Editorial Reviews and
DVD Information about
75th Annual Academy Awards Short Films
Description
Previously screened only at selected theaters across the country, this special collection of OSCAR nominated short films celebrating the 2003 75th Annual ACADEMY AWARDS® is now available to compel and delight the filmmaker and film lover. Best Animated Short Film: The ChubbChubbs! (USA - Columbia - A Sony Pictures Imageworks Production) On a planet in the far reaches of the imagination, clumsy but well-meaning Meeper dreams of entertaining people as an R&B vocalist. But first he must find a way to save the patrons of the Ale-E-Inn nightclub from the vicious and voracious invaders known as the ChubbChubbs. (6 minutes) Other Animated Nominees: Rocks "Das Rad" (Germany - A Filmakademie Baden-Wurttemberg GmbH Production) Observing the passage of centuries with bewildered fascination, two rock piles comment on the rise and fall of human history. (8 minues) Mike's New Car (USA - Buena Vista - A Pixar Animation Studios Production) One-eyed Mike from Monster's Inc drives himself nuts trying to take his friend Sulley for a spin in his new car. (4 minutes) The Cathedral (Poland - A Platige Image Production) A man enters a forest-like cathedral and discovers that the trees are made of people. (6 minutes) Mt. Head "Atama Yama" (Japan - A Yamamura Animation Production) An obsessed loner encounters a hairy problem: the Cherry tree growing out of his head is attracting crowds. (10 minutes) Best Live Action Short Film: This Charming Man "Der Er En Yndig Mand" (Denmark - An M&M Production for Novellefilm Production) Taking advantage of a mix-up at the unemployment office, Lars Hansen becomes Pakistani immigrant El Hassan. Will his masquerade land him a job and the affection of his politically correct school teacher? (29 minutes) Other Live Action Nominees: I'll Wait for the Next One "J'attendrai Le Suivant" (France - A La Boite Production) A lonely young woman boards the subway and meets a panhandler who's begging for love rather than money. (4 minutes) Gridlock"Fait D'Hiver" (Belgium - An Another Dimension of an Idea Production) Stick in traffic, a harried businessman calls home on his new cell phone - and dials up a nightmare. (7 minutes) Dog "Inja" (Australia - An Australian Film & Radio School Production) In South Africa, a long-brutalized dog comes between a whie landowner and his black farmhand - with fateful results. (17 minutes) Extra Feature: How To Submit Your Short Film to the Academy - Academy Member and Award-winner for his 1997 live action short film Visas & Virtue, Chris Donahue informs filmmakers and fans of the eligibility rules and procedures for submitting a short film to the Academy for OSCAR consideration.
Amazon.com
Short films have their own succinct pleasures, but they're almost impossible to see outside of occasional festival screenings. So it's delightful that all of the short animated and live-action films nominated for an Academy Award in 2003 have been packaged together for home viewing. The two American animated shorts are, perhaps unsurprisingly, comic--a Pixar snippet featuring characters from Monsters, Inc. and a clever sci-fi shaggy-dog story ("The ChubbChubbs!," that year's animated winner). The foreign entries, in contrast, range from the philosophical (a German entry views human history from the perspective of a rock) to the surreal (from Japan, the story of a miser with a cherry tree growing out of his scalp). The live-action shorts are just as varied; "This Charming Man" (the winning entry, from Denmark) follows a Danish man pursuing love after a bureaucratic mix-up leads him to disguise himself as a Pakistani immigrant. "I'll Wait for the Next One," from France, packs heartbreak into four swift minutes; Belgium's "Gridlock" gives betrayal a dark comic twist; and the Australian short "Dog" offers a potent glimpse of brutality and consequences in South Africa. A substantial selection, each short a dense and satisfying nugget of film. --Bret Fetzer
|
Customer Reviews for
75th Annual Academy Awards Short Films
Amazon Recommends IV: 75th Annual Academy Awards Short Films
Nah. Don't do it.
I managed to get this one very cheap, and it's a good thing, too, because pretty much all of the really good short films on this movie are available on other, better, short film collections. I'm speaking of Das Rad, Atama Yama, and The Cathedral, which are all on The Animation Show (a must-own for any animation and short film fan). The Pixar short inclusion is actually somewhat frustrating because Pixar not only has better shorts, but Mike's New Car is essentially a DVD extra (and that's where it belongs). The award winner, The Chubbchubbs, is cute and fun, but not really that memorable and isn't "must see" by any means.
The live-action shorts are worse. "J'attendrai le suivant" was by far the best one, as it was the most skilled and entertaining short, showing powers of both the actors in their performance and the director in his storytelling prowess. "Fait d'hiver" is also well done and entertaining, though perhaps not quite memorable. Both "Der Er en Yndig Mand" and "Inja" were Oscar baiting shorts dealing with the evils of racism, though "Inja" is by far the superior of the two and leads up to an ambiguous conclusion. "Der Er en Yndig Mand" is, of course, the worst short AND the winner. This comes as no surprise, as the Academy does indeed love its racism sentimental and all concluded teary-eyed over hospital beds (oh, by the way: I'm not joking, that's how it ends).
There are much better short films and many better short film collections out there. Don't waste your time or money with this. All that's good in this collection you'll find elsewhere, and all that's bad is pretty bad.
--PolarisDiB75th Annual Academy Awards Short Films
Good films but less in Quantity.
I truly enjoyed watching all the Short films. The Dvd has two main sections. Best live Action Short films & Best Animated Short Films. The winner film 'This Charming Man' is clearly a winner from Denmark! The films is quite Charming & very well Acted. There are three other films which are equally good. I enjoyed the Australian film 'Dog' very much. The Screenplay is Awesome. The next film which holds you is "I'll wait for the next one" from Belgium. The dialogues are very well written.
The Animation Films are also very engaging. the winner 'The ChubbChubbs' is fantastic! Other film I liked was a Polish Film 'The Cathedral'. It was very absorbing. The background Score was very haunting.
The only thing I felt was a let down was the Quantity of films. There would have been few more nominated films in the DVD, it would have been a much more exciting experience alltogether!
Also there is a good Information in the extra feature regarding Submission of Short Films to Oscar Academy.
Overall a Good Compilation of beautiful World-class Short Films!75th Annual Academy Awards Short Films
The perfect use for DVDs.
What a great idea for a DVD. I've often said that I wished there was a way to see all the Oscar nominated shorts. Well, my prayer was answered, at least for one year. It's a tragedy that a similar disc hasn't been done for every year. These movies, which filmmakers pour so much blood and sweat into, are hardly seen by anyone. Such a disc certainly helps a little. But I enjoyed the one I had to watch.
The animated shorts were overall stronger, I think. CHUBB-CHUBBS (the winner) was delightfully funny. Animation style similar to the Pixar films, but with a delightful main character and some very fanciful animation. Also enjoyed the cameo appearances by the likes of Darth Vadar. Speaking of Pixar, MIKE'S NEW CAR, which has been available on the MONSTER'S INC. DVD was also nominated. It's certainly funny, but adds nothing new to the CGI world. THE ROCKS, from Germany, runs a close second to the CHUBB-CHUBBS. It's more of a stop motion film, about how slowly time creeps by for rocks. We basically see the entire evolution of the world (and into the future) through the eyes of two piles of rocks. Clever stuff. The other two shorts are more "artsy" in nature. THE CATHEDRAL looks like the opening sequence to a fantasy video game, and nothing more...I was underwhelmed. ATOMO YATA, the Japanese entry, was done in an interesting, calligraphic style, but the story left me scratching my head.
In the live short category, THIS CHARMING MAN was the winner. In a way, I thought that was unfair, because it's about 30 minutes long and the others are much, much shorter. But on its own, it's a funny story about immigration in Denmark. The lead actors are both very charming and the entire movie is light-hearted, and a great entry in the "geeky guy gets a nice girl" genre that comes out of Europe so often.
I'LL WAIT FOR THE NEXT ONE is super short, and feels more like a clever commercial with a nasty / sad twist at the end. I really enjoyed GRIDLOCK (the only film that isn't for minors), with a great twist ending. It's not deep, but it's a terrific example of the form. Take a story that I can easily see someone stretching out into a 30 minute TV episode (and diluting its impact), and keep it short. Just get across exactly what you need to get across and nothing more. I liked it, and think most viewers will. Finally, there was the interesting film from Australia, DOG, which is set in South Africa. It is making a point about the shift in power in South Africa from the eras during and after apartheid. It's a good film, but I gotta tell ya, the last five seconds left me baffled. What the heck happened? I don't think of myself as a slow-learner, but I have no idea how the story ended.
Overall, this collection has some great ups and some minor downs. It is certainly worth watching...everyone will like at least some of it. And if there's something you don't care too much for, it'll be over soon.
75th Annual Academy Awards Short Films
Both Entertaining and Thought-Provoking
I finally found time to view this collection of delightful films after having bought it nearly a year ago. I enjoyed the entire group, although I found the live-action shorts to be the most entertaining AND thought-provoking.
I don't agree with the choice of the eventual winner of Best Animated Short Film, The ChubbChubbs. It was cute and clever with a twist, but I think several others are better. My favorite is the Polish release, The Cathedral, with its spooky, gothic, Lovecraftian imagery. Second best was the Japanese Atama Yama, about a man described as a miser who has a compulsion to save everything which might later prove useful. His favorite food is the cherry, because they are free. Watch what happens when he eats the cherry pit so as not to waste it! Das Rad, the German entry, provides an imaginative view of humanity as seen from a rock's perspective and Mike's New Car is just merely cute.
It is much harder to choose the best of the Live Action Short Films. After mulling them over, I'll have to stick with the Academy's choice, although all four of them have some claim to the title "best". The winner is a very contemporary story set in Denmark that takes on a LOT of issues in a short time and deals with them in a way that has the viewer nodding in recognition. Though a bureaucratic/Eurocratic mix-up, the unemployed Lars Hansen becomes Pakistani immigrant El Hassan and is commanded by letter that he must take Danish lessons. When he tries to have the mistake corrected, he is given the runaround in a way that nearly everyone who has dealt with bureaucracy can identify with.
The story becomes a comedy of errors in which issues germane to life in Denmark today (as well as in most other First World countries) are dealt with: immigration, political correctness, widespread resentment of the PC culture, the inanities of an obtuse bureaucracy, and to sweeten it up, love. You'll have to see it for the surprise comic ending.
Right on This Charming Man's tail nips Inja, ostensibly the story of a dog, but really a story of relations between the races in South Africa and how a white farmer's method of training his dog to recognize him as its boss comes back to bite him in the arse at a crucial time. Great scenery and the human factor make this one a must-see.
The French entry, I'll Wait For the Next One is brief, clever, and emotionally brutal. The acting is first-rate. The other film, Gridlock, is a Flemish-Belgian entry about a harried businessman caught in traffic who decides to call his wife to let her know he will be home late. What happens next is the stuff of nightmares.
If you enjoy cinema, and particularly if you enjoy the intelligent and the unusual, then consider this DVD to have been compiled just for you. I highly recommend it!75th Annual Academy Awards Short Films
Sometimes the Academy gets some things right
Some really fine shorts here. Animated -- I liked the Chubb Chubbs (which won). And I thought it was clearly NOT the best of the nominees. I think that The Rocks, a German short, well, rocks. Excellent. Mike's New Car - amusing. Crystal does excellent voiceover work. The Cathedral -- visually interesting. Atama Yama -- I didn't like it too much the first time I watched it, but I have acquired a taste for it. Live Action -- Again, I didn't agree with the pick for the Award. I thought Ingar (the Dog), an Aussie film about South Africa, was excellent. But I liked all of the nominated shorts. Selections from France, Germany, the Netherlands. Very entertaining.75th Annual Academy Awards Short Films
|
