My Year of Dicks (2022) User Reviews

Creative, funny, personal

[jpismyname · 8/10 · 25 January 2023]

I wanted to watch it immediately after I saw it being announced at the Oscars with the audience and hosts laughing while they're mentioning the title. I got curious immediately and I just gotta see what this is all about. By the way, the movie is free on Vimeo or on the website of the film, that's where I watched it.

My Year of Dicks is about the film writer Pamela Ribon's sexual awakening during her teenage years in 1991. It is a short 24 minute comedy coming of age animation movie. The story is based on her short memoir, "Notes for Boys (And Other Things I Shouldn't Share in Public)."

I really enjoyed the animation style with some real-life footage of Pam blended in, it looks unique and creative. The voice acting is also great. It is also interesting to see the life of a person being told through animation.

I like this movie and I recommend it.

I Think This Should Win The Oscar For Best Animated Short Subject

[boblipton · 8/10 · 19 February 2023]

It's the story of a girl trying to get rid of her bothersome virginity, and the annoying assortment of boys who help and hinder her in her quest.... plus a long and disgusting lecture from her father after she dares to ask her mother about the subject. It rings true. It's simultaneously very funny and very sad. I kept laughing out loud at it, and it makes use of a variety of animation styles that reflect her mindset at the moment.

It was a weak year for nominees, and the usual two or three shorts added onto the nominees program -- which I invariably think are the best of the bunch -- were absent. But I didn't miss them. This is worth an award, even if it came with a parental warning for anyone who didn't see the title.

Authentic and well done

[mickeythechamp · 6/10 · 1 February 2023]

Road to the Oscars 2023. This short is nominated in 1 category and it´s animated short. Animated short is fun this year. It seems like a lot of wacky and weird things and not just the average. Now a lot has to happen to really make a short hit with me. This one really did it´s best and I liked what I saw. From the title and description, I was afraid it was going to be an artsy and vulgar short, but it was a pleasant and what felt like authentic story about how being a teenager sucks.

Pam is a young teenager telling you the story about how she is trying to lose her virginity and her year of dicks she´s been with.

The animation at display is a mixed and weird bag. The short shifts from a minimalistic and flat art style to different art styles in each chapter all depending on Pam's boyfriend. The art styles range from gothic art, neo, anime and some horrific art. Some art styles stand out more than others, I found chapter 1´s art style appealing and cool while chapter 3 had a really generic anime style. It´s interesting and fascinating how many different styles are used, and I was entertained all the way throughout. The main flat, boring and minimalistic art style reserved to real life while the rest is Pam´s fantasy, is unappealing to me. I think it´s that it´s too minimalistic. It doesn't really look like characters move and mouth flaps seem none existing at times. There is a lot to like here in terms of animation, but also a lot of things I didn't like.

This is a good idea for a story and the authenticity is the key to it. Without you believing in the character and their story, the short falls apart. It can seem a bit too predictable with the ending to an unrealistic degree, but I believe it. It´s a story about the anxiety, pressure, and terrible sexual encounters of our youth. Rather if it´s being scared for the first time, expecting romantic things, getting "the talk" with parents. It´s all relatable to a degree and it just feels authentic. I think everyone can find a small part of their past here or an encounter that relates just a little bit. Overall it´s about being a teenager sucks on so many levels.

There are some cool artistic choices and scenes here. The chapter two floor scene was cool. The fantasy scenes of chapter 1. The terrible talk scene in chapter 4. All shown and animated so well. Pam´s thoughts and feelings are shown beautifully through animation here and I really loved what it was going for.

The short is in 5 chapters and I think some stand out more than others. They also can feel like they undermined each other as the encounters don´t have a red thread but are different short stories from the same perspective. I forgot what happened in chapters I just watched, and while I enjoyed it, the short can feel a bit disjointed.

My year of dicks is both uncomfortable but also nice. It incapsulates the worst times and best times of being a teenager and dares to tell this story, a topic I feel like everyone is making jokes about now and also needs this more grounded look as it´s important to talk about no doubt. It´s a short that is uncomfortable, nice but mostly just an authentic tale of a young girls life.

Oscar predictions: I feel like this years animated short category is a bit broad and it´s hard to say who´s got the biggest chance. I liked this one more than the other I´ve seen but I think a short like this might be a bit too much for the academy, and as far as buzz goes, I don't think this is going to win. But hey, if it does, good on it.

Lose her virginity

[AvionPrince16 · 6/10 · 7 March 2023]

So yeah i saw the short movie and need to say that was interesting, the animation reflect very well tht emotional state of the character. So we follow that woman who dont really know what she wants except that she really wants to lose her virginity. See her touch some penis in cinema and her thoughts make us feel very close to what can think a woman about it and how she feels. There was also the scene with the parents where talk about masturbation, oral sex. I like it how honest is it and how the main character just tell how she felt and the different experiences that she had with some boys. Interesting but quite superficial and pretty short. The animation look pretty good and work very well anyway. I wanted more sex situations, love, talks sex to see how she felt about sex. Was quite interesting but short.

Specific place and time

[mangospider · 10/10 · 16 June 2022]

Saw this at the Brooklyn Film Festival and loved it. Gorgeous, unexpectedly emotional animation; beautiful writing; wonderful vocal performances. I've been thinking about it since I watched it. A 90's story in suburban Texas, but the feelings and yearnings and disappointments are universal.

It's ok

[Jacob_avenell · 7/10 · 14 March 2023]

I watched My Year of Dicks the other day as part of the Oscar Shorts. I thought since there was a minute-long screen saying "The following film is not suitable for children, viewer discretion is advised", it would be at least a little sexy. But no, I saw the whole twenty-four minutes of it and I was completely flaccid at the end. (I get that it was based on a memoir so they couldn't change too much.) Still, the actual plot was at least a bit intriguing and well-structured, the writing was okay, and the animation was pretty good and a bit surreal at times. Overall, I would recommend this, but not to someone trying to get a boner.

7/10.

Happily surprised

[d-kampen · 10/10 · 24 January 2023]

I watched this film as part of my yearly oscar round up (best animated short) and was so struck by it that I felt like I needed to write a review. The film is (at the moment) available to watch for free on vimeo, do check it out.

The connection between this film and the work of Richard Linklater is easily made because of their similar visual style and use of rotoscoping animation. The film uses this technique quite smartely creating a sense of universality whilst remaining deeply personal. The mixing in of both real life footage as well as more fantastical animation works briliantly and enhances the aformentioned personal touch. We aren't just watching a story, we are experiencing the life of an actual person and are being drawn into their perspective. The rotoscoping technique, as a result of its intentionally rugged and crude finishing, not only brings us deeper into the mindset of the main character but also evokes the hazy memories of, and nostalgia for the 90's.

The connection with Linklater does not solely lie with its animation, its storytelling too very much reminds me of films of his. Just following a person around as they experience the awkward beauty of life, and love. Many will recognize elements of themselves in this film and look back at their early romantic endeavours with a mix of joy and dread, but hopefully mostly a sense of having learned from their past. The film jumps from failed relationship to failed hook up to failed one night stand, all with plentyfull teen angst. This angst and awkwardness is continuesly undercut with breezy comedy that one cannot help but smirk at. I wouldn't call the film a comedy, but that's what makes its humor so effective, it is everday, it is the kind off humor you would experience with your friends.

The voice-acting of the film fits perfectly with the tone and storytelling. You never contemplate that these are actors, the voices are those of the characters.

I haven't seen the other nominated films yet, but they would have to be hella great to beat this. Check it out. While you're add it also give Linklater's latest, Apollo 10 1/2 a watch on Netflix.

A Virgin's Personal Vlog

[jack_o_hasanov_imdb · 6/10 · 6 March 2023]

Creative. It was an animated short film. The animation and narration style was good. Reminds me of the movie "Persepolis". But it was useless and boring. I couldn't understand. Maybe it has to do with the country and culture I live in. It is impossible for me to understand what it is for a girl to lose her virginity. But the way it worked, the way it shot was creative. I don't think it deserves an Oscar for best animated short. I have a favourite now. It's not it, though. The scene in the movie where she talks to her father was very good. I actually laughed at that scene. He was very descriptive and told the facts quickly and hitting ( metaphorically ) the girl's face. Anyway, I think it's a ok movie.

Surprisingly Great!

[rioloathsome · 9/10 · 9 March 2023]

I went searching for this short after seeing someone complain about it being on Hulu. I figured if it made someone clutch their pearls online I would probably be interested. I was right.

I found this animated film to be incredibly well-done and relevant. The main character, Pam, had perfect and understandable reactions to certain things. Her inner monolog could've been my own when I was a teenager, and I thought her struggles and reactions were spot-on. Her friends, including her male friend, had appropriate behavior for teenagers, to include that "one friend" who always instigated risky behavior. I'm sure we all had that friend who always had questionable intentions.

With no spoilers, the ending great. Again, some of the events in each chapter literally could've been my own experience and, I'm sure, what teenagers now are going through. There was a feel-good message at the end that was great advice for any young woman, especially in the current societal pressures women in general face. I can definitely see why the film has received so many awards.

Who gets her prize?

[Horst_In_Translation · 6/10 · 10 March 2023]

"My Year of Dicks" is a co-production between Iceland and the United States and the latter resulted in the film being in the English language and the former basically has a lot to do with director Sara Gunnarsdóttir for whom it is not the first directorial effort by any means and she has been prolific in the animation department for years now. This was the film I watched last during the screening of the five Oscar-nominated short films and I would say that it is one of my favorites. I think this is second on my list, but I think the chances that it wins the Oscar next weekend are not too great. Maybe third most likely out of five, but I trust the Academy in fact to vote for this one because they adore the title on the one hand, but also because it is a good film on the other hand. I still think the Portuguese and British entry are more likely to win. We will see. This is definitely the least kids-friendly film we have here, at least if we are talking pretty young children. Teenagers will adore it for the most part even perhaps. It also could not be any more different compared to the British Oscar nominee that is utterly suitable for children, maybe more than anybody else and yeah that one is my favorite, but this one here is my second favorite and the gap is pretty small. This shows that eventually it is all about the quality, even if these two films could not have been any more different. Also in terms of animation style. I like the one they used here, but the highlight was maybe the very brief inclusion of anime influences on one occasion. In one segment.

This film has several chapters. I think it was five and each chapter is about the protagonist meeting a boy that she is romantically interested in and we can wonder if this boy will be the one who takes her virginity. She reminds us, well her live action self in fact, reminds us from the early 1990s I think that she is still a virgin and this way we also know that she will probably stay one until the fifth chapter or at least fourth chapter and this also means that the guys she meets there, like a vampire, a movie theater employee, a pretty bizarre character (okay, they all are in a way) and also one man who is more interested in her male best friend are not the ones for her. Said male best friend seemed like an obvious romantic interest throughout the film already with how well they are getting along and I think in the third chapter they are even about to make out, but he seems not interested, but then there is quite a turn in the final chapter, but oh well just go see it yourself. I surely recommend the outcome here and by the way this title then does not really refer to male genitalia, even if you could think so initially and surely they are playing a bit with this premise, but the truth is then that the girl at the center of the story just met a handful guys that were really not nice or kind at all, even if she mistook them for being nice and kind when she met them.

Oh and the funniest moment of the entire thing was probably her father giving her a verbal lesson about (female) sexuality that even involved her mother in a way that you really don't want to find out about as a child. I also loved how they went over the top with the animation in this hilarious scene, like hoe the bleeding ear was there on the ground so that she could no longer hear what her days was saying. This was definitely a fun watch and I recommend seeing it to anybody who is old enough to do so. I would not be mad at all if this one pulls off the (minor) surprise and wins the Oscar. Very creative and even if I am not too sure how much of what you see in here really happened to writer Pamela Ribon back then, her name and the projects and films she has worked on in the past (some really famous films) should elevate this film's chances at the Academy Awards or in any case make sure that it will be seen by many over the next years. Good. It should be. The thumbs-up from me was never really in doubt here and there were very brief moments where I even considered giving it an 80%-rating and not just 60%.

Exceptional

[UniqueParticle · 9/10 · 18 February 2023]

A seductive and more adult themed short than most the ones nominated! Incredible colors, engaging, youthful, and well made! This short is focused on wanting to lose her virginity which is interesting and provocative. Seems like a weird one to be award worthy yet awesome and respectable how the main woman realizes to reject the necessary jerks. Strange how I was on a different app and loaded Hulu where this was on front page almost as if technology sensed what I wanted that was odd. Plenty of cool moments, cute, charming, and romantic; well deserving of praise this is wonderful adult themed short.

Hilarious and intentionally cringy (in a good way)

[HankCoT · 7/10 · 28 March 2024]

The super cheesy narration of our young protagonist secret journal nicely embellishes the numerous animation styles presented ; continuously changing depending on the emotion or the effect any person in the scene has on her, which augments the ''could have been corny dialogue'' with some much-needed support by elevating what it tries to communicate quite successfully. It's also cool to have the 90s portrayed this well, especially since there isn't much cinema venturing into the nostalgia of that era. It's positively intimate, hilarious and intentionally cringy (in a good way). Favourite Oscar short of 2022.

Can you get the image of that title out of your head?

[classicsoncall · 4/10 · 24 February 2023]

I've never been big on feature length animated films, but when I had the opportunity to see all five contenders for this year's Best Animated Shorts Oscar, I thought why not. This one came with a warning that it was meant for adults, and time was allotted in the theater for patrons to remove their young children and/or to skip it based on the subject matter. I didn't see any young kids in attendance, so that wasn't a problem. With other reviewers here describing what the picture was about, I'll dispense with that effort and simply say that the film didn't appeal to my sense of propriety, realizing that in pictures today, just about anything goes. But when one of the chapters of this story is titled 'Un Gros Penis', you have a pretty good idea that this won't be of interest to everybody.

This picture is a contender for a 2023 Oscar in the category of Best Animated Film Shorts. I was able to catch it along with the other four contenders for this year's Academy Award at the Paramount Theater in Middletown, New York. If not for this limited showing, I don't know how else I would have been able to see it. So, Congratulations to the Paramount for making it available to enthusiastic cinema fans like me.

Hilarious, honest, raw, with excellent animation that reflects emotional shifts of the protagonist

[wall17 · 8/10 · 5 March 2023]

We caught this on a showing of all five 2023 Oscar-nominated short animated films, and this was saved for last because it is definitely not for kids, kind of on the PG13/R borderline.

But it was also definitely a case of saving the best for last. The quest to lose one's virginity depicted is not a cartoon version of "Little Darlings", that's for sure. It's a raw, honest, and laugh out loud hilarious recounting of a coming of age, perhaps at a particular time and place, but one pretty familiar to me.

The story is told in five chapters, and there's equal parts humor and menace as we move through Pam, the protagonist's, quest to enter into what is perceived as the entry to adulthood. While it may not pass the abstention-only crowd's standards, the ultimate message is about trust and love, and the story is much more realistic than anything one could get away with in a straight-up regular film.

I particularly appreciated the change in animation style at key moments, which created some more laugh out loud moments as the visuals changed to reflect Pam's inner journey. The framing with what looks like real clips from a contemporary 1991 video diary was an excellent device for connecting the animated character with a real person.

Super hilarious squirm scene: "The Talk" with Dad. 10/10 to the writer for putting this one in there.

Very brave, and by far the best of the five nominated shorts, but I'd be shocked if it won; the Academy is still too white, too male, and too old to really appreciate this kind of film making.

A Feast for the Eyes

[bertrandma · 9/10 · 24 October 2023]

Animation can be so wonderful. To make it wonderful is pretty labour-intensive, but even crappy animation takes some pretty hard work. Why is it then that Japan can churn so many crappy, superficial and formulaic anime every year, I do not know. There are a few exceptions, though: one guy who never disappoints is Masaaki Yuasa. I just love his artwork (think Egon Schiele meet Bill Plympton), and his stories often strike the perfect balance between genre-tropes, heartfelt character-studies and sheer madness (Kemonozume will forever remain with me).

My Year of Dicks is not--a priori--something that should appeal to me: I'm usually warry of profanities in titles (not because I'm a prude but because it's so often a cheap marketing gimmick). Like so many people I have grown tired of coming-of-age stories (all too often an excuse for indulging the grown-ups' taste for soapy tropes). I'm also an old-ish dude, and worst of all, I don't remember my teenage years well enough to feel any kind nostalgia about them.

And yet as soon as I saw the art style, which echoes with the aforementioned Masaaki Yuasa, I knew I had to give this a spin! I was not disappointed: understated hand-drawn characters with great body-language, abstract and expressive framing and some expressionistic angles, a variety of colouring techniques, a bit of montage, some bravura bodily distortion, this is one of the best animation work I've seen in a long while! Even the 90s aesthetics, whose ubiquity typically annoys me, felt 'right' (yes, I know, a great many things annoy me. The MYoD team should make a music video for that other 90s-themed project I tolerate, 1000gecs.)

But what's even more incredible, is that all this wonderful animation fits perfectly with a story, that is funny, moving, introspective, honest, and short (without being too short). The voice acting is spot on, the rhythm is good an the writing is mostly unobtrusive but also has its moments ('the talk' with 'the dad'). Perhaps there was a few too many facile subculture references for my taste (did we really need *both* a goth skater *and* a straight-edge?) But perhaps that's what life really was in the nineties? And really this is a tiny speck that I had to rake my brain to come up with. If you have not watched MYoD yet, you should drop everything and go see it now.