I went to the showing of the Oscar-nominated animated shorts--something I haven't missed in about a decade. Although I loved Disney's "Get a Horse!" and think it's the clear choice for the award, the rest of the films left me rather cold. So, when they also showed three non-nominated but commended films, I felt a bit surprised as the three commended films were better than several of the nominees! Of the three commended films, I probably enjoyed "A la Francaise" the most--but they all were treats."A la Francaise" made me laugh a lot--and that is a rare thing with this year's showing of shorts! In addition, the quality of the animation was amazingly good--too good not to get nominated. The story is set in the time of Louis XIV. However, Louis and all his guests at Versailles are pigeons*!! Now they act and dress much like 17th century folks did but they are birds. I know this sounds silly--and it is. However, the plot is infused with such a wonderful sense of humor it made me smile. Well worth your time and I really want to see more from the team that made this wonderful film.*My daughter insists they are chickens. Whatever....

'A LA FRANCAISE': Two and a Half Stars (Out of Five) Another of this year's 'highly commended shorts' (shown in theaters with the Oscar nominated animated short films) is this comedy about aristocrat chicken called 'A LA FRANCAISE'. It comes from France and was directed by Morrigane Boyer, Julien Hazebroucq, Ren-Hsien Hsu, Emmanuelle Leleu and William Lorton. There's not a lot to it; it's just about rich and sophisticated chicken who act like snobs but also act like chicken. It is a one-joke movie but it's also a 7-minute-cartoon (which is full of funny visuals). So I'd say the filmmakers probably accomplished what they set out to do; it is an amusing little short.Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAefz9rzS5w