Oscar events 2009: Shorts Swanking and Oscar party

[Tom]

It's that time of year again. The Oscars are just around the corner (Sunday, Feb. 22nd) and so we are putting out the word about our annual related activities.

We apologize for our lateness in getting these things rolling this year. Our attention has been elsewhere for the past few weeks, and the shorts are being presented unusually early this year and came up on us by surprise.

So, event #1: The live-action and animated Oscar-nominated shorts are being presented this weekend - yes, this weekend coming up. Heidi and I are planning to go on Sunday, Feb. 8th, starting with a mid-afternoon show at the Laemmle Sunset 5 theater in West Hollywood. Specific show times have not yet been published, as far as I can see. This is our favorite movie outing of the year, and we hope that we can entice some of you into joining us. Based on our theory that good years and bad years for shorts alternate, this should be a very good year indeed. And it is not at the same theater that screwed up the projection last year, though it is likely to still be projected from dvd, so adjust your expectations accordingly.

Event #2: Our annual Oscar party, co-hosted by LoT's very own Sohrshah, will be held the day of the awards ceremony (imagine that), Sunday Feb. 22nd, at Chez Todi Mooers (directions available upon request). Our doors will open at 3:00 for those who wish to watch the red carpet arrivals, and the ceremony will begin at 5:00. We'll provide snacks and drinks and ballots. and if last year is any indication, much fun and frolic will be had.

[Morrigoon]

OMG, I love the shorts! I won't know till more details are out how well I can coordinate that with working, but I hope to be able to attend.

[innerSpaceman]

W00t Oscar Fun. S'far as I can see, I'm in for both.

(Uh-oh, haven't seen many nominees this year. Guess the ceremony will be all about Fashion for me!)

[Ghoulish Delight]

In for shorts for sure!

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

Yes, and ... yes.

[Prudence]

Dammit - I'll be on a plane again for the shorts. Might be able to make the ceremony, although I might also be exhausted.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Should we just go ahead an buy tickets?

[Ghoulish Delight]

Tickets are now available:

Linky (http://www.laemmle.com/viewtheatre.php?date=02082009&thid=2)

1:40 - Live Action shorts, 114 minutes w/previews. $7 matinee
4:40 - Animated shorts, 110 minutes w/previews. $10

[LSPoorEeyorick]

Really looking forward to this!

[Ghoulish Delight]

Same here. What are we doing for dinner/award ceremony? Where can we find some short ribs and strawberry short cake?

[Tom]

I just did a quick check of the area. Within easy walking distance, there is Vivoli Cafe and Trattoria (http://www.yelp.com/biz/vivoli-cafe-and-trattoria-west-hollywood), Greenblatt's Deli (http://www.yelp.com/biz/greenblatts-delicatessen-and-fine-wine-shop-west-hollywood), and I think there is a California Pizza Kitchen and a Sushi Dan there also. If we go a little farther afield, options are many.

[mousepod]

California Pizza Kitchen is no more. Greenblatt's is pricey, but they do make a good sandwich.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Deli sounds appropriate to me - where else can you properly kibbitz about the film industry?

[Snowflake]

Deli sounds appropriate to me - where else can you properly kibbitz about the film industry?

Canter's, of course.

I know, I know, not the same neighborhood.

Now I want some pastrami, dammit

[innerSpaceman]

I'm planning on buying tickets Day-Of. Um, this never sells out or anything, right?

And post-screening Deli kibutzing sounds perfect to me!

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Canter's, of course.

I know, I know, not the same neighborhood.

Now I want some pastrami, dammitCanters of course would be ideal. I said "deli", because any decent deli would fit the bill.

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

Like ISM, I'll buy onsite if I decide to go. Not 100% but I will try.

[Eliza Hodgkins 1812]

Canter's, of course.

I know, I know, not the same neighborhood.

Now I want some pastrami, dammit

Canters is gross and overpriced. Brent's...in the Valley. Overpriced but delicious, despite their ****ty coffee. But, that's not really an option for y'all. Heh.

[Not Afraid]

The shorts are playing at South Coast Village all week - or until the 12th.

[Alex]

How did they fill these out to those lengths (the ones in GD's post)?

The total running time of the animated shorts is around 37:45. That's about 70 minutes of filler to get to 110 minutes.

The live action is better at 92 minutes total time. But that is still 20 minutes of filler.

What are they filling with?

[LSPoorEeyorick]

They filled with a bunch of animated shorts that were not nominated. Some of them were good, but one was the most dreadful animated short I've ever seen. I don't think they actually had any filler in the live action, but both used some interstitial quotes (though I can't imagine that took up 20 minutes.)

I was amused to find that our theory still stands after five years: this year had some good work. Next year, probably not. It's always so much fun to watch these and then discuss them afterwards as a group!

[Ghoulish Delight]

15 of those minutes for each was trailers.

I'll post the results of the official LoT voting.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

What a fun day! :) It was awesome to see our estranged iSm again, as well as LSPE and Tom of course, plus Sohrshah and Lance, and mousepod too.

There were some great ones. As usual, the sappy ones appealed to me. One where a woman predicts how her friends will react to her death touched me since I tend to daydream about these things. An old man's reminiscence of his life and family hit me pretty strongly and I almost cried, even though I'd probably used up all my tears for the holocaust one earlier.

I swear, holocaust films are unfair. I avoid them when I can. This one had some weird, almost insensitive touches...though when Germans make a film about it, the view is a bit strange.

There were some fun short ones, and the one called Pig was an amusing, well-done example of the struggles regarding religious tolerance, though the "debate" between the daughter and son was a bit overdone, I thought. An African child dealing with the quirky kids in an Irish elementary school was fun and able to evoke his homeland in a simple, warm, yet realistic way.

Such interesting films...and such crosscultural reaches...a Japanese film with a French title, a Muslim family in a Danish hospital, a German film done in Switzerland, an African boy in an Irish school...if last year's theme was "Cancer", this year's is "It's a Small World After All."

Fantastic day, thanks H & T! :D

It took a lot of effort to remember the films after the HORRIBLE addition of the one LSPE referred to called Varmints, which was so soul-suckingly terrible that I almost simply stared at my lap until it was over (please end! please end!) and the idea that it wasn't nominated and therefore we didn't have to see it at all just drives me crazy. I only mention it so I can post this: DO NOT SEE THAT FILM. You may commit suicide.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Damn, left the official LoT ballot tally (prepared by the accounting offices of Goldman, Sachs, and Canters) at home.

Until I have that in hand, here's my summary of the nominees.

Live Action:

1. "On the Line" - Well put together for the most part, and it quickly created relatively compelling characters. But I had issues with it. First of all, it was nothing but tight closeups. I don't know why, but that bugged me. Secondly, while other's pointed out afterwards that there may have been more narrative closure than I first got out of it, I still thought the ending left things way too loose. I don't need shorts to end entirely unambiguously, but I felt like this one just gave up, less, "It could go anywhere from here," and more, "We can't decide what emotions these characters should have, so you sort it out." Meh.

2. "NewBoy" - great fun. Wonderful performances from children, which is always difficult. And it did a great job of handling serious, sensetive topics without being overbearing or heavy handed. Really a charming short piece.

3. "Toyland" - Depressing, of course. Morally muddled. Well presented. That's about all I have to say on it.

4. "Pig" - So wonderfully great. LOVE the message of misuse of "tolerance". This was my pick, both as my favorite of the bunch and as my Oscar prediction. I hope the voters have the balls to say, "forget theoretical fallout from people who might be insulted by this, it's a solid message and a solid short." New Boy was a close second for my vote.

5. "Manon on the Assphalt" - Yawn. Not unpleasantly bad, but I found it so uninciteful. A far too simplistic and literal play-by-play of the most obvious sorts of thoughts about mortality one might have.

Animated:

1. "Lavatory Love Story" - Cute I guess. But not particularly compelling.

2. "Oktapodi" - Good old fashion cartoony fun. At 2 minutes, there's not a lot more to say about it, but it was really enjoyable.

3. "Le Maison de Petits Cubes" - Oy. An interesting 30 second metaphor that dragged on for 10 minutes. It would have made a fantastic large format painting, but as an animated short it went nowhere. The entirety of the meaning was known from the start and the "story" as it were added nothing else to it.

4. "This Way Up" - My opinion on this one has changed several times, most of those changes happening during the run of the short. I liked the father-son interactions. The zany afterlife scene was great, and the freeze-frame ending was a good laugh. The slapstick stuff in between however left me flat. But overall I did enjoy it.

5. "Presto" - Easy winner. This short was such a leap in digital animation, in my eyes. They've finally managed to marry Pixar quality with the energy level of classic cartooning. With fantastic story telling and inventive sight gags. Just perfect. This was the unanimous LoT pick to win the Oscar.

[innerSpaceman]

I should mention, for those who didn't attend, that "Toyland" was the improably-titled Holocaust film.

The one element I liked about this one was that, like last years' "Tonto Woman," it seemed the most like a literary short story. But it was a shameful tearjerker with some really horrific messages that were highly insulting to humanity.

[Not Afraid]

We may end up seeing them this week. I'll put on the teflon for Toyland.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Oh hey, I pocketed the voting results this morning afterall. Yay.

Predictions:
With 4 votes out of 8 possible, "Pig" is the LoT prediction for best live action short, with "New Boy" and "Toyland" tying for second with 2 votes each.

And, as stated earlier, "Presto" was the unanimous pick in animated to take the Oscar.

LoT Favorites:In live action, with 4 votes, narrowly defeating the 2nd place pick by a single vote, "New Boy" is the LoT pick for favorite. "Pig" was in second, with "Manon on the Asphalt" picking up a lone vote.

And in a similar 4-3-1 split, "Presto" took home the Bacon in the animated category with "This Way Up" close behind and "Le Maison de Petits Cubes" in third.

[innerSpaceman]

91 Centimeters (not the real title) was the best of the Out-of-Competition entries, included to pad the running time.


Oh, and without a doubt, WORST nominated short goes to ... the envelope please....

VARMINTS.



Ugh. I want my 22 minutes back.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Fortunately, Varmints wasn't nominated. I may make it my mission to find every possible internet listing of it with a rating option and give it the lowest possible rating out of spite.

[Alex]

I see that Varmints was nominated for best animated short for a BAFTA. I presume that is why it would be included as filler. It lost to a Wallace & Gromit short.

[innerSpaceman]

No, no ... it was not a filler. It's an actual nominee.


Filler films do not qualify for Worst Nominated Short Film.

[Ghoulish Delight]

No, it's not a nominee. Varmint was filler.

The 5 noms were Lavatory, Octopus, Maison de Petits Cubes, This Way Up, and Presto.

[innerSpaceman]

VARMINT was a filler!!!

OMG, I would have walked out!!

[Not Afraid]

VARMINT was a filler!!!

OMG, I would have walked out!!

And you could've yelled "GOSH DARNIT VARMINT" as you did.

[LSPoorEeyorick]

Just a reminder that our Oscar party is on Sunday!

We will start to gather our refreshments this week, so I'm looking for a head count. These are the ones I know about:

IN
Tom
Heidi
Mousepod
Mrs. pod
iSm
Sohrshah
Lance
Bornieo

MAYBE?
GD/CP mentioned the possibility at the shorts
Prudence/Lab Rat, depending on how Pru feels post-travel-bleah

Who else have we?

[Ghoulish Delight]

We will be there.

[Morrigoon]

I think I have an early shift sunday, so I may be able to come. I'll check before confirming.

[Prudence]

I'm still pondering. I'm assuming traffic and parking will be hideous?

[innerSpaceman]

Traffic, no. Parking, yes.

But that has nothing to do with Oscar day. Parking is always hideous there.


The fact that we gleefully deal with it is testament to the swankiness of the Chez gatherings.

[LSPoorEeyorick]

And yet, so few people call to say "hey, I'm here, can I park in your lot?" If we re-park our cars outside, there's up to five spots available in the garage! So call us when you arrive!

iSm's right on about the traffic - so long as you're not taking side streets ON Hollywood. We may only be 1.5 miles away from the carpet, but all the re-direct doesn't affect the blocks between our exit and the Chez.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Shouldn't it be "le Chez"?

[Not Afraid]

We have plans to go to LACMA that day to see the Vanity Fair exhibit before it goes away. We'll need to get home to the wildlife after that, so we'll be watching from home.

[Morrigoon]

Hey LSPE, can you pm me your address please?

[Tom]

Wtf? This little nugget apparently was revealed by the producers of this year's Oscar telecast

The two dozen awards, along with the honorary Oscar to Jerry Lewis, will be presented in the context of a story that involves both the presenters and the nominees.

I think that this Oscar show could be either the best or the worst we have seen in a good long time.

[mousepod]

If the story involves zombies or bug-eyed monsters, it will be the best.

[Deebs]

If we re-park our cars outside, there's up to five spots available in the garage!


So true! I did indeed park in your garage. I wish I could do it again. I would so dearly love to be at your swanky Oscar par-tay.

[Prudence]

We have decided to say a big fvck you to my work and their hideous travel schedule and attend this swanking. Yay for getting out of the house (and not going to a hotel or the airport) and for fabulous company.

[€uroMeinke]

We will be at an airport