Swan's 2018 Film Diary

Fast Times at Ridgemont High -
(Amy Heckerling, 1982)

[REWATCH]



This flick holds up very well. Complete fun but also well-made, and it's influence on teen comedies after it is obvious now.

OSCAR-NOMINATED ANIMATED SHORT FILMS:

Dear Basketball -
(Glen Keane, 2017)
Negative Space -
(Ru Kuwahata & Max Porter, 2017)
Lou -
(Dave Mullins, 2017)
Revolting Rhymes -
(Jan Lachauer & Jakob Schuh, 2016)
Garden Party -
(A Lot of People, 2017)



Dear Basketball was a touching goodbye to Kobe Bryant that made me care about basketball for the first time in my life. Negative Space brought heart to packing luggage of all things. Lou proved once again that Pixar has an incredible knack for short narratives just as much as they do for full-length. Revolting Rhymes had an interesting concept that was drawn out a bit too long and sported frankly awful animation. Garden Party was a masterpiece of understated storytelling that gives CGI an stunningly good name.

NON-NOMINATED ANIMATED SHORT FILMS:

(Played after the nominated ones)

Lost Property Office -
(Daniel Agdag, 2017)
Weeds -
(Kevin Hudson, 2017)
Achoo -
(A Lot of People, 2017)

Lost Property Office was my second favorite animated short of the evening (after Garden Party), with incredible subdued stop-motion and a story which seems mundane at first but ends up endearing. Weeds was cute enough with a nice little message that unfortunately didn't seem to click well. Achoo was cute too, but lacked the charm it seemed to strive for.

OSCAR-NOMINATED LIVE-ACTION SHORT FILMS:

DeKalb Elementary -
(Reed Van Dyk, 2017)
The Silent Child -
(Chris Overton, 2017)
My Nephew Emmett -
(Kevin Wilson, Jr., 2017)
The Eleven O'Clock -
(Derin Seale, 2016)
Watu Wote: All of Us -
(Katja Benrath, 2017)



DeKalb Elementary was the highlight of the evening, and I need to talk about it in more than a sentence. Three out of five of the nominated live-action shorts were preachy "message movies". DeKalb Elementary lacked preachiness entirely - and that made it a far more profound experience. It is the one film that had me and my friend talking long after we left the theater.

It's about a mentally unstable young man who enters an elementary school... with a rifle. The entire short takes place in the receptionist room, and consists (aside from the very beginning and very end) with only the gunman and receptionist.

I think when a movie tries to preach a black-and-white message, the audience isn't left with much to think about. DeKalb Elementary presents it's story objectively, and the two characters, in the matter of 20 minutes, feel completely real, confused, and human - and in such a degree many full-length features could only dream of reaching.

It also hit close to home. While I could never, would never bring a gun to an elementary school, I still struggle with mental illness. Hearing this kid about my age who looks a bit like me talk about his medications and going to the hospital and acting far worse than I ever have but uncannily like some far more unstable people I personally know... it left me floored and a bit gut-wrenched. And when they presented him as a human, without demonizing him... it just made me fall in love with the film. On top of all that, it's impeccably directed.

I hope it wins best live-action short, though I wonder if the Oscars will go for one of the "message movies".

Moving on....

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The Silent Child was decent, but seemed to be going places it never ended up going. My Nephew Emmett felt amateurish, heavy-handed as hell and cliche, but I couldn't hate it too much. The Eleven O'Clock had a great, witty script and was well-directed, and I'm pretty sure they used the theme from The Conversation as the temp score. Watu Wote: All of Us was heavy-handed but fairly intense and not terribly crafted either.