Whether or not Luke Matheny’s “God of Love” nabs the Oscar for Best Live Action Short is still to be seen. It sure has its share of champions but it’s rare for a winner of the Student Academy Award to also take the big prize. Nevertheless, there’s clearly a publicity push in motion, witnessed by a cute press release that was waiting in my inbox this morning.
Matheny offers up his “top eight for a date,” films that dovetail nicely with today’s holiday (and what an opportune time for such a holiday to strike when your film is a riff on Cupid). They are (I’m assuming in no particular order):
“Joe vs. The Volcano”
“Paris Blues”
“Miracle of Morgan’s Creek”
“The Bodyguard”
“The Thomas Crown Affair”
“Doc Hollywood”
“Shop Around the Corner”
“Arthur”
The film opened in 150 theaters this weekend as a part of Magnolia Pictures and Shorts International’s nominated shorts package. Here is the trailer:
And here’s Matheny learning about his nomination while in Park City, Utah for Sundance:
My coverage of the live action shorts here.
That package, by the way, will be available on pay-per-view and iTunes on February 22. Find out more information here.
Happy Valentine’s Day.
[Photo: Magnolia Pictures/Shorts International]
Comments
10 responses to “‘God of Love’ director’s top eight for a date”
“Joe vs. The Volcano” is definitely #1 on his list. His love for that shitty film knows no bounds.
People who love Joe vs. the Volcano instantly have a special place in my heart.
Then you’d love Luke.
You should interview him, not sure what you’d talk about besides “Joe vs The Volcano” and Na Wewe’s misusage of U2.
Kinda feelin’ a Woody Allen vibe from the trailer. Looks pretty good.
“Na Wewe’s misusage of U2”
Spinning for your friend already? There’s a career in publicity for you yet.
I don’t think it takes much spin; that U2 “gag” drove me CRAZY in an otherwise interesting short.
Yeah, I’ve heard that from quite a few. Just joshing Loyal. I doubt it’ll turn voters off, though. It’s probably between this and that for the win, unless Wish 143 made an emotional impact (I’m thinking not).
Loyal you seem to be spinning God of Love on every forum and its getting a wee bit boring.
Objectively I think it will be Na Wewe, The Confession, Wish 143, The Crush and God of Love
Kris, I’m curious if the Live Action package is up to theatre owners to decide what order it plays, or whether it comes pre-loaded. “God of Love” definitely benefits from being the straight comedy that comes at the end of the package, though I was completely in the minority about its quality (everyone else in my group loved it. Me, not so much). Went with a group of five this weekend and we were all completely perplexed by the choice of the U2-Hutu joke…just a crazy way to end that short. We all loved Wish 143 – seriously hoping that one wins.
@ Lawrence
Nothing to spin, nothing for you to get bored about. I watched 11 of the 15 shorts, I wrote about it. Big deal.
The response for God of Love has been great, most people seem to love it. It’s not spin, it’s not an issue of objectivity, it’s reality.
As for Na Wewe, the U2 bit at the end threw an otherwise stellar short off track. It’s certainly not just me saying it.
@ Kris
Do you know in what order the shorts will screen for voters? Like jtagliere said, God of Love definitely benefits from being the last short shown during the showcase. But I’m guessing when voters see the shorts, they’ll run in a different order?