They sometimes get short shrift at the Academy Awards ceremony, but knowledgable Hollywood types will tell you some of the best stuff comes in small packages each year. Films nominated for the Best Animated Short and Best Live Action Short Oscars not only tend to be incredibly creative — they also often provide an early heads-up at major talents (Kenneth Branagh, Taylor Hackford and local favorite Ray McKinnon) who’ll go on to direct or appear in acclaimed full-length features.
Seeing all the nominated shorts can be a catch-as-catch-can process, especially before the Academy Awards take place on Feb. 26; luckily, Landmark Theatres' Midtown Art Cinema in Atlanta will show all 10 of this year's nominees starting next Friday, Feb. 10.
"Oscar Nominated Short Films 2017: Animation" has a running time of 1 hour, 26 minutes and features the following: "Borrowed Time" (USA), about a sheriff returning to the scene of an accident; "Pearl" (USA), about a young girl and her dad traveling the country and living in their hatchback; Pixar Animation Studios' "Piper" (USA), about a hungry sandpiper hatchling; "Blind Vaysha" (Canada), about a girl with one eye that sees the past and one eye that sees the future; and "Pear Brandy and Cigarettes" (Canada/UK), about a man trying to get home from China to Vancouver and stop drinking long enough to receive a liver transplant. (Note: "'Pear Brandy and Cigarettes' contains mature content and will be shown last, so that parents and caregivers can usher children out of the theater if desired, according to Landmark Theatres. Other shorts in the program are acceptable for kids of all ages.) See the trailer here.
"Oscar Nominated Short Films 2017: Live Action" has a running time of 2 hours, 10 minutes and features the following: "Sing" (Hungary), about a school's mysterious choir director; "Silent Nights" (Denmark), about a volunteer at a homeless shelter who falls in love with an illegal immigrant; "Timecode" (Spain), about a pair of parking lot security guards; "Ennemis Interieurs" (France), set in a local police station where a French-Algerian born man sees himself accused of protecting the identities of possible terrorists; and "La Femme et la TGV" (Switzerland) starring César Award nominee Jane Birkin as a lonely woman whose life is turned upside down when she finds a letter from the conductor of train that passes by daily. See the trailer here.
Midtown Art Cinema is located at 931 Monroe Drive, Atlanta. 404-879-0160, www.landmarktheatres.com/atlanta
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