Lifted (2006)

While Pixar are great filmmakers, without a doubt, I find that I actually prefer their short films to their features. Geri's Game was genius, Tin Toy not far behind and Luxo Jr is posibly the most perfect animated short ever made. Lifted, released in theaters as a supporting short to Ratatouille, is a joyous little piece all of its own. A giant UFO arrives over a house in the middle of nowhere and pulls its sole sleeping occupant up to it via a tractor beam. And like every great short film, the story is entirely unlike what you'd expect, given that completely accurate setup. Very good indeed.

It was the first film ever directed by Gary Rydstrom, who none of us have ever heard of unless we're into sound design. He has no less than seven Academy Awards to his name and a further six nominations for sound work on such groundbreaking films as Backdraft, Jurassic Park and Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Lifted is his first non-sound based nomination and it's not a surprising one. His next film should be interesting: it's a feature length Pixar film called newt due in 2011 after Toy Story 3.