February 15: Oscar Nominated Live-Action Shorts (2011 -- Various)

I checked out this program with Carlos and Linda, and it was good to see what's happening in short films.  I never encounter these movies in my daily life.

We had a range of opinion on them.  Carlos liked my least favorite, Pentecost, and Linda responded to Shore, a film I had a little love for.  I most enjoyed Tuba Atlantic though.  Clearly there is something for everyone here.

★★★ Peter McDonald: Pentecost -- I find this Irish film more clever than anything else.  It's draws a parallel between altar boys who celebrate mass and a team that plays football.  We hear the priest exhorting his boys to fight the good fight.  The film doesn't go much further than that conceit, though it's humorous and warm.

★★★★ Max Zähle: Raju -- This German short packs a lot into its short run:  It gives you Calcutta in just a few shots, it portrays an entire relationship in just a few scenes, and it advocates against illegal adoption practices overall.  The lead child is cute, big-headed, and big-eyed, while the lead actor has  strikingly handsome good looks.  There is a lot packed into this short.

★★★ Terry George: Shore -- This is another effective Irish film, and like Raju, it packs a lot of info into just a few minutes.  Here we see a complex relationship among three people who have decades of history, and there is a strong sense of local color with the men living on the shore.  And there must be something about Irish humor because, like in Pentecost, humor plays a big role, though one such scene gets too much of the limited time available in the film.  It's easy to respond to the warm affirmation that this movie leads to.

★★★ Andrew Bowler: Time Freak -- I like this American film; it's a clever take on time travel and uses that spin for both humor and character development.  It's very juvenile but very fun for that very reason.

★★★★★ Hallvar Witzo: Tuba Atlantic -- This film from Norway is my favorite of the group.  While quirkiness doesn't always appeal to me, it's hard not to like these characters, and the technique here is as fun as the issues are heavy.  A grumpy old man realizes a life ambition and reconciles with his brother at the end of his life, while an archetypal teenager grows.  A little.  There's a lot in this film that resists pigeon-holing.  And it all happens in a bleak Norwegian landscape with distinct local color.  I'm sure I'll sometimes think of the Death Angel from this film when I hear the sound of a scooter.