BEST LIVE ACTION SHORTS 2013

Asad is the story of a young Somali boy trying to survive in his war-torn homeland.  A bit of humor and the movie is  made impressively made entirely with Somali refugees.

Bukashi Boys is the story of two boys growing up in Afghanistan and there interest in the national sport of Bukashi.  It is a violent sport and I didn't like part of the ending of this movie but interesting to see a different view of Afghanistan than we are used to seeing.

Curfew is the story of a troubled uncle who has to babysit his niece whom he hasn't seen since she was a baby and she doesn't know who he is.  It is an enjoyable movie on family dynamics and how children can help to heal families with their innocence.

Death of a Shadow is the interesting story about a man who dies and has to take pictures of shadows after a death and once he takes 10,000 pictures he has the ability to be alive again.  The pictures have and artistic beauty to them and the premise is original with a nice twist at the end.

Henry is the story of a concert pianist whose life is thrown into turmoil when the love of his life mysteriously disappears.  You feel, suspense, humor and drama in this is complete written story amazingly done in only 21 minutes.

All five of these nominations receive thumbs up but the edge for me will have to go to Henry for reaching through my eyes and grasping hold of my heart.

BEST ANIMATED SHORTS 2013

Adam and Dog is the story of Adam and a Dog then Eve comes along and changes Adam and the dog's relationship.  It is cute but a bit too long even though it is only a short film.

Fresh Guacamole is the 2 min film about making guacamole.  The effects are cool with taking one thing and turning it into another through visual effects.

Head Over Heels is the very creative and heart-warming story of a couple that live head over heels;  you just have to watch it to really understand!

The Longest Daycare is the Simpsons short film about Maggie's day in daycare.  It is cute with a good twist at the end but watching a Simpsons's episode is better.

Paperman is the heart-warming black and white story of a couple who fall in love at first sight with the help of flying paper airplanes.

These are all cute animated shorts with both thumbs up but I would have to give the nod to head over heels as the most completely developed story (in 11 minutes mind you) but would not be disappointed if Paperman wins instead.

TED

The Mayans may have been wrong that the world was going to end last year but when a movie like Ted gets nominated for a prestigious Academy award, you start second-guessing everything you thought you knew about the world.

Written, directed and voicing the teddy bear "Ted" is Seth Macfarlane who is the host of this years Oscar broadcast.  He is the creator  of Family Guy, American Dad and the Cleveland Show.

Even though the title character is a cute teddy bear, this is DEFINITELY not for children.  This is a fun but potty-humor filled movie with reference to the 80's icon Flash Gordon.  The thunder buddy song is cute too.

I give this 1 and a half thumbs up laughing all the way.

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORTS 2013

Inocente tells the story of an illegal immigrant named Inocente who is striving to succeed at her love of painting while overcoming homelessness.  This was an amazingly talented girl who has now become a legal U.S. Citizen and sold all of her paintings at her first art show (except for one she kept for herself).

Kings Point tells the story of a retirement community in Florida and the laughter and outspokenness of the elderly generation.  With the aging Baby Boomer generation, we need to be more aware of the treasure we have in our elders and this was one small step in accomplishing that.

Mondays at Racine is the story of a salon in Long Island, New York owned by sisters Rachel and Cynthia, (combing their names to create the name Racine)  who devote one Monday every month to allow cancer patients to come in and get hair cuts and other salon options for free in memory of their late Mother who passed on from Breast cancer herself.  Society needs more good stories like this one--so support your local Gilda's club!

Open Heart is the story of eight Rwandan children with rheumatic heart disease who travel to Sudan for heart surgery.  The surgery opens their hearts and opens the viewers eyes to see the advances we have made in America to defeat a treatable childhood disease and the need to send penicillin to Rwanda to help fight it worldwide.

Redemption is the story of a booming business on the streets of New York called canning.  Aluminum cans and glass bottles are worth 5 cents each and unemployed people are cleaning the streets of New York of the cans and bottles to earn some money.  It makes the viewer realize the bad economy but the determination of the American spirit to raise money legally and creatively.

These five all show real-life accounts of people overcoming adversity in a brief 39-40 minutes.  These five movies are all equally as good and deserving of their nomination but I have to give my thumbs up for Mondays at Racine in honor of my friends and family some who have lost and some who have fought and are winning their own battles against cancer!

SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN

This much darker version of the tale of Snow White (as compared to Mirror Mirror reviewed previously in this blog) is worth seeing for the talented Charlize Theron.  Kristen Stewart as snow white does nothing to improve my impression of her acting ability ranking in the same league as Keanu Reeves.  I think Rupert Sanders as the director agrees with me because in a film about Snow White, he seems to focus more on the queen and the huntsman (Chris Hemsworth from Hunger Games fame).

I enjoyed the effects of this movie but prefer the lighthearted farce of Mirror Mirror so only give this 1 thumb slightly less than straight up.