My Year of Dicks

I watched My Year of Dicks the other day as part of the Oscar Shorts. I thought since there was a minute-long screen saying "The following film is not suitable for children, viewer discretion is advised", it would be at least a little sexy. But no, I saw the whole twenty-four minutes of it and I was completely flaccid at the end. (I get that it was based on a memoir so they couldn't change too much.) Still, the actual plot was at least a bit intriguing and well-structured, the writing was okay, and the animation was pretty good and a bit surreal at times. Overall, I would recommend this, but not to someone trying to get a boner.

7/10.

I wanted to watch it immediately after I saw it being announced at the Oscars with the audience and hosts laughing while they're mentioning the title. I got curious immediately and I just gotta see what this is all about. By the way, the movie is free on Vimeo or on the website of the film, that's where I watched it.

My Year of Dicks is about the film writer Pamela Ribon's sexual awakening during her teenage years in 1991. It is a short 24 minute comedy coming of age animation movie. The story is based on her short memoir, "Notes for Boys (And Other Things I Shouldn't Share in Public)."

I really enjoyed the animation style with some real-life footage of Pam blended in, it looks unique and creative. The voice acting is also great. It is also interesting to see the life of a person being told through animation.

I like this movie and I recommend it.

Saw this at the Brooklyn Film Festival and loved it. Gorgeous, unexpectedly emotional animation; beautiful writing; wonderful vocal performances. I've been thinking about it since I watched it. A 90's story in suburban Texas, but the feelings and yearnings and disappointments are universal.

I went searching for this short after seeing someone complain about it being on Hulu. I figured if it made someone clutch their pearls online I would probably be interested. I was right.

I found this animated film to be incredibly well-done and relevant. The main character, Pam, had perfect and understandable reactions to certain things. Her inner monolog could've been my own when I was a teenager, and I thought her struggles and reactions were spot-on. Her friends, including her male friend, had appropriate behavior for teenagers, to include that "one friend" who always instigated risky behavior. I'm sure we all had that friend who always had questionable intentions.

With no spoilers, the ending great. Again, some of the events in each chapter literally could've been my own experience and, I'm sure, what teenagers now are going through. There was a feel-good message at the end that was great advice for any young woman, especially in the current societal pressures women in general face. I can definitely see why the film has received so many awards.

We caught this on a showing of all five 2023 Oscar-nominated short animated films, and this was saved for last because it is definitely not for kids, kind of on the PG13/R borderline.

But it was also definitely a case of saving the best for last. The quest to lose one's virginity depicted is not a cartoon version of "Little Darlings", that's for sure. It's a raw, honest, and laugh out loud hilarious recounting of a coming of age, perhaps at a particular time and place, but one pretty familiar to me.

The story is told in five chapters, and there's equal parts humor and menace as we move through Pam, the protagonist's, quest to enter into what is perceived as the entry to adulthood. While it may not pass the abstention-only crowd's standards, the ultimate message is about trust and love, and the story is much more realistic than anything one could get away with in a straight-up regular film.

I particularly appreciated the change in animation style at key moments, which created some more laugh out loud moments as the visuals changed to reflect Pam's inner journey. The framing with what looks like real clips from a contemporary 1991 video diary was an excellent device for connecting the animated character with a real person.

Super hilarious squirm scene: "The Talk" with Dad. 10/10 to the writer for putting this one in there.

Very brave, and by far the best of the five nominated shorts, but I'd be shocked if it won; the Academy is still too white, too male, and too old to really appreciate this kind of film making.