A Collection of 2006 Academy Award Nominated Short Films [DVD]

I love shorts and have bought a number of short collections. However, it's always a grab-bag. Usually there will be some shorts that are excellent, a few that are stupid or lousy, and some that are mediocre. But I'm willing to put up with the lousy and mediocre ones in order to enjoy the excellent ones. However, this particular collection of 7 shorts that were nominated for the 2006 Academy Awards, plus 6 extra ones, is the absolute best collection that I own. Of the 13, not one was lousy, and only 2 or 3 were in the mediocre category. The two which won, "West Bank Story" for live action and "The Danish Poet" for animated, blew me away, but many of the others gave them quite a run for their money. Particularly "Helmer and Son" about a son who is called into a nursing home to talk to his father who has locked himself inside his closet, and "The Savior" about a group of church missionaries who are trying to convert the people who live in a neighborhood by going door-to-door, but one of them begins to have an affair with one of the housewives, who is married. And of the bonus shorts, "A Gentleman's Duel" (about two men who want to kill each other over a lady) and "One Rat Short" (excellent animation of a rat caught in a scientific laboratory) really stand out. Still, my absolute favorite is "West Bank Story" which satirizes "West Side Story" and tensions between Israelis and Palestinians by comparing it to competing fast food restaurants.

This is a nice collection of short films. If you like shorts, you will like this set. Award nominated films

I don't remember this book.

This film has caused delight in all of my classes; especially after seeing the dated West Side Story and Romeo and Juliet; a light satire on the tragedies now occurring in the West Bank now. A good way to introduce the topic to teens who are a bit clueless and yet sensitive. This film really deserved the award.

I bought this DVD for one reason. I could not find "West Bank Story" anywhere else. I love it. Anyone with any knowledge of Israel and a sense of humor will enjoy it very much.The other movies are a welcome bonus, but "West Bank Story" was reason enough to buy this DVD.

Great DVD. Excellent short films from around the world. I've shared this with many film buffs, and all have enjoyed the selection of short movies.

Not Moving. Not Funny. Not worth the money. Go with the 2005 Short Films. "Our Time is Up" is phenomenal.

Great rare DVD for very reasonable price. Plays perfectly. Thank you

This second installment by Magnolia of the live action and animated short films nominated for the Academy Awards is even better than the 2005 compilation and is again good value for the money spent. I enjoyed it more than the first as the films are more lighthearted/amusing and generated a fair amount of chuckles.For those hard of hearing be advised that only three of the films have English subtitles.I will list the films in the order they play and briefly describe the story line without giving away too much.THE WEST BANK STORY: This 2006 Academy Award Winner of the live action short films is a Middle East parody of West Side Story and centres around the relationship between an Israeli soldier and an Arab fast food worker. Most of the events happen in or around two fast food restaurants located next to each other, one Jewish and one Arab, whose employees openly incorporate the broader historical and current day Israeli-Arab conflict into their day to days lives. The parody is good for lots of laughs.THE SAVIOR: Another amusing film is this story about a young door-to-door evangelical type and his efforts to convert, or is it covet, a house-wife.HELMER & SON: I also enjoyed this film about the relationship between a father and son. The father has been placed in a nursing home while the son has taken over the company formerly run by his father. This Danish film has English subtitles.BINTA & THE GREAT IDEA: This is a sweet tale but not really my cup of tea. The story takes two different directions. Binta is a young African girl. One story focuses on the efforts of her father, a rural fisherman and idealist, to engage government officials in an idea he has. The other story focuses on Binta's cousin, her desire to attend school and the resistance she encounters to do so. This French language film has English subtitles.ONE TOO MANY: This film revolves around a father and son who seem quite inept at looking after themselves but smart enough to have someone else do it for them. Who's taking advantage of whom? This Spanish film has English subtitles.THE DANISH POET: Call me superficial but I was not taken with this 2006 Academy Award Winner of the animated short films. This animated short film is about self discovery, relationships and love. The story focuses on a young Danish man and a young Norwegian woman.MAESTRO: This short animated film is about a bird preparing for his musical performance.There were also six bonus short films on the dvd, five animated and one live action, as follows:THE WRAITH OF COBBLE HILL: A story about an urban youth lacking direction, an opportunity he is given, and how he deals with that situation.THE PASSENGER: A fun horror story about two passengers on a bus.A GENTLEMAN'S DUEL: This was my favorite of the animated shorts. More of an adult-oriented cartoon, it revolves around two gentlemen competing for a lady's affection.GUIDE DOG: This animated short deals with a wannabe guide dog and his efforts to prove himself.ONE RAT SHORT: Kind of a love story with the principals being played by rats, one from the city streets and the other from a laboratory environment.SURVIVING THE RUSH: I found this live action short too juvenile for my liking. The story centres around a movie theatre expecting large crowds but the theatre has some food supply issues.