SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

Dreadfully Boring

A Brilliant Conflict

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

This short won the Academy Award for Live Action Short. There will be spoilers ahead: This short is about a band with an unusual twist. The lead singer croons while he throws darts and does trick shots. He's also part of a love triangle, where he's in love with the drummer, who in turn is in love with the guitarist, who is the singer's best friend.The singer, Goodfellow (interesting name, that) prays for help in winning the young lady's affections. He would have done well to recall the old Chinese curse, "May you get everything you wish for". Goodfellow gets a very special box of darts from the Olympus Foundation (one of the nice touches in this short.Goodfellow, oblivious as well as obnoxious, makes life interesting for quite a few people as he pursues what he wants regardless of the consequences, until he has an epiphany.The end of this short is beautiful and Goodfellow makes some very funny and on point observations during the voice-over at the end of the short. This is available on DVD and Blu-Ray as part of a compilation of Oscar winning live action and animated shorts from Shorts International and the DVD is well worth buying. Recommended.

"God of Love" was a wonderful experience to sit through. I don't often give movies tens, but in cases like this where I can't imagine a change that I could make that would improve it I happily give it all the points it deserves. It's quick and clever dialog, unusual story and deft, casual acceptance of it from all the characters was excellent. Ray was a character presented with complications, but without getting dark, heavy-handed or untrue to his original writing, he transitioned and grew all within the context of a fun and endearing comedy. An impressive feat for which Matheny deserves as many awards as he picks up.

'GOD OF LOVE': Four and a Half Stars (Out of Five)This 18 minute black and white short film won the Academy Award last year (2010) for best Live Action Short. It was written and directed by Luke Matheny. Matheny stars in the film as well. He shot the film on the Red One camera (very effectively) with director of photography Bobby Webster. In the film Matheny plays an expert dart thrower and lounge singer named Raymond who's in love with a girl in his band named Kelly (Marian Brock). Kelly has strong romantic feelings for Ray's best friend Fozzie (Christopher Hirsh) though, who won't go near her due to 'friend code'. Ray prays before every show for God to show him a way to win over Kelly's affections. His prayers are answered one day (or so he thinks) when someone drops off a box of darts with magical 'love potion' powers. The trick is they only work for six hours so Ray must find a way to earn Kelly's 'true love' in that time. The movie is quirky and charming and magically upbeat. It doesn't play down it's true message though and skimp out for cheap and clichéd effect. In that way the movie is especially strong. The performances are all great (especially Matheny) and the dialogue sharp and witty. The black and white is a nice effect and the cinematography is beautiful as well. It's hard to rate a film so short, as with all short films (it's not even the running length of a half hour sitcom), but taking that into account I'd have to say it's one of the better live action shorts I've ever seen. Very nicely done!Watch our review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rzBIHq5e3E

Well, I just got back from my yearly pilgrimage to see the nominees for the Best Live Action Academy Award. Compared to other years, this is an interesting field, as I actually liked all the films and see there being no clear winner. Usually I have at least a few of them I don't particularly like but this is a good crop...but there also is no clearly 'perfect' film as well. So, in light of this, my predicting that "The Confession" will be the most likely of the films to win is not at all certain--as I see this as mostly a three film race but any of the five could easily win.While I certainly would acknowledge that "God of Love" is not exactly profound, it is very different from the other nominees this year. While the other four films are all VERY dark in tone, "God of Love" is the opposite--a quirky little comedy that felt very refreshing when I saw it--it was a nice change of pace. While I don't think it's technically the very best of these films, it is my favorite and it has a good chance of winning since it is so different--although slight.The film is striking for two big reasons. First, it's filmed in black & white--an unusual but very artistic choice. Second, the actors (particularly the lead) are very non-photogenic--not at all the typical sort of actors you'd see in films. In many ways, though, it reminds me of some of Fellini's films, as he LOVED to but bizarre-looking people in movies and eschewed the typical 'pretty faces' you'd see in other movies. I loved this and appreciated how such non-traditional folks were given a chance.The film is about a likable loser, Ray (Luke Matheny--who also wrote and directed this lovely film). He is in love with one of his bandmates but she is only interested in his friend, Fozzie. And, Fozzie has no interest in her! So, in desperation Ray prays daily from help from God. And, since the film is a fantasy, the gods decide to help him--sending him a set of cupid-like darts through which he might be able to find the girl of his dreams. The film goes many different directions and never exactly goes where I expected--and I loved this. I also loved the film's quirky sense of humor, unusual style and plot as well as how incredibly artistic and well filmed the movie is--it's a real work of art.So will it win? Tune in and see--I'll update this review when I find out the results. I think that despite its slight nature it has a good shot, as the other films are all so similar that perhaps they'll fight each other for votes. Also, the other two best films of the crop ("The Confession" and "Wish 143" are so similar in many other ways that I can't help but think that "God of Love" might manage to slip through with enough votes to take the prize. Regardless, Matheny is immensely talented and I can't wait to see him in other projects--whether writing, acting or directing. An adorable and easy to like movie.UPDATE: Wow, this never happens. I actually picked this category correctly. In a conversation I had with a friend who saw the films with me, I told him that although I thought "The Confession" was the best film that it and "Wish 143" were so similar in tone and style that "God of Love" would win. Insanely enough, "God of Love" won and I think my prediction was correct--something that NEVER happens!