Sunday, February 24, 2008

Oscar Nominated Short Film (Part 2)

Animated

I Met the Walrus
This 5 minute piece is set to a recording a kid took of himself interviewing John Lennon in the late 60’s. He snuck into his hotel room in Toronto with a reel to reel recorder and captured this audio with Lennon talking about peace and war. The animation takes queues from the Beatles’ Yellow Submarine as it cascades over images as they blend into one another like a Bill Plypton short.
B-

Even Pigeons Go to Heaven
This is a CG short about a crooked priest who attempts to sell a old man a contraption that will take him to heaven since his list of sins wouldn’t let him get there on his own. The old man hands over all his cash when “Death” enters the house and we find that he’s not such a hapless old bat after all. This one is about 8.5 minutes long but the story is fun coherent and engaging so I think it is one of the two that could take the Oscar.
A

Madame Tutli Putli
This is a dialogue free, 18 minute short about a woman by herself on a train ride. The plot is almost irrelevant to the striking visuals which are stop-motion puppeteering I think, but the atmosphere that is created in the film is creepy.
B

My Love
A 26 minute Russian film about a 16 year old boy and his multitude of pubescent infatuations that conspire to ruin his young love life, this is the 4th animated short nomination for director Aleksandr Petrov (previously winning for The Old Man and the Sea). The style is like animated water colours and is beautiful yet tends to confuse some similar looking characters. The convoluted plot that jumps between reality and fantasy is also a draw back.
C+

Peter and the Wolf
Probably the best of the nominees as well as the longest at 32 minutes this BBC production is a retelling of the classic story with the score but no narration. Instead the stop motion animation creates simple yet engaging visuals that tell the story. I found myself reacting to this one more than any other nominee. And the ending of the story is change to a nice and PETA friendly conclusion that will garner votes among the Hollywood crowd.
A

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