It’s Oscar season! Which means two things around here. One, time to remind you that we will once again be LIVE BLOGGING the Oscars, so tune in right here for details. And two, it’s time to review those interesting shorts they only play once a year.
I saw the 2015 Academy Award nominated live action short films en masse. It’s a surprisingly substantial time commitment since some of them aren’t really that short. But it’s a decent way to spend a couple of hours — check your local listings, a theater near you may well be showing these soon. They’re mostly foreign, and mostly very good.
Short films get short reviews, and that’s happening right now. Here they are, in order of best to worst.
Boogaloo and Graham – 14 minutes.
I totally dig this movie. It features two sugar-talking young brothers in 1970s Belfast who get chickens as a gift from their dad. The boys name the birds (you guessed it, Boogaloo and Graham), take them on walks and generally get pet-crazy, until mother decides it’s time to get rid of them. This is a weird little film with some seriously good cursing kids (strangely subtitled, though the parents are not), pooping birds, and a tangential nod to the late Irish unpleasantness that’s almost an afterthought. Maybe there’s more going on here than I’m seeing, but I just enjoyed it for what it is — it’s a lighthearted and cute little film, probably based on someone’s weird personal memory. Or at least I hope so.
Parveneh – 25 minutes.
This one is fairly traditional as Oscar shorts go, and it’ll probably win for this reason. It’s a story about a young Afghan girl in Switzerland who’s working hard to send money home; she takes the train into the big bad city (snowy Zurich) to send some dough via Western Union but trouble ensues and she gets mixed up with a punkish Swiss girl who ends up taking her out on the town. It’s got some culture clash (lipstick and no head scarf!), some immigrant struggle, some plight-of-woman, and subtitles, but despite all this it’s honestly quite good. It’s tight and short and not overdone and the acting saves it from what could have been an awfully preachy half-hour. I noticed it was made in 2012. Not sure what gives with that, but whatevs.
La Lampe Au Beurre De Yak (Butter Lamp) – 15 minutes.
Here’s something different and interesting. Butter Lamp was shot almost entirely from a stationary camera that rolls as a Chinese photographer takes group pictures of traditional Tibetan families against a variety of backdrops. It comes off almost as a documentary (since it doesn’t use actors) but the story, to the extent there is one, is scripted. It’s a neat and original slice of old meets new, a tidy little comment on globalization and Western influence and change and families, and more than this it’s just a neat way to see some interesting looking folks. I really enjoyed this one.
Aya – 40 minutes.
Since when is 40 minutes short? That’s a full episode of My 600 Pound Life and I GOT PLACES TO BE. Luckily this one is so tripped out you don’t really notice the time, though that said I wouldn’t watch it again. This is an Israeli entry, which right away suggests there’ll be some sort of heavy cultural baggage, but honestly what it served up was so strange I’m not even sure what it was. Story: The eponymous female lead is waiting at the airport when a limo driver hands her his sign for a moment (“Mr. Overby”). Overby, a buttoned-up but mildly creepy Danish piano expert, shows up and assumes she’s his driver. She’s sort of a (insert capricious adjective here!) girl, so she stays mum, plays the part, and drives him to Jerusalem. Most of the film takes place in the car. It’s a super weird little dose of single-serving intimacy. It’s kind of funny and also squirmy and strange. I feel like this movie probably is making some deep cultural statement but whatever it is is beyond me. Is she an anti-heroine? Are we all looking for a chance to escape? Hey, I just eat popcorn in the dark. And honestly this film makes me not want to take Uber ever again, or maybe to take it always.
The Phone Call – 20 minutes.
Yuck. Just the sort of maudlin plonk that gives Oscar shorts a bad name. Sally Hawkins plays a meek and super-emotional loner who volunteers at a deserted crisis call center; a PHONE CALL(!!!!!) comes in from “Stan” (Jim Broadbent! I know that voice), a chap whose wife died a while back and who’s having a hard go of it so he’s decided it’s time to shuffle off. What follows is predictable. It’s an empty grab at your heartstrings, overdone, and not a particularly meaningful film. YOU MUST RESIST. The ending is similarly hackneyed and should please those with a room-temperature IQ. In short (hah!), The Phone Call is obvious, heavy-handed, and most troubling of all, unnecessary. I mean, why make this film? Blah.
Haus Verdict: Ay caramba! Eat my shorts!