75th Annual Academy Awards
Short Films
Picture:
B- Sound: B/B-* Extras: C Films: B- each
Animated
-
The ChubbChubbs (6 minutes, 1.78 X 1)
Rocks (Das Rad) (Germany, 8 minutes, 1.78 X 1)
Mt. Head (Atama Yama) (Japan, 10 minutes)*
Mike’s New Car (Monster’s Inc. short, 4 minutes)
The Cathedral (Poland, 6 minutes, 1.78 X 1)*
Live
Action (all 1.78 X 1) –
This Charming Man (Der Er En Yndig
Mand) (Denmark, 29 minutes)
I’ll Wait For The Next One
(J’Attendrai Le Suivant) (France, 4 minutes)
Gridlock (Fait d’Hiver) (Belgium, 7 minutes)*
Dog (Inja) (Australia, 17 minutes)*
The Short
Subject category is always a sort of UFO when it comes to the Oscars, yet the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences includes it in every
larger, non-technical broadcast just the same.
The films have to be shown a week in Los Angeles to qualify, yet most never see
them. This new DVD of The 75th Annual Academy Awards
Short Films gives us an idea of what we have been missing. Often, some of the shorts have appeared on other
shorts collections (see our Resfest
reviews on this site, for instance).
Unlike
other sets, trying to explain any of these ruin them, but the titles should
give you and idea and they were all good, which was a surprise, since there
have been a mix of shorts in other sets.
This is some good quality viewing for those interested in something
different and especially for filmmakers and animators.
The
images range form full frame to 1.78 X 1 and are indicated above. The letterboxed shorts do not have the
benefit of anamorphic enhancement, but tend not to look bad. Though some of the shorts were released with
Dolby, DTS and even SDDS (Sony Dynamic Digital Sound) mixes, everything is
presented here in Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo with varying degrees of Pro Logic
surround. Those marked * above have the
slightly poorer sound. The only extra is
about how to submit a short to the academy and is well-explained.
The move
towards computer animation is seen by many as disturbing, as it is with feature
films, in that an entire artform (hand-drawn animation) is being tossed away
for something new because it happens to be new and very profitable. However, the true test will be to see which
digital works will hold up 10, 20, 30 years from now. Many from the recent past are not considered
anything great, while the hand drawn works endure better. The live action pieces are amusing, but where
does narrative end and gimmick begin?
Short Subjects will continue to be a point of debate, especially with
sets like this on DVD around.
- Nicholas Sheffo
