After last year’s depression parade, it actually was a bit nervous going to this year’s screening. Fortunately, there was far less trauma, and far more humor. Indeed, there were no bad options, and I won’t mind if any of them wins.
Since
the five contestants were all lengthy, it also meant no ‘highly commended’
features at the end. In order of appearance, then:
Magic
Candies
This
Japanese short had gorgeous world-building and backgrounds. The lonely boy who
gets magic candies that help him gain confidence, is sweet. A relatively safe
choice, there were some good moments – but the overall arc felt off.
In the
Shadow of the Cypress
An
Iranian film gets this year’s coveted ‘parental trauma’ award! Yes, the Oscars
seem to always nominate at least one feature (sometimes more) regarding parental abuse,
dementia, death, PTSD, or some other trauma and how it affects children. Here a father
is violent and oppressive and his daughter wants to get away, but is stopped by
having a burden she needs to take car of : a beached whale. Symbolism!
Yuck!
A funny
and sweet French offering, tweens make fun of adults kissing, but then two of
them want to kiss. Most family-friendly of the offerings, and not undeserving.
Wander
to Wonder
A very
dark sense of humor infuses this tale of three mysterious little people who
have to survive when the producer of their TV show dies. With elements of
‘Don’t Hug Me, I’m Scared,’ but without the same level of horror, this may be my
favorite choice, in terms of novelty and execution.
Beautiful
Men
Three
guy friends want hair transplants, but due to a mistake only one appointment is
scheduled. The premise of middle-aged male loneliness doesn’t do much for me,
and the story didn’t quite work. Oddly the production was from the same folks
as the previous film, including much of the same cast.
Preferred Ranking:
Wander
to Wonder
Magic
Candies
Yuck!
In the
Shadow of the Cypress
Beautiful Men
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