An unlucky boy fisherman makes an unlikely catch in this Oscar nominated short film. Surprisingly hopeful for a film set in Somalia featuring a refugee cast, I thought the two lead boys were very good, and the fable-like scenes on the beach were touching. Like Buzkashi Boys, the cinematography of the desolation of a war-torn country was quite moving.
Two Afghani boys dream of becoming buzkashi horse-riders in this Oscar nominated short film. I particularly liked the horse-riding sequence, where the sport is seen in a snowy, foggy arena. Filled with decay and ruin, Buzkashi Boys is a bleak, muted film, and would be my 2nd place choice for the Oscar on Sunday.
A suicidal junkie babysits his precocious and estranged niece in this dark Oscar nominated short film. Fatima Ptacek, who plays the niece, is shockingly good. The impromptu dance sequence in the bowling alley adds a touch of needed levity. Curfew was my second favorite of the Best Live Action Short Films, and it probably won't win due to its seedy plot-line.
An elderly pianist searches for his violinist wife in this affecting and poignant short film. Muted and sombre, Henry has an air of intrigue about it. It was not one of my favorites of the Best Live Action Short Films, and because it was touching and sentimental, it will probably win the Oscar on Sunday.
A man captures shadows to display in a mysterious gallery in this Oscar nominated short film. Beautifully shot with dark, well-composed images, the steam-punky art direction is rather extravagant for a short film. It was my favorite of the 2013 Best Live Action Short Films, so it probably won't win.
The intestines of several extras are torn out by a vicious chicken/dinosaur hybrid hand puppet in this movie starring Clint Howard. If you're worried about watching a film with Clint Howard, you can relax because he's only in it a short time before his head is torn off while he's eating a bucket of the Colonel's 11 herbs and spices because apparently chicken/dinosaur hand puppets are annoyed by that sort of thing. Diane Ladd is the mad scientist who has engineered chicken eggs to have tiny dinosaurs and the liquified remnants of a Shamrock Shake inside them, and it's hardly gross or convincing at all. And to add insult to injury, a woman gives birth to a slimy green egg the size of a basketball while wearing pantyhose because apparently there was no time to take them off or it was a convenient bit of product placement for L'Eggs.
So, yeah. Carnosaur was just terrible, but it was refreshing to watch something terrible after watching so many decent indie films.
Park And Recreation's Aubrey Plaza and The League's Mark Duplass star in this sci-fi romantic comedy where a man puts out an ad looking for someone to accompany him in a trip backward in time. Thankfully, this film doesn't have a lot of romance in it, which is good because I hate that. Safety Not Guaranteed is charming and wry, particularly Aubrey Plaza who essentially plays her Parks And Rec's character here. That's OK, because her apathy is the perfect foil to Duplass's insecurities. I enjoyed it.
