This year’s nominees range from the heartfelt to the outright bizarre.
By James Verniere/Boston Movie News
With a surprising number of adult-oriented selections, the animated Oscar-nominated short films are an odd group. Japan’s “Magic Candies,” a kiddie-friendly CGI exception, tells the story of a little boy named Dong-Dong (Haruto Shima), who plays alone in a park with his marbles. Dong-Dong buys a package of candies resembling marbles at a candy store. At home in his flat, where he lives with his father (Ikkei Watanabe), who relentlessly bosses him around, Dong-Dong tries a candy that oddly resembles the pattern of his sofa’s upholstery. Suddenly, he can hear the sofa talking to him. The sofa even appears to have a mouth. It begs Dong-Dong to retrieve a remote buried deep within it, causing much discomfort. You’ve heard of magic beans. Well, these are magic candies, and instead of growing into the sky, these “candies” make it possible for Dong-Dong to hear such things as his old scruffy terrier Gusuri (Kazuhiro Yamaji) speak. Dong-Dong even sees and hears his late grandmother in flashbacks to Gusuri’s salad, if not puppy days. Ever heard of LSD, anyone? Daisuke Nishio-directed “Magic Candies,” which I believe will take the Oscar, is a strange, psychedelic trip.
The Iranian entry “In the Shadow of the Cypress” is another story entirely. Set on a lonely beach, this dialogue-free film is the tale of a young woman who takes care of her grandfather. In the opening scenes, the old man has gone on a rampage, destroying several things in their small Cubist house. To make matters worse, a whale has beached itself right in front of their home. They try to dislodge it, using a small boat with a motor, but to no avail. While the woman tries to keep the beast wet, the old man retreats to a larger, ruined boat anchored offshore. In flashbacks, we learn that there was some catastrophe that took the woman’s mother away. The film, which suggests a variation on the theme of “Moby Dick,” has distinctive, 2D-ish visuals. Directed by Hossein Molayemi and Shirin Shohani, “In the Shadow of the Cypress” also boasts a haunting score by Afshin Azizi.
The conventionally animated French short film “Yuck!” aka “Beurk!” is set in a French campground where a group of caricature children share their distaste for kissing (yuck). The protagonist is a boy named Leo (Noe Chabbat). Leo’s friends include his brother, his sister, and a girl named Lucie (Katell Varvat). Together, they wander around the campgrounds and a nearby water park, where they spy couples kissing and react with noisy disgust. Before couples kiss in the film, their lips glow a shade of magenta. Looking at Lucie, Leo’s lips begin to glow, and he is grossed out at first. But then he becomes determined to kiss Lucie. What a world. “Yuck!,” which was written and directed by Loic Espuche (TV’s “La Petite Mort”), is an amusing coming-of-age bit as far as it goes, and its visuals are colorful.
European co-production “Wander to Wonder” is by far the weirdest of the bunch. It tells the English-language story of three miniature actors who play characters in strange, yellow fur, fully-covering costumes for a 1980s-era TV show. When their human creator dies, the three are left alone in their studio, where they grow increasingly hungry amid piles of VHS tapes and other period production detritus. When the gherkins give out, they contemplate eating a dead fly. Yum. Directed and co-written by award-winning filmmaker Nina Gantz, “Wander to Wonder” features full frontal male nudity by an eccentric character named Fumbleton (Toby Jones) and a profound “Waiting for Godot” vibe.
In the computer-generated selection “Beautiful Men” from award-winning director Nicolas Keppens (“Easter Eggs”), another European co-production, three brothers travel to Turkey for hair transplant surgery. The film is a comical look at male insecurity and the mysteries and wonders of brotherhood. At one point, one of the brothers learns that he booked the surgeries incorrectly and that only one brother can get it. At the same time, a cloud of dense smoke descends upon Istanbul, making it impossible to get anywhere. Another solidly offbeat entry, “Beautiful Men,” explores brotherhood through the lenses of soccer, hair plugs, a lump in one of the brother’s testicles, and Stratego.
How to watch the Oscar-nominated shorts
The Oscar Shorts program opens Feb. 14 at the following theaters:
Plimoth Cinema, 137 Warren Ave., Plymouth
Institute of Contemporary Art, 25 Harbor Shore Drive, Boston
Landmark Kendall Square Cinema, 355 Binney St., Cambridge
Coolidge Corner Theatre, 290 Harvard St., Brookline
CinemaSalem, 1 E. India Square, Salem
West Newton Cinema, 1296 Washington St., West Newton
Fine Arts Theatre, 21 Summer St., Maynard
The Natick Center for the Arts, 14 Summer St., Natick
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