This Way Up

I'm an old guy and I found this to be a real kick. Talk about dedication. The two undertakers are forced to carry a coffin forever when a boulder crushes their hearse. They go through hell (literally) in a hilarious Latin number that had me in stitches. They are these two poker faced, stereotypical morticians, unflappable and respectable, even when the guest of honor is flung from her casket. The final ten seconds is to die for (couldn't resist).

When watching this short it is easy to think that it takes Pixar style design and Tim Burtonesque plot. The focus of the short is on two funeral directors who have to pick up a recently deceased person. However there hearse is destroyed and they have to take the coffin through a hell of a lot of obstacle course to get her to her resting peace and do it in respect.

The animation was beautiful, so much better to some feature length films and television programmes. The characters could easily fit into a Pixar film like the Incredibles. The plot is comedy, but funerals is not an obvious subject for comedy. It in not a short for really young kids.

I personally enjoyed this film.

I will not comment on it's oscar worthiness but it's a very eerily haunting dark comedy animation with the simple plot of no respect for dead.

The beauty of short animations is they have the independence to manipulate animation and the creators have done that according to the theme.

A good short film.

Like last year, I went to a special showing of the Oscar-nominated animated short films. However, unlike last year, in addition to the nominees, several "commended films" were also shown. In this review I'll make my predictions, though if it's anything like last year's choices, I'll probably once again pick the wrong shorts as my favorite for the award.

This film is a computer generated short from the United Kingdom. It's about two morticians who are out to retrieve a body for burial. However, again and again, events conspire against them and nothing seems to go right. All of the mistakes make this a highly creative and funny film but I also assume some people might find it all in bad taste--though that's exactly why I liked the film. Seeing them lose the corpse and it getting stuck in a tree, taking a side trip to the after life and all the crazy Looney Toon-like stunts made me laugh repeatedly--something none of the other shorts did even once.

Overall, I think the award for Best Animated Short is probably between this film and PRESTO--though LE MAISON EN PETITS CUBES seems to have a shot at the prize as well. THIS WAY UP is very daring with its dark content, exceptionally different CGI look and sense of humor. If the Academy is willing to pick such a dark toned film, it can easily win. PRESTO is a very good CGI film, with the best artwork of the five films and a story that seems inspired by Tex Avery. It's not surprising that it looks so good, as it's a Pixar short. However, THIS WAY UP seemed more creative and different--whereas PRESTO seemed like a 1950s cartoon brought to life using CGI.

Considering my track record last year, I assume THIS WAY UP won't win. It's a shame, as I really liked it and would love to see more from the sick folks who made it!

UPDATE: LA MAISON EN PETITS CUBES was the winner this year. Not surprisingly, I got this one wrong but at least saw the film as a strong contender.

a dark short comedy about a very delicate theme. amazing at whole for the great imagination and for the splendid animation. crazy, chaotic, it is, in fact, the story of two men who desires make a good job. the duty is the most precise thing and that fact is source of hilarious adventure. it is far to be comfortable but it is a remarkable work and that fact is the great virtue. a film about death in Tim Burton style. really impressive. and not easy to accept it. but not only amusing. the remember of adventures heroes from childhood stories for the noble cause is the real axis of story. and that fact could be the most important.