Watch Part 2 Why Watch? Last year, The Shore won the Oscar for Best Live-Action Short Film, and after seeing Terry George‘s work, it’s easy to see why. The Hotel Rwanda director, here returning to his usual tilt toward the Troubles in Northern Ireland, creates a fragile layer of drama where an ocean of familial tension lies frozen and threatening underneath. It’s heady, tough work, but it’s also surprisingly easy to watch because of the clean character portraits being created. Cirian Hinds and Conleth Hill (who fans of Game of Thrones will be happy to see) shine in stony roles as two childhood friends now grown who are reunited after a falling out during the Troubles sent them on separate journeys. Fortunately, everyone involved is wise enough to add some smiles into the sweet pain of alienation to remind us all what doing the difficult task is really worth. By the time Rio Bravo-style music paints the climactic near-silly chase through the mud, it’s clear that this short is a masterful blend of laughter and tears. What will it cost? Around 30 minutes. Skip Work. Watch More Short Films.

UPDATED: The shorts programs will be available in over 200 theaters across the United States and Canada. Check out theater information HERE! Earlier today, two things happened – I sat down with an iced coffee to peruse the latest offerings from Los Angeles’ American Cinematheque (which shows films and special programs at both the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood and the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica) and my inbox was hit with a press release concerning the all of the Oscar-nominated shorts and their release later this month. You can guess the connection! Every Oscar night, even hardcore cinephiles find themselves scratching their heads when the three shorts categories come up – documentary, live-action, and animation. What are these films? And how could I have seen them? Well, as of today, the full program of Oscar Nominated Short Films will be released (thanks to ShortsHD) in New York City on February 10, with Los Angeles openings for the animation and live-action programs coming on February 10 (Landmark’s Nuart Theatre and West LA locations, and Regency Theatres’ South Coast Plaza in Santa Ana), with the documentary program hitting Laemmle’s Music Hall 3 on February 17. Or, if you’re an obsessive art house calendar-reader like me, you’ll also realize that you can check out all three programs at the Egyptian on various dates: documentaries on February 17 and both live-action and animation on February 24. For those of you in New York or Los Angeles, I encourage you to take the opportunity afforded