2020 Oscar Nominated Live Action Shorts

Overall:

The Live Action Shorts had a whiplash of emotions (woah, what?, ugh!, hmm, yes!) that left me feeling good.

A Sister (16 minutes)

The film opens with a couple driving in a car with the woman asking permission to call her sister to arrange for care for her daughter. From that point the film jumps back and forth from the claustrophobic and hard-to-see car interior to a different location. I found this film hopeful and clever and also the kind of film that wasn’t going to get a lot of votes.

The verdict: Recommended

Watch “A Sister” here.

Brotherhood (25 minutes)

This takes place in Tunisia and the three young men who play the brothers are fascinatingly red-headed and freckled.* It’s about a family where the oldest brother has been absent for returns home with a Syrian wife. Has he been working for ISIS?

*Googling got me to an article hidden behind a paywall, but apparently Meryam Joobeur, the director, came across two of them in 2016 tending sheep in northern Tunisia, asked to take their picture and was denied. Then she came back with script for a short film, asked around, found the brothers and they agreed to be in the film.

The verdict: Recommended

Watch “Brotherhood” on Viemo.

Saria (22 minutes)

This film is based on a true story about an incident in an orphanage in Guatemala. The film focuses on two sisters who are determined to escape from the grim and terrible place. It’s a short film that manages to be hopeful, despite its depressing topic.

The verdict: Good

Watch a trailer for “Saria” here.

The Neighbors’ Window (20 minutes)

A very tired couple with three children who live in an apartment watch the antics of a younger couple who move in across the street. This was the weakest of the bunch. I saw the twist coming in the first five minutes, which would have been okay, but the actor playing the husband was Not A Good Actor.

The verdict: Skip

Watch “The Neighbors’ Window” here.

Nefta Football Club (17 minutes)

What starts with two men looking for a donkey in the desert and expands to encompass two boys on a motorbike headed back to their Tunisian village. This was the funniest of the nominated short films (there was clapping). It was also my favorite.

The verdict: Recommended

Watch Nefta Football Club here.

Cost: $6.00
Where watched: Hollywood Theatre with S. North.

My ranking: (winner in bold)

  • Nefta Football Club
  • Brotherhood
  • A Sister
  • Saria
  • The Neighbors’ Window

2020 Oscar Nominated Documentary Shorts

Overall:

Like last year, the documentary shorts were my favorite. I love these short slices of life, all of which inspired a lot of feelings. I felt wrung out after watching these, but in a better way than the animated shorts.

Note that not all of these individual reviews will have three sentences.

Life Overtakes Me (39 minutes)

This movie starts with a fairy tale-like shot of snow coating branches of trees. It continues by explaining about an illness that is affecting refugee children in Sweden. This was fascinating and a bit horrifying.

The verdict: Recommended

Watch “Life Overtakes Me” on Netflix.

Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (if you’re a girl) (39 minutes)

I’m always going to go for the stories about the girls. And girls in cultures where girls don’t matter are a big win for me. And movies about skateboarding also are a thing I love.

The verdict: Recommended

Watch “Learning to Skateboard” on A&E.

In the Absence (29 minutes)

In 2014, the Korean ferry Sewol sank and 300 people (many of them children) drowned. This film follows the disaster from the moment the Coast Guard arrives on scene through years of protest and trials. It was painful and horrible and I highly recommend you watch just to see how many everyday people were affected and to hear the stories of those who tried to make a terrible situation better.

The verdict: Recommended.

Watch “In the Absence” on Vimeo.

Walk, Run, Cha-Cha (20 minutes)

After three heavy subjects, this story of a later-in-life couple who love ballroom dance was a crowd pleaser. Paul and Millie Cao met in Vietnam, and were separated when Paul came to the US as a refugee; Millie joined about five years later. In 20 minutes we get a sense of their life together, their friends and family, and their love for Cha Cha.

The verdict: Recommended

Watch “Walk, Run, Cha-Cha” on Vimeo.

St. Louis Superman (28 minutes)

Bruce Franks ran for a seat in the Missouri State Legislature after what happened in Ferguson and this film follows him as he goes about his duties. It’s a great depiction of the difficult realities of political office and shows off Franks’s talents speaking to people and inspiring them.

The verdict: Good

Watch a trailer for “St. Louis Superman” on YouTube.

Cost: $10.00
Where watched: Kiggens Theater

My ranking: (winner in bold)

  • Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (if you’re a girl)
  • In the Absence
  • Life Overtakes Me
  • Walk, Run, Cha Cha
  • St. Louis Superman

Top Movies: January 2020

(13 movies watched)

Where’d You Go, Bernadette

When you may have lost your grip on reality.

Where'd You Go, Bernadette

Margot at the Wedding

When you worship a self-involved parent

Margot at the Wedding

Honey Boy

When your self-involved parent worships himself.

Honey Boy

Beautiful Boy

When your parent is involved and you’re still an addict.

Beautiful Boy

1917

When the only way out is through.

1917

Red Rock West

When you just can’t get out of town.

Red Rock West

Richard Jewell

When the tables are turned.

Richard Jewell

Pain & Glory

When you are old.

Pain & Glory

Brittany Runs a Marathon

When you are ready for something new.

Brittany Runs a Marathon

2020 Oscar Nominated Animated Shorts

Overall:

I came out of the Animated Shorts feeling defeated and depressed. Thank goodness for the wacky Hors Piste—a bonus feature, and the very brief Maestro. All of the shorts this year are about death or loss, mostly directly, sometimes tangentially.

Also, these reviews aren’t necessarily going to be three sentences each.

Hair Love (7 minutes)

A girl wants to make her hair look nice, but despite online tutorial vidoes, is too young to have the skills. Her father is nervous, but willing to try. Very sweet and funny, this is the feel-good short.

The verdict: Good

Watch “Hair Love” on YouTube here.

Dcera (Daughter) (15 minutes)

Stop motion animation with papier-mâché figures that focuses on a father and daughter relationship. Aside from being depressing, the animation of the eyeballs weirded me out. This was a very long fifteen minutes.

The verdict: Skip

Pay to watch “Dcera” here.

Sister (8 minutes)

Felted dolls tell this story about a man’s childhood memories of his sister. In places, the animation was weird in a good way and this story hit me hard. This was my favorite.

The verdict: Recommended

Website information here.

Kitbull (9 minutes)

This is Pixar-adjacent, the story of a feral kitten who makes a new friend. I was all in for the antics of the black feral kitten (my home includes a formerly feral, now-grown kitten who jumped around just like this one) but another animal was in danger in a way that made me angry and after that I was having none of this short.

The verdict: Skip

Watch “Kitbull” on YouTube here.

Memorable (12 minutes)

Another stop-motion animated entry, this was the most artsy of the bunch. In it, a painter and his wife experience changes. It illustrated a depressing topic in beautiful color and motion.

The verdict: Skip

“Memorable” is not available to watch.

Shorts TV, the organization who distributes the Oscar-Nominated films to theaters, probably couldn’t justify sending out a 51-minute program. So there was some padding added. And thank goodness, because the last two shorts managed to turn around the depressing topics.

Henrietta Bulkowski (16 minutes)

Another stop-motion entry, this is the story of a woman with kyphosis (when the spine curves and gives a hunchback) who wants to be a pilot. I enjoyed how fantastically weird this film was.

The verdict: Good

Website is here.

The Bird and the Whale (6 minutes)

This was gorgeous. It’s 4,300 paintings on glass paired with an original score by Chris McLoughlin. But when you have a bird in a cage as the sole survivor of a shipwreck, you’ve got an animal in peril and that’s a no-go for me.

The verdict: Skip

Website is here.

Hors Piste (5 minutes)

God bless Hors Piste for its tale of mountain rescue workers whose mission doesn’t go as planned. The CGI brings a funny veneer to the story and the poor fellow being rescued has increasingly amusing expressions.

The verdict: Recommended

Trailer is here.

Maestro (2 minutes)

This is two minutes of a squirrel directing a cast of forest animals in a bit of opera. There’s nothing not to like here.

The verdict: Recommended

Watch “Maestro” on Vimeo here.

Cost: $9.75
Where watched: Living Room Theaters

My ranking: (winner in bold)

  • Sister
  • Hors Piste
  • Hair Love
  • Henrietta Bulkowski
  • Maestro
  • Memorable
  • The rest are just: No!

Books read in January 2020

Picture Books

Saturday
Oge Mara
Read for Librarian Book Group

A mother and daughter make the most of their Saturdays together despite whatever obstacles may get in their way.

I’ve been taking a deep breath and letting it out since I read this charming book.

Middle Grade

Free Lunch
Rex Ogle
Read for Librarian Book Group

One of the many things aspiring authors learn about writing novels is that often the book you write to teach a lesson is not a book that is very good. And so it was with this book.

I understand that Rex Ogle had it rough growing up. Clearly his early years were miserable, and I hope that he has escaped the demons that follow along with the grinding poverty and abuse that was his childhood.

However, the prose that he wrote about his childhood was clunky and the piling on of terrible stuff was unrelenting. The book wraps up in a way that is unbelievable, given what’s come before.

Young Adult

Look Both Ways
Jason Reynolds
Read for Librarian Book Group

10 short stories that show off Reynolds mastery of prose and had me marveling over his sentences. And there was one story (featuring the Low Cuts) that caused me to burst into tears.

Hello Girls
Cavallaro & Henry

Winona and Lucille come from different parts of town and have different terrible home lives. Their friendship is the thing that keeps them going.

There are some great observations about female bodies and class and landscape and I think I kept my distance from this book due to worry about the main characters.

The Loves and Lies of Rukhsana Ali
Sabina Khan

A good reminder that coming out isn’t always safe and sometimes lies about who you love are more important than the truth.

White Bird
R.J. Palacio

A graphic novel about the complexities of hiding during World War II. It was sad in parts (because war is hell) but there are some delights and a few twists I didn’t see coming.

Emergency Contact
H.K. Choi

Penny is my kind of prickly main character and her text-based relationship with a barista/aspiring documentarian had me turning pages. While on those pages, I delighted in some great writing. A certain subject was depicted in a way I think happens a lot, and I appreciate H.K. Choi for bringing that experience to light.

Also: gorgeous cover.

Young Nonfiction

They Called us Enemy
George Takei
Read for Librarian Book Group

This graphic novel does a good job showing the Japanese-American internment through a child’s eyes. It also puts this policy in perspective nationally and historically. I liked that the narrative continued on through Takei’s life so we could see the ramifications afterward.

The Toll
Neil Shusterman

This is a big, thick book that is third in a trilogy and Shusterman’s genius is that I was never confused about what was going on, even though there are multiple characters and I read the previous book last year.

All of the feelings are back and the tension is high. If you haven’t read this series, start with Scythe. If you have read Scythe and Thunderhead ——>GO!

Grownup Nonfiction

Change Your Habits, Change Your Life
Tom Corley

I wasn’t a fan of the repeated references to “self-made millionaires,” one of whom was Donald Trump who we know is not at all a self-made millionaire. However, a few things can be gleaned from this. For instance, don’t spend more than 5% of your annual income on vacation.

Grownup Fiction

Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts
Kate Racculia

Immensely readable! Tuesday Mooney is a compelling character. People in her life (Dex, Dorrie) are also interesting and the mystery/game was engrossing and complex.

It’s also a book set in Boston, so if you’ve spent time there, you will enjoy it in a geographical sense.

This Must Be the Place
Kate Racculia

This is a debut novel with some debut novel things, like the random flash forward when two people become friends. There are also some time shifts that had me confused. It didn’t help the library only had an electronic copy, which thwarts my paging through what I’ve read.

Still, I liked the characters, the writing and there were some really great passages about teen first love. (Debut love?)

Songs of the Month: January 2020

“Memories” by Maroon 5

There’s a comedian with a bit about how all songs sound like Canon in D. This is one that could be added to his routine.

So damn catchy.

“The Bones” by Maren Morris

This gets played all the time, so I might get sick of it, but I like that it’s a solid couple relationship song.

“Lover” by Taylor Swift featuring Shawn Mendes

Speaking of happy couple songs, this is delightful. (Apparently this is not the official video.)

Last of the Golden Signature Notepads

Former coworker Zoe and I used these notepads to make lists of things to do. Zoe even went a step further and cut up the used pages to make scratch paper from the back.

You would think I could order more, but I cannot, because I broke up with Quill. And someone bought much too many of the same size of notepad but wide ruled (inferior!) so I have to use all of those before I can get back to the recycled paper college ruled aesthetic of these notepads.

But I’ve enjoyed these notepads while they’ve lasted.

Brittany Runs a Marathon is 26.2 Miles of Good Film

Brittany Runs a Marathon

The review:

Paul Downs Colaizzo’s Brittany Runs a Marathon captures that oh-so-familiar post-college floundering, and layers in female body issues and shaky friendships. It does all of these things very well and stars Jillian Bell, who is usually a bit player who steals scenes,* but as Brittany, she gets to flex all her acting muscles. This is an excellent movie about subjects seldom addressed.**

The verdict: Recommended

Cost: Free via Amazon Prime 30-day trial***
Where watched: at home

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*My first moment of “who IS that?” was in 22 Jump Street.
**The medium of film seems a good one especially to address women and body issues. Perhaps as more women are in positions of movie making power will we see more of this subject.
***The boyfriend signed up for other reasons, but I made sure to see the two movies Amazon has been sitting on: this and Beautiful Boy.

Questions:

  • What aspect of female life would you like to see more movies made about?
  • Who is your favorite underrated female comic?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

The cast and crew actually got to film at the New York City Marathon, making this the first time a non-documentary film crew has been allowed to shoot there.

Other reviews:

Brittany Runs a Marathon

Wedding of Kelle and Jim

We attended a sweet, small ceremony for Kelle and Jim in a place not far from our house. (Bonus!) We also got to help decorate.

I enjoy finding my current-day counterpart. I don’t think I would have been this styling, but I for sure would have tucked myself away with a good book. (I never caught what book he was reading.)

After the ceremony, we got to hear the happy couple make some music together.