Categories One-by-One: Live-Action Short

[danfrank]

I’m a HUGE Riz Ahmed fan, but I feel the same way as DWS and Tee here. The Long Goodbye is really just a promotional video and an ineffectively bombastic one at that.

[Mister Tee]

Looking at the various pundit sites, it looks like people expect celebrity to carry the day -- The Long Goodbye is way ahead in predictions, which, seems to me, has to be based on "we want Riz to have an Oscar", because I can't believe there aren't more people who reacted (negatively) to that rant, the way dws and I have.

Is celebrity that big a factor in categories like this? Kobe won, I guess, but it feels like other big names have flopped at the attempt. Would Riz even view this as winning an Oscar?

[dws1982]

Caught these yesterday at a theater. I thought they had the Live Action and Animated program together (they did a few years ago) but it was only Live Action, so I probably won't make it to the Animated ones.

On My Mind is one of those that lost me pretty early, as soon as the main character, straight into the camera said, "Is that...karaoke?" in such a hackish way that I was convinced this had to be a student film. But no, this is made by someone who actually won this category almost twenty years ago. It actually ends pretty strongly, and unexpectedly, and the lead actor is pretty good (the karaoke line is not bad because of him but more because of the way it's set up by the director), but I wouldn't expect it to win.

The Dress is an actual student film, and it shows in some ways: The matter-of-fact miserablism that pervades a lot of the movie, followed be a brief respite, followed by well, if you've seen it, you know. Other than the need for something horrible to happen, why couldn't it have just been a nice date? Tadeusz Lysiak does seem like a talented filmmaker, and I'm interested in seeing what he does from here, but this isn't a winner.

The Long Goodbye is easily the worst film in the lineup in my opinion. The first couple of minutes seem like it may be going for some type of controlled chaos of this large family living their lives, but then it takes an unexpected turn which is completely out of nowhere, and I get that part of the point is for it to seem as sudden and unexpected for the audience as it would for people experiencing it, but because we have so little time to get any idea who these people are or what's going on, I don't think it really works. And the spoken word lecture at the end is awful, just embarrassing. Also the fact that this is essentially an extended music video promotion for Riz Ahmed's album gives me even more questions about the taste of this whole thing.

Please Hold manages to walk the fine line between comedy and horror with its scenario. If it leaned too much in either direction I think this movie would either be a really miserable sit or just a bad one that doesn't understand the gravity of the situation it's portraying, but I think it was overall very good, probably the most entertaining of the group, didn't try too hard to make us realize that it had a point to make, and it had a very good lead performance.

Like most, I liked Ala-Kachuu the best. Even knowing that it dealt with bridal kidnapping, the actual kidnapping was very surprising, the lead performance is excellent--if this were a feature she would probably be getting critical attention--and unlike others in this category that mostly just give us a scenario and an ending (which is essentially what On My Mind and The Dress do), this one has a pretty clear beginning, middle, and end. It could easily be expanded into a feature, but it also doesn't feel like it's just a proof of concept short that was made to secure funding for a feature. I think this one could easily win. (I do wonder...going to try to be vague...if the grandmother intentionally facilitated what happened at the climax of the film, or if it was just carelessness.)

I supposed Ahmed could carry The Long Goodbye to a win, especially if it's known that he's a nominee, but I think that Please Hold and Ala-Kachuu could just as easily win.

[Mister Tee]

Getting in late on this batch.

Want to say. contra many of you, I found The Dress quite compelling. The ending is a shocker -- and may well kill its chances of winning -- but I liked the central performance enough the whole thing played well for me.

On My Mind was a sweet little thing. I was anticipating a set-up for, say, signing final divorce papers; what I got instead kind of wrecked me. But I, of course, have more experience of such things than many of you.

I really didn't like The Long Goodbye all that much. For what seemed too long, it was utterly aimless -- which I understand was to contrast with the flurry of activity that followed, but it stuck me as too random; I had nowhere to really look. Then, of course, the action exploded, and I was fine with it as long as it concentrated on the inexplicable behavior of the lawfolk. But then Ahmed started lecturing, and, while I don't dispute anything he was telling me, it just came off as didactic -- I wanted him to show me something, rather then just hector me. It'd really be a shame if he were to win this simply on name recognition.

I think Please Hold had the most interesting concept of this group: take the universal annoyance we have with encountering machines whenever we just want a human to help us, and dovetail that in with how many members of society experience the Kafka-like judicial system. I think this is a possible winner.

But, like many of you, I'm most inclined toward Ala-Kachuu, simply because it deals with the most powerful situation. The initial grab is deeply shocking, and the seeming permanence of the situation evokes deep rage. I think the empathy created by this film puts it in pretty strong position.

[OscarGuy]

I'd swap Peter's positions with On My Mind ahead of Please Hold. I found both interesting, but On My Mind just resonated a bit more for me.

[FilmFan720]

Came here to post, only to see that I pretty much agree with everyone else's take. Ala Kachuu was the real revelation for me.

[Big Magilla]

I didn't know anything about any of these before I saw them, unlike most feature films where I pretty much know what to expect. Nor did I look at anonymous and gunner's reviews beforehand. Seems we agree on the best but will Oscar join us?

Best: Ala-Kachuu, English title Take and Run (Switzerland) - Alina Turdumamatova in the lead role gives an award-worthy performance as the Kyrgyzstani girl waiting for word of her scholarship when she is kidnapped and forced into marriage.

2nd Best: Please Hold (U.S) - Anyone (and that's most of us) who has ever spent time navigating through digital messages before finally getting a real person who is as dumb as the recordings will easily relate to this one. It's funny and deadly serious at the same time.

3rd Best: On My Mind (Denmark) - A heartbreaker about a man, a bar, and a song. To say anymore, would be to spoil it.

I liked The Long Goodbye (U.K./Netherlands) but found it a big too preachy. Still, I wouldn't object to seeing Riz Ahmed take home an Oscar.

I did not like The Dress (Poland) at all. Anna Dieduszycka is compelling as the lonely dwarf who gets all dolled up for a night out with a truck driver that ends disastrously, but all those shots of her smoking, playing the slot machines, and smoking some more, to underline her loneliness, were too much.

[gunnar]

The Long Goodbye was actually my least favorite of the five nominees. I get what they were going for there and it is an important topic, but it didn't totally work for me.

My favorite was also Ala Kachuu - Take and Run. It's very solid in both the acting and the story. I hope that it ends up winning.

After Ala Kachuu, I liked Please Hold and On My Mind quite a bit with The Dress coming in a distant fourth place.

[anonymous1980]

The nominees:

Ala Kachuu - Take and Run
The Dress
The Long Goodbye
On My Mind
Please Hold

The front-runner here is The Long Goodbye. It's co-written, produced and stars Riz Ahmed. It's an angry anti-racist piece with an important, compelling message but personally I don't think it completely works as a film. But a lot of people seems to respond to it plus it's got a famous person at the helm so it's probably winning. If there is a spoiler, it's most likely Ala Kachuu, my personal favorite of the five. It's a compelling drama about the practice bride kidnapping in Kyrgyzstan. The rest don't have much of a shot: The Dress, as I mentioned in the "Shorts" thread has a potentially divisive ending. Please Hold could benefit from being the funniest and On My Mind could benefit from being a tearjerker but both seem lightweight.

My prediction: The Long Goodbye.