Once again, Oscar night is upon us, and in just a few short hours, we will all be rapturously gazing upon Hugh Jackman throughout an evening of television sure to be at least one-tenth as suspenseful as the final act of Slumdog Millionaire. As a champion of both art and brief attention spans, ZipiNotes is proud to present a quick rundown of this year’s nominees for Best Animated Short. (For a refresher on the 2008 award contenders, check out our post from last year.)
**UPDATE**: La Maison en Petits Cubes won! Click here for the full list of winners.
La Maison en Petits Cubes (clip)
The most languid of the bunch, the melancholy La Maison en Petits Cubes is animator Kunio Kato’s first Oscar nod. Set in a steadily flooding world, the film follows an old man who tries to keep his head above water in a house built of memories. (And if you like what you see here, take a look at this YouTube user, who has a pretty extensive collection of Kato vids.)
Official site: http://kiteretsu.robot.co.jp/kunio/
Lavatory: Lovestory (full)
From Russian animator Konstantin Bronzit, Lavatory: Lovestory is a sweet, simple tale about a lonely washroom attendant and her secret admirer. Get a little more info (and a duplicate video clip) here: http://haha.nu/beautiful/lavatory-lovestory/
Official site: http://www.melnitsa.com
Oktapodi (full)
Put together by a crew of mighty talented film students, Oktapodi is a frenetic romp through windy Euro streets, as one very determined squid fights to save his leggy paramour from certain calamari doom. Oh, and as much as I love the lightweight convenience of YouTube, you really owe it to yourself to watch this one in high-res.
Official site: http://www.oktapodi.com
Presto (clip)
Backed by mighty Pixar muscle, Presto — a manic battle of wills between an uptight magician and his ornery rabbit — is an awfully promising contender in this competition. Actually, my favorite part of this film was the intro: a tip-o’-the-hat to classic Disney shorts. (See the full version here at Truveo.)
Official site: http://www.pixar.com/shorts/presto/index.html
This Way Up (clip)
I saw this BBC-produced short three times in theaters last year (thanks to the always-excellent Animation Show), and it only gets better with every viewing. Two undertakers — glowering dad and hapless son — end up going through a bizarre journey through hell and back when they let their latest corpse slip through their embalming-fluid-stained fingers.
Official site: http://www.thiswayupmovie.com/
Bonus Oscarificness
Let the Right One In
Recently, I polled a bunch of Boston film luminaries (i.e., theater directors, indie filmmakers, festival organizers, etc.) on their fantasy Oscar picks. Here are the results, as published in Stuff magazine (nee Stuff@night) last week.
http://stuffboston.com/get/archive/2009/02/09/oscar-wild.aspx
Their answers were all illuminating, but here are the major lessons I took away from this experience:
1) Everyone needs to watch Swedish vampire movie Let the Right One In, pronto.
2) Someone decided to pair up Will Smith with a jellyfish.
3) Boston’s film elite have no problem dispensing the lulz.
