That was an excellent one.

hyped garbage

Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

Martin McDonagh begins the story as a middle-aged man learns of his wife's death. He takes a train to Dublin, Ireland where he encounters a troubled young man and a couple in despair. There is a lot of death and despair in this short film even by today's standards. THere is a lot of needless violence and destruction especially with the cow and innocent white rabbit. The middle-aged man's encounter with the young man is troubling. The kid makes rude and insensitive comments to the young couple who lost their son the night before. There is a lot of death in this short film. Martin McDonagh is a promising and accomplished playwright and director. This short film was included on the dvd of "Three Billboards"

After a man's wife dies he takes a train back home. On that train he meets a young couple who are also grieving and a young man who doesn't seem to give a damn about other people's emotions. The story is relatively simple, four people on a train, each one has something in common. Someone in their lives has just died, each one deals with it differently. The young kid doesn't seem to give a damn, the couple cry and try to isolate themselves and the man seems to be relatively at ease, clearly hiding his true pain. Gleeson is the man in this role and he is the one who seems to be observing all the emotions on this train. Rúaidhrí Conroy is the motor mouth kid who has a really thick Irish accent, it's almost hard to tell what he is saying. The film belongs to these two characters and they are vastly different from one another. The scenery outside is beautiful and showcases Ireland's cottage, farmland area. It's definitely a place I want to visit one day in my life. The setting of the film is entirely on a train, save for the opening and closing scenes. Despite the film being almost all dialogue, the movement of the train actually kept some tension up. Who is this kid and why he is so psycho. For a short that is 30 minutes, it does its job. Well written, well directed and acted. The film looks nice and is quite the dark comedy. The monologue about the cow is both random and hilarious. The director, McDonagh, went on to direct In Bruges, an even darker comedy. You can see the similarities in the characters and the themes. Both films are shot in the same style, with a soft focus and of course star Brendan Gleeson.This short went on to win an Oscar, I haven't seen the other films nominated so I can't say that this film deserved the win, but it is well done. It does what most films can't do and that is tell a consistent story with interesting characters.

This short deservedly won an Oscar in the Live-Action Short category. It's by turns heartbreakingly sad, horrific and very funny. Because I want to touch on some of the details, this is a spoiler warning: For a good number of people (and a rabbit), this is probably the worst day of their lives. Though there are a few incidental characters, this short focuses primarily on four people-a middle-aged man who has just left the hospital after being told his wife has died, a couple who have just lost their infant son and and a chatty, rather obnoxious kid with a mouth on him and who fancies himself a wit. This last rapidly gets on just about everyones last nerve and very nearly comes to blows with the husband over his language and general demeanor. Slowly, everyone comes to learn of the twin sadnesses and the older fellow comes to start listening to the kid, at least a little.While the two older men are out getting tea and smoking, the kid starts to pester the woman and, as she tries to leave, she stumbles, or she's tripped, and the photo she carries of her son is torn badly. Tragedy rears its ponderous head and the train is stopped (ultimately) and two of the quartet of characters exit, stage left, with just the older man and the kid left. The kid and the man talk a bit more (actually, the kid mostly talks and the man mostly listens) until the train stops and the older fellow starts to get off, only to see a few things, put some pieces together, including one off-hand remark by a doctor that morning at the hospital and realizes what's about to happen. When the dust has settled, the older man is alone, center stage, so to speak, and leaves the train-with a memento (to the lasting misfortune of his pet rabbit). The final line is particularly funny if your taste in humor runs towards the macabre.This short is available on a DVD compilation of most of the ten shorts nominated for the two shorts categories given annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (two of the five animated shorts aren't included for various reasons, though all five live-action shorts are included and two very good animated shorts are an added bonus, presumably to round out the disc. Both this short and the DVD as a whole are highly recommended.

A bit of fun for the black-hearted, very black-hearted. Death becomes them, all of them it seems, in one way or another. I am a fan of dark humor myself--Sweeney Todd and League of Gentlemen come to mind--but despite having a reasonably strong stomach, this film made me uncomfortable. Make no mistake, it is wonderfully crafted, with outstanding performances, top-notch production values, and a glorious punch line, but it might be a trial to keep your eyes on the screen until the final payoff.I caught this dainty in a showing of all the Oscar-nominated shorts, animated and live action. (and not, sadly, documentary) It is a shame that so few get to see quality short films of this sort. It might be a worthy enterprise for some bright person to market a DVD product line with sets of each year's nominees. Or work something out with Apple to make them down-loadable to digital devices of various sorts. It is a sad thing that we must endure advertisements prior to seeing features. Substituting short films of modest duration would add reel value to seeing films in a theatrical venue. Lord knows, it would be a good thing to provide a bit more justification for the hefty ticket prices.