Fantastic Short Film Friday - A Matter of Loaf and Death (animated)

And here we are with our final installment showcasing the 5 animated shorts nominated for the 82nd Annual Academy Awards and damn if it's not a doozy. A 29-minute "short" by Nick Park, this week we take a look at A Matter of Loaf and Death the fourth short of Nick's to star the amazing clay-animated British creations, Wallace and Gromit. Here's the synopsis:

Wallace and Gromit startbusiness. Gromit learns that bakers have been mysteriously disappearing, and tries to solve the case before Wallace ends up a victim himself. This short introduces a new love interest for Wallace, Piella Bakewell, a bread enthusiast as well as, for the first time, one for Gromit: Piella's dog Fluffles.

Frankly while I did find the short very interesting and entertaining, like all the other Wallace and Gromit films, it lacked the ingenuity and creativity that the original shorts had. However it makes up for it in charm, especially when it comes to the new love of Gromit's.

So looking back at all the 5 animated shorts, they were all interesting, however there were 3 standouts for me. While my favorite one was the Spanish short, The Lady and the Reaper the one's that I think have the best chance are this short and Logorama. While I wasn't entertained as most seem to be with Logorama, I do appreciate how amazingly complicated and insane it must have been to make it, and it's because of how creative the short was that I think Logorama will walk away with the Oscar this year.

What does everyone else think? What are your favorites? I want to thank everyone for joining me on this journey as we took a look at all the nominees and I'll be back next week with a fresh look (probably live-action) for everyone's weekly dose of Fantastic Short Film Friday.

Since A Matter of Loaf and Death is not on youtube, I have no way to embed it, so here's the same link I used to check out the short. Enjoy.

Watch it: here

Fantastic Short Film Friday - Logorama (animated)

Part 4 of our 5 part look at the 82nd Annual Academy Awards Nominated Animated Shorts. We're almost done, with one more yet to go, but before we reach the finish line, this week I want to spotlight the animated short, Logoromo by French design collective H5 and directed by Nicolas Schmerkin.

Here's the synopsis of the short from the Oscar nominee's website:

In a world made up entirely of trademarks and brand names, Michelin Man cops pursue a criminal Ronald McDonald.
Basically the animated short fits 2500 logos into a highly entertaining parody of corporate/consumer culture. Out of all the films I've showcased so far I'm most torn about sharing this one since the people who own the rights to the film, Autour de Minuit, have taken the short down on numerous file viewing sites such as Youtube and Vimeo due to copyright issues. While I believe the best thing for these types of shorts is for blogs such as my own to showcase them and get the word out (since I know a very small amount of moviegoers actually watch shorts) I do understand their position. A spokesperson from Autour de Minuit had this to say on the reasoning why they've pulled the short from so many sites, to paraphrase: "this video [Logorama] has been made with more than 2,500 logos of the world top brands and that they never asked the right to use them (which was humanly impossible to do) and more than that, the image of those brands is severly « heckled » so they could be sued by all of them ending in a certain death for that company"

So therefore while I have seen the short and know where to find it, I will only be embedding the trailer of Logorama here. While I know this is a small blog of mine and that very few people take the time to read it, I don't want to add to the filmmakers problems. Take my word for it though, it's very entertaining and funny and when it's finally released commercially (which I feel may be never due to the licensing issues) I will again showcase it here to remind people to check it out. To find out more information on the short go to Logorama's website: here.

So sit back and hopefully the trailer is enough of a cleanser to whet your palate.

Fantastic Short Film Friday - The Lady And The Reaper (animated)

It's time for another installment of our weekly showcase on short films, Fantastic Short Film Friday. This week we take a look at the 3rd of 5 Academy Award Nominated Animated Short Films with The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte) which has the distinction of being the first ever Spanish animated short to be nominated for an Oscar. Directed and written by Javier Recio Gracia and from animation studio KandorMoon, The Lady and the Reaper is an 8-minute short about the epic story of "the Grim Reaper and a self-satisfied doctor who battle over the life of an elderly woman."

This is the 3rd 2010 Oscar nominated animated short we have featured on this blog and it is by far my favorite. I love everything about the film. From the great music, to the wonderful animation with the distinct Spanish style, to the brilliance of the short when it devolves into a Looney Tunes like farce half-way through. You can find out more about the short here.

As always sit back, relax, and get some hot cocoa to go along with this zany short about how death may be more liberating than we could ever imagine.

Fantastic Short Film Friday - Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty (animated)

Yes that's right, it's time for another installment of Fantastic Short Film Friday. Part 2 of a 5 part series, this week we take another gander at one of the nominees for the 82nd Annual Academy Awards for Best Animated Short. That short is Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty. Directed by Nicky Phelan and written/voiced by Kathleen O'Rourke, Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty is the story of how fairy tales have both the power to both enchant and frighten and how grandmother's really do know best.

You can find out more information about the short here. Here's a little info concerning the short from it's website:

Inspired by a character in Irish writer Kathleen O'Rourke's stand-up comedy show, Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty first came to the screen in a 5min short film directed by Nicky Phelan and produced by Brown Bag Films in 2008. Currently zimmer-framing her way around the international film festival circuit, 'Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty' has already collected a number of audience awards at film festivals in Ireland, America and Australia. The short film will have an Irish theatrical release through Paramount Pictures this year and will receive its television debut on Ireland's public service broadcaster, RTE.
The short is a lot of fun and very reminiscent of the classic fairy tales I grew up reading and the animation is a nice mix of CGI and traditional. As always sit back, relax, think of fond memories of your grandmother, and enjoy the ride of Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty.

Fantastic Short Film Friday - French Roast (animated)

As we all know, the nominations for the 82nd Annual Academy Awards were released this Tuesday. Some shocks, some snubs, but an all around good list, a better list of nominees than I've seen in recent memory. However, the relevant part of the list for this post are the short films nominations. Yes, that means it's time for another installment of Fantastic Short Film Friday. Since it's impossible to find the live-action shorts that have been nominated anywhere online, for the next 5 weeks (if I can find them), I'll be posting up each of the nominees for the animated shorts so everyone can judge for themselves what short deserves the win.

This week I want to showcase the French animated short French Roast directed by Fabrice O. Joubert's with original music score by Olivier Llibountry. If you want more information on the short you can check out the films website here.

Here's the synopsis of French Roast from the films website:

In a fancy Parisian Cafe of the sixties, an uptight businessman is about to pay the check when he finds out that he's lost his wallet. To save time he decides to order more coffee...
I gotta say, I really like this 8 minute short. It has a lot to say about human nature, is wonderfully animated and, hell, it's hilariously absurd in a very French way. So sit back and enjoy a little French Roast coffee.

Movie Talkback - 82nd Annual Academy Awards Nominees

It's that time again, OSCARS OSCARS OSCARS, Sunday March 7th to be exact. Honestly, the truth is, I never really cared who won or lost. I watched the movies I watched regardless if they were nominated or not, and only ever really flipped back and forth during the Oscars just to see what the shows Host might do (Billie Crystal is still the greatest Oscar host ever). However, after staring the podcast I took more of an interest in the nominations and winners, purely for the fact that it's something to talk about on the show. And through that I became more and more interested, so much so that Penny and I now host an Oscar party for our friends where play trivia games, eat and be merry while we all gather itogether n front of the telly to see who wins on Oscar night. The Oscars are still ridiculous, but hey at least I can get a party out of them right? So here's a list of the nominations of most of the categories for this years Academy Awards. Any surprises? Any shocks? Any snubs? I'll go thoroughly through the list on our podcast but I'd love to hear what our listeners think.

Best Picture

Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
A Serious Man
Up
Up in the Air

Best Actor

Jeff Bridges, "Crazy Heart"
George Clooney, "Up in the Air"
Colin Firth, "A Single Man"
Morgan Freeman, "Invictus"
Jeremy Renner, "The Hurt Locker"

Best Actress

Sandra Bullock, "The Blind Side"
Helen Mirren, "The Last Station"
Carey Mulligan, "An Education"
Gabourey Sidibe, "Precious"
Meryl Streep, "Julie & Julia"

Best Supporting Actor

Matt Damon, "Invictus"
Woody Harrelson, "The Messenger"
Christopher Plummer, "The Last Station"
Stanley Tucci, "The Lovely Bones"
Christoph Waltz, "Inglourious Basterds"

Best Supporting Actress

Penélope Cruz, "Nine"
Vera Farmiga, "Up in the Air"
Maggie Gyllenhaal, "Crazy Heart"
Anna Kendrick, "Up in the Air"
Mo’Nique, "Precious"

Best Director

Kathryn Bigelow, "The Hurt Locker"
James Cameron, "Avatar"
Lee Daniels, "Precious"
Jason Reitman, "Up in the Air"
Quentin Tarantino, "Inglourious Basterds"

Best Original Screenplay

Mark Boal, "The Hurt Locker"
Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman, "The Messenger"
Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, "A Serious Man"
Pete Docter, Bob Peterson & Tom McCarthy, "Up"
Quentin Tarantino, "Inglourious Basterds"

Best Adapted Screenplay

Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci & Tony Roche, "In the Loop"
Neill Blomkamp & Terri Tatchell, "District 9"
Geoffrey Fletcher, "Precious"
Nick Hornby, "An Education"
Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner, "Up in the Air"

Best Animated Film

Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess and the Frog
The Secret of Kells
Up

Best Foreign Language Film

El Secreto do Sus Ojos (Argentina)
Un Prophete (France)
The White Ribbon (Germany)
Ajami (Israel)
The Milk of Sorrow (Peru)

Best Art Direction

Avatar
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Nine
Sherlock Holmes
The Young Victoria

Best Cinematography

Avatar
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
The White Ribbon

Best Costume Design

Bright Star
Coco Before Chanel
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Nine
The Young Victoria

Best Documentary

Burma VJ
The Cove
Food, Inc.
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers
Which Way Home

Best Editing

Avatar
District 9
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious

Best Makeup

Il Divo
Star Trek
The Young Victoria

Best Score

Avatar
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Hurt Locker
Sherlock Holmes
Up

Best Song

“Almost There,” The Princess and the Frog, Randy Newman
“Down in New Orleans,” The Princess and the Frog, Randy Newman
“Loin de Paname,” Paris 36, Reinhardt Wagner & Frank Thomas
“Take It All,” Nine, Maury Weston
“The Weary Kind,” Crazy Heart, T-Bone Burnett & Ryan Bingham

Best Sound Editing

Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Star Trek
Up

Best Sound Mixing

Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Star Trek
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Best Visual Effects

Avatar
District 9
Star Trek

Best Documentary Short

China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province
The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner
The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant
Music by Prudence
Rabbit à la Berlin

Best Animated Short

French Roast
Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty
The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)
Logorama
A Matter of Loaf and Death

Best Live-Action Short

The Door
Instead of Abracadabra
Kavi
Miracle Fish
The New Tenants