Animated Shorts

 

• The Three Sisters

This adorable short about three sisters living on an island in adjacent little apartments was an actual delight. When a big, burly sailor comes to rent a room, one sister moves in with the other, and all three move in on him… one at a time.

• Forevergreen

A sweet short about a little bear who is adopted by a large tree in the forest. He is fed, shaded, and well cared for in a nicer update to The Giving Tree. But when he is exposed to processed foods, he risks everything he has to chase after more and his consumption results in disaster and tragedy. But the world has a habit of healing itself over time and this little says more in a few minutes than most movies say when they are full length.

• The Girl Who Cried Pearls

This one had a very good story with very creepy animation. It is a tale told by an old wealthy man about his impoverished and lonely childhood living in an abandoned and broken-down apartment next door to an abused child. Her sorrow has a twist that ultimately allows him to leverage the outsized greed and willingness to swindle a poor child. Like all good fables, this one has a great twist where all who are good prosper and all who are evil do not.

• Butterfly

An incredible story about a true athletic hero and survivor of the Holocaust and his story of growing up swimming, only to be greeted by the deepest kind of Jew hatred. There is triumph of the human spirit and the glimmer of hope when the athlete is ushered back into society by his loyal and steadfast friends. The animation and the story were heartbreaking and uplifting all at the same time.

• Retirement Plan

Someday, when I have time, I’ll… how many times do we think these things in our lives? We will travel, read, and enjoy our lives. In this little uplifting short, we see the outcome of actually doing all of the things that are dreamed about and when done properly, one can be ushered to a quiet, fulfilled, and peaceful death. (but don’t forget to live a little now!)

Documentary Shorts

 

• All the Empty Rooms

Steve Hartman is a newscaster who brings people the feel-good story at the end of the broadcast. Something that takes all of the bad headlines and puts a shiny, happy smile at the end of the show. Until the day he decides to work with a photographer to capture the bedrooms of every child who has been killed by gun violence. He builds relationships with each family, learns the story of their lost child, and creates a tribute to the child’s innocence wondering who the boy or girl might have become had life not been cut tragically short. A beautiful and moving short.

• Armed With Only a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud

War correspondent Brent Renaud lost his life doing what he loved, showing the world the stories of terrible wars abroad, and some horrifying violence at home in the United States. He remained transfixed with bringing terrifying images to those who remain at a distance from what is happening and not always being shown to those who are not necessarily paying attention. Each time a documentary marking the life of these journalists and their deaths, I can’t help but wonder why anyone would do a job like this. Some people are just built that way, and they will risk anything to do the work they’ve chosen. It’s a hard film to watch but I can’t say that this short was much different than any of the others with the same theme about other war photographers.

• Children No More: Were and Are Gone

Here is a short about Israelis who are protesting the war between Hamas, a terrorist organization, and the state of Israel. It’s fair to say that the film makes attempts at showing a fuller picture than those ridiculously claiming “genocide,” and at least allows at least one calm Israeli voice through - the general sentiment being that of course people can and should mourn anytime innocent people are killed, but the ideal and the reality of fighting a terrorist organization embedded in civil society (itself a war crime) and the film never mentions that the death rate in Gaza is the lowest in history for urban warfare. I love the heart of people who mourn the deaths of innocents, but to do so without any rational context (and this film gives almost none) is at best absurd and at worst, dangerous propaganda when around the world, Jews are at risk every day while Jew hatred abounds.

• The Devil is Busy

An extraordinary film about one small women’s health care clinic in a state that allows abortions to be performed up to 6 weeks (and let’s face it, most women don’t even know that they are pregnant at that point). The head of security who works 12+ hour days shows us how the women are screamed at, how protesters harass anyone who goes to the clinic, and how anyone even near the clinic is generally at risk for his or her own life. This outstanding short will hopefully enrage you, and remind us all that women’s health care belongs with women and their doctors. Most important of all, if you don’t believe in abortion, don’t have one. Otherwise, butt out.

• Perfectly a Strangeness

I saw this film and I still don’t know what the heck it was about. Three mules are crossing the dryest of deserts and somehow arrive at an observatory. Then there are some beautiful images of the observatory and perhaps telescope at work. How the mules are part of the story is totally beyond me. What this film was even about - if it was indeed about anything (which I can’t guarantee) - well, I have no idea. Having seen some of the other films on the short list, I genuinely can’t figure out how this one made it to the top 5.

The Lost Bus - 1 Nomination

 

• Best Achievement in Visual Effects: Charlie Noble, David Zaretti, Russell Bowen, Brandon K. McLaughlin

The fires in Paradise, CA were devastating on so many levels but there is at least one story that I didn’t know prior to this film, and that follows a school bus driver and a teacher who escorted a group of children away from and through the fires. I don’t know the extent to which the film is accurate, but the portrayal in the film shows obstacle after obstacle getting in the way of this one bus with terrified children and two adults who were prepared to do all they could to rescue them. It is an edge of your seat movie which America Ferrera and Matthew McConaghey ably lead, but as the Oscar nomination indicates, the star of the film is indeed what is accomplished through the visual effects. They make the impact that movies like Towering Inferno made in the 70s, and it is just the slightest of exaggeration to say that you can almost feel the heat on the bus. Without the extraordinary effects, this film is really nothing and there is a scene so powerful toward the end of the film that even knowing the outcome of the reality the movie is based on does nothing to mitigate the tension and the fear drummed up by the screenplay.

This movie is hardly a “do not miss under any circumstances,” but it was very good and worth a Saturday night if you’re looking for something to watch.

The Perfect Neighbor - 1 nomination

 

• Best Documentary Feature: Geeta Gandbhir, Alisa Payne, Nikon Kwantu, Sam Bisbee

If you’re a big fan of true crime, you’ll love this one. A woman lives in a communal area where children run around the yard and play and laugh and live life. She doesn’t love the neighbor kids and she constantly yells at them, throws things at them, and generally harasses them. But over time, she ratchets up the abuse, takes an ipad, and over and over again, their parents come to ask her to stop overstepping. These are, after all, children playing in the yard - not at 2 a.m. but whenever they were outside. And at some point, one of the moms goes over to talk, and she pulls a gun and kills her. This being a “stand your ground” state, she figures she can claim that she was afraid and get away with wielding a deadly weapon and murdering a neighbor without consequence.

This excellent documentary asks us to think about what justice means, how communities come together and support one another, and the difficult conversation about race and what people assume they will and won’t get away with. Even if you doubt any disparity in the justice system for different people, you have to ask the question, why might I be nervous that a murderer won’t be held accountable in a situation like this?

Mr. Nobody Against Putin - 1 Nomination

 

• Best Documentary Feature: Helle Faber, Alzbeta Karaskova, Pavel Talankin, David Borenstein

Victor Abakumov is a beloved teacher in a small town in Russia. The kids hang out in his office. The “weirdos” find their place and their voice with him. He is one of those teachers who goes the extra mile because he genuinely loves what he does and the children under his care. But he is not a fan of Putin’s and proudly hangs the flag of resistance in his office. When his job is slowly taken over by near constant filming of teachers and uploading them so that the state can make sure that teachers are teaching a pro-Russian curriculum (obviously full of insane revisionist history), he becomes more and more disillusioned and in more and more personal danger. He volunteers to discreetly smuggle all of his footage of the propagandizing out to journalists in England, and that is primarily how this footage becomes a documentary film. Along the way, he sets up personal testimonies about loving Russia but hating the war, hating the administration and Putin, and dearly hoping that someone will come along to intervene, and hoping that the children he cared so much about will stop being recruited to fight and die in the Ukranian war. (In America, I guess some people would call that, “love it or leave it” though so far in this country, we are rarely jailed and murdered by the state for having opposing views.)

We can see this teacher’s heart breaking as he gets deeper and deeper and clearer and clearer that his only path forward is out. It is an edge of your seat movie, but also so emotional and raw, and frankly, just a bit on the scary side as we see what happens at the endpoint of authoritarianism. Instructive on multiple levels if the brain can accept any form of nuance, and perhaps a must see for a lesson in how those who dabble as authoritarians ultimately become when they succeed.

Cutting Through Rocks - 1 Nomination

 

• Best Documentary Feature: Sara Khaki,Mohammadreza Eyni

This film was completely unexpected. Sara Shahverdi is a different kind of woman living in a small town in Iran with a big family and an incredible work ethic. She runs for city council and not only does she win (the only woman in the entire list of 200 council members across all of Iran), she gets the highest number of votes, which also entitles her to the community’s stamp. She spends her days helping people, stamping legal documents, managing construction, riding her motorcycle and busting gender roles. This is not always welcome in her community, but her strong will and her ability to win people over are incredibly inspiring. Her personal crusade is not only to make people’s lives better, but specifically to help girls be safe, be educated, and to do more with their lives than they ever thought they could (and certainly more than getting married at age 10, 12, 15). What a warrior. But not everyone is on board with her ideas, and suddenly the state accuses her of having too much masculine energy and puts her under review, whose final outcome could be forced gender reassignment surgery. But don’t worry, Sara would never go down without a fight.

While I have never assumed that things in Iran were great for women, this film gives a deep dive into what communal attitudes are, and what it’s like when women have essentially no say in their own lives. Hardly shocking but certainly tragic, and one wonders how much farther that society would advance if they didn’t disempower literally half of their brain trust. What a fantastic documentary well worthy of your time.

Come See Me in the Good Light - 1 Nomination

 

• Best Documentary Feature: Ryan White, Jessica Hargrave, Tig Notaro, Stef Willen

If you know me really well, you know the true delight I feel being able to congratulate genius comedian Tig Notaro on an Oscar nomination. So that alone was enough for me to be excited about this film, but then to meet and really learn about poet Andrea Gibson was the win of watching this film. Facing a difficult cancer, following her through the ups and downs of tumors shrinking then growing, seeing her manage her own grief but also experience that of her wife, and what it is to finish out one’s life while still having goals and joys and experiences - this film captures what sucks about dying and what is magnificent about living.

When you google Gibson’s poetry, you see beauty and laughter and insight and WOW, what a special human taken far too soon from the world. What I loved the most about this documentary is that it altered the “nearing death” genre and choosing to end the narrative before Andrea died, allowing us and those who knew her to remember her only as the very alive spirit that she was, and shielding us from the aftermath. This was the true brilliance of the documentary - it didn’t make death look easy, it didn’t make Andrea look angelic, but it absolutely made the point of the film to be the impact of life rather than the finality of death.

This was one of my favorite movies of this Oscars season, and I can’t recommend it highly enough. It is available on Apple Plus.