The Wraith of Cobble Hill (2006)

It's a film about a very lonely old man - the store owner facing another holiday without anyone. He gives the key to his store to a hungry boy because he wants to help him and also because he wants to know - or hopes - that the boy will look after his dog.The boy starts out with a little selfish behavior. I almost turned it off because it was breaking my heart to see the dog wagging his tail and getting no response and not getting care from the boy.It is sad because the old man gives up. Somewhere, you keep hoping the boy would snap - and reach out to the old man before its too late, too - but his examples of caring for others are non-existent - starting with his own mother.His kindness does pay off for the boy, his mother and the dog. The real wraith is the old man... seen but not "seen", if you know what I mean. He's like so many older folks and folks living alone in the world - alone, lonely, giving up - but with so much to give.Call me a sentimental fool but the message is clear and not confusing, at all.Very well done little film! roscoskat

I didn't understand the purpose of this story. It evoked no emotion in me. I didn't amuse or depress me; I didn't know what to make of it.....yet this was oddly compelling.I don't like depressing stories, and this definitely could be labeled depressing, as others have called it. I didn't find it that way. I just found it an interesting view into a character's life, in this a teen called "Justin." The kid lives at in a poor Brooklyn apartment home with his mom, who is about useless. She sits in bed and watches television all day, not even caring enough to put food in the house. The kid goes to the neighborhood convenience story, shoplifts a little bit and the kindly owner, "Mr. H.," asks if he would watch his dog for a few days while he goes away. Justin is reluctant but when the owner says "you can have the key to the store," Justin thinks "free food" and takes him up on it.What happens after that isn't much, yet the viewer - at least, me - winds up very involved with this kid, and the dog, too. There is a dramatic subplot in here with a neighbor upstairs but I couldn't decipher what that was all about. The sound during those brief scenes, as Justin looked into the room, was very muted so I doubt I was the only one who couldn't understand what that was all about. I guess it will remain a mystery, and I think that's what the filmmaker wants."Mysterious" might be a good word for this short, animated film. I loved the black-and-white artwork. This has a distinctive look to it and was a part of the attraction to viewing this.

I saw this short during a presentation of animated short films that included the 2007 Academy Award nominated short films. This short was by far the best one played that night, and unsurprisingly, it wasn't one of the nominated ones. That's because the Academy was too interested admiring the fake sentimentality of "The Little Matchgirl" and the silly slapstick of "No Time for Nuts" to notice a powerful stop-motion animation that's actually ABOUT something.Felix is a poor ghetto denizen in Brooklyn's Cobble Hill, who is left alone to take care of his mother in an apartment without food or money. He goes to the corner store to steal something to eat, and while there gets asked by the store owner, Mr. H, to take care of the store and the dog while Mr. H goes on vacation. Faced with the responsibility of the dog and the store, Felix tries to take just as much as can keep him happy and well fed, while not noticeably perpetuate the neglect he feels towards the kindness of Mr. H.This movie is bleak in every sense of the term. It's subject matter is depressing enough, but it's also shot in this unique black-and-white colorization that makes it feel like we're watching a crime monitor or something similar. Felix' struggles are very understated, and it's admirable the level of detail put onto his face because it's both very lively and necessary. Felix could not work as a character if he didn't feel alive to us, and this short would have failed if it wasn't for the animation of his expressions and movements, however staid and slow they may seem.--PolarisDiB

I have some plot questions about this fine piece of animation. WARNING SPOILERS! I'm usually a very astute viewer, but for some reason this time I seem to have blinked at all the wrong times. Just what was going on upstairs? Did Mr. H fall and die up there? Did he die anywhere? There was that scene with the broken glasses; was that Mr. H? Was he struggling for his life for the rest of the film and causing all that noise upstairs? And did someone hang himself at the end? Who was that? Or was it just an outfit of clothes hanging and swaying on the wall? I need to see this one more time, or get my eyes checked. Am I the only one who missed this? Maybe it was intentionally unclear.Skip