{"id":17743,"date":"2019-02-07T15:04:39","date_gmt":"2019-02-07T23:04:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=17743"},"modified":"2019-02-07T15:04:39","modified_gmt":"2019-02-07T23:04:39","slug":"oscar-nominated-short-films-2019-live-action-contains-serious-somber-and-potent-works","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=17743","title":{"rendered":"OSCAR NOMINATED SHORT FILMS 2019: LIVE ACTION Contains Serious, Somber and Potent Works"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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This program opens in San Diego at the Ken Cinema on Friday, February 8th.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you’re involved in any kind of Oscar pool, it can be very difficult to pick out categories like Short films, particularly because they’re so difficult to find. Thankfully, every year Landmark Ken Cinema presents a program compiling all of the nominees. This year, the Oscar Nominated Short Films 2019: Live Action<\/em> selection five projects created in different countries around the world. It’s always remarkable how much effort goes into each and every impressive story. And in the end, viewing the shorts ends up making my final picks even more difficult to determine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The overall mood this time out is even darker and more\nsomber than in previous editions. Madre<\/em> (Spain)\nis the first featured clip and it involves the lead arriving at her apartment\nand receiving an unsettling call from her 6-year-old son, who is away on a\nvacation with his father. The boy reports that his dad has vanished and there\nis no one around. Panicked, the protagonist and another family member attempt\nto figure out where the boy is in order to get him some help. The majority of\nthe short is played out in a single master shot from the apartment as she talks\non the phone and attempts to pry out information. The film plays on a mother’s\nworst fear and boasts strong performances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Next is Fauve<\/em> (Canada),\na story about two kids playing games on railroad tracks. They dare each other\nto take various risks and try to take control of both the game and each other.\nAs events progress, the pair eventually break into a quarry filled with cement-like\nmud. Of course, it isn’t long before the youths get themselves into serious danger\nand have to deal with the consequences. This short makes an impression,\ncreating an authentic picture of youngsters getting into trouble. It is\nbeautifully shot and features a lot of stark and striking photography of the\nnearby woods and grimy, abandoned surface mine. It also takes a subtle approach\nto the material and the psychological implications of the event. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Marguerite<\/em> (Canada)\nis another French-Canadian effort. This one follows an elderly woman nearing\nher final days and her relationship with a visiting caregiver. As the two go\nabout their normal routines day after day, they begin open up about their personal\nlives and experiences. The attendant’s frankness about her own personal life\ninspires the senior to share some of her own feelings that she had always kept\nto herself. This effort is unique and sensitively handled with excellent lead performances.\nWhile bittersweet, it may be the most emotionally engaging of the entire\nprogram. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Not feeling completely morose yet? Then the police\nprocedural Detainment<\/em> (Ireland)\nmight push you to the brink. This short is based on a real event that occurred\nin 1993, with much of the dialogue taken from actual police interrogations. Two\n10-year-old kids from Liverpool are questioned by\nauthorities about their involvement in the abduction and murder of a toddler.\nOne of the children acts hard and tough towards the policemen, while the other\nbehaves in a terrified and remorseful fashion. Both blame each other for the\nhorrific actions taken and it’s ultimately up to the viewer to decide who is\nbeing more truthful. This one about as heavy as it gets, but it is a memorably short\nand the two children are exceptional in roles that would be difficult for even\nthe most seasoned of professional actors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Finally, Skin<\/em> (USA) is yet another tale involving a youth. This story follows a lower-class kid who is affectionately raised by Neo-Nazi parents; he’s given shooting lessons and becomes part of other unsettling activities. However, the plot focus changes after a brutal hate crime initiated by the father, in which viewers witness the unexpected repercussions of the man’s appalling actions. Like the other films, this effort includes strong performances from the entire cast. While effective, given the tone set early on, it is jarring to see the short switch focus away from the child and witness this somber story suddenly get spun in a Twilight Zone<\/em>-like direction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So yes, there are most definitely no comedies featured in this year’s Oscar Nominated Short Films 2019: Live Action<\/em> program. However, the titles themselves are all accomplished and manage to engage viewers despite having limited time to develop the characters and express their ideas. Any of these could win an Oscar, although I’d rank Marguerite<\/em> and Detainment<\/em> as personal favorites. Regardless, the shorts all deserve support and attention. If viewers don’t mind the weighty subject matter, they’d be well-advised to check this program out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This program opens in San Diego at the Ken Cinema on Friday, February 8th. If you’re involved in any kind of Oscar pool, it can be very difficult to pick out categories like Short films, particularly because they’re so difficult to find. Thankfully, every year Landmark Ken Cinema presents a program compiling all of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":17749,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[197,4704,5776,7368,12065,12066,12899,13195,15009,15495,15523,15524,15525,15526,18324,18482],"class_list":["post-17743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-197","tag-compilations","tag-detainment","tag-fauve","tag-landmark","tag-landmark-theaters","tag-madre","tag-marguerite","tag-nominees","tag-oscar","tag-oscar-nominated-shorts-2019-live-action","tag-oscar-nominated-shorts-2019-live-action-film-review","tag-oscar-nominated-shorts-2019-live-action-movie-review","tag-oscar-nominated-shorts-2019-live-action-review","tag-shorts","tag-skin"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17743","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17743"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17743\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}