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"OSCAR’S SHORTS"

It’s been noted that those who win Academy Awards for the shortest films tend to give the longest acceptance speeches. But I wouldn’t mind according a little extra time to hear from Ray McKinnon if he wins the Best Live Action Short Oscar for "The Accountant," which along with the rest of the short-film nominees will screen this Sunday as part of the Coolidge Corner’s third annual "Oscar’s Shorts" celebration. Not only did McKinnon write and direct this mini-epic about the engulfing of traditional values by corporate greed, but he puts in a tour de force performance in the title role. As the backwoods number cruncher and bibulous, motormouthed visionary who seeks to redeem a bankrupt family farm in the Deep South through self-immolation and insurance claims, McKinnon comes off as varying parts Ralph Fiennes, Tommy Lee Jones, and fruit bat. The film itself evokes Bonnie and Clyde, Walker Evans, Flannery O’Connor, William Faulkner, Sling Blade, and Mayberry, R.F.D. Not bad for 38 minutes.

Another filmmaker deserving all of her 15 minutes of fame is Sarah Kernochan for her Best Short Documentary nominee "Thoth." People expect weird things in Central Park, but nothing quite like the loin-clothed whirling visitant of the title who plays the violin while singing in voices ranging from operatic soprano to basso profundo. Is he Mayan, or Persian, or Italian, the drop-jawed crowds wonder. Turns out he’s American, and the story of how the son of a classical timpanist from Barbados and a Jewish doctor became perhaps the world’s most astonishing street act is as fascinating as the performances themselves. Kernochan relates it all with economy, clarity, and utter respect and sympathy. Together these two shorts tell more about America than all the big Oscar nominees put together. "Oscar’s Shorts" is presented this Sunday, March 17, at the Coolidge Corner; the $25 admission charge includes unlimited free concessions.

BY PETER KEOUGH

Issue Date: March 14 - 21, 2002
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