Hors piste

Traveling, mountain climbing, boring, getting nowhere. Funny? Yes. Stupid? As well. Sucks terribly. But funny enough for the eight on ten.

If you watched the Oscar-nominated shorts, you (and the rest of your theater) breathed a sigh of relief when a comedy short came on. This is a truly funny short with some unforgettable characters and hijinks. The animation and music are incredible. I was disappointed at the lack of resolution, however.

Two EMTs recuse a skier from the top of the Matterhorn. How did he get there? Never mind. After they cause the helicopter to fly off and crash without them, they decide to transport the injured man strapped to a stretcher over mountains and crevasses, to safety.

They are not successful.

What happened to funny cartoons? This is certainly one, and uproariously so. The audience giggled throughout at the extreme and unlikely classic slapstick gags carried as far as cartoonists' pen and ink could carry them. Unfortunately, they could not carry them as far as an Academy Award nomination, where each nominee must serve a socially useful purpose.

Hors Piste turned out to be an unexpectedly good animated short about two mountain rescue workers and the person they're trying to save. The mission quickly goes wrong and turns into a dynamic, humorous journey back down the mountain.

There's a near-constant stream of humor, much of it centered on the rescued man-whose condition reminded me of some old Pink Panther films. The zero-gravity scenes were particularly well animated, and the film's overall color palette had a playful quality. It gave me retro-'80s vibes, further enhanced by a fitting synth soundtrack. By "retro-'80s," I mean something that resembles the decade but not with total historical accuracy.

All in all, a very funny story and an enjoyable viewing experience!

...first, for the music. For absurde story and the drops of poetry. And for characters. A rescue mission and a lot of accidents. And, not the last, two special, special, special guys and their practic spirit of huge luck. The music and the snow and the burned cottage- the lead ingredients of this lovely - amusing short animation.