Documentary Shorts

Now we are talking Oscar bang for your buck!  I got to see five nominees in one sitting today. I feel so productive!

Last year I loved all five of the nominees for Documentary Short so I was really looking forward to this screening. Of course that means I had my expectations set a little too high. So here are your five nominees:

Crisis Hotline - I'm guessing this one is the winner. It's about the Veteran's crisis hotline operators and the work they do helping, counseling and saving the lives of depressed and troubled vets. It was very moving and does a great job of shedding light on a big problem. Since 2001, more vets have died from suicide than in Iraq and Afghanistan combined. Yikes.

Joanna - I really hate stories about moms dying and leaving their young children motherless, but that's what this is. It is a very loving and peaceful look at the memories created between a mother and her son as she battle cancer and gets the worst news.

Our Curse - This is another deeply personal movie made by two young parents facing the reality of raising a son with a condition that makes him unable to breathe while he is sleeping, so that he must always have a ventilator when he falls asleep. This movie faces their hopes, fears and challenges as they bring him home and adjust to the new life they face.

The Reaper - If you are a fan of artsy gore (like me) this one is for you! This is a horror film made for cows. The story of a bull killer at a Mexican slaughterhouse, The Reaper opens with a long sequence of beautiful grotesquery. Hooks with goo dangling from them, brightly colored walls smeared with blood, slow motion, out of focus cows running right into a trap. The images are shot so beautifully it is hard to remember that they are real. We hear a bit about the title character's ideas about death and his job, see him looking extremely unhappy at home with his wife and six kids and then return for more cow murder.

White Earth - In my opinion, the weakest of the bunch. It's sort of about how oil drilling operations have changed the town of White Earth, North Dakota.  A lot of oil workers come and live in pretty rough conditions in RVs. Some of their kids go to school and one doesn't and it's cold there but everyone is trying their best and why was I watching this again?