Movie #735.........................2013 Oscar nominated short animated films

Yesterday, I sat through the screening of all the oscar nominated short films for 2013 and found the afternoon quite delightful, with never a word said in the nominees. This will be a tough year to choose which one the Academy will say is best ---- Below is the LA Times critics giving a synopsis of each one and below each of those, is my comment and score for the film. I would give 4 stars out of 5 for all the movies together...... "Paperman" (7 minutes). Director John Kahrs has created a love letter to romance — a beautifully rendered black-and-white piece that will sweep you away. It is sealed with a kiss from the beginning when a whimsical wind plays havoc with an office worker's heart, his papers and their chance encounter with a beautiful young woman's ruby-red lips — the only color in this small wonder. A perfect melding of medium and message. From Donna: this movie I had seen already before "Wreck it Ralph" and although I liked the black and white throw back to the 1940s, I felt it was pretty shallow ----- I saw the homage to meet-cute films, but found it a bit contrived, so it left me emotionally lacking for the main characters. That being said, it will probably win. It's the least controversial of the ones below. I gave it 4 out of 5 stars. "Head Over Heels" (10 minutes, 21 seconds). Director Timothy Reckart has created heartbreak out of claymation, molding a long marriage in quiet crisis with extraordinary skill. Madge and Walter have literally lost their footing — she lives on the ceiling, he on the floor. Whether they can find a way back to the same plane becomes a moving existential question in Reckart's hands. From Donna: I LOVED this movie -- so creative, so Wallace and Grommit like with stop action, so symbolic --- it reminded me of the montage of the elderly couple in the movie "Up" --- I was emotionally drawn into this film, and I gave it 4.5 out of 5 stars. The ending was the most emotional out of all of them. One big reason this might or might not win, is that it is the only non american one ---not sure that matters so much. "Fresh Guacamole" (2 minutes). Writer-director PES rolls the dice, both literally and figuratively, in this mad (and I mean that in all possible ways) dash to create the delectable green dip out of found objects. Grenades factor in. Deliciously inventive, you'll never see chips and dip in quite the same way again. From Donna: How creative this is --- it's just a bit too short (it is THE shortest one ever nominated) but I would give it 4.5 out of 5 stars, as well. But it could be accused of being a one-note film. "Adam and Dog" (16 minutes). Watching director Minkyu Lee's painterly vision of the dawn of man and the first bond forged with man's best friend puts you in a musing museum state of mine. Lee captures the unfettered joy of discovery and how that feeling changes and expands when you're no longer alone. It feels like a seamless piece of expression until Eve's arrival upsets the apple cart. From Donna: This one I didn't like all that much --- I got that it was the Garden of Eden dog, and how things change once Eve arrives, and all that, but it ended in a bland fashion. I also didn't find it as lushly drawn, and I thought it was long. I give it 3.5 out of 5 stars --- so it probably will win! "Maggie Simpson in 'The Longest Daycare'" (5 minutes). Director David Silverman is a longtime producer of Matt Groening's animated TV hit "The Simpsons," and you can feel that polish and precision in every frame of Maggie's misadventure in day care. Superbly crafted, packed with the wry innuendo that has come to mark the series, it is exactly the sort of satisfying fun you would expect it to be. From Donna: I would give this one a 5 out of 5 stars --- LOVED it. I've been reading what critics say, and they will bring up that this is a t.v. skit (some prejudice), and that there are 5 writers (5 writers!) on this short film, and that the t.v. show gets enough recognition and the award should go to new animators....blah, blah, blah, this is the neatest package, the funniest, the deepest (even though one top critic said it wasn't --- it is! how many people know Ayn Rand, for example????) and most creative and it has the best ending --- the ironic ending. And it entertains in the background while moving the story onward --- that's its gift. I wish it would win, but it probably won't.