Oscar-Nominated Short Films 2014: Documentaries (opens January 31 exclusively at the Capitol Theatre)

[THE OSCAR NOMINATED SHORTS: DOCUMENTARIES opens Friday January 31st exclusively at the Capitol Theatre.] 

Review by Charles Cassady, Jr. (with an assist by Bob Ignizio)

Why care about the short subjects in the Academy Awards category of Best Documentary Short Subject? A few reasons. First is my longstanding contention that documentary film is just about the only form of cinema left that’s of any interest and relevance.

And second, and perhaps more importantly, on Oscar nite itself, I’ve always learned that the winners in this category are always the loosest of loose cannons when it comes to making acceptance speeches. Even the Documentary Feature people who have trouble living up to the mark set by Michael “Shame on you George Bush!” Moore, now tend to behave themselves. The Short Subject people, however, are a little less restrained at watching what comes out of their mouths in front of a microphone.

The Oscar Nominated Short Films 2014: Animated (opens January 31st exclusively at the Capitol Theatre)

[THE OSCAR NOMINATED SHORTS: LIVE ACTION opens Friday January 31st exclusively at the Capitol Theatre.]

Review by Bob Ignizio

This year's nominees for best animated short include a classic style Mickey Mouse cartoon that breaks into the modern world, a dark but ultimately uplifting tale of the supernatural from Japan, a highly symbolic representation of the “wolf boy” archetype from the U.S., a weird CGI steam punk thing from France, and a perhaps too loving adaptation of a popular children's story from Great Britain. In the past this program has been filled out with additional animated shorts that didn't quite make the final five, but that appears not to be the case this year. And so without further ado, on to the nominees.

Oscar Nominated Short Films 2014: Live Action (opens January 31st exclusively at the Capitol Theatre)

[THE OSCAR NOMINATED SHORT FILMS 2014: LIVE ACTION opens Friday January 31st exclusively at the Capitol Theatre.]

Review by Pamela Zoslov



“Good things, when short, are twice as good,” wrote the Spanish philosopher Baltasar Gracián. That has never been more true than now, as feature films get ever longer, and watching them requires a willingness to sit still for three hours or more. That requires a lot more time and patience than I have.

For that reason, I've always loved the short form – half-hour sitcoms, short stories and short films. Often while I'm watching a feature-length movie, I think about how much better it would be as a twenty or thirty-minute short. Lose the pop-music montage, the car chases, the digressions and repetitions, and just focus on telling a story succinctly.