R.I.P. Kobe Bryant (1978-2020)

Kobe Bryant

On January 26, 2020, NBA champion Kobe Bryant passed away at the age of 41 in Calabasas, California in a helicopter crash along with his daughter Gianna and seven other passengers. Over the course of his career, he became the all-time scorer for The Lakers over the course of 20 years.  He is considered one of the greatest players in NBA history with five championships and has become ubiquitous with excellence as an athlete. With a poem detailing his retirement called "Dear Basketball," he became a rare sports start to also win an Oscar, proving that he was capable of doing anything. What he leaves behind is a seismic shift in how everyone not only sees the sport but how athletes from every generation since sees the game. He was a legend in his own time, and his work more than speaks for itself. 

Review: "World of Tomorrow - Episode 2" is an Even Greater, Weirder Masterpiece from Don Hertzfeldt

In a time where cutting edge special effects can take us to worlds beyond our understanding, director Don Hertzfeldt has found a way to capture a deeper emotion with a more rudimentary approach. World of Tomorrow - Episode 2: The Burden of Other People's Thoughts is his latest journey into the world of Emily Prime (Winona Mae) as she is visited by her future self (Julia Pott). The world that she is taken to is a fascinating blend of stick figures and other forms of abstract art meant to compliment the story's dour text. It's the tragedy of growing old, and Hertzfeldt has managed to capture its deepest and most personal resonance without ever taking us to a world that is familiar, even visually. It's a short that not only manages to top the original, but may be his best work yet. It's a story for outsiders speculating their existence in the world, and it's sure to make you laugh and think in equal measures. 

Review: "World of Tomorrow" is an Existentially Powerful Short from a Minimalist Maestro

Scene from World of Tomorrow

*NOTE: Originally published on Optigrab.

There is a chance that last September provided one memorable moment on The Simpsons. It wasn't the unmemorable death or the dreaded Family Guy crossover episode. It was actually the first thing that started the series' 26th season and served almost as an aggrandizing cry of the show's quality. There was a sci-fi couch gag in which the world stared in confusion as TV's favorite yellow family turned into shapes and spouted nonsense. To a larger population, this is likely the introduction to renegade artist Don Hertzfeldt, whose mixture of bleak humor and existential theories makes his minimalist style one of the most unique things on the market. To an extent, The Simpsons was what was needed to promote something by someone so... odd. With his latest 16-minute short, World of Tomorrow, he continues to push boundaries and prove that there's magic outside of CG animation. 

Check This Out: Watch Oscar-Nominated "World of Tomorrow" on Netflix Right Now

Scene from World of Tomorrow

With the news of this year's Academy Awards nominations fueling a lot of conversation on the internet, it's easy to lose sight of the categories outside of acting, directing, and writing. For many, the Best Animated Short category is a treasure trove of content that will never be seen by mainstream audiences (unless you're in front of a Pixar film). However, there's one surprise nominee that is definitely worth your time, and will hopefully be on more people's radars as they work through the list. I am talking about director Don Hertzfeldt's World of Tomorrow, which may look unassuming and juvenile, but was one of the greatest philosophical stories of 2015. The best part is that you can watch it right now online for free. That is, if you have a Netflix account and 16 minutes.

Birthday Take: Don Hertzfeldt in "Rejected" (2001)

Scene from Rejected

Welcome to The Birthday Take, a column dedicated to celebrating Oscar nominees and winners' birthdays by paying tribute to the work that got them noticed. This isn't meant to be an exhaustive retrospective, but more of a highlight of one nominated work that makes them noteworthy. The column will run whenever there is a birthday and will hopefully give a dense exploration of the finest performances and techniques applied to film. So please join me as we blow out the candles and dig into the delicious substance.

A Look at the New Academy Awards Regulations

Every year, there's a little bit that gets changed around at The Academy Awards. This year is no different as members congregated to hold a vote on various new laws that will instated for eligibility at next year's ceremony. While the debatable "big shocker" is that they didn't vote to lower the Best Picture category from its current 5-10 nominees to a solidified five (likely due to this being a strong year for genre films from Mad Max: Fury Road to Inside Out), there were small things that are going to help make the playing field more even. The big changes will be discussed immediately following the jump.

Check This Out!: The Oscar Nominated Short Films 2014 on VOD

If you are like me and have read the Oscar nominations on any given year, you are likely to notice a few categories that seem different. This is usually from the fact that the nominees within them are shorts that have been inaccessible to the general public in as clear a way as even the Best Animated Feature category. While many of the Best Animated Short or Best Live Action Short selections have been shown before these films, the average film goer doesn't have the know how to see all of these films just to see the brief segment before the feature. It is financially insane to even consider that. However, thanks to Shorts HD in their eighth year, there is an alternative to blind voting with their annual program called Oscar Nominated Shorts.

A Look at the Best Animated Shorts Nominees

With the Oscars now mere hours away, I finally share my thoughts on the nominees for Best Animated Short shortly follow (my thoughts on Best Live Action can be found here). Again I apologize for the delay, but due to many conflicts, it proved to be a little challenging to find them all. This is notably due to schedule conflicts and Shorts HD deciding to pull all of them off of Youtube after they crippled theater attendances. No known package exists of this year's nominees unfortunately. However, after some Googling and short cuts, I have seen all five nominees, and like the Best Live Action Shorts, I have plenty to say. Read more after the jump.

Want to check out the Oscar Nominated Short Films? There's is a way to do it!

Fresh Guacamole

One of the challenges of every Oscar season is the smaller categories. True, everyone has probably seen Lincoln and Silver Linings Playbook by now, but nobody ever really seems to know about the other categories. The ones that films of these statures are not even up for. I am of course talking about the Best Short Films, whether they be animated or live action. Until 2006, you  would be out of luck in seeing most of them outside of the shorts precluding Pixar's latest. However, thanks to Shorts HD, there is a way to see these brilliant pieces of work. 

Will "The Simpsons" Finally Win an Oscar for Animated Short?

It is possible that one of the overlooked categories is Best Animated Short. Besides the shorts that appear before Pixar and Disney films, they are often reserved for obscure films that result in majority of the nominations being unpredictable. However, there is looking to be one contender this year that you may have heard about this past summer, especially if you saw Ice Age 4. The short film based on the long running TV show The Simpsons called The Longest Daycare has made it to the final 10 contenders and looks to get an actual nomination? Can this help the show add another honor to its mantle?