Robin Robin 8/10 Unfortunately these animated shorts started strong and progressively got worse so the first two entries were the only ones worth watching. “Robin Robin” tells the story of a bird raised by mice who wants to steal food stealthily like they do and fit in. The animation is beautiful as Netflix pulled out all the stops for this one, the voice cast is flawless and there are some catchy original songs, which is a rarity for these shorts. Either the best or tied for the best.
#RobinRobinsHood
Boxballet 8/10 Back in 2008/2010 when Darren Aronofsky directed “The Wrestler” followed by “Black Swan” he spoke about the similarities and differences between wresting/boxing and ballet. This Russian short film explores a ballerina and a boxer who fall for each other, despite being polar opposites and both going through horrendous struggles. The contrast is wonderful, the animation is unique and we get a great sense of who they are without them ever saying a word to each other.
#RedSwan
Affairs of the Art 2/10 The worst of the five nominees and one that should never have even been nominated, “Affairs of the Art” is all over the map, has unique animation but that looks horrible and thinks if it is telling adult, mature themes through animation, that this automatically makes it artistic. Instead, the story meanders with no purpose as you will ask what the point of this all was. The content is off putting (obese naked people and dog’s buttholes, for example), goes nowhere and follows characters you won’t give a damn about. #DownstairsOfTheArt
Bestia 3.5/10 If one obese female “protagonist” from “Affairs of the Art” wasn’t enough for you, we get another, even grosser one in “Bestia”, made all the more disturbing that this was inspired by real events. While it has the best score of all the entries and some great visuals with some real dark themes, the film is edited in a confusing and nonsensical way and becomes incoherent at times. Filled with more off putting content like bestiality, “Bestia” had potential but is poorly directed.
#Turner&Cooch
The Windshield Wiper 2.5/10 The biggest culprit of style over substance, “The Windshield Wiper” is visually stunning but by far the most pretentious of the bunch, ending the five short films on a sour note. The film opens with a man asking about love and then we get bombarded with random and boring moments that are all vaguely tied in with the opening question. It won’t bring anything new to the table but instead will bore you while you wait for something meaningful to happen, which it never does.
#BabyDontHurtMeNoMore
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