Hollywood’s biggest night is on Sunday, coming off of an absolute rollercoaster of an award season. We’re only now getting a clear frontrunner with Anora, Emilia Perez has gone from social media pariah to social media pariah that may actually lose now, and multiple nominee surprises have shaken up people’s predictions, including my own. The Substance may end up being the most deranged movie to gain major Oscar attention and/or wins since Everything Everywhere All at Once, and Walter Salles’ incredible drama I’m Still Here beat the odds to gain a Best Picture nomination that, in my opinion, it deserves to win. As always, though, you have likely already heard all this, which is why I like talking about the stuff that you probably haven’t, like the shorts. As is usually the case, there were a lot of good shorts this year, some great, some okay, and at least one where I’m questioning who’s even voting for these. At the very least, I’m highlighting the animated ones.

The animated shorts in particular included an especially disappointing snub with Don Hertzfeldt’s ME, which did make the shortlist but not the nominees, dashing my hopes that the Academy will give him at least one well-deserved Oscar. While I like to say that the animated Oscar shorts are where anything is possible, it was particularly more true this year than last year. Many of the films featured take full advantage of the medium, and even the shorts with the heaviest subject matter convey it in ways that live action simply can’t. Here are the nominees for Best Animated Short film.

Beautiful Men tells the story of three bald brothers who have traveled to Istanbul for a hair transplant. However, a misunderstanding results in only one of them actually getting the opportunity, and it isn’t long before insecurities and conflicts boil to the surface. I typically love watching the Oscar-nominated animated shorts for films like this, and to see them get wider exposure (even if the presence of animated drama for adult audiences still results in the Academy treating it like a disposable medium for kids). This short, however, is severely lacking. The stop-motion animation and puppet designs are great, and there are some amusing moments, but really, there’s not much here. In addition, the ending felt really rushed, as if the filmmakers didn’t know how to conclude the piece. I have heard people predict this short will win (mainly on GoldDerby). Last year, the Academy went for the weakest choice with War is Over!, but at least the politics at the time justified why they would pick it. Here, I really don’t see anything that leads me to believe that this has a chance, and while I support animation like this, I will be disappointed if it wins.

In the Shadow of the Cypress I already covered last year when it played at the Tribeca Film Festival, during which it won the award for Best Animated Short. That win qualified it for this year’s Oscars, where it’s currently nominated. A dialogue-free short from Iran, it’s about a former captain living in a house by the sea, whose PTSD strains his relationship with his daughter. My thoughts on this haven’t changed much since Tribeca. This short does a great job using animation to express difficult themes, and I loved how much surrealism was present. In terms of the five, I’d say that this is definitely one of the better nominees.

Daisuke Nishio has had a notable career in anime, directing a good amount of the Dragon Ball franchise among other things. His short film Magic Candies is an absolute delight and is, in my opinion, a strong frontrunner. The short is about Dong-Dong, a lonely boy who plays with marbles. He goes to buy some new ones, but what he thinks are marbles turn out to be candies. Not just any candies, either. After eating one, the sofa starts talking. Dong-Dong figures out how the candies work and soon gains a new perspective on life. Heartfelt and extremely funny, this was a joy to watch. It’s animated in CGI at a low-frame rate, essentially using 2D anime production techniques in a 3D environment, but what it lacks in fluidity it makes up for with extremely detailed art design. Honestly, I went into this thinking it was stop-motion because the CGI was so good. One of my favorite jokes it this is the use of onscreen text exclamations. While common in anime and manga, the use of it in a 3D setting I found incredibly humorous and inventive. I’d say of the five shorts, this was one of my favorites, and I’d put it as my pick for the winner. Of particular note is the fact that the film qualified for the Oscars for winning the Grand Jury Prize after premiering at the New York International Children’s Film Festival. The festival is one of the best places to watch international and independent animation in New York City, and I hope to cover this year’s festival soon.

I feel like dark takes on children’s’ television is a bit of an overused premise (Pib and Pog is one of my favorite examples), but Wander to Wonder takes it in a direction I genuinely did not expect. In the 1980’s, Wander to Wonder was a beloved kids’ TV staple, in which a friendly live-action host and three friendly stop-motion monsters teach children educational lessons. That is, until the creator and host died an untimely death (we don’t find out how, but whatever happened, nobody has removed his body). Now his three animated co-stars, amusingly revealed to be further stop-motion puppets wearing monster costumes, are alone, running out of food, and making increasingly desperate episodes for an audience that may or may not be there. This is honestly one of the darkest, bleakest animated shorts I’ve seen the Oscars nominate, and as a creative, it really hit me hard. As a mediation on how creations take on lives on their own (or if you just have an overactive imagination and think this) it’s absolutely devastating, even as I’d call some of it darkly comic. I can’t for certain say that this really deserves to win, but it definitely left an impact on me.

Childhood views on romance is the subject of Yuck!, a French short that I know ran quite a bit of the festival circuit. A group of kids view in disgust as they see adults kissing (some claim to have even seen them “doing it”), but it isn’t long before one boy finds himself attracted to a girl, and wanting to kiss himself. I’ve definitely seen this topic explored before, and this was a particularly cute example. I appreciated how the characters’ lips glow when they’re in love. Overall, though, I don’t see this as much of a contender as some of the other ones. It was definitely a fun watch, however.

As for the animated features, this was a particularly strong year. My pick is The Wild Robot, but overall I’d say they’re all worth watching. Even the weakest nominee, Inside Out 2, still had one of the best depictions of mental health issues I’ve seen in animation. There’s been talk that Flow could end up taking home the big prize which, if that were to happen, would be notable in that a low-budget dialogue-free film made in Blender would beat out several other productions with much higher production values. Anyway, we’ll see who ends up winning on Sunday. (Although if they make another crack about these movies being for children the year Memoir of a Snail is nominated, I swear to God…)

The program guide for the New York Asian Film Festival began its description of this film with the following statement: “If you’re still on the fence about whether animation is a genre or an art form, The Missing is here to smack some sense into you.” Those are bold words, but ones that should resonate with anyone tired of animation being considered “kids’ stuff.” An independently made feature and the first animated film to be submitted for the Best International Feature Oscar by the Philippines (which is how I first heard about it), The Missing is an example of animated drama that uses the medium, and its association with and capabilities for the fantastical, in masterful ways to discuss some very dark subject matter. While I don’t think it 100% works, this should still be one to keep an eye on.

Eric works as an animator, and for whatever reason can’t speak—he doesn’t have a mouth. He communicates with a whiteboard he hangs around his neck. One day, his mother asks him to check in on his uncle, only for him to find that he’s been dead for several days. At the same time, an alien from his past has returned to Earth in order to finish something that started years ago. In the wake of his uncle’s death, Eric begins losing more and more of himself—literally, yet nobody seems to notice any of the strange happenings going on with him. It’s up to his fellow animator Carlo (who he’s also in love with) to help Eric figure out the mystery of the alien and what’s happening to him.

The film is rotoscoped–shot in live-action and then animated over. While some may consider this a cheat to “actual” animation, the truth is that this was really the best way to tell the story. The combination of the realistic art style and fantastical imagery perfectly set the tone for what’s about to follow. Meanwhile, in contrast, Eric’s childhood flashbacks are presented in cartoony, crudely drawn 2D animation, which I also thought was fitting, especially with how it’s used in the premise.

While the plot description may make it sound like a sci-fi movie, it eventually becomes apparent that there’s more happening than what can be taken at face value. This is a much darker movie than it initially lets on, and I really appreciated the use of animation to tell that story in a way that makes it stand out. Granted, i didn’t feel it entirely worked well in execution, but by the film’s ending, a scene that will probably stay with me for a while, I understood what this movie was trying to do and I really admired it. Some of the film’s best images are when the animation and production mediums themselves actively revolt against the protagonist, in ways I don’t want to spoil, but also don’t think can be conveyed with words.

A great and creative example of animation being used to discuss difficult subject matter in ways that purely live-action films simply can’t, The Missing is a genre-defying drama that often must be seen to be believed. It’s not perfect, but still should be of strong interest to adult animation enthusiasts. With recent play on the festival circuit, I hope it gets more exposure soon, as well as US distribution. For now, though, all I can do is spread the word.

It’s almost time for the Oscars, so here are my picks and predictions for the winners. As far as the nominees are concerned, I’d say this was a great year overall, and many of the best films of 2023 are represented. There were some major snubs, but that’s always the case. However, it was also a tumultuous year as well, with the strikes pushing a number of Oscar hopefuls, among them Dune: Part Two, into next year. The major nominations are certainly interesting. If you had told me early last year that the Barbie movie would be a Best Picture nominee and have multiple other major nominations, to say I’d be skeptical would be an understatement, but here we are. Anatomy of a Fall is easily the most cathartic of the multi-nominees, as France basically blew their shot at the Best International Film Oscar by submitting The Taste of Things instead. It made it to the shortlist, but not past that, while Anatomy received a Best Picture nomination and 4 other major ones. The Best Picture lineup also includes The Zone of Interest, easily the most experimental and daring nominee I’ve seen recently. Anyway, here are my picks and predictions (with a major source for my projected winners being GoldDerby).

As mentioned in earlier articles, my picks (or preferred picks, at least) for the short films are Ninety-Five Senses for Best Animated Short, The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar for Best Live-Action Short, and The Last Repair Shop for Best Documentary Short, with 20 Days in Mariupol as my pick for Best Documentary Feature. For Best International Feature Film, The Zone of Interest is an absolute lock. However, I’d say that the category as a whole represents some of the best films of the past year. Society of the Snow, Perfect Days, Io Capitano, and The Teacher’s Lounge are all worth seeing, with some being must-see films.

For Best Animated Feature, the obvious pick would probably be Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, which isn’t just the year’s best animated film, but easily one of the biggest cinematic achievements in recent memory. However, it may actually have some competition, as Hayao Mizayaki’s The Boy and the Heron has racked up a few major awards in recent months. I wouldn’t be surprised if Heron takes it. Aside from having the name recognition of being directed by one of animation’s great masters, it has an advantage over Spider-Verse in that it isn’t a sequel to a film that already won, and it’s also a full story.

Now to cycle through the technical and music nominees. For Best Song, Barbie (which has two nominations) is predicted to win for Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For”. For Sound, Oppenheimer is the projected winner, and is certainly a contender. However, I feel like the one that really deserves it is The Zone of Interest, which conveyed the horrors of its subject matter entirely through the sound mix. For Best Score, Oppenheimer is my pick, though Poor Things definitely deserves merit there. For Best Cinematography, Oppenheimer will likely win, but Poor Things’ use of wide-angle lenses to enhance the atmosphere made it my favorite of the nominees. For Production Design, it’s gonna be a matchup between Barbie bringing its plastic source to vivid life, and Poor Things’ steampunk phantasmagoria. Both are stunning examples, but only one will win. For Best Makeup, Maestro will likely take this one for transforming Bradley Cooper into Leonard Bernstein and Carey Mulligan into Felicia Montealegre. However, I’d be remiss if I didn’t bring up Poor Things as a contender, especially Willem Dafoe’s scarred makeup job. Barbie will likely take Best Costume Design, with Poor Things a contender as well.

Now, on to two of my favorite technical nominees. For Best Editing, there are so many great examples, from The Holdovers playing out like a lost 70s film, to Poor Things and its often garish or fantastical shot choices, to whatever Anatomy of a Fall did to make 150 minutes seem like 90 to me. However, Oppenheimer is likely taking it, and rightfully so. The film does a great job moving at an engaging pace, and deftly switches between the perspectives of its characters. For Best Visual Effects, the projected winner is Japanese blockbuster and stateside sleeper hit Godzilla Minus One. However, it could have competition in The Creator, which managed incredibly convincing CGI work on a budget that was large but still far below what one would expect for a film like that. I would also like to mention Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which is probably the only Marvel film I’ve seen recently that I felt actually deserved this nomination. (The “No Sleep Till Brooklyn” sequence alone makes it a contender.)

The Best Adapted Screenplay race has a lot of great contenders, but the actual winner might be a fairly recent surprise. While Oppenheimer was seen for a while as an obvious winner, Cord Jefferson’s great script for American Fiction has made major gains in the last couple months and is now seen as a serious contender. While I felt the script had some tonal issues, it’s still incredibly funny, heartfelt, and often whip-smart. Poor Things is also a great nominee with its twisted gutbuster of a screenplay. For Best Original Screenplay, honestly, the competition’s tough. Anatomy of a Fall, Past Lives, and The Holdovers all had great screenplays for different reasons. It seems a lot of people are predicting Anatomy, but I also wouldn’t be surprised if Holdovers’ hilarious and heartwarming screenplay took it.

Best Supporting Actor is going to Robert Downey Jr. for his performance in Oppenheimer as Lewis Strauss. That’s an absolute certainty. Meanwhile, Robert De Niro did an incredible job as William King Hale in Killers of the Flower Moon with his subdued but absolutely chilling portrayal. For Best Supporting Actress, Da’Vine Joy Randolph will easily take it for her incredible and wrenching performance as Mary Lamb in The Holdovers. Other nominees of note include Danielle Brooks’ powerhouse performance as Sofia in The Color Purple (who elicited multiple rounds of applause from the audience I saw it with), and Jodie Foster as Bonnie Stoll in Nyad.

For Best Lead Actor, Cillian Murphy looks to take it for his searing performance as J. Robert Oppenheimer in Oppenheimer, which I already knew would be one of the year’s best. However, the category as a whole is top-notch. Paul Giamatti’s side-splitting performance as cantankerous boarding school professor Paul Hunham in The Holdovers was one of my favorites this year, as was Jeffrey Wright’s as Thelonious “Monk” Ellison in American Fiction. Both actors walked the line between the comedic and the dramatic aspects of their performance with ease. I also enjoyed Bradley Cooper’s performance as Leonard Bernstein.

Best Lead Actress has been a brutal race, but it seems like a clear winner may be in sight. Carey Mulligan and Annette Bening gave incredible performances in Maestro and Nyad, respectively. Sandra Hüller also got a nomination for her lead performance in Anatomy of a Fall. After first seeing her in Toni Erdmann, I’m glad she’s gotten more recognition. However, the real matchup has been between Emma Stone in Poor Things and Lily Gladstone in Killers of the Flower Moon. Both were two of the best performances of the year, but for entirely different reasons. Emma Stone effectively transforms over the course of Poor Things from a childlike woman learning about the world around her to someone strong, wise, and independent. Lily Gladstone’s utterly wrenching portrayal of Mollie Burkhart channels generations of pain into one brutal performance that absolutely makes the film. I’ll have to tune in to see who wins, but it finally looks like Lily might be the projected winner, and if true, she absolutely deserves it.

Best Director is absolutely going to go to Christopher Nolan for Oppenheimer, but in all honesty, basically everyone nominated has merit. Of particular note is Jonathan Glazer’s nomination for The Zone of Interest. In an inspired directorial choice, he rigged a house with cameras so the actors could be filmed in real time before the footage was edited down. This gives the movie a voyeuristic feel, and allows for more realistic performances (not to mention some happy accidents). It does feel like we’re watching people like life as normal, even as the unthinkable is happening offscreen. Yorgos Lanthimos’ direction for Poor Things was also among my favorites of the nominees this year. Finally, Best Picture is going to Oppenheimer, and it deserves it. All that’s left to do now is to see the results, capping off a turbulent but still great year for cinema as a whole. Thank you for reading my coverage of this year’s Oscar nominees.

My coverage of the lesser-known films at the Oscars continues with the documentary feature films, which turned reality into some of the year’s best cinematic experiences. As always, these are some of the best films of the year that very few talk about, but before we get to who’s nominated, let’s talk about who got snubbed. As someone who follows documentaries, I was shocked by the absence of Beyond Utopia, which I had predicted for a nomination for most of the year. The film centered on the journey of North Korean refugees and the people who helped them escape, telling the story through a wealth of startling footage shot by the participants themselves. I highly recommend that one even if it wasn’t nominated. There were definitely a few other contenders who didn’t make it to the nominations as well, and that’s just the ones that made the shortlist. Needless to say, I could go on for a while about the film that didn’t even make it that far, but for the sake of brevity, let’s move on to the actual nominees.

The frontrunner this year is about as brutal, urgent, and timely as it gets, and I knew it was likely to win for most of the year. 20 Days in Mariupol is the kind of documentary where the fact that people even get to watch it is a miracle. The film chronicles a group of journalists, among them director Mstyslav Chernov, who are stranded in the Ukranian city of Mariupol as the Russian invasion begins. The group struggles to survive even as they continue their work documenting what’s happening, becoming the global window into the atrocities being committed. I don’t need to tell you that this is a hard watch, but the fact remains that this is a powerful documentary accomplishment on one of the biggest moments in global politics in recent memory. If this doesn’t win, I’m going to be surprised.

Director Maite Alberdi (The Mole Agent) returns to the Oscars with her new documentary The Eternal Memory, a touching movie with some thought-provoking aspects. The film centers on Chilean journalist Augusto Góngora and his wife Paulina, an actor. Augusto and Paulina have known each other for 25 years, but since Augusto was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, Paulina has become his caretaker. For decades, Augusto exposed Pinochet-era Chile when other news outlets couldn’t or were too afraid to, and afterwards, became a noteworthy cultural commentator in the country. He knows a lot about the link between memory and identity, but now both seem to be leaving him. The Eternal Memory alternates between archival footage of Augusto’s career and personal life, and the relationship between him and his wife, one that has not dimmed in the face of illness. Despite the subject matter, this doesn’t fall into seriously downbeat territory like some other documentaries and films on the topic. There are sad moments, sure, but you still feel the loving relationship at its center, even as his condition worsens, and it can be a very sweet and funny film at times despite its topic. Both one of the year’s best love stories and a testament to the power of journalism, The Eternal Memory was one I very easily predicted to get nominated.

A few years back, director Kaouther Ben Hania made it to the nominations with her film The Man Who Sold His Skin, which I enjoyed. Now she’s back with Four Daughters, a documentary that’s just as heartwrenching as it is utterly fascinating. The film focuses on Olfa, a Tunisian woman and mother of four daughters who is reeling from her two eldest daughters’ decision to join ISIS. Olfa recounts the events that led up to this, but with the two daughters absent, professional actresses are brought in to play their parts (as well as one to portray their mother at times). The result is a brilliant example of metafilmmaking that blurs the lines between reality and reenactment. With the family reconstructing their lives through the film, the making of which is included throughout, it gives insight into issues of generational trauma surrounding the family, and even serves as a form of therapy for the participants. The metanarrative also results in scenes that a simple talking-head documentary couldn’t produce, including a moment when one of the daughters therapeutically confronts her abusive stepfather through the use of an actor, with unexpected results for both the family and the actors involved. It’s a bold piece of documentary filmmaking that I would recommend you seek out for yourself.

One particularly surprising nominee was To Kill a Tiger. In fact, I likely wouldn’t have heard of it at all if it didn’t run in a Manhattan theater I usually frequent last October. A example of courage in both subject and filmmaker, it takes place in a small village in Jharkhand, India as Ranjit, a farmer, seeks justice for the sexual assault of his 13-year-old daughter by three men after a family wedding. When he goes to the police, the village leaders suggest a horrifying compromise: the daughter should marry one of the three in order to preserve her family’s honor and the village’s dignity. Undeterred, Ranjit teams up with an organization to bring the men to trial. What he seeks is not only justice, but a verdict that will lead to the changing of a toxic custom defined by patriarchy. The documentary becomes a real-life thriller as it goes on, as Ranjit and his family face threats from the families of the accused and the villagers. However, what makes this film truly astonishing is how the danger also extends to the filmmakers themselves. With a documentary like this, I’m always surprised how the they were able to get so much access, and eventually, the consequences of that become clear when the villagers become increasingly hostile towards the film crew. The accused begin threatening the camerapeople and a climactic moment near the end of the film will make you happy you’re watching a finished product at all. This is a hard film to watch, but certainly an engaging and thought-provoking one, and I’m glad it got a chance at Oscar gold.

Finally, Bobi Wine: The People’s President was one I felt wasn’t on the level of some of the other nominees (it’s nomination did surprise me), but it is nevertheless an interesting look at how artists can not only speak truth to power, but potentially become the power others need. Bobi Wine went from the slums of Kampala, Uganda to becoming one of Africa’s biggest pop stars. Soon, he starts using his music to address his country’s social issues before becoming a politician, and even running for President against incumbent Yoweri Museveni. However, Bobi’s fame doesn’t change Museveni’s autocratic reputation, which threatens anyone who stands in his way, and it isn’t long before Bobi and his wife Barbie realize that it may not be about whether or not they win the election, but if they live to see the results. It’s a bit overlong, but I was definitely fascinated by this story regardless and I hope the nomination raises more awareness about it. If you value free speech, add this film to your watchlist.

As mentioned, my pick is 20 Days in Mariupol, but all of these films are worth watching in my opinion. Stay tuned for more of my coverage of this year’s Oscars.

My look at the under-the-radar Oscar nominees continues with the documentary shorts. I felt like this was the weakest set of shorts for me, but it also has more than one frontrunner (at least I hope so).

The ABCs of Book Banning tackles the issue of books that have been challenged or banned in schools by talking to the children who want to read them and the authors who write them. Passages from the books are also intertwined with charming animated sequences illustrating the content. Not only is this a significantly hot-button issue right now, with a lot of urgent aspects, but it’s the directorial debut of Shelia Nevins, a longtime documentary producer for HBO and MTV (the latter of which produced this film). This film had the makings of a surefire Oscar contender. Instead, it’s a massive disappointment. There’s really not a lot here, to be honest, and what is there isn’t as fully formed as I would’ve liked it to be. First of all, the documentary is one-sided to the point where there aren’t even archival perspectives on why these books have been challenged or banned. This limits the discussion in my opinion, and also gives an incomplete picture as to the reasons for some of the bannings. (The documentary doesn’t actually explain why the books were removed or challenged, and while it’s sometimes clear, other times it really isn’t.) Other times, the director’s thesis, that children should and want to see these perspectives, doesn’t go far enough. In one case, the author of what is said to be the most challenged book in schools, the graphic novel Gender Queer, discusses eir work, but no students are shown as adding to the discussion. There may have been outside reasons for this, but I think it’s worth noting. Now, the documentary does have some great moments, like when an African-American girl piercingly questions why she shouldn’t be allowed to read a book about Rosa Parks, an important part of her own history in this country. If that attitude reflected the entire short, I may have argued harder for this to win. There’s a lot going on here, but not enough in the short itself. I respect the idea of The ABCs of Book Banning and really wish I could say that Nevins will get an Oscar for her first directorial work (and to be honest, it’s likely that she will from what I’ve heard), but I can’t call this a contender. I wanted a lot more.

The Last Repair Shop is a major frontrunner for me, and my pick for the award (although another film came very close). It follows the employees of Los Angeles’ school district who provide free and freely repaired instruments for students, one of the last in America to do so. Not only are the perspectives of the children this impacts included, but also the adults who repair the instruments themselves, and why what they do means so much to them. It’s probably not for the reasons you think. Everyone interviewed has a different story, from the heartwarming, to the devastating, to the utterly stranger-than-fiction. This is a top-notch documentary short, using an intriguing topic to tackle several themes in one package. It was easily one of my favorites of the five, and I definitely invite you to experience it for yourself.

Island in Between was directed by filmmaker S. Leo Chang, who reflects on his relationship with Taiwan, the U.S., and China from the islands of Kinmen, a few kilometers away from Mainland China. I felt that the topic was certainly urgent, but overall, I don’t have too much to say about this one. I felt it was just okay.

Nai Nai & Wài Pó is directed by Sean Wang and is easily one of the best shorts in the running this year. (In addition, Wang’s new feature Dídi comes out later this Summer. I didn’t get to see it at Sundance, but I’ve heard very good things.) This simple yet effective short follows Wang’s two grandmothers, and does what I think documentaries do best: make engaging film stars out of ordinary people (the subjects even joke about becoming movie stars). Considering how downbeat and/or urgent a lot of the Oscar documentary shorts I’ve seen can be, it felt nice to see one that made me laugh as hard as I did watching this. Honestly, the two grandmas are so endearing that I’d even spend a feature film with them. Yet, it’s also an incredibly heartfelt look at growing old with dignity, and getting over past traumas. It’s a clearly personal work that absolutely deserves its nomination, and I definitely hope the Academy considers it a contender.

Finally, The Barber of Little Rock was an okay short, but the subject matter was definitely eye-opening. In Little Rock, Arkansas, African-American barber Arlo Washington has decided to challenge his hometown’s wealth inequality and structural racism by having his community take their financial stability into their own hands. In addition to providing career paths with his barber college, he has founded People’s Trust, a non-profit community bank that gives loans to underserved residents. Because Little Rock’s African-American community mistrusts financial institutions that have historically excluded them, People’s Trust creates a path for economic justice that I found incredibly inspiring. While I felt the short as a whole could’ve been more engaging, I am glad that the nomination raised some awareness about this topic. I wouldn’t consider it a contender, but I do think you should check this film out.

I’m really hoping either The Last Repair Shop or Nai Nai & Wài Pó win, but don’t be surprised if The ABCs of Book Banning takes it. I’ve seen a lot of people predict that one. Stay tuned for more of my coverage of the Oscars.

My look at the hidden gems at the Oscars continues with the live action short films: like most of the nominees, only shorter. There’s an obvious frontrunner this year that’s substantially bigger than the other nominees, so I feel it’s even more important to talk about the other films (although I feel some might be possible competition).

The After features David Oyelowo as a man left shattered after the death of his wife and daughter in a brutal attack one year prior. As an Uber driver, his encounters with passengers lead him to confront his grief. David does a great job, but this was by far one of the weakest shorts this year, and I mean that in general. It isn’t much other than depressing, and the ending felt extremely hollow.

Red, White and Blue features a great Brittany Snow in a hot-button short that honestly feels like a feature in miniature. Single parent Rachel needs to find an abortion clinic, but unfortunately lives in Arkansas. Unable to support another kid, she is forced to hit the road towards a state where it’s legal. As mentioned, it has the makings of a feature film shrunk down to 23 minutes, but it’s good as is. I’m going to keep this one brief in case any readers see this short, because the ending will make your jaw hit the floor. If the premise didn’t already convince you, this is an absolute emotional gut-punch of a short.

Knight of Fortune is another look at grief, only this one is unexpectedly funny. A darkly comic drama from Denmark, it focuses on Karl, who has just lost his wife but is unable to face seeing her at the morgue. Then, Karl meets Torben, who has also lost his wife and who he finds a connection with. Torben helps Karl process his grief—under unusual circumstances. Again, this short is way funnier than you might expect, peppered with gallows humor and a reveal that’ll bring cringe laughs before touching your heart. This one was a surprise in what was a pretty downbeat lineup of shorts this year.

Invincible is a Canadian short that was one of my favorites of the lineup. A personal story based on true events, it follows Marc-Antoine Bernier, a 14-year-old trying to get out of a juvenile detention center, in his last 48 hours of life. (That isn’t a spoiler, as the film opens with his death.) Marc’s troubled, rebellious behavior is at odds with his genuine desire for freedom, even as he’s told that only being officially released will make him truly free. I’m admittedly drawn to stories like this, so my opinion might be a bit biased. Nevertheless, the performances are great across the board, especially Léokim Beaumier-Lépine as Marc. Notably, the director was friends with the real Marc, and felt compelled to make this short to understand the tragedy. If there’s any short that I feel might be able to beat the next one, it’s Invincible.

Finally, my pick for the live action shorts is definitely the most notable short nominated overall. Last summer, Wes Anderson released his latest feature Asteroid City, which may have sounded like an Oscar hopeful but ultimately left a lot to be desired. However, he still made it to the nominations with The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, his adaptation of Roald Dahl’s short story of the same name and one of four short films he made for Netflix based on Dahl’s stories last year. It’s obvious that Anderson has a major advantage here, with major name recognition, an all-star cast, and production values that more independent shorts couldn’t compete with. That said, it’s still the best short of the five. First of all, while Anderson has adapted Dahl before with Fantastic Mr. Fox, this film takes a more unconventional approach by having the characters effectively read the text almost as-is, even the third-person portions. This isn’t surprising given that the story as written is perfect for Anderson, with a narrator and two layers of nested stories built in, both among his directorial trademarks. (Ralph Fiennes plays Roald Dahl, who serves as the main narrator.) The production and staging are absolutely outstanding, but not at the expense of the overall quality. Finally, the short is just a blast to watch. The screening of the live action shorts I saw put this at the very end, and it’s easy to see why. With the other nominees dealing with such heavy subject matter, this one definitely stood out for just how fun it was, both for the audience, and seemingly for the people making it as well. I feel like Wes has been overdue for an Oscar for quite some time now (the closest he’s come was four technical Oscars for The Grand Budapest Hotel, but never beyond that), and if this finally earns him one, it’s well-deserved.

Overall, this was a decent batch of shorts, with one standout, one dud, and some good ones in-between. Stay tuned for more of my coverage of this year’s Oscars.

Every year, the Oscars have their fair share of snubs and surprises, and the Best Animated Feature category often contains both, but usually the former. While there’s always an adequate number of acclaimed, high quality animated features eligible for the award, the nominees are typically major Hollywood releases, many of which are worthy, but some of which overshadow independent and lesser known productions. (That’s even before you get to the Academy seemingly believing animation is a children’s medium, even when the films they’re voting on disprove that.) It’s always an accomplishment when an independent animated film or two get in the running, but I haven’t seen anything like this year, when the Academy nominated Robot Dreams. Not only is this an independent film, but it hasn’t even been released in the US (or at least outside of a qualification run, and not in New York City). Directed by Pablo Berger and based on the graphic novel of the same name, it’s safe to say that Robot Dreams has already gotten the best publicity it could before it even released, and having recently attended an early screening of the film, I can tell you it absolutely deserves it.

The film is about Dog, a dog, who lives alone in his apartment in a version of 1980s New York City populated by anthropomorphic animals. One night, while flipping through channels, he comes across an ad for a robot buddy. He orders it and soon Dog and Robot are inseparable. Everything is going great until a fateful trip to the beach throws a crushing wrench into their friendship.

First of all, the film is told entirely visually, with the score telling the story. At most, there’s licensed song lyrics. This also allows the visuals to take center stage, which is good because this film has a lot of great comedic timing and humorous touches within the world. It’s also a great love letter to 1980s New York, with practically all the fashions and fads intact, from punks flipping you off to animal-fied versions of classic arcade games. (Just to make it truly authentic, there’s a sign at one point telling you how not to get mugged.) In contrast to the grimy time period, the art style is adorable and endearing, and really sets the initial tone for the world. The key word there is “initial”, because if you haven’t read the graphic novel, it doesn’t take long for you to quickly realize this is not the film you may think it is.

Simply put, Robot Dreams is a film that will break your heart. At some point the cute funny animal buddy-comedy vibes give way to something real and devastating, as the true nature of the plot is revealed. There’s also a lot more story here than you might think. I felt the film could’ve been trimmed a bit, but it used its runtime well. While a lot of the film seemed a tad episodic, it still came across as fully-fleshed out. Without giving too much away, the film also keeps you on your toes emotionally, but there’s a decent balance of tone. It’s soul-crushing when it needs to be, and heartwarming when the former gets too much.

Don’t be fooled by its cutesy exterior and silent-film style. With humor, heart, sadness, and an unexpectedly bittersweet ending, Robot Dreams has genuine depth and is certainly one of the best animated films of 2023. I really hope the Oscar nomination brings this film the publicity it deserves. It takes a gamble, and it certainly paid off.