I just got back from seeing the five Oscar-nominated live action shorts and was pleasantly surprised. After seeing a mediocre batch of animated shorts yesterday, I was so happy to see that the live action films are among the very best I've ever seen nominated.
Of the five films, two are definite standouts and should battle each other for the Oscar--"Henry" and "Death of a Shadow". While I adored BOTH these films and would love to see both win, if I was forced to pick the very best, I'd say "Henry"--but only by a smidgen. Both films are among the best short films I have ever seen--and I probably have reviewed more shorts than anyone on IMDb.
My daughter and I both agreed that although the film is supposed to be a bit of a mystery as to what's happening, we BOTH almost immediately knew what the mystery was. My daughter thought that impacted her enjoyment--I didn't really care because the film was made so remarkably well. The camera-work was brilliant, the acting by Gérard Poirier was even more brilliant and the the story, though a bit predictable, was MAGNIFICENT.
Oddly, right now on IMDb, "Henry" only has a score of 6.0--and I have absolutely no idea why. It's brilliant...but just be sure to have a lot of Kleenex nearby--you'll need it.
UPDATE: Well, the Oscar folks didn't seem to agree with me and instead gave the award to "Curfew"--a very good film, though I still think "Henry" was better.
