2013 Oscars Wrap-Up...in GIFS

In case you missed the ceremony...

More here at MTV Movies Blog.

Roasting the Nominees

With the Oscars a few days away and media and industry buzz going off the charts, sometimes a fresh perspective is necessary to balance out all the noise. Especially if it's coming from the inside, like this voter - an anonymous veteran director - who's shared his views on the nominees with The Hollywood Reporter. I really enjoyed his no-holds-barred cutting-through-the-bullshit tone; he isn't afraid to get nasty (Django Unchained is described as "Quentin Tarantino almost masturbating for three hours"), but mostly I found his thoughts fairly on the nose - he clearly knows what he's talking about. Or maybe like him, I just really want Zero Dark Thirty to win big...

Anatomy of a Trailer

By now moviegoers should be familiar with the generally hyperbolic audio-visual sensation offered by modern Hollywood trailers (i.e. increasingly fast-cutting of money shots set to loud booming music). But if you really want to get into the details of trailer analysis, New York Times have taken it a step further by breaking down the trailers for 5 of this year's 9 Best Picture Nominees into cleverly devised interactive graphs that show shot length and exactly where in the movie the clips are taken from. You can see some fascinating patterns emerging from the different approaches. Click here to read more. Very cool stuff.

Trailer: Mud

2012 was a fantastic year for Matthew McConaughey, having bounced back from a string of flops to something resembling credibility with memorable roles in films like Killer Joe, Magic Mike and Bernie. Jeff Nichols' Southern-set coming-of-age/crime-drama Mud seems to see him continuing on the up, playing an escaped con who gets involved with two teenagers. I'm getting strong A Perfect World vibes from this, which can be a good thing if played well. Nichols' Take Shelter was one of my favourite films of 2011, so I'm down for this, even if it's evidently more straightforward. Get a load of some Mud here:

Random Stuff #32

For the Star Wars Fan with Everything #25

An opportunity not missed.

Short Film: The Centrifuge Brain Project

This hysterical short film is best seen cold. I won't say anything except..."Gravity is a mistake". Totally safe for work so don't worry about your boss looking over your shoulder.