See the short films you've heard about

Seeing a group of short films is not only different, it's downright rare. On Sunday, at 7:30 p.m., the Nevada Theatre shows eight 2004 Oscar nominees for short film.

You are bound to have fun with three or four of these. You might well be impressed with two or three. For all eight, you might well balance appreciation with reservation about the cinematic challenge of enthralling an audience in 10 or 15 minutes.

• "Wasp" - the Oscar winner for Live Action Short - stings. A single mom leaves her four barely-fed little children on the street on their own while she meets a date in a bar.

• "Ryan" plies self-aware riffs on the difficulties of cutting-edge animation. Meanwhile, its cool, visual creativity cinched its 2004 Oscar grab.

• "Rex Steele, Nazi Smasher" is easier fun than "Ryan," but this Student Academy Award winner leverages a cartoon tradition well. The title winks at you with what kind of ride it is.

• "Gopher Broke" combines contemporary visuals with tried and true Elmer Fudd-like haplessness.

• "7:35 de la Mañana" - more like a goof on music video than a film - is a strangely shy pick-up tale with a beat and an attitude.

• The animated "Birthday Boy" will charm some with its round Asian boy at play in his own little world of imagination.

• "Little Terrorist" keeps its seriousness and wisdom light with a young boy amongst Pakistanis and Indians on two sides of a mine field.

• "Two Cars, One Night" sneaks above peculiar with its naturalistic interplay of three kids in a motel parking lot.

Given the range of vision and style, it's not clear which of these eight you'll like or how many or how much, but just seeing it as a rare movie opportunity already fills the glass half full.

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Chuck Jaffee lives in Nevada City. Find links to his other reviews for The Union at /www.startlets .com/