I feel like it was a really good week of movie watching for me as I kicked things off watching Criterion’s new Blu-ray release of Don’t Look Now (read my review Cinerama.
Then, on top of that, I watched the five, Oscar-nominated, live action shorts and it’s sort of a tough call attempting to predict which one will win, though, right now, I’d probably lean to either Aya or Parvaneh. Certainly Boogaloo and Graham, centering on a couple Irish kids given chickens for gifts, is the most accessible. Aya, centering on a woman who finds herself pretending to be an airport driver, might be my favorite, and The Phone Call, which I expect many will predict will win because it stars Sally Hawkins and Jim Broadbent, was my least favorite. It was just sad for the sake of being sad as it centers on a crisis hotline worker (Hawkins) who receives a phone call from a man (Broadbent) whose just taken several pills in an attempt to kill himself. Ugh, earn your emotion, don’t beg for it.
Butter Lamp (La Lampe Au Beurre De Yak) was probably the most interesting as it was solely told through the lens of a photographer’s camera as he situates his subjects, most of them families, in an effort to take their picture against ever-changing backdrops.
I plan on watching the documentary and animated shorts this afternoon and writing about all of them this coming week. Have any of you seen any of them yet? Any thoughts? And on top of that, what did you watch this week?
