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Dear Basketball
Dir. Glen Keane
On November of 2015, Kobe Bryant released a letter to the Players’ Tribune announcing his retirement from basketball. “Dear Basketball” is animated version of this love letter and goodbye, narrated by Bryant himself. After an illustrious career, he focuses on his childhood love for basketball and how his dream has manifested into reality. The sentiment is there, but paired with hand-drawn animations by Disney artist Glen Keane and a stirring score by John Williams (both of which would be beautiful alone), the film appears cheesy and almost self-absorbed. Keane’s drawings swiftly capture Bryant’s movement and facial expressions, but Bryant’s different jerseys are the only color among black and white sketches, emphasizing renowned team names rather than his story. The instrumentals, which crescendo when Bryant takes a shot (or makes a sentimental remark), over-dramatize already poignant moments—Bryant’s voice is powerful enough to stand on its own. There are only seconds of simplicity, like when young Kobe Bryant and old Kobe Bryant play on the court at the same time, unfettered by cinematic flair—something the rest of the film should have emulated.
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Garden Party
Dir. Florian Babikian, Vincent Bayoux, Victor Caire, Théophile Dufresne, Gabriel Grapperon, Lucas Navarro
Frogs navigate a humanless world in “Garden Party.” As they follow their primal instincts, four amphibians slowly reveal details about the tropical villa scene: a debris-filled pool, a kitchen littered with rotten food, a cracked security camera, bullet holes in the doors and windows, and a ransacked safe. Aside from the ribbets and buzzing insects, the film is eerily silent. That is, until one frog finds the house’s control pad and jumps from button to button, illuminating rooms, setting off pool fountains, and cueing upbeat jazz music, all of which set the stage for a final reveal.
A self-proclaimed “dark comedy,” “Garden Party” is a flawlessly executed three dimensional animation. The team behind the film took extra care to seamlessly integrate the frogs into the scene—the patter of their footsteps and marks of their footprints, the glossy reflections in their eyes, the texture of their skin, and the weight of their bodies as they move across different fabrics—and each scene is as crisp and beautiful as the next. Dramatic camera angles from above remind viewers of the frogs’ small size as they discover the unoccupied villa, from ostentatious bedrooms to gargantuan lion fountains. Even with an amphibian romance, gone is the overly saccharine animal animation. This party has a dark subplot, one that is artfully revealed in just seven minutes.
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Lou
Dir. Dave Mullins
Fresh off their win for Best Animated Short Film at 89th Oscars ceremony, Pixar is back to defend its title with “Lou.” A story that campaigns against bullying and for friendships, “Lou” follows a boy who, after bullying his fellow classmates, must return their lost toys to them in exchange for his own treasure, a long-lost teddy bear he can obtain only from the toy-automaton that is trying to teach him a lesson. As is the norm with Pixar, the film’s animation is pristine, and its message is sweet. Unfortunately, the short film fails to transcend any basic level of emotion. Though the boy ultimately learns from his mistake—he bullied others to cope with his own bullying—“Lou” lacks a certain subtlety in its storytelling that keeps Pixar from rising to the heights it is well known for.
