For Oscar surprises, check out short-film nominees

Short subjects often provide the chief surprises at the Academy Awards — especially in a year like this one, when Jeff Bridges, Mo'Nique, Sandra Bullock and Christoph Waltz seem to have wrapped up every acting award in sight.

Some of us may be hoping for Meryl Streep to provide a last-minute upset, or a David-and-Goliath battle between "The Hurt Locker" and "Avatar" to generate some suspense. But if you're looking for unpredictability, check out the shortest films in competition.

The Varsity is currently showing all 10 of the finalists in two categories, plus a few non-nominees (including Pixar's "Partly Cloudy" and Poland's "The Kinematograph") that help to fill out the animation program.

As usual, the entries in the animated category prove to be consistently superior to the live-action collection, though both will have their champions.

The one to beat in the animation category is Nick Park's latest Wallace and Gromit adventure, "A Matter of Loaf and Death," which spoofs the "Scream" series.

A serial killer stalks England's bakeries, eliminating bakers and hoping to polish off a baker's dozen, while Wallace falls for a manipulative lady and proves beyond much doubt that he's become a fruitcake. Check out Gromit's exasperated reactions when Wallace (of Top Bun bakeries) muses that the murders could be good for business.

No strangers to the Oscars, Wallace and Gromit have won before in this category. They could face serious competition from Nicky Phelan and Darragh O'Connell's wicked Irish twist on an ever-popular fairy tale, "Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty," and Fabrice O. Joubert's "French Roast," in which a caffeine-addicted businessman goes to passive extremes when he realizes he's forgotten his wallet.

Also nominated are Javier Recio Garcia's busily inventive Spanish entry, "The Lady and the Reaper," which was co-produced by Antonio Banderas, and Nicolas Schmerkin's acerbic commentary on the consuming nature of consumerism, "Logorama."

Because "Logorama" is the only animated film here that includes rough language, parents are hereby notified that it plays last in the program. You're on your own with the live-action collection, which is more violent and potentially upsetting.

The most disturbing entry is an Irish/Russian film: Juanita Wilson and James Flynn's "The Door," the story of a town that loses its identity when its citizens are forced to evacuate.

An alienated child runs into a classroom killer in Luke Doolan and Drew Bailey's mystifying Australian entry, "Miracle Fish," while Vincent D'Onofrio and Kevin Corrigan turn up in a Danish black comedy full of toxic surprises, "The New Tenants."

Gregg Helvey's Indian entry, "Kavi," taps into some of the same issues as "Slumdog Millionaire." Patrik Eklund and Mathias Fjellstrom's "Instead of Abracadabra," a Swedish entry about a magician who performs at children's parties, is the only live-action entry that aims for little more than charm — and sporadically succeeds.

John Hartl: johnhartl@yahoo.com