SPECIAL EVENT: REVIEWS OF ALL FIVE OSCAR® NOMINEES FOR
BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM OF 2005
AVERAGED WIP FOR ALL FIVE FILMS: $11.40
When Seen: 28 February 2006
Where Viewed: Starz FilmCenter, Denver, CO
Time: 8:10 p.m.
Review Dedicated to: Emily D. of Middlebury, VT via Chicago, IL via New Haven, CT
Live Action Short Film: Ausreisser (The Runaway) [NR] 23 minutes
WIP: $12.50
By far my personal favorite of the nominees, this German short film, Ausreisser (The Runaway) directed by Ulrike Gote based on a script by Linus Foerster, reunites a father (Peter Jordan) and the son (Maximilian Werner) he never knew he had in a somewhat transcendental fashion. Beginning with very creative and clever animated title credits that reveal the main plot elements, the film introduces us to Walter, an out-of-work architect as he prepares some important sketches for a job interview the next day. On the way to the interview, however, he is met by a young boy, Yuri, who immediately takes a linking to him and calls him Papa. As much as Walter tried to lose the kid, he keeps popping up, and he cannot shake the feelling that there is some sort of connection between him and the boy. Clearly, he knew the child’s mother in a previous era of his life. She wanted kids, while he did not. This led to their splitting up. With a couple of twists that mixes up the Sixth Sense with Just Like Heaven, Ausreisser (The Runaway) is a mysterious yet masterful film about the under currents that connect us all on some ethereal level.
Live Action Short Film: Cashback [NR*]18 minutes
WIP: $10.75
A British short film written and directed by Sean Ellis—who last brought us the horror short film, Left Turn, Cashback has been perceived so favorably that Mr. Ellis is now working on a feature length version of the film. Starring the antics of Sainsbury’s Whitechapel grocery store stock boy, Ben (Sean Biggerstaff—of Harry Potter movie fame) and his co-workers: Sharon (Emilia Fox), Barry (Michael Dixon), and Matt (Michael Lambourne) Cashback delivers on multiple levels. These are the late shift crewmates, and they work in a world which Ben describes simply as “trading money for time” or “cashback”. It is time, in fact, that becomes the focus of the film as we see the various strategies each of the employees utilizes to pass it during the wee hours of the morning—who would think there would be so many people grocery shopping at 3:00 a.m. in the first place? Ultimately, the ‘fun’ and the ‘art’ come when we discover Ben’s method of killing time which permits him access to the very personal and intimate details of the female shoppers. Trust me, after seeing this film, you will never be able to grocery shop the same way again. This film is creative and entertaining. It has some elements of Mrs. Henderson Presents and the Jonathan Frakes-directed Clock Stoppers. Try to imagine that combination for a second, and you’ll have Cashback.
*I would give this film an R-rating.
Live Action Short Film: The Last Farm [NR]
WIP: $10.00
This Icelandic film, the shortest of the nominees, comes from writer/director Rúnar Rúnarsson, and tells the very sad tale of a farmer who has to deal with the death of his wife. The film is very, very dark not just of subject matter but in lighting as well. It takes a grim look on life on the one hand, yet there is no denying the incredible love between the farmer and his dearest wife. With very little dialog, and even if you chose not to read the subtitles, you will get the message here. This is a good little film, not the best of the bunch, but still a good film.
Live Action Short Film: Our Time is Up [NR] 12 minutes
WIP: $11.50
In this short film nominee from the USA, writer/director Rob Pearlstein delivers a film I would say is also worthy of consideration for feature length production. Actor Kevin Pollak stars as Dr. Stern an appropriately named psychiatrist who treats his patients in a fashion seemingly designed to keep them under his care on into infinity without any hope for parole. Through a twist of fate, Dr. Stern learns he has but six weeks to live which causes him to take a more drastic approach in solving the various neuroses of his patients with initially comical yet ultimately dramatic impacts on their lives. Frankie J. Allison, Vivian Bang, Michael Cornacchia , Matthew Frauman, Rick Hoffman, Johnny Messner, Jerry Minor, and Katheryn Winnick play Dr. Stern’s patients with each turning tiny roles into Gem Mint 10 performances. This is a wonderful little film about human growth and tragedy. Kevin Pollak does an outstanding job of bringing Dr. Stern’s true colors to the surface in short order. This is the kind of film you will want to see over and over again just for the great lines such as “Soap cleans off the bacteria, but what cleans the bacteria off the soap?”
Live Action Short Film: Six Shooter [NR*] 27 minutes
WIP: $12.25
The Irish entry written and directed by Martin McDonagh and starring Irish actors Brendan Gleeson (Professor Moody from Harry Potter IV) and Rúaidhrí Conroy (Hart’s War) takes place nearly entirely on a train. Mr. Dudley (Gleeson), grief stricken from the death of his wife, takes the train headed to Dublin. He asks to join a facing seat with an Irish lad (Conroy) who teaches him a thing or two about the value of life. There are some shocking and brutal twists of fate as the pair encounters a husband/wife couple that has just lost their first child and Dudley begins to wonder about the lad’s tale of his murdered mother. Meanwhile, the lad attempts to enliven everyone’s life with a supposedly true tale of a cow with trapped wind—you’ll have to see it to believe it I guess. This was my second favorite of the films, and the one with the best theatrical performances all in all.
*I would give this film an R-rating for language and violence.
In summary, I would say that the nominating committee did an outstanding job selecting these films this year. All five are worthy of seeing, and all five will stick with you for years to come.
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