Best Animated Short - 1964

Well, it's kind of hard to believe but with the exception of this year's batch of nominees, the last time I wrote one of these reviews was back in November. And then came the extensive interviews and the nightmarish reality of having to retake the COMLEX PE examination. But now the re-exmination is a thing of the past. While the nightmares won't be over for at least another 6-10 weeks until the scores are reported, I suppose it won't do any good to dwell on those accursed seven hours back on February 15. It's now out of my control. So all I can do now is try not to think about it (since if I do it will fill me with worry and dread even though I think I did better...but was it enough?) and go back to these reviews. At the very least I should finish this particular review, one whose introduction I wrote before taking the PE exam the first time!

2012 Oscars Live Blog

Well, it's that time of year again...Oscar night. I've been watching it almost every year since Titanic swept in 1997, missing only in 2004 when I had to work and 2010 when I had to study for a Neuro exam. And since 2007 I've been keeping a live blog on Facebook. Now that I think of it, that was the year I first watched all of the Best Animated Short nominees before the actual ceremony. Anyways, I'm not going to have much of an audience for Facebook after I wiped out my entire friends list in a fit of rage last month, and I also have a blog that's somewhat related the Oscars, so why not do it here? All entries will be after the jump, and all times will be Central.

My review of the 2012 Best Animated Short nominees

Previous entries: 2011, 2009, 2008, 2007

Bob Godfrey (1921-2013)

So I've been sick and have been spending most of the past two days just trying to sleep it off. And when I woke up today I found out that some time during my slumber the animation world had lost one of their greatest contributors, and one we've seen several times in the past on this blog. Sadly, the Australian-born British animator Bob Godfrey had passed away at the age of 91. He is greatly remembered in England for his work in children's entertainment, such as the television series Roobarb, Henry's Cat, and Do-It Yourself Film Animation Show, which inspired a whole generation of animators, including 3-time Oscar winner Nick Park. Yet Godfrey's success with the Academy came with completely different types of films, ones that satirizes the British way of life, often with explicit sexual innuendo. His greatest triumph came with his 1975 masterpiece Great, the irreverent musical tribute to the life and career of Victorian-era British engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Great captured the Best Animated Short Oscar in 1975, and was my second favorite nominated film between the years 1972-1981. He received three other nominations, including Kama Sutra Rides Again (1973), Dream Doll (1979, with Zlatko Grgic), and Small Talk (1993). Although those  nominations ended up losing, they helped him leave behind a style and legacy that will remain memorable to fans of animation for a long, long time.

Text of the article after the break.

Best Animated Short - 2012

Well, it has been three weeks since the Oscar nominees were announced, and once again reviews have been popping up all around the internet trying to make sense of the always-unpredictable short categories. So you can say that the last thing that the world needs is another review of the nominated short films, especially since I'm not privy to watching the films in advance and had to make it to one of the theatrical showings of the nominated films just to watch all of them. But you know what? This is a blog where I try to review all the nominated films in the category's history, and even though I'm on hiatus (because reality sucks), it would be wrong for me to go without a review for the latest nominees. Especially since I've "followed" this race on this forum from the longlist to the shortlist to the final roster of nominees. So yeah, it would be nice to take this all the way to the end.