Short Films, Shallow Analysis

There is a website where you can see trailers of eight of the ten nominees for short.
Here it is, http://onlineshortfilms.net/articles/read-85th-oscar-nominees-short-films-descriptionstrailersfull-length-films_50.html

Based on my viewing the trailers:

SHORT FILMS: Animated

Minkyu Lee, director | Adam and Dog: Dog is created in the garden of Eden. Who cares?

PES (Adam Pesapane), director | Fresh Guacamole: Clever use of kitchen gadgets including an interesting wedger.

Actually the wedger they used is 49 sections

Fuac Timothy Reckart and Fodhla Cronin O'Reilly, director | Head Over Heels: Husband and wife live their lives in separate spaces. One walks on the ceiling. The other walks on the floor.

David Silverman, director | Maggie Simpson in The Longest Daycare: Do the Simpsons really need an Oscar?

John Kahrs | Paperman: This a Pixar deal. Black and white, moody. But in the trailer the director just talks about cool it is. But he's right it's pretty cool.

I give it to Paperman.

Emeryville, California in the house.

 
SHORT FILMS: Live Action

Bryan Buckley and Mino Jarjoura | Asad: A coming of age fable of a Somali boy as he struggles to survive in his war-torn land. No trailer. No cry.

Sam French and Ariel Nasr | Buzkashi Boys: Set against the dramatic landscape of contemporary Afghanistan and the National sport of Buzkashi - a brutal game of horse polo played with a dead goat. There is a trailer. No dead goats until about the 1 minute mark. A real white wash job as they don't even deal with the "GGH" (goat growth hormone) scandal.

 Shawn Christensen | Curfew: "At the lowest point of his life, Richie gets a call from his estranged sister, asking him to look after his nine-year old niece, Sophia, for a few hours." Can't tell for sure but looks like a suicide attempt at the 17 second mark of the trailer.

Tom Van Avermaet and Ellen De Waele | Death of a Shadow (Dood van een Schaduw):  Stuck in a dark limbo between life and death, a deceased soldier Nathan Rijckx collects shadows of dying men and women to buy back his own second chance at life. Ik kan bijna niet geloven dat dit een Belgische film is. De trailer is enorm sfeervol en gedetailleerd.
Wacky Belgium comedy.

Yan England | Henry: No trailer. "Henry, a great concert pianist, has his life thrown in turmoil the day the love of this life, Maria, disappears mysteriously. He'll then discover the inevitable verdict of life."

As they say in the Short Films world, "Go sad or go home."

I'll pick the Buzkashi Boys. It's like "Breaking Away" with horses and dead goats.