Oscar Nominated Shorts (Live Action)

That Wasn't Me

There have been shorts that try to take on the lawlessness in some portions of Africa. Those shorts tried to be overly clever. This is much more in your face, and is all the more powerful for it. But it is tough to watch, including the shocking murder of a major character. This puts human faces on the situation in a way never done before. Grade: A+

Just Before Losing Everything

Here's a short which takes awhile to reveal its subject: a family going into hiding to escape an abusive husband/father. By focusing on the minor details, the film builds and builds to an almost unbearable tension. Grade: A+

Helium

A somewhat strange new janitor at a hospital bonds with a child dying a cancer. Though the description of Helium, a more interesting afterlife than Heaven, he helps find the boy the courage to die. Part of the power of the film is the visions of Helium while the janitor describes it, but there is no way to describe how emotional the end is. Grade: A+

Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?

Imagine the first minutes of Four Weddings and a Funeral, only in Finnish and with a family with two children. That's the basic idea of a short with imaginative gag after imaginative gag. Laugh out loud funny throughout. Grade: A

The Voorman Problem

A one joke premise involving a strange character in a British prison. It's not a particularly funny joke. The one short with a recognizable lead (Martin Freeman) is the one short this year that does not deserve its nomination. Grade: C+

For me, the first three shorts are of extraordinary quality. Helium is the one that touched me the most emotionally. That is my vote.

I could see any of the three winning the Oscar. The tiebreaker is the politics, and an endorsement of Amnesty International, which helped produce That Wasn't Me, is the tiebreaker.