Oscar Nominated Short Films 2013: Live Action [HD]

definitely worth the money
It's great that I got to see all the nominated movies for about half of what I'd have paid in the theater. And I didn't even have to trek out into the snow! The features are all pretty good. My favorite is probably "Henry," which is an original take on a man's battle with Alzheimer's disease. "Curfew" is about a suicidal drug addict whose estranged sister needs him to babysit for an evening and it's probably the most accessible of them all. "Asad" is about a boy in a fishing village in Somalia whose friends have all turned to the pirate life while he's trying to break his curse and catch some fish. "Death of a Shadow" is a strange little movie about a man who goes around with a photo contraption that captures the shadows of people as they are being murdered. "Buzkashi Boys" is about two impoverished boys in Afghanistan who dream about growing up and becoming heroes of the local sport, which seems to be like polo, but with a headless goat carcass...

Worth going out of your way to find - Shows why short films are an art
Given how difficult it is to find markets - let alone audiences - for short live-action films, you could wonder why the people make them even bother. But if you're lucky enough to see some, then you quickly understand why. Short films are the movie equivalent of short stories, and the challenge is to tell a complete - and hopefully engaging - story in a limited amount of time. Like short stories, short films are an art in and of themselves, for like short stories, they require greater discipline than one would need for a longer work.

These five short live-action films were the ones nominated for the Academy Award in that category for 2012.

"Death of a Shadow" - A man, whom we later learn is - or was - a soldier killed during WWI, travels through time to photograph people's deaths with a highly unusual camera that captures their shadows at the moment of their death. He then brings these captured shadows back to the man he works for, a mysterious...

Excellent
I highly recommend this. All the films are wonderful, and collectively make for a terrific viewing experience. Great stories, great casts, great tech.

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