From Netflix:
This collection of Oscar-winning shorts from 2003-2012 covers works from around the globe, including “God of Love,” “The New Tenants,” “Toyland,” “West Bank Story,” “The Lost Thing,” “Logorama,” “The Danish Poet,” “Ryan” and “Harvie Krumpet.”
Live Action shorts are:
- God of Love – Singer uses unusual methods (timed darts) to cultivate love affairs.
- The New Tenants – Surprise! Vince D’Onofrio (looking really overweight and unhealthy) The new tenants have a series of crazy visitors.
- Toyland – German with subtitles – Persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany. “Toyland” is a euphemism for a concentration camp. Little Aryan child wants to accompany his Jewish friend to “Toyland”. Grim, sad, beautifully done.
- West Bank Story – Much effort went into making this satirical take-off on “West Side Story”. Kosher King versus Hummus Hut.
Animated shorts are:
- The Lost Thing – Australian – On beach man finds incredibly imaginative “thing” that seems to be a giant almost-teapot with reptilian extremities. Priceless!
- Logorama – Vulgar mockery of American products and their logos, complete with car chases shoot-outs, earthquakes, an oil flood, and the west coast under water.
- The Danish Poet – A Danish poet visits Sigrid Unset
- Ryan – Imaginative but grotesque people missing parts (e.g. missing half a skull) provide opportunities for digital distortions. Downright weird.
- Harvie Krumpet – Claymation story of Polish Harvie born to insane mother and lumber jack father. Harvie escapes the Germans and flees to Australia where he lives a life full of funny misfortunes each of which lands him once again in the hospital. Meanwhile he continues to collect increasingly funny facts (misspelled as “fakts”). Explicitly vulgar and very tongue-in-cheek.
“West Bank Story” is probably famous. In fact, I think I have seen it in other collections. Well worth watching.
“Harvie Krumpet”, while funny, could also be a bit depressing.
“The Lost Thing” may well be one of the most original animations I have seen. To enjoy all its details you might have to watch it more than once.
From NetFlix:
Enjoy the best live-action and animated shorts from the 2006 Academy Awards, including the animated winner “The Danish Poet,” which follows the title character on an adventure into romance and inspiration. In addition to live-action winner “West Bank Story” — a Middle Eastern parody of West Side Story — this eclectic collection also includes nominees “Binta and the Great Idea,” “One Too Many,” “Helmer & Son,” “The Saviour” and “Maestro.”
This collection is a mixed bag. You can easily skip the shorts that you don’t want to see. I recommend the following:
- West Bank Story
- Maestro
- The Passenger
- Guide Dog
- One Rat Short
- Surviving the Rush
“West Bank Story”, “Guide Dog”, and “Surviving the Rush” are really funny.
Included are:
- “West Bank Story” parody of “West Side Story” sung in English with some really funny sight gags. In fact, it is really a brilliant comedy made at the University of Southern California.
- “The Saviour” tense encounter with traveling missionaries in white shirts and ties. (Australian)
- “Binta and the Great Idea” filmed in Africa and spoken in French with subtitles.
- “Éramos pocos” Spanish with subtitles. Mother abandons her husband and son who then bring their grandmother from a rest home back to their home.
- “The Danish Poet” Animated cartoon made by Danes. Romantic tale involving Denmark and Norway.
- “Maestro” This very clever robotic animation appears in other collections of short film. Quite unique.
- “The Wraith of Cobble Hill” Play dough animation about life in a black ghetto.
- “The Passenger” Robotic animation. Humorous horror tale about young man’s adventures while reading a book entitled “The Passenger”. No dialog.
- “A Gentlemen’s Duel” Animation. Two men duel for the affections of a damsel. English dialog. Somewhat vulgar.
- “Guide Dog” Animated. Very funny story of a dog who has terrible luck trying to be a guide dog.
- “One Rat Short” Extremely clever photo animation about a rat and a bag of Cheez-its. No dialog.
- “Surviving the Rush” Really funny live short about a movie theater manager trying to survive a really bad day. Vulgar and religiously irreverent.
From NetFlix:
Good things come in small packages, as evidenced by the 16 award winners showcased in this collection, which represents the best short films screened at Cannes, Sundance, Telluride, Tribeca and many other film festivals. This international collection includes Johan Brisinger’s “Passing Hearts Sweden,” Kathleen Na’s “L’Entretien,” Shawn Ku’s “Pretty Dead Girl” and many other superb shorts. Extras include extensive commentaries by the filmmakers.
These supposedly Award-Winning Film Festival Shorts are not very good, excepting for the poignant “Passing Hearts Sweden”. Instead try 2007 Shorts.
Shorts included are:
- “Hyper” Oddly enough, concerns a really hyper young man. [Funny]
- “Gowanus, Brooklyn” So slow I gave up watching.
- “Passing Hearts Sweden” Slow, warm story about boy in 8th grade. Somewhat of a mystery until you understand the sadness behind the story. [Swedish with English subtitles]
- “My Name is Yu Ming” Adventuresome Chinese student visits Dublin. He spent 6 months learning Irish only to discover that almost no one in Ireland understands Irish. [Mandarin with English subtitles]
- “Seventeen” Grotesque depiction of young man who cannot find a sexual partner. Explicit sexual drawings. {Netherlands] [Drawn animation]
- “Loose Ends” Two twenty something young men arguing about “Star Wars” [Norwegian with English subtitles]
- “L’Entretien” Young man receives strange invitation to join the “Good Life”followed by a strange sequence of events. [French with English subtitles]
- “Confection” Little girl has fantasies while holding onto a sweet from a bakery.
- “Colorform” Little girl makes a mess with finger paints. Has a harp lesson with an Italian teacher. Throws spahetti at dinner. Etc.
- “Date” Demanding girl friend changes her attitude.
- “The Fridge” Tale of a mysterious refrigerator. [Greek with English subtitles]
- “Clay Pride” The difficulty of being Clay in America. [Animated Play Dough]
- “Pretty Dead Girl” Off-color hospital song and dance routing.
- “Climactic Death of Dark Ninja” Kids in the woods.
- “Archipelago” Acceptable short drama on a beach. [Spanish with English Subtitles]
- “A Ninja Pays Half My Rent” Young man tries to get along with his new Ninja roommate.
Films Tony is comfortable recommending.
