"Live Action and Animated Shorts"

Once again, I had the pleasure of seeing all ten movies nominated for Oscars in the "Live Action Shorts" and "Animated Shorts" categories at the rustic and ever quaint South Keystone Art Cinema. Simply put, there is no better venue to watch these wonderful films, all special in their own way.

Of the five nominated films in the category of "Live Action Shorts," I must confess that I arrived a few minutes late for "Tanghi Agrentini," and as a consequence I regrettably can't say much about it. It looked like great fun, however, as it involved a middle aged man asking an office colleague for help in order to learn to dance the tango in a short period of time. I really would like to see the whole thing.

Of the remaining films, I think "The Tonto Woman" will edge out "At Night" and take home the Oscar. On the other hand, my exchange student, "Z," thought "Le Mozart Des Pickpockets" (The Mozart of Pickpockets) will win the award.

I don't deny liking "Mozart," as it concerned two rather inept pickpockets who finally reached the top of their illegal game after stumbling upon a deaf homeless boy. The movie is particularly intriguing given that the young boy's principle skill is going to crowded movie theaters and crawling under the seats where he is able to steal anything of value from purses left on the floor. Guard your valuables, ladies!

"At Night" is a tremendously moving portrayal of the relationships of three terminally ill female cancer patients in a hospital ward over the Christmas and New Year's Holiday. There are some powerful moments as these three lovely women bond together for a few days as they heroically face their impending deaths.

However, as much as I truly admire "At Night," I still must give the nod for the Oscar to "The Tonto Woman." Written by Elmore Leonard, the story concerns a mysterious cattle rustler who befriends a lonely woman found isolated in a rundown shack on the edge of nowhere.

The movie begins with the rustler, known as Ruben Vega, confessing his sins to a priest in a Catholic Church. As he tells the priest that he has "fornicated" with approximately two hundred to three hundred women over the past twenty-seven years, the priest asks Vega if they were "good or bad women." Vega laconically responds, "They were all good." You've got to love this man.

Told by way of flashbacks, Vega stumbles upon this desolate woman, only to discover that her husband keeps her isolated after she had been horribly tattooed on her cheek and chin following eleven years of captivity with a desert Indian tribe. The relationship between Vega and this woman is remarkable, and suffice it to say that this short movie packs a significant emotional wallop as he helps to restore her dignity.

I also thought this movie served as a wonderful metaphor to all those in our society who feel emotionally isolated. While the story specifically concerned itself with an attractive woman who had been physically scarred, it might as well had been speaking to the way a significant part of our political culture scapegoats immigrants and homosexuals to this very day. Everyone is beautiful in someone's eyes, and society would be a far better place if we approached our fellow man with that thought in mind.

As to the five nominated films in the category of "Animated Shorts," my uneducated guess is that the winner will either be "I Met The Walrus," "Moya Lyubov" (My Love) or "Peter & The Wolf."

While I admittedly found "Madame Tutli-Putli" visually intriguing, I couldn't quite figure out what it was about other than a backward woman having a series of horrifying experiences on a train.

"Meme Les Pigeons Vont Au Paradis" (Even Pigeons Go To Heaven) was charmingly irreverent. It dealt with a con man priest trying to sell an aging man a machine that would transport him to heaven, only to have the Grim Reaper appear and make the priest pay for his misdeeds.

"Moya Lyubov" was the most visually arresting of all five nominated films. It told the story of a teenage poet in love with both an exotic stranger and the daughter of a servant in his home. It was a beautiful rendition of the timeless tale of love lost, in this case a young woman who vows to dedicate her life to God if only the man she loves recovers from a horrible accident.

Being forced to choose between the above referred to "Walrus" and "Peter & The Wolf," I am going to choose the former to win the Oscar. "Peter" is a lovely animated depiction of the classic musical piece by Prokofiev. It recreates the stirring tale of a boy who hunts down and traps a wolf preying on his animal friends, only to find solidarity with his tormentor after he denies the latter his freedom.

But "Walrus" is extraordinarily special, in that the animation is put to the actual recording of fourteen-year-old Jerry Levitan's interview with John Lennon after he snuck into Lennon's hotel room to gain a short interview in 1969. As simplistic as many of Lennon's statements were and are, many of them have incredible relevance to problems in today's world.

Listen to Lennon's words and see if you don't hear some parallels in Barack Obama's campaign speeches. It is because of the social and political significance of "Walrus" that I believe it will tip the scales and earn Hollywood's highest award.