Subtravelling Festival: Primera muestra Internacional de Cortometrajes en el Metro

Entre los días 15 y 18 de octubre tubo lugar en Barcelona la Primera Mostra Internacional de Curtmetratges al Metro.

Se trata de una serie de proyecciones de cortometrajes y microcortos que se pudo visualizar en las estaciones de metro de las líneas 1 y 2 de Barcelona, en el vestíbulo de la estación Universitat.

Cuando me enteré de este evento ya era tarde, porque vi el cartel precisamente en el metro cuando iba a ver al bueno de Joaquín Reyes el mismo día 18.

Así que tan solo he podido contentarme con verlos en la web oficial del evento.

He seleccionado los que más me han gustado de los 15 que hay en la web:

El premiado por los usuarios, Oktapodi, un corto francés de animación.

Undo, muy original y divertido, de Alfonso Fulgencio.

Y el que más me ha gustado por su originalidad, puesta en escena y por ser tan gracioso es The Black Hole.

Pasen y vean…

• Cortos destacados

Oktapodi (Francia, 2008)

Undo (España, 2009)

Western Spaghetti (USA, 2008)

Terrafarmer (Escocia, 2008)

The black hole (Inglaterra 2008)

Fetch (Inglaterra, 2007)

A lucky day (España, 2008)

Sí, es la actriz que hacía de hija en la serie de Médico de familia, de Emilio Aragón.

• Enlaces de interés

Página Oficial de Subtravelling festival

Web del corto Undo, Paramotion Films

Web del corto Oktapodi

Web del corto Terrafarmer

Web del corto Western Spaghetti

Web del corto Fetch

How adorable are these octopi?

Cuando veas el corto podrás pensar que se trata de la genialidad de Pixar, pero nada más lejos. Este corto de 2:25 minutos es obra de unos animadores franceses llamados Gobelins.

Ambientado en Grecia, cuenta las aventuras de dos pulpos enamorados que son separados en la pescaderia, y de cómo el macho hará lo imposible para salvar a su amor de las manos del dueño de un restaurante.

En la pagina oficial de Oktapodi se pueden ver más detalles de como se realizó esta gran obra.

Have you seen such adorable octopuses ever?! So bloody cute! Anyway it deservedly received various achievement awards. The colours are gorgeous! Do take a look at it if you haven’t as its only 2 mins long.

Oktapodi es un cortometraje de animación sensacional. Si reprimes una carcajada, tú te lo pierdes… Aquí lo ves.

Eso sí, nunca podrás comer o pulpo a feira de la misma manera.

Vía Llámame Lola

Oktapodi es un corto creado por unos alumnos de la escuela francesa Gobelins. Es la historia de amor entre dos pulpos que son separados por la fuerza. La verdad es que es muy chulo y les auguro un gran futuro a estos chavales.

Visto en: Llamame Lola

Dentro de esta sección hablaré acerca de las escuelas que existen en todo el mundo, y cuentan con el reconocimiento mundial necesario para recomendarlas. El día de hoy la luz la dirijo a : Gobelins L’Ecole de L’Image .

Gobelins L’Ecole de L’Image es una escuela parisina dedicada a las artes visuales. Una escuela consular fundada por la Cámara de Comercio e Industria de Paris. Esta escuela provee entrenamiento en varios formatos y en una variedad de costos. Es mejor conocida por el Departamento Cinematrográfico de Animación, fundado en 1975 por Pierre Ayma, que atrajo la atención a la escuela. Adquirió reputación internacional ,produciendo talentosos individuos y equipos que encontraron su lugar en estudios prestigiosos como Disney, Universal Studios, Hanna Barbera, Pixar, Dreamworks y Warner Bros. Alguno de sus estudiantes incluyen a un gran número de artistas de tiras cómicas y artistas de animación como Didier Cassegrain, Cromwell, Jean-François Miniac  y muchos otros. Mucha gente proveniente de todo el mundo enseña en Gobelins.
Por algunos años, Gobelins ha propuesto innovaciones en contenido multimedia online y offline liderando el desarrollo o el diseño de productos para la web, para CD ROM, DVDs interactivos, o instalaciones públicas. El departamento de video, creado por Daniel Boullay y Guy Chevalier, y reservado para el entrenamiento de los adultos, desde 1985 ha sido gran parte del paisaje  técnico audiovisual francés. Dirigido por Daniel Desmoulins, el departamento de video permite a profesionales crear o analizar técnicas, manteniéndose al corriente con la rápida evolución de la industria de la tecnología. Gobelins también ofrece lecciones en fotografía y diseño gráfico.

Cómo dice por ahí, uno de mis gustos es principalmente la animación y mi sueño dorado es precisamente, participar en una obra maestra….el siguiente corto fue nominado al Óscar y ¿cómo no?.

En los 2:25 minutos que dura el corto, sólo nos acompaña una melodía francesa, no hay nada de dialogos, la historia es simple y divertida. El amor…pero el amor de dos pulpos que se ven separados por el cruel destino (jajaja). Los creadores de tan singular corto son los Gobelins, de una escuela especialista en artes visuales. Entrando en un poco de historia, fue fundada en 1975 por Pierre Ayma, los talentos incontables que han salido de ésta escuela han participado para las grandes producciones.

Y como escuela de artes visuales enseñan animación, fotografía y…sí, diseño gráfico.

Si gustan de informarse bien de la animación, como su servidora, no dudaran en darle un vistazo a la página de el corto.

>Así que… a continuación.

Por cierto, hay un pequeño detallito sobre la animación, que si cuentan bien, sabrán a que me refiero.

Que lo disfruten :3

Un petit film d’animation drôle et drôlement bien fait par des étudiants des Gobelins.

Une version de meilleure qualité est disponible sur le site du film, le site officiel du film ou vous trouverez aussi un “making of” et d’autres informations sur cette réalisation.

I’ve been saying it all night: give me five years and I guarantee you that I will be on that red carpet!

Here’s the list. Winners are in bold, my picks are in italics. If I picked it and it won, it’ll be bold AND in italics (like this).

Best Supporting Actress

• Amy Adams, Doubt
• Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
• Viola Davis, Doubt
• Taraji P. Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler

Best Original Screenplay

• Frozen River
• Happy-Go-Lucky
• In Bruges
• Milk
• Wall-E

Best Adapted Screenplay

• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Doubt
• Frost/Nixon
• The Reader
• Slumdog Millionaire

Best Animated Feature Film

• Bolt
• Kung Fu Panda
• Wall-E

Best Animated Short Film

• La Maison En Petits Cubes
• Lavatory- Lovestory
• Oktapodi
• Presto
• This Way Up

Art Direction

• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• The Duchess
• The Dark Knight
• Changeling
• Revolutionary Road

Costume Design

• Revolutionary Road
• The Duchess
• Milk
• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Australia

Best Makeup

• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• The Dark Knight
• Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Best Cinematography

• Changeling
• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• The Dark Knight
• The Reader
• Slumdog Millionaire

Best Live Action Short

• Auf Der Strecke (On the Line)
• Manon on the Asphalt
• New Boy
• The Pig
• Spielzeugland (Toyland)

Best Supporting Actor

• Josh Brolin, Milk
• Robert Downey Jr., Tropic Thunder
• Philip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt
• Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
• Michael Shannon, Revolutionary Road

Best Documentary Feature

• The Betrayal (Nehahkoon)
• Encounters at the End of the World
• The Garden
• Man on Wire
• Trouble the Water

Best Documentary Short

• The Conscience of Nhem En
• The Final Inch
• Smile Pinki
• The Witness- from the Balcony of Room 306

Best Visual Effects

• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• The Dark Knight
• Iron Man

Best Sound Editing

• The Dark Knight
• Iron Man
• Slumdog Millionaire
• Wall-E
• Wanted

Best Sound Mixing

• The Dark Knight
• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Slumdog Millionaire
• Wall-E
• Wanted

Best Film Editing

• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• The Dark Knight
• Frost/Nixon
• Milk
• Slumdog Millionaire

Best Music (Score)

• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Defiance
• Milk
• Slumdog Millionaire
• Wall-E

Best Original Song

• “Down to Earth”, Wall-E
• “Jai Ho”, Slumdog Millionaire
• “O Saya”, Slumdog Millionaire

Best Foreign Language Film

• The Baader Meinhof Complex (Germany)
• The Class (France)
• Departures (Japan)
• Revanche (Austria)
• Waltz with Bashir (Israel)

Best Director

• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Frost/Nixon
• Milk
• The Reader
• Slumdog Millionaire

Best Actress

• Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
• Angelina Jolie, Changeling
• Melissa Leo, Frozen River
• Meryl Streep, Doubt
• Kate Winslet, The Reader

Best Actor

• Richard Jenkins, The Visitor
• Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon
• Sean Penn, Milk
• Brad Pitt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler

Best Picture

• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Frost/Nixon
• Milk
• The Reader
• Slumdog Millionaire

La Maison en Petits Cubes (Vencedor do Óscar 2009)

Parte 1

Parte 2

Nomeados ao Óscar de 2009 (faltando na lista a curta-metragem This Way Up)

Lavatory – Lovestory

Oktapodi

Presto

Oktapodi: Luvstruck Tentacled Couple Escapes Boiling Pot of Hell!

Oktapodi is a 2009 Academy Award Nominee for the Best Animated Short Film. The widely acclaimed animated short was produced and created by students at the Paris-based visual communication school Gobelins, L’Ecole de L’Image. The brilliantly colorful Oktapodi follows the adventures of two romantically smitten octopi through the harrowing dangers of their madcap escape from the determined grasp of a restaurant cook in a Greek village. In this comical and charming tale of true love, the tentacled couple face seemingly insurmountable odds in their attempt to reunite and stay together.

Oktapodi: Luvstruck Tentacled Couple Escapes Boiling Pot of Hell!

Please Bookmark This:

Pre-show grooming, gotta look GOOD.

With all the Oscar-nominated film saturation this winter (not complaining, it’s a welcome change from the “National Treasure: Book of Secrets” of yesteryear), and critics’ raves about so-and-so’s comeback, exorbitant production costs, and the unending media coverage that the Best Picture nominees have been receiving, it’s easy for the lesser-known award categories to get lost amidst the hype and shoved under the red carpet. But it would be an outright crime against cinema to fail to recognize five of the most vivid – albeit shortest – films contending for a shiny little gold man this coming Sunday: Animated Shorts.

They’re funny, clever, and downright adorable. Best of all, you can find full versions or brief clips right online - who said the Internet was a barren wasteland devoid of any culture anyway? (Probably no one, but that was rhetorical.)

Two of my favorites can be found on YouTube:
“Oktapodi”
Directed by: Emud Mokhberi and Thierry Marchand

“Lavatory – Lovestory”
Directed by: Konstantin Bronzit

Admittedly, I’m a little biased, considering I’m a sucker for all things remotely cartoonish (Pixar fans will be happy to find “Presto,” the short that was played right before “Wall-E” in theaters, nominated in this category too), but there’s something so fascinating about how these films can convey their message in such a simple yet visually stunning manner. Most have limited dialogue with straightforward, self-contained plots and quietly, but effectively, make use of color and movement to engage the audience and keep the story going forward.

Oktapodi’s cinematography includes beautiful, sweeping shots of Santorini, Greece (or a place that looks remarkably like it.. excuse the geographical handicap), illuminating the action taking place between the two fully-embellished octopi as protagonists. The short is only two minutes long, but the careful detail and illustration are evidence enough of the ingenuity of its creators, who wanted the film to be “funny and fast-paced, with a crescendo like rhythm.”

As for the more minimal – but no less compelling – “Lavatory-Lovestory,” though it doesn’t have the bursts of color, scenic landscapes and dynamism of Oktapodi, this short from Russian director Konstantin Bronzit puts up a fight in its own whimsical, “awww”-provoking way. It connects you to the bathroom cleaning lady who manages to find, or at least wildly hope for romance within her workplace drudgery and when she finally gets it, an explosion of rampant cuteness occurs and the world is made right again.

This weekend, if you find yourself idling in front of the computer in need of a brief, guilt-free study break, click away and enjoy; at least a smile’s guaranteed.

~Sarah Lee

The 81st Annual Academy Awards will take place this Sunday, February 22nd, at 5pm Pacific/8pm Eastern. The Academy hired the mostly talented John Singleton (“Boyz N the Hood,” “2 Fast 2 Furious”) to put together an absurdly bathetic spot released in about 11,000 theaters last Friday, which will likely have little impact on increasing the probable lackluster viewer turnout this weekend (even with movie attendance since the beginning of the year up 23 percent from this period one year ago).

Just for the heck of it, I’ll try my hand at guessing the outcome. I will venture as much of an educated guess as possible, trying to take into account past Academy practices or gauging the likely sympathy winner, but it is inevitable that I will have to approach a mostly random pick in categories in which I’m either unfamiliar or underqualified. As a result, my picks won’t reflect my actual opinion (compare my Best Picture pick below with my actual opinion for each nominated film), just what I think the politicking morass of Hollywood might prefer. If I were to put money on this (I’m not), I would more closely consort a page of odds for each category, but I’ll expect some upsets, or rather “upsets.”

I will put my pick in bold and include three asterisks (***) next to films or performances I’ve not seen. I’ll also include my If-there-were-an-Oscars-God pick below each category.

So, now to it!

***

BEST FILM

• “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
• “Frost/Nixon”
• “Milk”
• “The Reader”
• “Slumdog Millionaire”

Personal opinion: “Milk” should win, given the options

BEST DIRECTOR

• Danny Boyle for “Slumdog Millionaire”
  
• Stephen Daldry for “The Reader”
• David Fincher for “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
• Ron Howard for “Frost/Nixon”
• Gus Van Sant for “Milk”

Personal opinion: David Fincher should win, but there is much talk of Danny Boyle (heavy odds favorite)

BEST ACTOR

• Richard Jenkins for “The Visitor”
• Frank Langella for “Frost/Nixon”
• Sean Penn for “Milk”
• Brad Pitt for “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
• Mickey Rourke for “The Wrestler”

Personal opinion: Sean Penn, although I think all except Brad Pitt would be deserving of this award

BEST ACTRESS

• Anne Hathaway for “Rachel Getting Married”
• Angelina Jolie for “Changeling”***
• Melissa Leo for “Frozen River”
• Meryl Streep for “Doubt”
• Kate Winslet for “The Reader”

Personal opinion: Anne Hathaway gave by far my favorite distaff performance of the year, followed then by Melissa Leo; I will ignore the heavy odds going for Kate Winslet and Meryl Streep since I found neither performance to merit special recognition

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

• Josh Brolin for “Milk”
• Robert Downey Jr. for “Tropic Thunder”
• Phillip Seymour Hoffman for “Doubt”
• Heath Ledger for “The Dark Knight”
• Michael Shannon for “Revolutionary Road”***

Personal opinion: I really think Heath Ledger gave one of the most memorable performances ever for a villain; however, if he did not pass away in the previous year, he would’ve likely been excluded from the ceremony since the Academy often ignores comic book films (and puerile comedies, meaning without a Heath Ledger nomination, RDJ would’ve also been shunned); Josh Brolin would be a second place pick for me

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

• Amy Adams for “Doubt”
• Penélope Cruz for “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”
• Viola Davis for “Doubt”
• Taraji P. Henson for “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
• Marisa Tomei for “The Wrestler”

Personal opinion: Cruz is also my (and the odds’) favorite, with Marisa Tomei in second; Viola Davis (second in odds) is hard to compare with the other performances since her screentime only consisted of one 12 minute scene, but Judi Dench was able to steal a trophy with only 8 minutes of screentime (across 4 scenes) for “Shakespeare in Love”

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

• “Frozen River”: Courtney Hunt
• “Happy-Go-Lucky”: Mike Leigh
• “In Bruges”: Martin McDonagh
• “Milk”: Dustin Lance Black
• “WALL-E”: Andrew Stanton et al.

Personal opinion: Pixar has amassed too many writing nominations to be ignored for “WALL-E,” which according to many should’ve made the Best Film shortlist (I preferred it to each film in that category); this was my least hated category, where films worth consideration actually were nominated (“Happy-Go-Lucky” really should’ve also had a Best Actress nomination, if not Best Director or Best Film); if there were an Oscars God, “Synechdoche, New York” would be taking home a trophy here

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

• “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”: Eric Roth, Robin Wicord
• “Doubt”: John Patrick Shanley
• “Frost/Nixon”: Peter Morgan
• “The Reader”: David Hare
• “Slumdog Millionaire”: Simon Beaufoy

Personal opinion: This is my most hated category of the year: “Frost/Nixon” and “Button” are the only films in consideration that should be on this list (even if “Button” barely resembles its source material); other films I would’ve been happy to see included here are “Paranoid Park,” “Let the Right One In” and “Tell No One”

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

• “Changeling”: Tom Stern***
• “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”: Claudio Miranda
• “The Dark Knight”: Wally Pfister
• “The Reader”: Roger Deakings, Chris Menges
• “Slumdog Millionaire”: Anthony Dod Mantle

Personal opinion: Of these options, I was most impressed cinematographically by “The Dark Knight,” with its absolutely stunning aerial segues and claustrophobic spacing during the batbike chase, not to mention the pyrotechnic hospital explosion; my second place pick would be “Button,” but everyone seems itching to give “Slumdog” a big night; again, this is still one of the “prestigious” categories, and comic book movies are deemed not to fit the bill

BEST EDITING

• “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”: Angus Wall, Kirk Baxter
• “The Dark Knight”: Lee Smith
• “Frost/Nixon”: Daniel P. Hanley, Mike Hill
• “Milk”: Eliot Graham
• “Slumdog Millionaire”: Chris Dickens

Personal opinion: I’m again with “TDK” here, which is second in odds to “Slumdog,” with a second place vote for “Button;” I enjoyed “TDK”’s quick edits, choosing to show only a glimpse of Harvey Dent rather than a distended (and unnecessary) scene about why he came back after an assasination attempt, after a group of cops were discussing whether he would be seen again any time soon; I loathe drawn out explanations of obvious actions, and “TDK” avoided these with aplomb (even though for some, Harvey Dent’s sudden turn could’ve been better examined, but I think intimations to his volatile personality were given since his introduction in a court room and his first assasination attempt)

BEST ART DIRECTION

• “Changeling”: James J. Murakami, Gary Fettis***
• “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”: Donald Graham Burt, Victor J. Zolfo
• “The Dark Knight”: Nathan Crowley, Peter Lando
• “The Duchess”: Michael Carlin, Rebecca Alleway***
• “Revolutionary Road”: Kristi Zea, Debra Schutt***

Personal opinion: Okay, time for total guesses; although “Button” is the odds favorite, I also was impressed by its ability to recreate the past and follow its progress up to Hurricane Katrina

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

• “Australia”: Catherine Martin***
• “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”: Jacqueline West
• “The Duchess”: Michael O’Connor***
• “Milk”: Danny Glicker
• “Revolutionary Road”: Albert Wolsky***

Personal opinion: No idea; the two I saw were impressive, but the other three are period pieces which tend to impress the Academy (“The Duchess” is the odds favorite)

BEST MAKEUP

• “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”: Greg Cannon
• “The Dark Knight”: John Caglione Jr., Conor O’Sullivan
• “Hellboy II: The Golden Army”: Mike Elizade, Thomas Floutz

Personal opinion: So now that I’m deep in the “underqualified” territory for me (even though I’ve seen all of the candidates), I’m going with the pick that most cosmetically impressed me, which managed to capture Guillermo del Toro’s fancies of the imagination using the now old-school techniques of makeup and set design; “TDK” created an indelible Joker, but I don’t think much else makeup-wise was worthy, and wasn’t “Button” mostly CGI? I’m glad “The Reader” wasn’t included for its risible aged Kate Winslet scene

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

• “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”: Alexandre Desplat
• “Defiance”: James Newton Howard***
• “Milk”: Danny Elfman
• “Slumdog Millionaire”: A.R. Rahman
• “WALL-E”: Thomas Newman

Personal opinion: The most reliable element for “Slumdog” was its soundtrack

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

• “Slumdog Millionaire”: A.R. Rahman, Sampooran Sigh Gulzar (“Jai Ho”)
• “Slumdog Millionaire”: A.R. Rahman, M.I.A. (“O Saya”)
• “WALL-E”: Peter Gabriel, Thomas Newman (“Down to Earth”)

Personal opinion: With an absent Bruce Springsteen (even though after the effective ending of “The Wrestler,” I felt compelled to stay in my seat when The Boss began singing), I will go with Peter Gabriel (who will refrain from performing Sunday in protest of a shortened performance time) because I think votes will be split between the “Slumdog” contenders; Why don’t you decide?

BEST SOUND MIXING

• “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”: David Parker et al.
• “The Dark Knight”: Ed Novick et al.
• “Slumdog Millionaire”: Ian Tapp et al.
• “WALL-E”: Tom Myers et al.
• “Wanted”: Chris Jenkins et al.

Personal opinion: I’m not qualified for this, but I bet “TDK” put a lot more money in this than its competitors

BEST SOUND EDITING

• “The Dark Knight”: Richard King
• “Iron Man”: Frank E. Fulner, Christopher Boyes
• “Slumdog Millionaire”: Tom Sayers
• “WALL-E”: Ben Burtt, Matthew Wood
• “Wanted”: Wyle Stateman

Personal opinion: What exactly is the difference between this and sound mixing?

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

• “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”: Eric Barba et al.
• “The Dark Knight”: Nick Davis et al.
• “Iron Man”: John Nelson et al.

Personal opinion: I was most impressed by “Button”’s ability to make a reverse-aging Brad Pitt

BEST ANIMATED FILM

• “Bolt”: Chris Williams, Byron Howard
• “Kung Fu Panda”: John Stevenson, Mark Osborne
• “WALL-E”: Andrew Stanton

Personal opinion: Although I liked the other two films, I think “WALL-E” is the no-brainer winner.

BEST FORIGN LANGUAGE FILM

• “The Baader Meinhof Complex” (Germany)***
• “The Class” (France)***
• “Departures” (Japan)***
• “Revanche” (Austria)***
• “Waltz with Bashir” (Israel)***

Personal opinion: The first category for which I’ve not seen a single nominee; I’ll go with “Waltz” because of its immense buzz, but “The Class” did earn itself a Palme D’Or

BEST DOCUMENTARY

• “The Betrayal: Nerakhoon”: Ellen Kuras, Thavisouk Phrasavath***
• “Encounters at the End of the World”: Werner Herzog, Henry Kaiser
• “The Garden”: Scott Hamilton Kennedy***
• “Man on Wire”: James Marsh, Simon Chinn
• “Trouble the Water”: Tia Lessin, Carl Deal***

Personal opinion: I loved both the films I saw, but if I have to pick a favorite…

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

• “The Conscience of Nhem En”: Steven Okazaki***
• “The Final Inch”: Irene Taylor Brodsky, Tom Grant***
• “Smile Pinki”: Megan Mylan***
• “The Witness from the Balcony of Room 306″: Adarm Pertofsky, Margaret Hyde***

Personal opinion: Went with the odds favorite since I have no idea or opinion about these

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM

• “Auf der Strecke”: Reto Caffi***
• “Manon sure le bitume”: Elizabeth Marre, Olivier Pont***
• “New Boy”: Steph Green, Tamara Anghie***
• “Grisen”: Tivi Magnusson, Dorthe Warnø Høgh***
• “Spielzeugland”: Jochen Alexander Freydank***

Personal opinion: Again without a clue so went with the odds favorite

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM

• “La Maison en petite cubes”: Kunio Katô***
• “Lavatory-Lovestory”: Konstantin Bronzit
• “Oktapodi”: Errud Mokhberi, Thierry Marchand
• “Presto”: Doug Sweetland
• “This Way Up”: Alan Smith, Adam Foulkes

Personal opinion: This is a difficult category; Why not go with the first one I saw? Pixar does have some experience winning this category in the past (“For the Birds,” which was double-billed with “Monster, Inc.”), but “This Way Up” has much levity despite its grave focus (guffaw!), and “Oktapodi” is brief but tasty (bringing to mind the eating a live octopus scene in “Old Boy”); so to finish this off, here is one option for your consideration [Update: all of the links have been killed, so could only re-find one, which may also be short-lived]

***

For a final count, I have “Slumdog,” “Button,” and “TDK” all in the lead with four trophies each, “WALL-E” next with three, and nine other films with one win each. “The Reader” and “Frost/Nixon” are the only Best Film nominees without any gold in my predictions.

Now, I’ll be interested in how these picks compare with the actual winners, but I expect to be disappointed many times, since, well, what is the Academy good for except undeserved recognition?

I expect a blasé affair on Sunday, but there’s potential for a pleasant surprise or two. Maybe in this economic downturn there will be redemption for the deserving underdog. But probably not.

Filmuletul a fost nominalizat la  Academy Award, si nu e de mirare….

pare un mix intre  Pixar si Les Triplettes de Belleville:  cute, funny n brilliant.

Check it out! via Liviu.

More about : Oktapodi.com