One of the (few) bright spots in Sunday’s Oscar show had to be Luke Matheny’s acceptance speech upon winning Best Short Film. It was nice to see someone genuinely surprised and excited to be on that stage — and who thanked his mother, “who did craft services for the film,” and the great state of Delaware. (I think his hair should win an award in itself.)
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bd0X1kqJNoQ 635×355]
I knew nothing about his film God of Love before the Oscars, but the more I find out, the more I want to see it. Matheny’s film was the grand prize winner in the 2010 Angelus Student Film Festival — an award named after media pioneer and Catholic priest Father Patrick Payton, and which celebrates “future filmmakers as they explore and create works that respect the dignity of the human person.”
Orthodox. Faithful. Free.
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iTunes sums up the plot thusly:
Lounge-singing darts champion Raymond Goodfellow finds his prayers are answered — literally — when he receives a mysterious package of passion-inducing darts. The catch is that the one woman he loves — Kelly, a drummer in his band — is already in love with Ray’s best friend Fozzie, the guitarist in the band. But when Ray uses the darts in a loony scheme to resolve this strange romantic triangle, he learns a surprising lesson about unrequited love and discovers his own place in the universe.
This clip from the film is a great twist on the old “God, I know we don’t talk much” prayer so popular in movies:
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-ynU7m21h4 635×355]
You can download the film for a measly $1.99 on iTunes — which I think I might just have to do. Congrats to Matheny, and his hair.