Starting February 14, the 20th annual Oscar Nominated Short Films will be available in theaters. This is the only opportunity for audiences to watch all of the short film nominees in theaters before the 97th Academy Awards ceremony on Sunday, March 2, 2024. To learn more about the participating theaters and how to purchase tickets which are now available, please visit www.shorts.tv/theoscarshorts. Each nominee is released in one of three distinct feature-length compilations according to their category of nomination: Live Action, Animation, or Documentary.
Buy Odds & Ends: Rare Animated Shorts from the Thunderbean Archive Blu-rayThe nominees are:
Beautiful Man (director Nicolas Keppens; Belguim, France, Netherlands; 19 min)
In this stop-motion film, three brothers travel to Turkey for hair-transplant surgery, each in various stages of need. Not only do the characters look very realistic, but their emotions are as well as audience learns of their insecurities. Their interpersonal problems are somewhat self induced, causing the feeling of indifference they have for each other to be shared by the audience. The image contains great depth and detail.
In the Shadow of the Cypress (director Shirin Sohani and Hossein Molayemi; Iran; 17 min)
Although the relationship isn’t completely clear, a woman leaves an older man who suffers from violent outbursts. She stops upon discovering a washed-up whale on the beach outside their lone home. After the initial attempt fails, he goes to work on his ship that is anchored nearby but is overcome with PTSD from serving in an unspecified military conflict. Alone, She strives to save the whale as best she can. Ends with an emotional resolution. No idea what the title means as there are no trees, let alone a Cypress, to provide shadow on the beach.
Magic Candies (director Daisuke Nishio; Japan; 21 min)
Dong-Dong is a lonely kid, who plays on his own. He stops to grab new marbles at the store but discovers they are candies. He buys them anyway and after putting one in his mouth, the sofa starts talking to him. All the candies briefly open up communications between Dong-Dong and others, providing him a lesson when they run out.
Wander to Wonder (director Nina Gantz; Netherlands, Belgium, France, UK; 21 min)
Another stop-motion entry, Wander to Wonder is a children’s show being watched on a VHS tape. The little hairy creatures the human interacts with aren’t inanimate figures but actually played by tiny people, one of whom watches the show. Alone, they try to survive in the home shed the program was created. An enjoyable but very bizarre story.
Yuck! (director Loïc Espuche; France; 13 min)
A group of young kids run around at a campground, grossed out when they see people kissing romantically. However confusion reigns when two of the kids find themselves interested in each other and mimicking the behavior. Very believable actions by the various characters.
I would vote for Wander to Wonder because it felt like the most unique of the nominees. The shorts are all made. If I was going to wager on the Academy, I would lean towards voters picking Magic Candies but hope they ignore geo-politics and award In the Shadow of the Cypress.
