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Oscar Nominated Shorts

Boring
By NINA MACLAUGHLIN  |  February 14, 2007
1.5 1.5 Stars

070216_shorts_main

Do these live-action and animated shorts really represent the best of the year? What a disappointment. The Sharks and the Jets get a Middle Eastern treatment in Ari Sandel’s semi-amusing musical “West Bank Story.” In Peter Templeman’s predictable “The Saviour,” a chubby-faced Mormon beds a potential converter. Familial disruption and confusion ensue in Borja Cobeaga’s flat “Éramos pocos” when a man brings his mother-in-law to live with him and his gluttonous son after his wife leaves him. Søren Pilmark’s “Helmer & Son” offers humor and humanity. But Javier Fesser & Luis Manso’s “Binta y la gran idea” surpasses the rest. A little Senegalese girl narrates a story about the importance of girls going to school and tells — without sentimentality — how to make the world a better place. It’s beautifully shot, moving, and well-soundtracked. The three animated pieces — usually standouts — are boring, visually and otherwise.

Related: Chlotrudis Short Film Festival, The Best of Ottawa 2005, Freeport senior is a young Renaissance Man, More more >
  Topics: Reviews , Entertainment, Movies, Animated Films,  More more >
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