This week's short is Drew Christie’s “The Man Who Shot the Man Who Shot Lincoln.” Two simple reasons for posting this film: one, it’s weird in a good way (the scene with the scissors will definitely shock you); two, Christie is receiving national attention (his short “Song of the Spindle” screened at Sundance 2012). In the nutty world of animation, being weird is easy, whereas being weird and interesting is not.

The Man Who Shot The Man Who Shot Lincoln from Drew Christie on Vimeo.

Starting today at the Varsity are dueling programs of Oscar-nominated short films: one package featuring the five nominees for Best Animated Short and another featuring the five nominees for Best Live-Action Short.

I just watched the five live-actions, and it was a really wonderful way to spend 90 minutes. Films range from 8 minutes to 30 minutes and from perfectly fine to fucking awesome. Here's the lineup:

*Pentecost (Ireland, 9 mins) Some short films feel like fierce condensations of feature-length subjects, while other feel like cleverly outfitted skits. Pentecost is one of the latter, telling a comic tale of a young Irish altar boy navigating the challenges of Mass, and made Oscar-nomination-worthy by the gorgeous cinematography of Patrick Jordan (who mines all the natural drama of Cathoic ritual).

*Raju (Germany/India, 25 mins) Holy crap this movie is good. It starts with a European couple arriving in Calcutta to adopt a 4-year-old boy, and morphs into a half-dozen scenes of shocking clarity on love and fear and the evil that men do (and ignore). Beautiful acting, ferocious storytelling, Raju sure as hell better win the Oscar. (And if it doesn't, I'm pushing someone you love down stairs.)

*The Shore (Northern Ireland, 30 mins). A sweet, slow slice-of-life story about the reunion of two long-estranged friends in Ireland. The acting is lovely, the story is sweet, but the prolonged Celtic reminiscing plods by.

*Time Freak (USA, 11 mins) Unabashedly a tricked-out skit, Andrew Bowler's Time Freak involves a neurotic young inventor whose successful creation of a time machine has trapped him in a loop of correcting the tiniest imperfections or miscommunications of the past. It's sharp, and Groundhog Day-y, and delightful.

*Tuba Atlantic (Norway, 26 mins) The closest thing Raju has to competition (but not really), Tuba Atlantic is a grimly stylish death parable charting a bitter old man's final days of life. Joining him on his march to the grave is a teenage girl identifying herself as a death angel, here to walk Old Man Bitter through the stages of grief as he leaves the world. It's a nice conceit, applying the stages of grief to the person doing the dying/leaving, and the whole film bristles with gallows humor and lovely imagery. It's nice.

Screening times for Oscar Nominated Shorts are here for Live-Action and here for Animated.

The unbelievably horrible Powell tragedy keeps reminding me of another horrible instance of parental visitation/custody rights gone tragically wrong, documented in the amazing 2008 film Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father. The Netflix synopsis does a graceful job of explaining the basics:

Filmmaker Kurt Kuenne's poignant tribute to his murdered childhood friend, Andrew Bagby, tells the story of a child custody battle between the baby's grieving grandparents and Shirley Turner, Bagby's pregnant ex-girlfriend and suspected killer. Initially, Kuenne made this documentary as a memorial for Andrew's loved ones, but it morphs into an emotional legal odyssey when Turner goes free on bail and is allowed to raise her son.

Dear Zachary is a movie that will destroy you, which is as it should be. But beyond the destruction is the beauty of the creation, with filmmaker/surviving friend Kuenne getting brilliantly proactive in response to a question that's sure to be hovering around the Powell family: How do we keep this horrible tragedy from becoming the entire life story of people we love?

Watch Dear Zachary at your leisure on Netflix Streaming. (And bring Kleenex/a dog to hug.)

The short this week is Maikoiyo Alley-Barnes’s “Felt,” a short film/music video for Shabazz Palaces. What this video makes clearer than previous videos is that Shabazz Palaces represents cultural laboratory that is South Seattle. Shabazz Palaces is black nationalism weaved into the expanding global fabric.

Kathy Fennessy gives a rundown of the upcoming season.

Lindy West smells Oscar™ in this week's Concessions:

When they released the nominations for the 84th Academy Awards (airing February 26 on ABC), I ran-not-walked to the cineplex to watch best-picture nominee Hella Close and Grippa Loud: The Tom Hanks Hamstravaganza Never Forgetstival Brought to You by Fig Newtons™. Because, I'm sorry—a whimsical, feel-good 9/11 drama about an autistic-ish child (NAMED OSKAR—coincidence!?) coming to terms with senseless tragedy and the impenetrable void of death, starring Tom "Fucking" Hanks? That's like if Schindler's List banged Forrest Gump and they had a baby, and then that baby banged every other Oscar movie ever (Jesus, get a grip, baby!), and then that baby had a baby, and then they all had to go on Maury Povich's show to figure out who was the father of the baby's baby ("Maury, I am 98 percent sure I'm NOT that baby's baby's daddy!" —Driving Miss Daisy), and then it turned out that the real father was [SUPER SECRET SPECIAL SURPRISE GUEST] Amelie the whole time!!! Then everyone's divorced parents got back together, everybody ate Fig Newtons (Oskar loves Fig Newtons SO MUCH YOU GUYS), and Extremely Tom and Incredibly Hanks was retroactively awarded every Oscar in every category since the beginning of time. The end.

That's not really the end. Go read the whole thing here.

The short for this week is Gretchen Burger’s “Cover.” What Burger has to say about it: “This is a short non-fiction video I made with Cap Kotz of Cappy's Boxing Gym that explores what it means for a boxer to find and maintain cover.” The short is simple, crisp, and elegantly edited. Once again we discover the whole human universe in a tiny corner of our culture.

Speaking of short films, beginning tonight (and ending on February 2), "Howard From Ohio"...

• Yay! Boo! Yay! Boo! Nice jackets.

2. And yet, opinion is mixed on whether "He's Jar Jar Binked us again." While representation is great—it's great simply to see so many black actors in a giant Hollywood picture; there are something like 15 airmen roles—they're still stuck holding down a crappy movie.

3. On the other hand, Lucas has said that if Red Tails does well enough, he'll give Tuskegee Airmen the Star Wars treatment and turn it into a series. (The condescension here is palpable, yes.) The airmen will return home and rediscover the racism they've flown their way out of in the friendly skies of World War II, where they win even racist hearts with their exceptional heroism. (Note: All Germans are still Nazi pigs, with Nazi pig hearts that are not won over.) Could the homecoming story be a better movie?

4. A Seattle designer, Good Wear Leather, created 18 of the bomber jackets that appear in the movie—14 for actors and two for stuntmen, then two for actual pilots flying the planes, Good Wear's John Chapman told Worn Out columnist Marti Jonjak. Good for Good Wear, which specializes in re-creations of historical jackets: "1942 in a box."

Gothamist shares the story of the NYC screening of Martin Scorsese's Hugo that was plagued with problems, including two film-stopping projection malfunctions before the audience was made to watch the film's climactic 30 minutes overlaid with preshow advertisements. Enjoy the hilarity below.

The Gothamist report focuses on the crowd's anger, but in the video it sounds like they're having a great time enjoying the stupidity. (All attendees were given refunds and free passes to another screening.)

Seriously, look at this thing:

Full info on the fest here.

See the full list of Oscar nominations here.

The short for this week is Kahil Joseph’s “Black Up,” a “short film that portrays a fever dream induced by the music Shabazz Palaces.” Shot in New York City and Puerto Rico, “Black Up” is the second numinous film Joseph has made with Shabazz Palaces—the first hiphop act to be signed to Sub Pop.

What one commenter had to say about “Black Up”: “If Terrence Malick had grown up in the hood, this is what the Tree of Life would have looked like.” I personally think "Black Up" is better than all of The Tree of Life, but the point made is meaningful. Malick wants to capture that area of life that knocks any ordinary moment of life out of the ordinary. Joseph work does capture such moments, but in a context that's utterly urban.

They're showing Doggie Woggiez, Poochie Woochie, which is evidently a collection of VHS-converted video involving dogs, to Central Cinema. More over here.