Hans’ Oscar Bites

Oscar Bites #6 – BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT
Following the shorts on a year to year basis was always such a fun endeavor, especially when it felt like you were really discovering a new little gem of a filmmaker or quick film bite. The last couple years have definitely felt like these categories have been chores more and more, and with the ever constant worry of bloated ceremony runtimes, it might be time to start thinking about hat we can do with these categories.

But one thing to commend this category about this year? Not a single dead kid!!

The nominees are:
-Butcher’s Stain
-A Friend of Dorothy
-Jane Austen Period Drama
-The Singers
-Two Strangers Exchanging Saliva

In order of preference:
5) BUTCHER’S STAIN (Meyer Levinson-Blount and Oron Caspi)
Amidst the escalating racial tensions all around him, an Arab butcher is accused of tearing down hostage posters in the Israeli-owned supermarket he works at. I feel like there’s a lot of metaphors flying around here but none of them ever quite land with me. While the twist ending is not the one that you would expect, it does lend a bit of “what was all this for?” to the whole affair, particularly with a subject matter handled in so much more graceful ways in other films, even this year.

4) THE SINGERS (Sam A. Davis and Jack Piatt)
A modern adaptation of a 19th century Russian short story in which a group of ragtag strangers at a pub find themselves in an impromptu sing-off. This is a cute enough little story, with the main casting gimmick being much of this ensemble were found off viral videos and TikToks. There’s not much story here as it basically evolves into a blue collar version of the Eurovision movie Song-Along, but it’s charming enough.

3) JANE AUSTEN PERIOD DRAMA (Julia Aks and Steve Pinder)
Exactly what the title says, quite literally. This mostly plays like a White Lady Sketch Show/SNL type bit, but for the most part is pretty harmless fun, especially if you’re a Jane Austen fan. Perhaps not as substantial as the prior two entries but as it was last in the shorts packaged I watched it was a nice light tone to end on.

2) TWO PEOPLE EXCHANGING SALIVA (Alexandre Singh and Natalie Musteata)
In a world where slaps to the face are currency and intimate contact is forbidden, two women find themselves defying the law. Certainly the most ambitious short of the lot, I have to give this a lot of kudos for going above in both creative imagery (bruising on one’s face being a status indicator) and storytelling (shadows of Carol!). In a world where these kind of “What if” type stories can easily be written off as Black Mirror knock offs, this was heartfelt, clever, and ultimately a good watch. I’m only giving it my #2 mostly because I thought it stayed its welcome a tad too long, particularly for a short, but I am almost certainly willing to revisit and re-evaluate in the future.

1) A FRIEND OF DOROTHY
Dorothy, an elderly lady played by Miriam Margolyes, befriends a young man who helps her with various odds and ends around the home, and leaves him a very special gift upon her death. Miriam is a national treasure and is playing this basically as herself, but the warmth and love she brings to this role as she takes this young ?gay? man under her wing is the kind of thing that makes for a feel good cinematic experience even if there isn’t, again, much substance here. Even as I write this out, I recognize that Two People Exchanging Saliva is likely technically better than this, but how blessed are we to have these two LGBTQ+ little shorts to debate and cherish. Maybe this category is worth redeeming.

WILL WIN: Two People Exchanging Saliva
COULD WIN: Butcher’s Stain