Benjamin Button

As films seem to get longer and longer only to test our poor ADD-ridden selves, there finally comes some relief for moviegoers. For those who want to keep up with all the Oscar buzz but wouldn’t be able to stay still past Benjamin Button’s middle-age years, the ten Academy Award-nominated live-action and animation shorts (that’s 40 minutes and under) are now showing in select theatres and are available on iTunes.

Although shorts are often unfortunately misrepresented outside of the film world – they rarely, if ever, get screened outside of film festivals – they may be more relevant than ever in contemporary society. All those hours you’ve spent on Youtube? All spent watching shorts. Yes, even that one of the baby laughing is technically a short.

So now the screenings of the Oscar-nominated shorts is time to watch some professionals do it – and don’t be surprised to find that you might enjoy some of these shorts even more than the feature-length Oscar nominees. Despite their fleeting lengths and their diverse story lines, what all these shorts have in common is their ability to tell complete, well-rounded stories with complex and relatable characters.

My favorite, for example, was the live-action French clip, “Manon sur le Bitume” (“Manon on the Asphalt”). It’s easily one of the most beautiful films I have ever witnessed (the French sure know how to do it), for its simple but soft cinematography and its touching, sweet storyline. Though it clocks in at just 15 minutes, the story has eight diverse, practically developed characters. The filmmakers have yet to make a feature film, but I know I’m already keeping tabs just to make sure I see it in the future.

On the animated side, I enjoyed the most two very different films. Another French nominee, “Oktapodi” is an astonishingly brief three minutes, but is still jam-packed with great characters and a fun story. The 3-D animation style can nearly rival that of Pixar’s (who was also nominated with its “Presto!“), bringing life and vivacity to a seaside Greek town. It’s easy to lose yourself in this adventure even if it’s for less than five minutes.

The other animated favorite of mine was “”La Maison en Petits Cubes” (“Pieces of Love, Vol. 1″), which was drawn like an antique painting, and thus completely appropriate for the poignant storyline. Although the title is in French, the filmmakers are from Japan, and this little insight actually gives a whole new meaning to film, unexpectedly adding deep layers of culture.

On the whole, the animated shorts were much more enjoyable to watch, with fun plotlines and fascinating animation. Even the simple line animation of “Lavatory-Lovestory” was interesting to see, a great throwback to minimalism.

The live-action movies tended to have a darker tone to them, and were more revealing of a complicated world. “New Boy” and “Auf de Strecke” (“On the Line”) presented rather disturbing aspects of violence. “Spielzeugland” (“Toyland”) is set during the Holocaust era.

With such varied storylines, tones and styles, everyone is bound to find something to enjoy among these ten nominated shorts. One note of caution: these shorts – with quality that could easily rival those of the features, but of course shorter running lengths – might just leave you wanting more.