The Oscar Nominated Short Films (2012)

This compilation of Oscar-winning short films was put together by Shorts International, which also has a cable tv channel. They are the group who in the past few years have theatrically screened Oscar short film programs a few weeks just prior to the Oscar telecast, a few of which I've been able to attend. I have additionally seen a few of these at the Chicago International Film Festival or in other places. At one time cable tv channels such as HBO used shorts to either fill up an hour after the end of a film, or an established program such as Exposure, a science fiction and fantasy-based short film program hosted by Lisa Marie, would appear on the Sci Fi Channel. Now we get a whole channel devoted to shorts, in addition to many online portals one can find shorts on! Overall the films on this DVD are pretty good, a selection of live action and animated shorts from about the last ten years, and I can see why they were chosen as winners.

Films include:

God of Love (2010, U.S)
The New Tenants (2009, Denmark)
Toyland (2007, Germany)
West Bank Story (2005, U.S.)
The Lost Thing (2010, Australia)
Logorama (2009, France)
The Danish Poet (2006, Norway/Canada)
Ryan (2004, Canada)
Harvie Krumpet (2004, Australia)

Synopses and reviews after the jump!

Angel-A

This French movie, directed by Luc Besson, is filmed in black and white.

Jamel Debbouze stars as a small time crook, Andre, who owes some people a lot of money, and fast. (The film doesn’t say what he’s needed that money for.) He tries borrowing new money to pay the old lender, but it is unsuccessful because he is just not good at asserting himself. Feeling the heat, he tries to commit suicide on a bridge, but saves a leggy blonde Angela (Rie Rasmussen), who is doing the same. He doesn’t want to admit his suicide urge but she is forthright and says she will do anything he wants in return for him saving her life. Throughout the film she expresses her opinion that Andre is just too meek to be the tough guy that his lifestyle needs him to be. The story shows her boldly going where Andre has never gone before.

Andre thinks he can impress the new money guy by bringing Angela along, hoping this will convince the guy he is a big shot and deserves the money. When he is still unsuccessful, Angela agrees to have sex with the guy for cash, which discomfits Andre, and although he is at odds over whether to take her money or not, he does end up taking it. She continues this behavior by having sex with men at clubs for money, leaving Andre to drink alone in misery and collect the cash. From time to time they meet up with the bruisers to whom he owes money, but it seems Angela has some kind of special powers where she can coerce men into doing what she wants (or easily knocks them out).

Later she tries to convince Andre that all he needs to boost his confidence is to be more self-assured, and there is a scene where Andre has to admit to himself that he needs to love himself more. She convinces Andre to look in a mirror and voice some self-affirmation mantras.

The Sentiment of the Flesh

Be prepared to open your mind!  In this French film, an anatomical/medical illustrator Helena (Annabelle Hettmann) meets an internist Benoit (Thibault Vinçon) when she goes for x-rays for back pain. He claims the spine x-rays are inconclusive so uses a more advanced machine, which she comes to realize is his way of seeing her, much as a painter will see his subject in his own particular way.

They start an affair where the physical knowing of each other becomes, literally, more than skin deep--he does an MRI to view her internally--and then she convinces him to "know" her in an extreme and dangerous way.

The Intouchables

The Intouchables is a well-acted feel-good movie, and although the two leads are mostly stereotyped movie characters, it escapes being cliched due to good onscreen chemistry. Based on a true story.

Francois Cluzet plays the rich quadraplegic, Phillippe. He is a widow with a teen daughter, and has a staff that does everything for him--feed him, bathe him, exercise him, answer his letters. He is not depressed about his condition, and often makes jokes about it. We come to see later why he has this lust for life, though it is due to a bittersweet reason. Currently he is interviewing for a new full time caregiver. We see Driss (Omar Sy), an unemployed young Senegalese, sitting amongst other stodgy white guys waiting for their interview with Phillippe. Obviously he looks out of place to us, but Driss gives no sense that he cares. He is only there to get a signature on a form to show he applied for a job so that he can collect unemployment benefits. Compared to the other dull men, all whom are more qualified, Driss' cheeky attitude and lively personality intrigue Phillippe and is pretty much hired on the spot.

Bluebeard (2009)

This French film is directed by Catherine Breillat, a filmmaker known for using sexual themes involving (usually) young women/girls.

Two sets of sisters relate the story of Bluebeard, the murderous wife killer of the old fairy tale. In the sisters of 1950s France, the younger of the two, Catherine, seems to know how to push her older sister Marie-Anne's buttons as they explore an attic in a country cottage. Catherine daringly taunts her about the story of Bluebeard, which scares Marie-Anne. The film goes back and forth between these girls and the girls of the fairy tale they are reading, which takes place in medieval times.

In the medieval story, teen sisters Anne and Marie-Catherine have just lost their father and since they are female, the well-being of their futures are dependent on marriage. As in the 1950s story, it is the younger sister, Marie-Catherine (Lola Creton), who is the central figure. She sees Bluebeard's castle in the distance and is captivated by the stories of him and the many wives who have disappeared without a trace. This doesn't scare her. In fact, when Bluebeard (Dominique Thomas) offers marriage to her or her sister despite knowing they have no dowries, Marie-Catherine is pleased to take the chance.

Shall We Kiss?

Two strangers meet when Emilie can't find a taxi during a business trip and Gabriel offers to drive her back to the hotel. There is some attraction, so much so that they share a dinner at the end of which Gabriel leans over to kiss Emilie good night. But she shies away, claiming a "no strings attached" kiss could have big consequences. She tells a story to support her claim.

Married Judith and her platonic single friend Nicolas get together on occasion. One time he admits that he is unable to feel physically/intimately connected to any woman. They have a frank talk and she suggests certain things, all of which Nicolas has tried. Then, she suggests he kiss her to get his juices flowing, so to speak, as since she is a platonic friend there should be no strings attached. Of course, he does so, and there are strings, and that one kiss escalates into a clinical but satisfying sexual encounter.

Menage (Evening Dress)

I don't know what to make of the characters in this film. Gerard Depardieu is a gay house robber Bob (most reviews and such say he is bisexual but I think he can only get off with a woman if he is thinking about a man or if a man is watching). He hears a couple, Monique and Antoine, arguing (Miou Miou, Michel Blanc). She is tired of being poor, so Bob invites them into robbing homes with him. Monique takes to this readily, finding it exciting and dangerous. Antoine is nervous and is scared of the passes Bob is making to him.

The Green Room

This is a 1978 Francois Truffaut film in which he also stars, and based on a Henry James story. Costars Nathalie Baye.

In the 1930s, Truffaut plays a widower Julien who obsesses about his dead wife, having a room as a shrine, thinking he is keeping her memory alive where everyone else has moved on. His obsession with death also stems from the horrors he witnessed as a soldier in WWI. He meets a young woman who feels similarly about her dead father, just not as obsessed as he is. Julien's friend, recently widowed, remarries quickly, which stirs up Julien's anger so much he basically ends their friendship. Basically he compares his friend's lack of love for his dead wife to his own obsession.

The Artist

This French film played at the Chicago International Film Festival this year as its Closing Night film.  It stars Jean Dujardin and Berenice Bejo, as silent film stars in Hollywood.  The story is a little bit A Star is Born, a little bit Singin' In the Rain.  Dujardin, as popular star george Valentin (no doubt a play on Rudolf Valentino) has enjoyed a successful career as a leading man in silent films.  It is now the mid-1920s.  Bejo is pretty young thing Peppy Miller, hoping to make it big in Hollywood, and they have a "meet-cute" at a premiere.  Valentin, despite being married, is taken with her.  As her star rises, his falls, due to two key events of that time.

CICFF 2011: Tales of the Night

Not to be confused with the recent Chicago International Film Festival, Tales of the Night was one of the programs in the Chicago International CHILDREN'S Film Festival this weekend. This French movie is a compilation of television shorts made into a film through connecting segments of a theatre troupe thinking up story ideas. There are three characters in the troupe, a young man and young woman, who take on the roles of lovers in the folk tales they spin; the other character, an older man, help them form their basic story plots of six folk/fairy tales. The characters are shown in silhouette in front of vividly colored backgrounds. The film was created by Michel Ocelot, whose previous films have similar folk tale themes and visual presence.

CIFF 2011: Tomboy

**You have another chance to catch Tomboy if you missed it at CIFF.  It is playing at Reeling, the Chicago Lesbian and Gay International Film Festival.**

Kicking off my CIFF schedule is a French film written and directed by Celine Sciamma.  Tomboy is about a girl who is mistaken for a boy, and decides to continue this deception amongst some new friends.

Rapt

A French suspense film, Rapt concerns the kidnapping of a businessman for ransom. Stan (Yvan Attal) is the Chairman of a wealthy company in Paris, but he is not a very noble person. With a mistress and a heavy gambling habit, his family, friends and business associates have a lot of options as to the motives of the kidnappers.

The Concert

I kind of have a bias against certain genres of films. Romantic comedies need to rise above its generic template to offer me some interesting characters or some true soul searching, so that I don't come away from the theatre sneering at the dumb characters or cookie cutter plot. "Feel good" stories too also need to break away from its melodramatic and expected ending.

Despite its dramatic elements, I think The Concert is a feel good film. It begins almost like it was made in the 1930s, in a "let's get the old gang together and put on a show" plot.

Point Blank (French film)

Not the one starring Lee Marvin, this one involves a male nurse who is strongarmed into helping a criminal break out of a hospital. The bad guys kidnap his pregnant wife to motivate him, thus putting an average guy into a situation he is unused to.

Cave of Forgotten Dreams

I don't know if this film is still playing in theatres where you are, but I highly recommend you watch in on the big screen in 3-D rather than on DVD. It is truly the only 3-D film I have watched that uses it effectively and not gratuitiously.