The Magnolia Theater claimed that their shorts programs — all of the Oscar-nominated live action and nominated short films this year — was a one-week only engagement, so I rushed over there last weekend. Now it turns out the programs will play for another week. So if you didn’t catch both already, try now. Just think what an advantage you’ll have in your office Oscar pool!
Both programs are worth a look. Unlike past years, there’s only maybe one entry that doesn’t seem to warrant a nomination (Instead of Abracadabra in the live action category) — it’s a hard guess as to which will win. And unlike most of the major categories, you can find gay content here.
The best of the gay content is in the live action short The New Tenants, written by gay humorist David Rakoff, who also plays one of the central roles: One of two gay men who move into a troubled apartment complex. You can also find gay stuff (briefly) in the animated Logorama (dazzling) and some campy stuff in The Lady and the Reaper and Wallace & Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death.
