Pre-Oscars Review: Pear Cider and Cigarettes

Every day this week, we are going to review one of each of the animated short films up for an Academy Award and see if they are really deserving of the extra cred. First up, Pear Cider and Cigarettes.

Have you ever watched something and been bored to tears? Like TRULY bored to tears to the point where you wish you hadn’t clicked on the [Play] button? Welp, Pear Cider and Cigarettes does just that.

The premise of the film features producer Robert Valley narrating an animated documentary short film about his pal Techno Stypes who evidently traveled to China and is eventually confined to a hospital bed after his liver goes to shit. We spend a lot of the film learning about Techno, a one-time gifted athlete who would spend his better days chilling with drug addicts and drinking his liver to the point of no return.

As we wind down to the disappointing twist at the end, Pear Cider and Cigarettes does offer up some killer jams and an effective soundtrack produced by Robert Trujillo. But, I couldn’t help but hate the narrator’s voice. Quite honestly, the voice is just nails on the chalkboard throughout the entire film. Very monotonous and dreary.

From an aesthetic point of view, Pear Cider and Cigarettes looks fantastic and is animated a half-step more than most motion comics you see on Youtube. But, no matter what, I just could not give a shit less about Robert’s pal, Techno. Quite honestly, I was rooting for him to die quicker so as to end the movie in a more timely manner.