mraculeated The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

Usamah Harvey The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Portia Hilton Blistering performances.

Janis One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de) "Hello" is a 7-minute Australian short film from more than a decade ago. Wriiter and director (and voice actor) is Jonathan Nix and he received some awards attention for his work here. i wonder why though. i do not think this film was a particularly creative achievement in terms of story, emotion or dramatic impact. Comedy is pretty much non-existent, so I won't mention that. Maybe the reason why I cannot appreciate this movie here is because I do not really like the animation style. But there are other aspects too. For example, for such a music-centered work, I find the actual music used in here fairly forgettable. So yeah, awards bodies and IMDb users got it wrong. This is a mediocre watch at best. Thumbs down.

ccthemovieman-1 Yes, it's a nice, sentimental "love story" with inanimate objects playing the lead roles: We have the shy portable tape player trying to get the attention of the cute, female little CD boom box. Help from an old Victrola (gramophone?) makes the two young ones connect. Basically, that's it.However, what I liked best was the art work in here. I thought it was just fascinating.The hand ink-like drawings were detailed and the color schemes were great, usually just two colors in the scenes. It thought it far surpassed the story, which was okay but nothing special.

MartinHafer This is one of the animated shorts from THE ANIMATION SHOW: VOLUME 2. Most of the shorts in this DVD collection are rather poor because very few are funny and the emphasis is much more or art than entertainment in this second installment. For better films overall, see VOLUME 1.While I don't think this film was as brilliant as some reviewers have stated, I would agree that it's one of the better films in this collection. However, be forewarned that the animation style and narrative are a bit odd! All the characters in this short are anthropomorphic radios, tape players, record players or digital music devices! A cassette boom box guy meets a digital lady but he hasn't got the right words. In this bizarre world, these characters cannot speak on their own but must pull the words from the music they play to communicate with each other. So he goes home and tries to piece together various bits and pieces of audiotape to talk to her. This fails miserably and it looks hopeless until he gets some help from an old-time Victrola.As you'd correctly guess, this is a weird film...but also a charming one. Give it a view.

ShortoftheWeek An endearing animation about the struggles of love and self-expression. Hello's characters are created from common audio devices—forced to communicate with what technology they have. A bumbling, young cassette player fumbles with his tape deck as he hopelessly attempts to capture the attention of the cute, digital girl next door. His earnest persistence won me over.The animation technique integrates traditional, hand-drawn 2D characters and textures in a 3D environment through a process referred to as 2.5D. Although coarsely integrated at times, the visuals do their job of telling the story without becoming a distraction.This festival hit is Jonathon Nix's first short animated film. The Australian animator is currently developing the prequel—a feature-length animation titled The Missing Key. Hello was my personal favorite from the Animation Show 2 (2005), and I'm pleased to see it now find a home online.Check out all our weekly reviews at ShortoftheWeek.com