For these 15 films up for Oscars, time is no limit

A guide to the short noms in categories of animation, live-action and documentary.

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SCENES from short films "The Girl Who Cried Pearls," top, and "Retirement Plan," bottom, both up for Oscars in the animated category, and "Perfectly a Strangeness," middle, a short nominated in the documentary category.

Photos from Roadside Attractions

The nominated Oscar shorts come in three categories and a lot of subjects, styles and temperaments.

It's further proof that an award dictated by length needn't be bound by anything else.

In the live-action category, a mixed bag of approaches some inspired by classic literature - are burnished by inspired performances. Lee Knight's "A Friend of Dorothy" may be a tad on the nose about the cultural and emotional impact of a lonely London widow on a closeted teenaged boy. But leads Miriam Margolyes and Alistair Nwachukwu practically shimmer with humor and warmth. "Jane Austen's Period Drama," a loving tweak of the writer's oeuvre from Steve Pinder and Julia Aks (who also stars), is essentially a onejoke calling card to make feature comedies and it should do the job. Its cast is exactly the sprightly ensemble needed to land its what-if laughs.

Two others just miss the mark in terms of bringing their tensions to powerful resolutions yet benefit from whom the camera adores.