The Worst Film Ever

Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

"Maestro" is an animated short film from 10 years ago. It's actually a Hungarian production by writer and director Géza M. Tóth. But don't worry, there is no spoken language in here, so you don't need to be able to understand Hungarian. Anyway, it's pretty short, roughly 4.5 minutes and shows us how a bird, apparently an opera singer, prepares for his great moment on stage. All in all, I was not too impressed by this film here, with the exception of two moments. The first would be when his voice slowly transforms from tough to listen to into wonderful to listen to. The second is the ending. I won't go anymore into detail here, but I have to say it caught me completely by surprise and made me laugh. All in all, I guess I agree with the Oscar nomination because the animation here is fine as well. I even would have preferred it was the winner over the Danish entry. It's also better than the "Ice Age" short film and maybe only slightly inferior to the Pixar entry that year. Still, easily my number one choice is "The Little Match Girl", which was such a wonderful experience and, almost 10 years later, still makes me sad that it did not win. Back to "Maestro", I recommend it and I hope we get a full feature movie from the director at some point, if he manages to make it work. I am not entirely sure if he has it inside him looking at how short this one here is and how strongly it relies on the final twist, but why not give it a go, Mr. Tóth?

When it comes to the Oscar nominees for Best Animated Short, you can usually divide the selections into two broad categories. There's the deep emotional tales that tell a complete story – say, 'Harvie Krumpet (2004)' and 'My Love (2006)' – and then there's the one-joke comedic shorts, which are typically enjoyable but inconsequential five-minute distractions. As such, I'm usually disappointed when the latter category earns themselves nominations, as I can't escape the feeling that there's a profound, meaningful alternative out there that I'll now never hear about. 'Maestro (2005),' directed by Géza M. Tóth, inspired this type of mild, illogical resentment; it's good, but it's nothing special, a single funny joke that takes a full five minutes to even approach its punchline. This is not necessarily to say anything negative about the short, merely that its ambitions were quaint from the very beginning. Not every animated film should say something profound about the state of human existence, and perhaps I should simply enjoy this little gag for what it is.In a dark dressing-room, as a chicken-like opera singer prepares for his next performance, a nifty mechanical device industriously grooms him for the big moment. As the machine goes about its duties – pouring a martini, applying make-up, dusting off clothing – the camera, in one clever long-take, continually carves a 360-degree path around the Maestro, shifting in one-second increments like the second hand of a ticking clock. The computer animation is smooth and crisp, doing a fine job of readjusting to the rapidly-changing lighting conditions as the camera consistently circles. The suspense of the big moment is prolonged, to such an extent that the five minutes preceding the all-important punchline seem stagnant and expendable once we know what is about to happen. I don't think that this short will hold up on repeat viewings, and, indeed, I don't feel any inclination to watch it again (which is where it differs even from Pixar shorts like 'Geri's Game (1997),' which I could watch all day). 'Maestro' is worth a look, but it's not one for posterity.

This short was nominated for the Academy Award, Animated Short category. It's difficult to discuss a five minute cartoon without giving away details, so consider this your spoiler warning: The visuals in this are very good, with the character design particularly-the detail is fascinating. As is to be expected with a five minute short, there is a slender plot here and the timing is key to this working. It's a one-joke premise and the director builds to it magnificently, with the image of a pampered superstar carefully created in a surprisingly short space, with the ending coming as a surprise, at least to me.The trouble is, while most excellent shorts merit repeated viewings (there are animated shorts I've seen dozens of times and they always seem alive and fascinating however often I see them), each time I watch this one, it impresses me a little less than it did before. Knowing the payoff has a lot to do with this (though I've seen Balance at least a dozen times and even knowing the ending makes no difference, as I still get chills every time I watch).The only thing I can figure is that, if you're telling a joke (and that's what Maestro is, ultimately-a visual joke), knowing the ending often reduces the humor.This is on DVD-The 2006 Academy Award Short Films, released by Magnolia and this and the entire disc are well worth watching. Recommended.

I attended a screening of the Oscar-nominated shorts yesterday and if I had a vote in the Academy it would go to "Maestro". At the beginning I wasn't quite sure of what kind of world it took place in. On the surface it looked like a backstage peek at an impennate opera singer preparing for a show. But why was a mechanical arm doing all of the grooming, drink mixing, and other tasks? The interesting thing I noticed about "Maestro" was that as the camera circled around, the perspective changed at one second intervals. This technique recalls the motion of a second hand and hints strongly at the film's wonderful punch line.