A Rare Treat for Las Vegas Movie Afficiandos: Live Action Short Films to be Shown
Most Live-Action Shorts tend to be about serious subjects and are intensely powerful since the entire story must be compressed within a limited time frame (usually 15 minutes or so). These are much better films than you may realize.
Make an effort to go see them!
Most of us who watch the Academy Awards every year have our eyes glaze over when certain film categories come up.
Let’s face it — few people know or care about movies that “no one sees.”
And that’s a shame, really. Because aside from the customary two-hour big-budget movies produced by the major studios, there are lots of wonderful “little” movie gems out there, usually made by unknown people with big dreams and small budgets.
Tonight at 7 pm, Century Suncoast 16, located inside the Suncoast Casino in Summerlin, hosts a one-time special screening of all five of the Oscar-nominated “Live-Action Short Films.” I haven’t seen any of these movies yet, which come from five different countries. For the first time in a long while, no American films were nominated this year. Most Live-Action Shorts tend to be about serious subjects and are intensely powerful since the entire story must be compressed within a limited time frame (usually 15 minutes or so):
Aquel No Era Yo (That Wasn’t Me) is from Spain and is about an international aid relief worker who has an encounter with an African child soldier.
Avent Que DeTout Perdre (Just Before Losing Everything) from France is about a woman who has left her abusive husband and taken refuge with her children in the local supermarket where she works.
Helium is a Danish film about a dying boy who finds comfort in the tales of a magical land called “Helium,” told to him by the hospital janitor.
Pitaako Mun Kaikki Hoitaa (Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?) is from Finland and is about a woman who tries frantically to get her family ready for a wedding, but her husband and two children are interfering with her efforts, creating total chaos.
The Voorman Problem is from England and is about a psychiatrist who is called to a prison to examine an inmate named Voorman, who is convinced he’s a god.
It’s good to see at least one local Las Vegas movie theatre supporting these smaller films, which are virtually ignored by mainstream audiences. I encourage Las Vegas movie aficionados to consider coming out and seeing this special showing tonight at 7 pm. There’s also a 2 pm afternoon showing.
The 2014 Academy Awards takes place this Sunday night.
