almost quirky. I liked the glimpse into Arab/Jewish relations in the area. The sight gag with the car at the end was enjoyable.

Shok
A Kosavan man remembers a childhood friend and the day they were kicked out of their homes.
I admittedly don't know much about Serbian-Kosavan relations, so that was enlightening. This is one of this stories in which you get a sinking feeling in your stomach early on and it follows through on that feeling by the end. The young actors are very good. The ending hits you like a bag of bricks and is uncomfortably understated. In terms of quality, it's probably the best of the live-action films.

Alle Wird Gut
A father tries to kidnap his daughter because he fears he will lose partial custody of her.
This one maybe goes on a little long. It's another one with an ending that feels inevitable, but still puts you through the ringer. The father reminded me of Simon Pegg, only not at all funny. He wore his desperation well. The little girl is good too. There was a little more wallowing at the end than I cared for, but it was earned.

Stutterer
A man with a debilitating stutter tries to summon the courage to meet the woman he's been chatting online with in person.
It was so refreshing to get to a film that wasn't depressing. It's a simple story. The lead actor (Matthew Needham) has a beautiful inner-monologue and a convincingly frustrating stutter.
I will say, I was confused by the ending. [Spoiler Alert] We find out that the woman he's been chatting with is deaf. Now, my read of this is that he is aware of it already, because, why wouldn't he be? That's why he's been learning sign language. So, he was putting off meeting her out of regular fear, not fear of the stutter. That means the end has a few twists. Or am I reading too much into this and he's just nervous about his stutter, then lucks out and happens to know how to sign  when it turns out his date is deaf? I prefer my read of it. Either way, this was my favorite of the live-action shorts.

Day One
A military interpreter has to delivery the baby of a suspected terrorist's wife on her first day on the job.
This goes through a range of emotions. It starts pretty light with her shower mix up then her trouble acclimating to the altitude. It livens up with the motorcycle explosion. There's the confusion of finding the bombs. The back and forth over if the baby is dead. I'm thankful they thought to end on this film rather than the more dour ones in the middle.

Animated

Sanjay's Super Team
A bored child daydreams while his Hindu father tries to get him to meditate.
I'd seen this one already when I saw Inside Out in June. It's sweet and simple. There's not the heft of past Disney short-film winners like Feast or Paperman. I appreciate how personal this one feels.

World of Tomorrow
A little girl is visited by her future self who explains the changes in the world of tomorrow.
This is a bizarre little movie. The animation style is messy and intentional. The ideas are strange and thought-provoking.  The humor is twisted. I thought it went on a little long and it's one big exposition dump, but it's the most interesting of the animated shorts.

Bear Story
A bear uses a mechanical diorama to tell the story of how he was separated from his family.
In my notes, I called this "12 Years a Bear" except the ending is a little sadder. It's short, sweet, and beautifully animated.

We Can't Live Without Cosmos
Two cosmonaut friends go through training to get to outer space. When all that doesn't go according to plan, their friendship gets them through it.
This is another case of seeing every beat coming and not caring. It's a lovely story of friendship. It has a childlike innocence to it and a touching ending. It does manage to drag slightly at the end.

Prologue
Four men battle in hand to hand combat.
As the name implies, there's not a lot to this. It's a highly stylized fight scene and that's about it. It's super violent. I think it's making a statement about about war, but that got lost in the almost fetishized violence.

(There were a few other animated shorts included to fill the time that weren't nominated for an Oscar. I could see why all of these weren't chosen, so I'm going to stop with the ten that were)