1. La Maison En Petits Cubes, Kunio Kato
2. Lavatory, Knostantin Bronzit
3. Oktapodi, Emud Mokhberi and Thierry Marchand
4. Presto, Doug Sweetland
5. This Way Up, Alan Smith and Adam Foulkes
After the total letdown I suffered after viewing the nominees for the Oscar for Short Film Live Action, my expectations were greatly lowered as I walked into the screening for the Short Film Animated nominees. This time however, things worked out far better.
"La Maison En Petits Cubes" The setting is a house that sits among other houses that all jut out of a large body of water. In this particular home there resides an elderly gentleman who leads a quiet life of eating, sleeping, a bit of TV and not much else. We learn that the sea is rising and that he periodically must add a level to his house to stay dry. After building another layer, he goes diving through the floors piled on top of each other that have fallen below sea level. It turns into a journey through his past. The story is simple and sweet but it works beautifully. Some of the scenes would qualify as works of art in my mind. Excellent.
"Lavatory" This one came with a lot of hype and after viewing it, I cannot understand why. The story is also simple and sweet but it just didn't work for me. The animation is a notch better than my third grade stick figures.
"Oktapodi" Clocking in at a sparse two minutes, it nevertheless packs in a whole story of action and outdoes many three-hour films in that department. Two octopi are in a small tank. One is taken out and packed to be used as food. The other one escapes from the tank and gives chase to the man in the truck who is transporting his special friend to a date as a meal. Great fun and very clean and crisp animation.
"Presto" Pixar's entry is exactly what we have come to expect from the Disney offshoot as far as technical expertise. Despite its uber-professional look, it falls a bit short of the studio's usual fare. It's not that it is poor, it's just a notch below the best ones here.
"This Way Up" is the story of two stodgy-looking gentlemen in top hats attempting to transport a dead woman to her final destination in the dirt. Anything that can go wrong, does and some of the situations are laugh-out- loud- funny and the animation is excellent, but what really sells it are the facial expressions of the funeral directors. Good, clean morbid fun.
La Maison En Petits Cubes is your winner.
| Movie title | |
|---|---|
| Release year | 2008 |
| MPAA Rating | NR |
| Our rating | |
| Summary | The 2008 Oscar Nominees for Short Film (Animation) comprise a very good, if not spectacular, collection. |
