It’s February, which means we’re in the thick of Oscar season — which means we’re in the thick of entertainment sites and publications bickering over who got snubbed and which major-category actors and films deserve this or that. They are, at the very least, definitely arguing over the snubs.
Right now, we’re concerned with this year’s Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film, a category featuring films that run fewer than 40 minutes. We’ve watched each of the nominees and ranked them from worst to best. All five are currently screening together at Madison’s AMC Movie Hole (along with three other shorts for a grand total of 83 minutes). Many of them are quite good; Kobe Bryant’s is not.
Dear Basketball
6 minutes, United States
Dear Basketball is an animated version of Bryant’s 2015 retirement poem of the same name. The short looks lifeless and sounds like copy from a commercial, which, for Bryant, isn’t surprising: The longtime Los Angeles Laker has been carefully rebranding his image since 2003, when he was accused of sexually assaulting a 19-year-old woman in Colorado. What is surprising? That this was nominated for an Oscar.
Revolting Rhymes
29 minutes, United Kingdom
This take on Roald Dahl’s late-career collection originally aired on the BBC as a two-part special. The short, which centers on a vengeful wolf narrating an amalgamation of fairy tales, had me rolling my eyes and applauding its wit in equal measure. Stubbornly, you’re left hanging at the most suspenseful moment because the second segment isn’t among the nominees. Both parts of Revolting Rhymes are, however, currently streaming on Netflix.
Lou
7 minutes, United States
Lou is Pixar’s Oscar pick. Like most films that the animation behemoth spits out, the short is clever, touching and moralistic. In this one, a pile of lost-and-found scrap teaches a boy that being a bully is just no good. But while enjoyable, Lou doesn’t quite reach the heights we know Pixar can hit.
Garden Party
7 minutes, France
There isn’t much plot to take in here, even for a short: Frogs have a field day in an abandoned mansion. But Garden Party radically shifts in tone as it progresses, morphing into something much grimmer than it initially appeared to be.
Negative Space
5 minutes, France
Negative Space is a stop-motion piece about a son packing suitcases just the way his dad likes them. Its narration reads like a poem, and its score sounds like Stars of the Lid. It looks effortless, though you know it was hell to assemble. And it strays from stepping in a pile of emotional sap just when you think it might end that way. It’s the best short of the bunch.
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