Movies: Little Movies Go Big Time

If a Hungarian animator with a 5-min. movie about a cuckoo clock ascends to the stage on Oscar night, you may be tempted to take that post--Jennifer Hudson, pre--Helen Mirren bathroom break. But if you do, you will miss something besides an ecstatic shout-out to Budapest--you'll miss seeing a real Hollywood comeback story, the return of the short film. Thanks to downloadable video and an embrace of the form by some Hollywood heavyweights, something very old-fashioned is happening: people are watching short movies. On cell phones, computers, TVs and--this is really retro--in theaters, new audiences are discovering or rediscovering the satisfaction...