59 days til nominations. Time for a little Disney trivia

by Nathaniel R

Disney won every single short category plus Documentary Feature at the 1953 OscarsWith 59 days left until Oscar nominations, it seems an appropriate time to remind everyone that it's not Meryl Streep (20) or Woody Allen (24) or even John Williams (50) who holds the record for Most Oscar Nominations of All Time, but industry titan and one of the most influential people who ever lived: Walt Disney. His fingerprints... or mouse glove prints if you will, are still all over showbiz, especially the business part. But we're here to talk Oscar. He received an incredible 59 competitive Oscar nominations, winning 22 of those races.

So in addition to holding the record for most nominations, he also holds the record for most wins. The last of those nominations and wins was his only posthumous honor -- Winnie Pooh and the Blustery Day (1968) took the Animated Short Oscar (then called "Best Short Subject, Cartoons")...

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Hertzfeldt's Return to "World of Tomorrow"

Chris here. Even the most niche of cinema is getting sequelized these days. Remember Don Hertzfeldt's masterwork animated short World of Tomorrow? Of course you do. The mini-major was an unforgettable science-fiction mix of rudimentary and complex visuals with equal bits silliness and profundity, and gained as much popularity as any short film in recent memory. Well we'll get to revisit Emily Prime for Hertzfeldt's follow-up, World of Tomorrow Episode Two: The Burden of Other People's Thoughts.

Hertzfeldt has been teasing the new short on Twitter for a few months and it played Fantastic Fest to equally high praise as its predecessor. Could this mean that Hertzfeldt could be back in the Oscar shorts race again after losing two years ago? The bigger question might actually be found in the film's not-so-short title: is Hertzfeldt planning an entire saga on Emily Prime or is "episode" simply a cheeky word choice? 

Based on a new teaser, the filmmaker will be delivering on more hypnotic visuals and melancholy wit that made the first so very special. Take a look at what is in store - and if you haven't seen World of Tomorrow yet, it's still on Netflix. Hello Again, Emily!

Three Spooky Shorts

By Salim Garami

What's good?

I'm going to keep it short (pun unintended) this week. The choice to recommend short films that I am extremely fond off for more mood-setting Halloween season watching might seem uneventful to most. But the occasion is of celebration of an event that might resonate with some South Florida filmgoing readers. The Key West-based lesbian apocalypse horror short Buzzcut by Jon Rhoads and Mike Marrero has just won Best Film at FilmGate Miami's monthly 'I'm Not Gonna Move to L.A.' festival in the middle of its festival tour and if you follow me on Motorbreath, you might have seen me singing the praises of that short wishing better things for it.

So, in anticipation of the day that short might be more easily accessible to everyone, here are 3 horror shorts that I usually find myself indulging in to get into the Halloween spirit.

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Blade Runner 2049's Three Prequel Shorts. Excited Yet?

What’s good? My name is Salim Garami. You may have read my stuff at Movie Motorbreath under my initials, STinG, where I sometimes participated in Nathaniel's "Best Shot" series. I’m happy to be here writing my very first post for The Film Experience.

What better way to introduce myself than to explore one of my favorite movies of all time Blade Runner and its imminent follow-up Blade Runner 2049. This week has been filled with whoppers of new revelations on the sequel - from director Denis Villeneuve saying the theatrical 163-minute version is his final cut to the late great David Bowie being the original choice for apparent antagonist Niander Wallace or the initial responses from advance screenings, some even suggesting it surpasses the original. 

All of these stories - as well as my recent positive turnaround on Villeneuve in consideration of his last three films - are more than enough to keep me anticipating rather than dreading the science fiction extravaganza...

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OTD: Who's "Bad"?

on this day (August 31st) in history as it relates to showbiz

1897 Thomas Edison patents his movie camera the "kinetograph"

1987 Michael Jackson's video "Bad" directed by none other than the master Martin Scorsese premieres. It is 18 minutes long (!) because Martin Scorsese never saw a lengthy running time that didn't make him salivate. The short gave Wesley Snipes one of his earliest gigs prompting the short's switch from black and white to color as Wesley riles Michael up with a "you ain't bad!" burn.

Princess Diana, Brokeback Mountain and more after the jump...

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