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February 22, 2007

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Oscar nominated short films on iTunes

Posted Feb. 22, ’07, 8:41 AM PT by Dan Moren
Category | iTunes » iTunes Store

Oscar-nominated short filmsI love watching the Oscars; do it every year. Yeah, I know it’s more pomp and circumstance than anything else, but you, hey, we all have our guilty pleasures, Mr. Three-cupcakes-for-breakfast (a common Scandinavian surname). I’m not sure if I’ve ever managed to see all five Best Picture nominated films in a year; this year I’ve seen just two (The Departed and Little Miss Sunshine, and I’m not sure I liked either as much as Children of Men, which didn’t get a nod in the best picture category).

My movie editorials aside, that total still manages to trump what I’ve seen in the two categories for short film; I’ve rarely seen more than one film between them (and that’s really only if Pixar’s done a short). Most people don’t get a chance to see short films, even those nominated for Academy Awards, unless they go out of their way to go to a film festival, or live someplace with an active independent film community.

Here’s where iTunes can and does shine. You can watch any of the nine films nominated in the animated and live action categories (iTunes link) for just $1.99 a pop, as well as a number of short films nominees and winners from previous years. Few of them run more than half an hour, so it’s roughly the same investment as TV episode. Short films get so little exposure; it’s fantastic to see iTunes bringing these films to people who would otherwise probably never get a chance to see them, let alone ever hear of them in the first place.


1 Comments

Scott said:

Actually, there are ten nominated shorts. Curiously, the missing short is the Pixar favorite for the animated short category, 'Lifted'

February 23, 2007 12:26 PM

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