The Oscars are just over a week away, and your attention span may be a little brief after all the hype. Fortunately, Up To Date's Film Critics have short films at the top of their lists of movies not to miss. Feel like staying in this weekend? TV Guide has put together a list of streaming options for this year's Academy Award nominees.
Cynthia Haines
2018 Oscar-nominated short films: Animated
- This year, the Academy is recognizing animated shorts that include Kobe Bryant's paean to basketball, a film based on at 150-word poem, and delightfully-realistic jaunt with the amphibious denizens of an absent owner's garden.
2018 Oscar-nominated short films: Live action
- From the true tale of an armed twenty-something bringing a gun to an elementary school to a tense treatment of the tragedy of Emmett Till, these films will grab you quick and leave you wanting more.
2018 Oscar-nominated documentaries: Short subject
- By zooming in on personal stories of affected individuals, this year's nominees tackle some of the most troubling issues in the country today, including police conduct and race relations, elder care, and mental illness.
Steve Walker
"The Lodgers," R
- In an Irish town after World War I, a haunted house holds orphaned twins hostage by virtue of a childlike but threatening nursery rhyme. .
"Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool," R
- Annette Bening shines as the charmingly complicated Gloria Grahame, the 1950s film star whose deteriorating health and dwindling career lead her to reconnect with her much younger ex-boyfriend, played by Jamie Bell, and his family.
2018 Oscar-nominated documentaries: Short subject
- This year's slate of Oscar nominated short documentaries salute several courageous women, including a mentally ill artist, a teacher who was inappropriately mistreated by her local police, and a firefighter, a minister and a judge fighting their West Virginia city's opioid epidemic.