Movies: Academy Award-Nominated Live-Action Short Films 2014

(Drivebycuriosity) - Do you like movies but you often get bored before the film comes to an end. Then short films might suit you. The film makers can exploit an idea without over stretching it. This year`s Oscar candidates give an impression for that. The "Academy Award-Nominated Live-Action Short Films 2014" are now shown in New York`s IFC theater (ifccenter).

Like last year`s harvest the crop was  very mixed (driveby). I could have done without "That Wasn’t Me" (director: Esteban Crespo, Spain, 24 min.). The film deals with child soldiers in Africa and shows the brutality and inhumanity of their situation. I don´t need to see this brutality and a felt the 24 minutes a bit torturing.

The rest of the films are passable to good. "Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?" (Selma Vilhunen, Finland, 7 min.) shows a family who goes to an important event. The very short film is funny and hilarious. In"Just Before Losing Everything" (Xavier Legrand, France, 30 min.) we see a woman and her children who are in a hurry trying to escape something. The unsettling film deals with a too common issue and looks very realistic. "Helium" (Anders Walter, Denmark, 23 min.) is a heartwarming tale about a hospital worker who helps on a mental way a terminally ill boy.
In "The Vorrman Problem" (Mark Gill, UK, 13 min.) a psychiatrist visits a prison where he has to examine an inmate who claims to be God. This is in my eyes the perfect short film and my favorite for the  Oscars.