[larrymcg421]

Good news on the Oscar front. Three of the short films I saw at the festival ended up getting an Oscar nomination.

Wallace and Gramit: A Matter of Loaf and Death and French Roast are up for Best Animated Short, while Miracle Fish is up for Best Live Action Short.

All three are very good selections, and below you can find my original reviews for them...

The program concluded with the latest from Nick Park, Wallace and Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death. The latest adventure finds the two trying to dodge a serial killer and both getting caught up in romantic possibilities. This fits right in with the fast paced, hilarious work that Park has delivered in the past with these characters. The only drawback is that the mystery is completely obvious, but that's where most of the humor comes from so it's not really a problem. (8/10)

French Roast was a very funny short following a businessman in a Paris cafe who finds that he forgot his wallet and cannot pay for the cup of coffee, so he keeps ordering more cups until he can figure out what to do. The humor escalates in this one nicely and has a clever payoff. (8/10)

Miracle Fish follows an 8 yr old boy who is an outcast at school. During one trying day, he hides in a bed at the nurse's station. When he wakes up, the school is empty and he seems relieved that all of his tormentors are gone. The director gives this one a nice sci-fi feel to it, and the payoff works amazingly well. (9/10)