Here is my take on the artistic merits of each.
All five are superb, and also wildly different.
Inspiring is the word here too.
He shows literally the problems of life on the island between.
It is a subtle but compelling portrait well worth its nomination.
Two other films are perhaps the most humanistic of this quintet.
‘The Barber of Little Rock’The New Yorker
It is life-affirming, and spending 16 minutes with this fun pair is a treat.
Part of the pleasure of this short is watching it unfold, and the rather shocking impact it delivers.
You might think it is a bit of a trifle, but it proves anything but.
Then there is a seven-minute curio calledOur Uniformfrom Iranian director Yegane Moghaddam.
Letter to a Pigis the other nominee and comes from Israeli director Tal Kantor.
This one is hard to distill by just writing about it.
Lets start with the oft-nominated feature film director Anderson, who has yet to win an Oscar.
This is about as impressive a cast as in Andersons other work this year, the Oscar-ignored featureAsteroid City.
The only question is will voters think it has too many advantages over less heralded competition.
On its own, it still is what this category is all about.
When an unexpected pregnancy occurs she is forced to cross state lines in search of an abortion.
To say more would be to severely diminish the stunning impact of this story.
At just 23 minutes, this one manages to pack a wallop, an understatement to be sure.
Keep in mind the title of the movie and you will get the idea.
It is a decidedly dark journey, tough to watch, but perhaps necessary to understand.
It is the one time of year they deservedly get to also have their moment in the spotlight.
