Oscar-Nominated Animated Shorts; Wiseman at Lincoln Center

Magic Candies

On Presidents' Day, I had an early morning appointment with my physical therapist and had the rest of the day free. So I decided to treat myself to a cinephile's double feature of unusual movie fare. At 10:45 AM, I went to IFC and took in the Oscar-Nominated Animated Shorts. Then after lunch I took the subway to 66th St. for Lincoln Center Films' Frederick Wiseman: An American Institution Retrospective screening of Welfare (1975) at 2:30 PM. The following Thursday, we took in Wiseman's Juvenile Court which I saw in high school 50 years ago. 

The Animated Shorts were all enjoyable. It's difficult to predict which will win. My favorite was the joyfully silly Magic Candies from Japan. An isolated little boy chews on mysterious candies and each produces a different startlingly effect. The sofa tells him to remove the TV remote from its cushions and requests that the boy's father stop farting into it. The boy's dog speaks. His late grandmother returns to him in the form of bubble gum balloons. A delightful visually stunning fantasy. The voters will probably go for the more complex and adult Wander to Wonder or Beautiful Men. In the British Wander to Wonder, three tiny humans who starred in a kids' TV program are coping with the death of their normal-sized creator. The detailed clay-motion creatures were expressive and pitiful as they struggled for survival amidst the debris of their late creator's corpse and the remains of his TV studio. Beautiful Men is the strikingly realistic of three bald Belgian brothers traveling to Istanbul for hair transplants, but they have only been booked for one treatment. Sibling rivalry and suppressed emotions boil just beneath the surface of this touching stop-motion tale. Yuck from France was cute and In the Shadow of the Cypress from Iran was mystifying and beautiful (The Iranian filmmakers cannot leave their country due to diplomatic breakdowns between the US and Iran.)

Frederick Wiseman's Welfare (1975)

After the cartoons, I had a very different experience with the Wiseman doc. Welfare (1975) is considered Wiseman's masterpiece. For nearly three hours we watch as applicants are shuffled from desk to desk and Social Security to Welfare to the courts and bak again in a Kafka-esque bureaucratic circle. When it was finally over, I said to myself "That was a lot." Shot in black and white and almost entirely indoors at the downtown Manhattan Welfare office, the experience was overwhelming. The caseworkers vary from dismissive to compassionate and the clients run the range from near psychotic (a deranged racist WWII vet haranguing a black security guard) to pathetic (several people complaining they have no idea where their next meal is coming from due to missing checks.) 

Juvenile Court (1973)

Two days later, we saw Juvenile Court (1973) set in Memphis, Tenn. I remember seeing this in a sociology or history class when I was in high school. I vaguely recalled a few scenes but many I had forgotten. My viewpoint has changed in the half-century since I last saw this grim portrait of justice. After viewing the film, our class discussed some of the cases and the consensus was the kids were not treated fairly, but now that I am an adult of 65, I see the point of view of the judge and the lawyers. 

I am going to try to see more Wiseman films before the retrospective ends on March 5 as well as more Oscar nominees before the  Big Night on March 2. I wish Lincoln Center's retrospective of Wiseman were at another time of year when there was less Oscar nominees and plays to see. I've wanted to see Model, Titicut Follies, Hospital and his other hyper-realistic films. They are not available on DVD or streaming, except for that library app which I can't seem to get anymore. So far, I've seen Welfare, Juvenile Court, La Danse (fascinating study of labor relations in France with Paris Opera Ballet), Domestic Violence (set in Florida), Crazy Horse, ExLibris: The New York Public Library, At Berekely, In Jackson Heights, National Gallery, City Hall, and Menus-Plaisirs Les Troisgros.

2024 Oscar contenders seen:

Between the Temples (Angelika Film Center)
Conclave (Angelika Film Center)
Gladiator 2 (Regal Kaufman Astoria)
Wicked (IMAX at Lincoln Square)
The Piano Lesson (Netflix)
Hard Truths (Walter Reade/Lincoln Center)
Maria (Netflix)
His Three Daughters (Netflix)
A Real Pain (Kew Gardens Cinema)
Emilia Perez (Netflix)
Queer (Angelika Film Center)
Flow (Angelika Film Center)

Anora (Amazon Prime)

A Complete Unknown (Regal Kaufman Astoria)

Babygirl (Kew Gardens Cinema)

The Substance (Amazon Prime)

The Last Showgirl (Angelika Film Center)

Dune: Part Two (Max)

Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (Netflix)

The Room Next Door (Kew Gardens Cinema)

The Wild Robot (Amazon Prime)

Inside Out 2 (Disney Plus)

The Brutalist (Kew Gardens Cinema)

Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat (Amazon Prime)

Black Box Diaries (Paramount Plus)

Sugarcane (Disney Plus)

Nosferatu (AMC 34th Street)

Memoir of a Snail (Amazon Prime)

I'm Still Here (Kew Gardens Cinema)

The Apprentice (Amazon Prime)

Doc. Shorts

The Only Girl in the Orchestra (Netflix)

*Eternal Father (New Yorker/YouTube)

I Am Ready, Warden (Paramount Plus)

Instruments of a Beating Heart (NY Times)

Live-Action Shorts

I'm Not a Robot (New Yorker/YouTube)

Animated Shorts

Magic Candies (IFC Center)

In the Shadow of the Cypress (IFC Center)

Yuck (IFC Center)

Wander to Wonder (IFC Center)

Beautiful Men (IFC Center)

*Short-listed but not nominated

Razzie Nominees Seen:

Unfrosted (Netflix)

Megalopolis (Amazon Prime)