Selected Shorts by Werner Herzog

Just as he has been drawn to epic, quixotic projects, in his extended career Werner Herzog has also favored short form storytelling, the results of which have been no less outlandishly idiosyncratic. Here is a random sampling of these films, all of which can be found readily online or as part of DVD extras:

Precautions Against Fanatics, 1969

One of Herzog's first film attempts is a very short (and very unfunny) look at people involved in horse training.

**

The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner, 1974

Presents the story of a ski jumper who was so veritable that he began to flagrantly and dangerously overshoot the course. Plays like an episode Wide World of Sports, but not without great footage and central Herzogian themes.

***

Ballad of the Little Soldier, 1984

Intriguing footage of child soldiers from an impoverished Nicuraguan village preparing for combat against the Sandinistas.

*** 1/2

The Dark Glow of the Mountains, 1985

The director and his German speaking subjects are disappointingly dubbed over by an American narrator in this no less compelling documentary of a pair of mountain climbers who discuss their trade and the perils involved.

***

The 2016 Oscar Nominated Shorts Program (Live Action)

Stutterer, one of this year's Live Action Short nominees

West Bank religious tensions. Ethnic Cleansing. Child endangerment and kidnapping. Communication barriers. Butchering a stillborn baby to save the mother's life. All part of the lighthearted frolic that is the Oscar Nominated Live Action S horts. The program seems somehow even less inspiring and more pandering this year, as if it is all to apparent to the filmmakers that not creativity but the presentation of timely, horrid shit will secure a nomination. That being said there was some good stuff on hand. Here's a brief rundown:

Ave Maria

Farcical, amusing comedy shows a Jewish family involved in a car accident in Arab town in Palestine and seeking assistance from some cloistered nuns.

*** out of ****

Shok

Overwrought but well filmed piece shows Albanian man dolefully reflecting on a childhood friendship during the Kosovo war.

*** out of ****

Everything Will Be Okay

A German father facing loss of custody picks up his daughter and heads to the toy store and the fair before having emergency passports forged and attempting to catch a flight to Manila. This was the first short that really got to me. Its well filmed, well acted, but what's the point (besides the lengths a father will go to blah blah blah)?

** out of ****

Stutterer

An intellectual logophile mute anguishes over meeting the girl he has been conversing with online. My favorite of the lot, employing wit, imagination, and earned empathy. 

**** out of ****

Day One

Ok let's see: a rookie female translator in Afghanistan is forced to deliver a thought to be stillborn from the mother's wound (the husband of whom is a just detained bombmaker) by herself in order to preserve Islam custom. Ugh. 

** out ****

Ok folks that wraps it up. After making it out of the shorts program alive, you can find me on the couch the next couple of days popping Xanax, drinking Maker's Mark, and watching the Sound of Music to recover.

The 2016 Oscar Nominated Shorts Program (Animated)

cel from Prologue

This year's animated short program, always a fun little excursion despite the quality of its content, runs the gamut from baffling, unspectacular, intricate,  amiable, and finally extraordinary (along with four additional non-nominated films which are likewise a mixed bag). Here's a brief rundown of each of the nine shorts shown in the program:

Sanjay's Super Team
Disney flick tolded in bulgy eyed Pixar style uses someimpressive animation to tell a story of father/son generational disconnect.
*** out of ****

World of Tomorrow
High concept story, simplistic, crude, techno-mation about a young girl being visited by her future consciousness.
** out of ****

Bear Story
complex, workmanlike animation about a city bear being taken from his family.
*** 1/2 out of ****

We Can't Live Without Cosmos
offbeat, amusing friendship tale and Right Stuff riff.
*** out of ****

Prologue
brilliant, violent pencil drawn tale of four warriors fighting The Spartan War. My favorite of the lot. (it was also pretty cool seeing the PSA asking children to be removed from the audience)
*** 1/2 out of ****

CONSIDERED, NOT NOMINATED:

If I was God
So so Canadian short about a kid restoring a frog back to life on dissection day
** 1/2 out of ****

The Short Story of a Fox and a Mouse
Gorgeous, naturalistic animation. Probably the most accomplished in the series.
*** 1/2 out of ****

The Loneliest Stoplight
Somewhat uninspired short features Patton Oswalt.
*** out of ****

Catch It
Amusing short, the type of thing that would usually precede a kiddie feature.
*** out of ****

7 Days in Hell

In the opening round of the 2001 Wimbledon Championships the world witnessed a grueling weeklong tennis bout between a bad boy fallen idol (Andy Samberg), an orphan taken in by Serena and Venus Williams'  family ("it was kind of like a reverse Blind Side") and a feeble minded rising star (Kit Harington) browbeaten by his domineering mother, model girlfriend, and Queen Elizabeth II. 7 Days in Hell is silly, outlandish, and amusing, told in fine mockumentary fashion with funny appearances by Michael Sheen, Will Forte, and Fred Armisen and also John McEnroe, Chris Evert, Serena Williams, and magician David Copperfield appearing as themselves, although the joke does begin to wear thin, even at a cool 40 minutes.

*** out of ****

From One Second to the Next

From One Second to the Next is a 35 minute anti-texting public service announcement which I watched solely because it was crafted by Werner Herzog. The short plays like a master class in documentary filmmaking (which, as I always add, is in a sad state) and features four cases of texting-and-driving victims and perpetrators telling their agonizing stories, a vital lesson on something most of us have been guilty of, as told by people whose lives were changed in an instant because of it.

Monsters, Inc.

In Monstropolis, creatures of all shapes and sizes dwell in a city powered by screams and the top scream earner/mega-celebrity is James P. Sullivan (John Goodman) always accompanied by his faithful companion, the wisecracking Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal). While the screams fuel the city, its inhabitants are deathly afraid of human contact, and when a rambunctious little girl enters their realm, it places Sully and Mike in jeopardy, causing a chain reaction that uncovers a deep rooted conspiracy in the Monster City. Pixar's third feature outing is an amiable, imaginative film which doesn't play as well it's second time through (I'm finding that about a lot of the films I've revisited lately) and is more geared towards kids than adults. The voicework from Goodman and Crystal is excellent and while much of the foreground animation is creative, I noticed that the background elements appeared cheap and rough-hewn.

During its theatrical release, it was accompanied by the Oscar winning short For the Birds, posted below

Partie de Campagne

A Parisian shop owner takes his wife, daughter, and apprentice (who is betrothed to his daughter) for an idyllic countryside respite where two locals have devices on the women and scheme to get them away from their men. "Partie de Campagne" is a light, well-made short, which a wonderfully realized ending, from master director Jean Renoir, who adapted a short story by Guy de Maupassant, a contemporary of his celebrated, impressionistic painter father.

Un Chien Andalou

"Un Chien Andalou" was the brainchild of Spanish filmmaker Luis Bunuel and artist Salvador Dali and is the highly influential harbinger of surrealist filmmaking. Designed to shock, the twenty minute short is constructed like a nightmare, featuring illogical, nonlinear, and now famous imagery, which includes a man with ants on his hands and the jarring eyeball slashing scene. Even its title has no significance or relevance towards the plot. From subsequent short films and music videos, through low-budget and experimental films, and up unto the films of David Lynch and the like, you can see this short's weird and immeasurable influence.

The 2013 Oscar Nominated Shorts - Animated

This year the Oscar nominated shorts left town almost as quickly as they came in, and I was only able to catch the animated program which is available entirely online from various outlets. Frankly, I don't feel I'm missing much with the two programs I've forgone, being the Live Action and Documentary, in that they tend to be serious and self-important, and I've read that this year was no different. With this year's animated entries though, they did prove to be a pleasant surprise and there was no creative dearth as had been the case over the last several years. The nominees span several animated formats and storytelling techniques, but all share one thing in common: a complete lack of dialogue. My favorites were "Adam and Dog", which tells the story of the first man's pet in the Garden of Eden and "Fresh Guacomole", which provides a variant recipe for the dish in and told in under two minutes. Also well done were "Paperman", about a young man attempting to make contact with a girl who caught his eye, "Head over Heels" which tells of an older couple living at opposite ends of their floating, constantly rotating house, and "The Longest Daycare", a Simpsons short where baby Maggie experiences an inexorable day at the Ayn Rand school for gifted babies. Here are four of this year's five nominees.

Get Yer Ya Ya's Out

Recorded in late 1969 as part of the Let It Bleed tour, The Rolling Stones' Get Yer Ya Ya's Out has gone on to be heralded as one of the great live albums. Filmed by the Maysles brothers along with material that would become the pivotal documentary "Gimme Shelter", this short film was assembled by Albert Maysles (David died in 1987), Brad Kaplan, and Ian Markiewicz for the 40th year re-release. Though not even thirty minutes long, it features rare and brilliant footage of the Stones performing at Madison Square Garden, some post concert album editing, the cover shoot with a mule on a blocked off NYC highway bridge, and some offstage appearances from Jerry Garcia and Jimi Hendrix.

The Darjeeling Limited

Three brothers (Owen Wilson, ), all reeling in their own way following the death of their father, meet in India and embark on an expansive journey by train, in an attempt to reconcile old wounds. With a surreptitious motive for the trip held by one of the brothers, the trio embark in misadventure after misadventure, each self-revealing and healing by turn. "The Darjeeling Limited" is a gorgeous location film that offers further evidence in the maturation process of Wes Anderson. Bringing his acutely delicate sensibilities to the project, Anderson tells an affecting story and features fines performances from Owen Wilson (who recreates his highly ordered character from "Bottle Rocket"), Jason Schwartzman (who cowrote the screenplay with his cousin Roman Coppola and Anderson) and Adrian Brody. The touching finale also conjures up memories of Powell and Pressburger's great "Black Narcissus."

The Criterion DVD features a simultaneously filmed short featuring Schwartzman and Natalie Portman entitled "Hotel Chevalier" which doesn't work by itself, but fits nicely within the context of the film, and probably should have been included as part of it.

Brave

The defiantly independent princess to a newfound Scottish dynasty resists her mothers instructions to chose a suitor from one of the other three ruling clans. When it appears the queen will not relent, the princess resorts to other, more magical means which will have an opposing effect and ultimately test her courage, teach her about responsibility, and unite her with her parents. Pixar's latest offering begins as a sweeping and majestic wonder as our hero glides through the Highlands on her horse while demonstrating her prowess at archery. The film settles down into something more mundane, resembling any number of routine animated films before evolving into something creepy bordering on disturbing before pushing towards the gates with a strong finish. The voicework is strong. I could listen to Kelly Macdonald ("Boardwalk Empire", "No Country for Old Men") all day long in the leading role, and Billy Connolly and Emma Thompson are equally fine as her parents. These characters are invested with the same weight given to dwellers of other great(er) Pixar movies, but other characters and elements seem lifted straight out of the stockpile animators turn to when the well runs dry. 

note: Do not see this in 3D, as it does a disservice to what is truly a beautiful film by dimming and clouding its luminous scenery.

The Oscar nominated short "La Luna" plays before the feature, which is a sweet little film about an old man and his son teaching his boy the ropes of the family business.

La Jetée

In postwar bombed out Paris, a man haunted by a childhood vision of a woman is imprisoned, experimented on, and sent to time travel with the hopes of merging the past and the future in the present. "La Jetee" is a highly original short film which tells a bizarre and highly engaging story using narration on top of mostly pictures and very little, if any, live footage. 33 years after its release, Terry Gilliam would directly remake this movie into "12 Monkeys". Here you can watch this hypnotic film, in two parts:

49th Parallel

The crew of a German U-boat is stranded in Hudson Bay and begins to terrorize its way to the still neutral U.S.A. From fur trappers, to a Hutterite commune, to a camping intellectual, to a discouraged AWOL soldier, the Nazis only reinforce Canadian solidarity as the members of their group begin to dwindle. "49th Parallel" was a WWII propaganda film from the inimitable directing and writing team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger and shows the cruel and brutal actions of the brainwashed Germans against the colorful Canadian inhabitants, played by the likes of greats such as Laurence Olivier, Anton Walbrook, Leslie Howard, and Raymond Massey. "49th Parallel" serves dual purposes in being both a rousing and formidable entertainment.

The Criterion DVD features another propaganda film made for the war by the directing duo called "The Volunteer and made in 1943 to stir recruitment. It stars Ralph Richardson, currently performing Othello in London and follows his dresser as he becomes a war hero. Also featuring Olivier, this is a slight but not uninteresting relic from a great directing team.

Strikes and Spares

"Strikes and Spares" is an Oscar nominated short from 1934 that features top professional bowler Andy Varipapa demonstrating proper bowling technique followed by an incredible trick shot display. Filmed showing two lanes with a manual pin setter, this film is pretty fascinating not only for the impressive bowling ability of its star but also for the nifty camerawork employed by the filmmakers. You can watch the short in its entirety below:

Three Short Films from Errol Morris

I came across a short film from Errol Morris recently entitled "El Wingador" and was once again taken by the idiosyncratic documentarian that I decided to watch two of his other shorts I hadn't seen and create a posting about them. Morris, and the immediacy provided by his self created Interrotron camera, is one of the most hypnotic and engaging of filmmakers, having crafted such intriguing works such as "Gates of Heaven", "The Thin Blue Line", and "The Fog of War." With the three I've included here, "El Wingador", "The Umbrella", and "Survivors" we are given brief must immensely entertaining pieces on a food eating champion, a Kennedy assassination chronicler, and cancer survivors. As with all his films, Morris looks deep into the heart of his subjects and elicits deep, personal, and often profound responses. You can watch all three of these shorts at the following links or YouTube posts:

El Wingador (2012)

The Umbrella Man (2011)

Survivors (2008)

Batman: Year One

As Bruce Wayne returns to Gotham City to don his vigilante, crime fighting alter ego, police lieutenant Jim Gordon takes a job on the force and finds graft and corruption at every turn. Soon, both men become outcasts and targets of the police force in their struggle to uphold sanctity and virtue. "Batman: Year One" is the latest entry in the DC Universe Animated Series. While the dark animation services the story nicely, the film is vacuous and off-putting and the voice work leaves a little to be desired. Ben Mackenzie is unmemorable as Batman and is actually a supporting player to Bryan Cranston's Gordon, who is in all out, one-note Walter White mode as the righteous commissioner to be in an uninspired "Serpico" plot. Batman works best with darker treatments, but there is no need or point in it being this bleak. "Batman: Year One" has some merits in its animation but nothing more beyond that.

note: The DVD includes the short "DC Showcase: Catwoman", which is a likewise uninteresting tale of the feisty feline outlaw taking on a diamond smuggler and crossing paths with Wayne.

The 2012 Oscar Nominated Shorts

One of things I appreciate most each year about the Academy Awards are the Shorts Programs and the opportunity to see this seldom seen and very exciting medium. For the last several years, these nominated films have been made available to the general public and with the addition of the documentary category to my local area of Cleveland, we are now able to view all of the films up for an Oscar. This year I found the programming mostly excellent and an improvement over last year's lot, with the exception of the Animation program which again was disappointing. Except for the excellent "Wild Life" which I would have liked to have seen a full length treatment of, the shorts in this category represent style over substance containing fine animation but little in way of story. I thoroughly enjoyed the Live Action films with Terry George's "The Shore being a particular stand out and a perfect example of a short film. The Documentary category, with the exception of the earnest but scattershot "The Barber of Birmingham", offers a tremendous and harrowing selection with "Saving Face" and "The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossoms" offering moving tales of people recovering from different kinds of horror. I often complain about the unworthiness of many documentary films, and this year's shorts nominees demonstrate wonderful uses of the medium. Here are each of the nominated films by category followed by a brief synopsis and my trivial star rating:

The Great Train Robbery

Edwin S. Porter's "The Great Train Robbery" is a 12 minute simple tale of the title thievery and the pursual of the gang by a mob. Despite its modesty, it may have been more influential on the development of cinema than any other film. Porter's storytelling devices, cutting, and use of close-up laid the groundwork for all subsequent films up to this day, while he simultaneously introducing the Western genre. Watching the seemingly simple film, the quality and look of the film is quite remarkable, as is the final scene (pictured above), which Martin Scorsese would utilize in two of his masterpieces, "Goodfellas" and "Hugo". With "The Great Train Robbery", you can see the framework for modern movies as we know them.

The Muppets

Gary (Jason Segel) and Walter (a muppet) have been inseparable best friends for their entire lives, and two of the biggest Muppets fans in the world. When Gary plans an anniversary trip to L.A. with his girlfriend Mary (Amy Adams), Walter decides to tag along and fulfill his dreams by visiting The Muppets studio. To his dismay however, he finds the studio in shambles, and overhears the sinister cacklings of an evil oil baron (Chris Cooper, excellent) who plots to demolish it and drill for oil underneath. Now Walter, Gary, and Mary must get in contact with Kermit, Gonzo, Fozzie Bear, Miss Piggy, Animal and the rest of the estranged Muppets to stage telethon at the old theater before its too late. "The Muppets" is an affectionate and true to form rendition of the beloved franchise, and what must have been a pet project of Segel, who cowrote the screenplay. With sunny musical numbers, a self-aware script (a little too self-aware), the expected celebrity cameos, and the wonderful Jim Henson created personality, reverence has been shown to the material. While Segel continues to bother me as an actor, Amy Adams is a lovely as ever and her contribution to the film is great. I felt the movie to be a little long. The finale dragged and I don't really need to be in the theater for two hours watching Muppets. Still, this is a genuinely funny and nostalgic film that perfectly embodies the spirit of its subjects.

note: the movie opens with a very humorous short starring the "Toy Story" characters entitled "Small Fry"