I was able to see the five Academy Award nominated Live-action shorts and the five animated shorts today at Cinemark. I look forward to this every year, getting the chance to see these well deserving films. I was under a time constraint today thanks to the WWE Elimination Chamber, but it was able to fit nicely in.

Live-Action Shorts.

I am going to list these in order of my favorite. I will also give you which one I think will win the Oscar. Spoiler, my favorite animation short is not the one that I am predicting will win the Academy Award.

#5. The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent. From Croatia. Honestly, this was my least favorite of the films I saw today. It felt like it was doing something special, but it just seemed to end and I did not like the conclusion of the film.

#4. Anuja. India. I liked this short. The actress playing Anuja does a great job with the talented young girl, but the ending of this one was left fairly uncertain and I wanted more closure.

#3. I’m Not a Robot. Netherlands/Belgium. This sci-fi short was very clever. Started off with some good humor, but developed into an obsession. I did not know that the CAPTCHA could identify robots in other ways. This was an enjoyable short.

#2. The Last Ranger. South Africa. A remarkably powerful short film detailing poachers targeting rhino horns. There are some really emotional moments in this short and the performance by Liyabona Mroqoza is riveting. I just about put this at number one, but…

#1. A Lien. USA. Man this was a tough short to watch. A young couple and their daughter heads down to have the husband’s green card meeting and ICE is there. The emotion, the fear, the anger and frustration jumps off the screen in this short.

A Lien gets my pick as the winner for the Academy Award for Best Live-Action Short.

Animated Shorts

I did enjoy the Live-Action shorts overall more than the Animated ones, but these were all pretty decent too.

#5. Wander to Wonder. Netherlands/Belgium/France. This was such a bizarre short. Wander to Wonder was a kiddie show at one point but things have become really dark. It was truly disturbing and weird.

#4. Beautiful Men. Netherlands/Belgium/France. Three brothers who were hoping to get a hair transplant surgery, have to face their problems and their insecurities. I thought this was a good short with some solid characteristic development.

#3. Magic Candies. Japan. This one felt like it was just too long. There was a scene in this film, where the young boy had some magic candy and it led to a nice moment with his father. That should have been the end, but then the short continued on. It just went too long for me. The first fifteen minutes or so were really great.

#2. Yuck!. France. This is the sweetest of the animated films as the whole thing was based around a first kiss. This was a nice animated short.

#1. In the Shadow of the Cypress. Iran. This was my favorite animated short. I loved the animation and I thought this story was the deepest. There was a lot of emotion. The father, daughter and a whale. I loved this whole thing.

However, my pick to win the Oscar is Magic Candies. I just have a feeling this is what the Academy will do. I hope In the Shadow of the Cypress wins, but I do not think it will.