Fresh Guacamole

I have been going to the theater on a pilgrimage for quite a few years now each January-February to see the annual showings of the Best Animated and Best Live Action Shorts. I am lucky enough to live in one of the few places in the country that shows it each year. Now what I am about to say might offend some, but it seems that compared to most years, this year's crop of animated shorts is not as good as usual. While I liked a few films, I didn't love any of them--and no really memorable film was in the lot (such as a couple recent winners, "Logorama" or "The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore"). Now this is not to say not to see them--but none bowled me over, that's for sure.

"Fresh Guacamole" is another film from the stop-motion genius, PES (Adam Pesapane). I've loved his other films. However, a major problem will probably prevent this one from getting the Oscar--it's well under two minutes long!! Most of his films are this short--and it seems that to have a better chance of winning these wonderful films should be a bit longer. Of course, considering the subject matter here (showing a batch of guacamole being made using everyday objects and stop-motion) it would be hard to stretch it out much more. You really SHOULD see this one--and my score of 7 only is due to its length. It is really clever.

I won't do any describing of this because it will sound ridiculous. But in reality, it is a seamless, outrageous little two minutes that will be hard to forget. Every little bit fits magically into what seems like an actual recipe; it is colorful and unique in every way.

'FRESH GUACAMOLE': Three Stars (Out of Five)

This 2 minute 2012 animated short film was nominated for a 2013 Academy Award. It was written and directed by PES and is about making guacamole from different objects around the house (that aren't edible), including dice and poker chips to name a few. PES also directed the 2008 critically acclaimed stop-motion short film 'WESTERN SPAGHETTI', about making spaghetti from different objects. Somewhat amusing and colorful but I don't know if it's Oscar worthy. As far as the animation goes I guess possibly so but there's no story here, it's just an animated cooking video with different objects.

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I understand that "Fresh Guacamole" director PES has directed a number of short films. I had never heard of him until I saw "Fresh Guacamole". This 2-minute short shows noticeable influence from Czech animator Jan Švankmajer, as a pair of hands uses non-food objects to make guacamole. That's literally all that happens in the movie.

I don't see many short movies, so I don't know what the criteria are for award nominations. I thought that this one was pretty neat. As it stands, this is so far only the fifth nominee that I've seen in any category. It's worth seeing if you have two free minutes. I'm going to have to check out PES's other movies.

I really lived it but almost 2 minutes isn't enough to get u oscar