Reverend's Reviews: 2012 Oscar Shorts Round-Up

Flying books, last year's devastating Japanese tsunami, and an actress who famously kissed Elvis only to soon after become a nun figure into the unusual mix of subjects that constitute this year's Oscar-nominated short films. Thanks to Magnolia Pictures and Shorts International, moviegoers in Los Angeles, Orange County and New York at least have the opportunity starting today to view them prior to the Academy Awards ceremony on February 26th. Some are also available online.

Whereas each year's Live Action Short and Animated Short nominees have been released theatrically for several years now, this is only the second year that the candidates for Best Documentary Short have been made available. Alas, two of the latter -- God is the Bigger Elvis and Saving Face -- weren't available online beforehand for review. I am most interested in God is the Bigger Elvis, which recounts the vocational journey of Dolores Hart. Hart co-starred with Elvis Presley in 1957's Loving You and the following year's King Creole, and she made several other movies with such leading men as Montgomery Clift, Robert Wagner and George Hamilton. She left Hollywood, however, in 1963 in order to become a Roman Catholic nun. Today, Hart is better known as Reverend Mother and Prioress of her abbey in Bethlehem, Connecticut. Interestingly, she remains a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and is therefore the only nun who gets to vote for each year's Oscar winners.

The standout for me among the 2012 nominees for Best Documentary Short and, I believe, the likely Oscar winner is The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom. Directed by Lucy Walker, it opens with devastating, first-hand video footage of the tidal disaster that swept coastal Japan on March 11, 2011 and killed an estimated 23,000 people. As one family took refuge on a nearby hillside, they recorded houses, school buses and neighbors being washed away. Subsequent accounts by survivors and rescue workers reveal their still-fresh grief, less than a year later. As one man tearfully states, "I lost everything that I lived for," including the best friend he watched die.

But the film also shows the re-growth that has already begun even as bodies are still being recovered. Intriguingly, the local cherry trees (many of them well over 100 years old) weren't destroyed and bloomed as usual soon after the tsunami. The trees and their beautiful blossoms, gorgeously photographed here by Aaron Phillips, serve as a potent metaphor for the impacted communities' recovery. Also featuring a Phillip Glass-ish score by alt rocker Moby, The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom is undeniably moving and impossible to forget.

Among the nominees for Best Live Action Short is Pentecost. I couldn't avoid checking it out, drawn as I was by both its religious-themed title and plot. It is a very funny tale from Ireland of potential redemption from a Catholic perspective, as a young boy wrestles with his love of soccer and his responsibilities as an altar server. When the local archbishop comes to town for the titular holy day, preparations for Mass are likened to an athletic competition. Catholic liturgists will especially enjoy this one.

Due to a sometimes-weak Internet connection, I was unfortunately unable to watch the remainder of the Live Action Short contenders by deadline. On the plus side, though, I did view all five of this year's nominees in the Best Animated Short category. Disney/Pixar scored their now-seemingly obligatory nomination for the charming La Luna, although the studios' 2011 feature Cars 2 was notably excluded as a Best Animated Feature candidate. La Luna (which will screen with this summer's Pixar release Brave) spins a dialogue-free fantasy in which a boy's father and grandfather teach him the tricks of their unusual trade. As usual with Disney/Pixar, it is beautifully animated.

A Morning Stroll is an enjoyable, stylized romp that spans 100 years and involves zombies (both a phone app version and the real deal) as well as a wily chicken. In the process, the film transitions from black & white to color as well as from hand-drawn to CG. Canada's Dimanche (Sunday), meanwhile, is hand-drawn in a fairly simple style as it follows a child's weekend drive with his parents to church and then to his grandparents' house. Before returning home, he receives an unexpected lesson in the value of life.

This year's Oscar winner will most likely be either Wild Life (also from Canada) or The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore (which, the filmmakers proudly proclaim, was made entirely in the great state of Louisiana). The former, subtitled "A Western," follows an Englishman with dreams of becoming a rancher to Alberta, 1909. This bittersweet saga by the talented Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby features lovely watercolor work in addition to frequent usage of Gilbert & Sullivan's classic tune, "I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major General."

The CG exercise in surrealism that is The Fantastic Flying Books... plays like something Salvador Dali and Ray Bradbury might have dreamed up. A withdrawn young man finds himself whisked away in a storm to a magical land populated by, yes, airborne works of literature. There, he finds himself tutored in the ways of life and love by Humpty Dumpty (who, curiously, also has a major role in the Best Animated Feature nominee, Puss in Boots). Touching and nicely scored by John Hunter, the short might just fly away with an Academy Award before all is said and done.

Reverend's Rating: A-

Los Angeles Release Date: February 10, 2012 Animation and Live Action at Landmark’s The Nuart Theatre, West LA and Regency Theatres’ South Coast Plaza, Santa Ana.

Los Angeles Release Date: February 17, 2012 Documentary Shorts at Laemmle’s Music Hall 3.

New York Release Date: February 10, 2012 Animation, Live Action and Documentary.

Note: Separate admission required for each program.

Review by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Blade California.

Reverend's Interview: Liza with an L

I'm not aware of any other out lesbian writer-directors who have gotten to cross over from the visual arts and short films by making a non-LGBT feature starring such acclaimed actors as Linda Cardellini (Brokeback Mountain), Michael Shannon (Take Shelter, the upcoming Superman: Man of Steel) and John Slattery (Mad Men), but Liza Johnson has done so with absorbing results. Her very good military-domestic drama Return opens this Friday in Los Angeles and New York. It will also be available on VOD and iTunes beginning February 28th.

Cardellini plays Kelli, a wife and mother of two young daughters who returns home to smalltown Ohio as the film opens following a year-long stint serving in the National Guard during an unspecified war. It isn't long before Kelli's transition back to civilian life proves less than idyllic. Those who only know Cardellini as Velma in last decade's Scooby Doo franchise will be especially impressed by her performance here and Shannon, as her conflicted husband, is excellent as usual.

Johnson, whose "day job" is as Professor of Art at Williams College, is to be commended for her matter-of-fact approach to this story of a soldier's re-entry as well as for a refreshing lack of histrionics when the process doesn't go as well as expected. She recently spoke with Reverend about her experience making Return, which made its world premiere at no less than the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.

"It isn't a gay movie," Johnson said, "but maybe there's a way it could be called a queer movie in that (Kelli) doesn't quite fit in and learns to live outside a traditional family." The filmmaker has been partnered for seven years and now calls Brooklyn home after her own upbringing in "Rust Belt" Ohio. "Sometimes, I am attracted to stories of people who choose to live outside the norm." Her crew on Return included Production Designer Inbal Weinberg, who worked on last year's Pariah, and Editor Affonso Goncalves, a veteran of such LGBT-interest projects as The Delta and Todd Haynes' Mildred Pierce.

Johnson interviewed numerous women and friends who had recently returned from military service in Iraq, but she couldn't immediately recall whether she had spoken with any LGBT servicemen/women. "I believe that I did," she stated, and she shared one experience in particular. "I visited a friend of mine at Quantico, and I spoke with one woman there who isn't gay and is married but she checked me into the hotel there for significant others of military personnel. They couldn't or didn't ask our relationship (prior to the repeal of the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy), which is interesting." All in all, Johnson says she "had a great experience as an openly gay filmmaker working with military personnel."

Of working with her lead actors, Johnson reflected: "It was great. I worked with Linda for a longer time and did research with her; she took it really seriously and is very hardcore." Shannon, who will next be seen on the big screen as the villainous General Zod, was the first to be cast in Return by Johnson. "He is also very hardcore and committed to his work," she raved. "(Shannon and Cardellini) are both such powerful performers, the whole crew and film benefited from their seriousness."

Other movies in recent years have explored the experience of soldiers' return home from recent overseas conflicts, notably the lesbian-themed A Marine Story as well as Brothers and Stop-Loss. Return raises what could be a hitherto unasked question: what happens when what has long been considered home no longer serves its traditionally comforting purpose? In Johnson's assured hands (she actually has a PhD in coming-home-from-war narratives), the answer proves both enlightening and heartbreaking.

Reverend's Rating: B+

Interview by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Blade California.

Reverend's Reviews: Boyfriends, Beats and a Beautiful Darling

Tales of romance fittingly dominate this month's new releases on home video, but a documentary about a transgender member of Andy Warhol's "Factory" and a Bollywood-inspired comedy are also worth noting.

Now available on DVDand Video On Demand from TLA is the sexy Finding Me: Truth. A sequel to 2009's Finding Me, it continues to chronicle the romantic successes and failures of a tight-knit group of African-American men and women in New York. The players include Faybien (Raymartell Moore), a young gay man pining for his ex-boyfriend, Lonnie (Derrick L. Briggs); the bisexual Greg, who is carrying on simultaneous relationships with a man and Tammy, the cousin of bf Amera. Attention-hogging Amera, meanwhile, suspects her boyfriend Gabe of cheating on her. And then there is Jay (the late Maurice Murrell, to whom the film is dedicated), Greg's effeminate but buff roommate who is romantically involved with a drug-dealing, bisexual gangbanger.

Filmmaker Roger S. Omeus's technique (he wrote, directed and edited both Finding Me films) has definitely improved, but with such a tight focus on a relatively small cast of characters the drama remains insular and fairly predictable. Still, the characters are likable and well-played, and the cast members attractive. Reverend's Rating : B

What Happens Next, being released on DVDFebruary 7th by Wolfe Video, is a romantic-comedy that explores the budding relationship between two very different men who meet on a park bench. Paul (played by Jon Lindstrom of the long-running soap opera As the World Turns) is a wealthy man in his mid-50's who has just sold his business and retired. Believing himself to be straight but never married, Paul is surprised to find himself attracted to the openly gay and much younger Andy (cute newcomer Chris Murrah). They gradually fall in love, much to the chagrin of Paul's overbearing sister, Elise. Elise is played by the always enjoyable Wendie Malick from TV's Hot in Cleveland and Just Shoot Me.

While the script of What Happens Next -- written and directed by Jay Arnold -- has a pleasing retro sensibility, it is often hard to swallow Paul's plight from today's gay perspective. He is so unaware of his homosexuality initially that Andy seems to be wasting his and the audience's time for the first half of the movie. The performances are good but Paul's too-cute puppy steals the show whenever she appears.  Reverend's Rating: B-

Candy Darling, a popular devotee of artist and filmmaker Andy Warhol during his late-1960's heyday, was born James L. Slattery and was known as "Jimmy" to his family and childhood friends. It wasn't long after Slattery became an adult that he underwent hormone therapy and emerged as the first trans superstar. She inspired Lou Reed's popular songs "(Take a) Walk on the Wild Side" and "Candy Says," and gay great Tennessee Williams created a leading role for her in one of his final plays, Small Craft Warnings.

James Rasin's new documentary Beautiful Darling, out this week from Corinth Films, is an eye-opening account of Darling's unique life and career. It incorporates considerable archival footage of Darling and Warhol as well as Jane Fonda, Dennis Hopper and Kim Novak, plus modern-day interviews with such offbeat luminaries as John Waters, Julie Newmar, Holly Woodlawn and Fran Lebowitz. Actress Chloe Sevigny is also on hand to read excerpts from Darling's diary and other writings.

Unfortunately, the film includes a little too much of Darling's friend and confidante, Jeremiah Newton, who also served as one of the doc's producers. While undeniably caring toward Darling and her legacy, the movie threatens to become more about him than its main subject whenever he appears. Despite this flaw, Beautiful Darling is well worth watching.  Reverend's Rating: B+

I love the genre of fun and funky Indian musicals dubbed "Bollywood." Bollywood Beats, available on DVDthis week, is an enjoyable homage courtesy of Breaking Glass Pictures. It is written, directed and partly choreographed by out filmmaker Mehul Shah, who also plays a gay teenager in the movie.

While primarily the story of Raj (dreamy Sachin Bhatt), an aspiring professional dancer, Bollywood Beats features a supporting team of housewives, science geeks and retired women whom Raj helps to discover their own dance abilities. Raj also takes Vincent (Shah) under his wings when the young gay man is kicked out of his home by his homophobic father. This ragtag bunch starts performing at weddings and community events, and soon find themselves contestants in a major dance competition.

The highly enjoyable movie features some great dance numbers, especially its climactic, stylistically impressive "Bollywood through the Ages" sequence. Shah is still developing as a filmmaker and it shows in the film's rough edges but he is definitely a talent to watch, gay or otherwise.  Reverend's Rating: B

Review by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Blade California.

Monthly Wallpaper - February 2012: Best Supporting Actor

With less than a month to go until Oscar night, this month's Movie Dearest Calendar Wallpaper takes a look back at the Best Supporting Actors, the sidekicks, scene stealers and super villains who took home the Academy's gold man in years past.

These iconic performances of unforgettable characters include Joel as the Emcee, Heath as the Joker, Edmund as Kris, Robert as the Don, George as Bernardo, Martin as Bela, Kevin as Verbal, and more.

All you have to do is click on the picture above to enlarge it, then simply right click your mouse and select "Set as Background". (You can also save it to your computer and set it up from there if you prefer.) The size is 1024 x 768, but you can modify it if needed in your own photo-editing program.