Oscar nominated shorts: Animation
Reviews of the short films nominated for the Academy Award in the animated category, which will play in theaters as a single program.
Magic Candies
Dong-Dong is a Japanese boy who does not play with others, preferring to shoot marbles and hang around with his dog, Gusuri. One day he buys some candies that turn out to be magical. One that resembles the same pattern as their couch allows it to speak with him, complaining about a nettlesome remote control stuck in its cushions and his father’s flatulence. Another candy allows him to converse with Gusuri, who expresses his genuine affection for the boy but also his own physical limitations as he gets older. Each magical experience lasts as long as the candy, but they allow Dong-Dong to come out of his shell and see his world a little better. Animated through CG but made to look like Claymation, it’s a sweet little fairy tale.
In the Shadow of the Cypress
A poignant and spiritual look at PTSD. In this Iranian short, a former captain lives with his daughter in a seaside cottage near where the hulk of his old ship lies (barely) floating. A terrible event happened years before and he’s overcome by fits of rage, depicted as blue pigment overtaking his skin. The daughter has finally had enough abuse and is ready to leave when a whale beaches itself nearby. The captain seems indifferent to its fate, but the girl tries her best to keep it alive. An interesting visual style with the people drawn very tall and thin, while everything else is in proportion. Minimalist and evocative.
Beurk! (Yuck!)
At a French beachside camping resort, a group of children have a favorite pastime of making a big show of being grossed out by adults kissing. You know one’s coming because their lips begin to a glow a sparkly pinkish-purple when they’re feeling like a smooch. But then two of the kids, Leo and Lucy, start feeling a bit kissy themselves. Ostracism and shame commence. Animated in a very simplistic style, it’s a nice premise but fails to really develop it, even for a 13-minute short.
Wander to Wonder
OK, now this is some seriously weird sh*t. The setting is a modest home where apparently the eponymous VHS-era children’s show was once shot. The host was an old man who has since kicked off, and the three tiny actors who played bears in costumes are now aged themselves and just trying to survive while making a pretense at keeping the show going — even though they don’t think anyone is watching anymore. Mary is the hectoring mother hen, Fumbleton is the sweet dim one and Billybud has Shakespearean thespian pretensions and likes to show off his junk. Kooky, dystopian, funny in a depraved sort of way.
Beautiful Men
Imagine if Igmar Bergman made an animated film. About three Dutch brothers traveling to Istanbul to get on-the-cheap hair transplants. That’s about what “Beautiful Men” would turn out like. A bleak story about lonely guys full of fear and anxiety. Bart is the nervous one who accidentally only booked one surgery for the three of them. Steven is the angry one worries about a lump on his testicle. Koen is the easygoing fellow. A fog descends on the city making everything very hard to make out, and that’s about how I felt about this movie. Inventive and full of artistry, but what’s the point?