It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

the irony. and the dialogues. the surprising end. and the red sock. and, sure, the vehicle. the game with ordinaries fears, desires, small sins and the moral lesson who reminds the clichés about the South France are the pillars of this admirable animation who has as special present for its public an old man , a priest and the most strange visitor. and, sure, the right music. so, a delight. or, maybe, an ironic look. about us.

This short was nominated for an Academy Award for Animated Short. There will be spoilers ahead: As the short opens, it's clear that technology has taken over even the job of the Grim Reaper, who gets an alert by radio to collect a client. A con man/priest eavesdrops in order to beat Death to the spot. He runs dead and his motorcycle off the road and comes to the home of the client, who is a miserly type with a red sock filled with notes and coins.The priest/con man convinces the old man he needs something to guarantee he'll go to heaven by building a contraption to "take" him to heaven. The old man hands over the red sock of money and then there's a knock on the door.The ending is hilarious and I won't spoil that here. The title of the short is actually a rather sly joke which becomes apparent once you see the short. This one is on a DVD collection of nominated shorts and is worth tracking down and watching. Most recommended.

The idea of this animated short, nominated for an Academy Award in 2007, intrigued me.As a New York City resident, I am a frequent observer of pigeons. I'm also a dedicated Francophile so I like anything set in France. And the protagonist is a grizzled older man with a clutterbug bent. As someone who works with older people in their homes, I found this an appealing combination.The super-short short is indeed charming, though it has nothing to do with the urban birds. The notion of a dispatcher for death was quite clever, though the central focus -- a charlatan priest trying to make a buck off mortality - seemed less fresh an idea.Nevertheless, I enjoyed the huckster's resonant French, and it sure was interesting to encounter a French Grim Reaper, whose parting words to le vieux were classic.The film faltered in its final frames, when it resorted to a weak and clichéd attempt at humor when the old man locked himself into the bathosphere. Still, it appears this director has lots of talent. I'll be interested to see where he goes from here.

This is the day before the Oscars are announced for 2008 and I just got back from a special screening by our local film society of all five films nominated in the category of Best Animated Short Film. Of the five films, I enjoyed "Même les pigeons vont au paradis" the most and think that it deserves to win the Oscar--because of its lovely CG graphics and very clever and amusing story. However, Petrov's beautiful film about 19th century Russia was breathtakingly beautiful and might just win the Oscar. If I were a betting man, I'd bet on "Même les pigeons vont au paradis" edging out this other film.The film begins with a frantic race between a car and moped down a country road at night. What this is all about is uncertain, but the car ultimately knocks the moped over and arrives at the house of an old man. As the driver of the car enters the house, the old man is falling from a climb to get an old liquor bottle off a high shelf and the driver jumps out to catch him. In addition to catching the old man, an old sock stuffed with money falls down as well and it's obvious the younger man wants the old guy's money. This is because he goes into a sales pitch and promises to show the old guy a way to get to heaven even if he hasn't earned it! After a bit of work, he constructs an odd looking contraption and says it's a machine that can take anyone to heaven--as long as they have the money! There is a lot of great humor along the way and a couple hilarious twists at the end, but I really don't want to spoil the fun.Interestingly, when this film was shown, it was the only one of the five that elicited obvious reactions from the audience. There was a lot of laughing and when it was over, the run was literally abuzz with excitement. From this standpoint alone, it should be the Oscar winner tomorrow night.2/24/08--The Oscar was just announced and the winner in this category was PETER & THE WOLF.