As an avid watcher and prognosticator of the Oscars, the short films that are nominated are always my weakness. I never see them, don’t know how to see them, and I often just guess who will win depending on the titles. However, it all works out because 99% of the people that guess the winners with me are in the same boat as I am.

Not this year!!!

This year we get to see the shorts ahead of time thanks to Shorts International and Magnolia Pictures who opened the Oscar-nominated short films (Animation, Live Action and Documentary) in theatres across the country starting February 11. In Los Angeles the nominated Animation and Live Action opened on February 11 at The Nuart in West LA and in Orange County at the South Coast Village Plaza in Santa Ana. On February 25, the two programs will open at Laemmle’s Town Center 5, Encino; Laemmle’s Pasadena Playhouse 7 in Pasadena; and Laemmle’s Sunset 5 in West Hollywood. Separate admission for each program. The nominated Documentary short films will open on February 18 at Laemmle’s Sunset 5 in West Hollywood.

But I got to see them all in the comfort of my own home. Ahhhh… comfort. Here are the shorts:he Confession

Short films are often places where people who want to make feature films first cut their teeth. That said, I look forward to seeing what director, Tanel Toom, works on next. This is the story of two boys from England who are attending a Catholic school. They are about to have their first confession. Sam is worried about it since his conscience is clear and cannot expect to get any relief from the experience. He and his friend Jacob decide to remedy the situation, but their initially innocent prank becomes unexpectedly tragic. The two boys who play the leads, Aran Bell and Joe Eales, are brilliantly natural and Toom brings out a performance from them that sells the larger then life situation they find themselves in.

For some reason, and it may be just the copy that I was privy to, but the quality of this film was rather low, especially next to the more beautiful looking shorts “The Confession” and “God of Love”. This story is about Ardal Travis, an 8-year-old schoolboy who is in love with his teacher, Miss Purdy. Cause she’s Purdy (ha ha!). It’s only when Miss Purdy’s boyfriend arrives on the scene that Ardal is heartbroken. His reaction? He challenges Miss Purdy’s boyfriend to a duel. To the death. This is the second short this year to be set in the British Isles, this one around Dublin. The acting in this one though, by Charlie Bonner as Ardal, is not as stand out as the ones in “The Confession”. Charlie’s performance is much more stiff and stoic which works well with the situation, but still it would have been nicer to have seen a bit more range. There is however a sly reference to “City of God” and for that, this short does get some bonus points.

Writer/Director/Star Luke Matheny has made a very beautiful, and beautiful looking, piece about love, fate and chubby little angels. Luke plays a lounge singing, dart throwing, and love smitten New Yorker, Raymond Goodfellow. He finds his prayers answered when he receives a mysterious package of passion inducing darts. The woman he loves, the drummer in his band, is in love with Ray’s best friend, who is also the guitarist in his band. So Ray decides to use his new present to remedy the love triangle but instead he learns a lesson in unrequited love and discovers his own strange place in the universe. Shot entirely in lush black and white and accompanied by a jazz soundtrack, it really makes this film feel timeless, as well it should since it is contemplating such eternal things like love.

In the country of Burundi there is a civil war between the ethnic Hutus and a national army with a majority of Tutsis. This short is set in 1994 and therefore I’m not sure whether the civil war is still raging or not. Rebels attack a minivan carrying ordinary citizens. The van stops, the passengers get out and an order is barked, “Hutus on the left, Tutsis on the right!” Someone who lived in Burundi and suffered these sorts of horrors wrote this, writer/director/producer Ivan Goldschmidt. This is the live short that hit me least, perhaps because the characters were not very well fleshed out or perhaps because I could not empathize with the situation save for its injustice.ish 143

This short brings the Oscar nominated live shorts made in the British Isles to three out of five. Quite a banner year for British shorts! Jim Carter plays a fifteen-year-old boy who is dying of cancer. He is given only months left to live and is granted one wish from a charity. What does he want most of all? An hour alone with a naked woman. It could have all been handled very crudely and for cheap laughs but this story is rather compassionate, not only of the illness of its main character but also of his wants. My wife is very keen on having this short win. She found it very touching.

That will do it for Animation and Live shorts. I’ll be back next week with the Documentary shorts.

Till then!