The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse: Based on co-director Charles Mackesy's book, this is the tale of a boy (Jude Coward Nicoll), a cake-obsessed mole (Tom Hollander), a fox (Idris Elba) and a horse (Gabriel Byrne). All four of them find each other in the snowy woods. The Boy finds a village but decides he's better off with them.
That's the basic gist of it. The four characters are a good bunch. The Mole is funny and wise, the Boy is sympathetic, the Fox is gruff but lonely and the Horse is cool. You'll learn quite a bit about these characters in only 34 minutes. It's quite moving to first see the Mole free the Fox from a snare trap, despite the latter's threats, and then the Fox saving the Mole from drowning. The Horse revealing himself a Pegasus is too convenient, but you won't care. It's still a moving story of friendship that you can stream now on Apple TV +.
The Horse's first scene has him blend so well with the snow that he looks transparent. The animation, which perfectly translates the book's painted art style, is quite spectacular. It's either cel-shaded CGI animation or equally stunning hand drawn animation. It's all set to Isobel Waller-Bridge's moving score. All in all, this might be the winner right here.
The Flying Sailor This eight-minute short chronicles a sailor caught in the Halifax explosion of 1917. His life flashes before his eyes as he's sent soaring through the air. The quick lead up to the explosion is comical, while everything else is surreal. The sailor even goes up to space and experiences it in all its glory. Its sights and sounds, mainly through Luigi Allemano's score, are stunning. The last few seconds are perfectly haunting.
Ice Merchants This and The Flying Sailor are both streaming through The New Yorker's Youtube account. In this one, a father and son live on a house tethered to a snowy mountain. The father makes a living selling ice down below. Things come to ahead when the snow starts to melt.
Its painted-style computer animation made me think of a moving Tintin comic. It's a good fit for its adventurous tone. I mean, how do they get on the ground? They skydive! We learn a lot about this father and son over 14 minutes. The climax, where they survive an avalanche, is a powerful one. How they survive ends the film on a moving coda. You need to see it to believe it.
And the last one (for now). "They must have wanted a laugh," were basically my thoughts when they announced the last two contenders. One is, and I can't believe I would type this, My Year of Dicks, and the other is An Ostrich Told Me the World is Fake, and I think I believe it. Only the former is available now. The Ostrich will have to wait.
Pamela Ribon adapted her memoir Notes to Boys for Sara Gunnarsdottir (whose Vimeo account is streaming it now) to direct. A fifteen-year-old Pam (Brie Tilton) sets out to lose her virginity in 1991. Over five episodes, she finds out that love isn't what she expected. That is the gist of it.
These episodes have their own different art styles (horror-esque in one, artistic film in another). The overall rough look isn't for everyone, though I found the third episode the most surreal for its saccharine anime look. Talk about mood whiplash. It's kind of funny to see Pam introduce each episode with increasingly exhausted narration. It's darkly funny as it visualizes her anxiety with increasingly deranged animation. The short ends with an awkward, yet endearing pep talk from her friend, Sam (Jackson Kelly). I think it's a good summation of a surprisingly titled short.
These shorts are all ready to stream individually. Or you can wait for them to come theatrically in one tight package. I'm sure you'll hear plenty of awkward laughs when a certain short comes up. What about the other nominated shorts? I think I might give them separate reviews. They do border on the long side, after all.
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