This quote from Indiewire reinforces that Banksy is one of my favorite living human beings:

“This is a big surprise,” he states of the nomination. “I don’t agree with the concept of award ceremonies, but I’m prepared to make an exception for the ones I’m nominated for. The last time there was a naked man covered in gold paint in my house, it was me.”

If you don't have anything to do for the next hour and a half or so, you can stream the entire Oscar nominated film, Exit Through the Gift Shop, via Hulu below the cut.

Things I personally found noteworthy from today's Oscar nominations (although it's ok, it's only an award show, so why get all worked up about it, right?):

1. Inception, a movie I personally didn't enjoy all that much, is nominated for Best Picture and Best Cinematography and a bunch of other awards, but Christopher Nolan doesn't get a Best Director mention? That's weird, especially considering I thought the direction of the movie was better than the script deserved.

2. Ryan Gosling, besides being the most romantic human being ever according to Tumblr, was great in Lars and the Real Girl and got screwed out of a nomination. He's great in Blue Valentine and wasn't nominated again. Why does the Academy hate Ryan Gosling?

3. Apparently, Javier Bardem made a movie called Biutiful this year.

4. I was happy to see Exit Through the Gift Shop nominated in the documentary category. Tucson Weekly production staffer Andrew Ling and I had a ten minute discussion at lunch the other day trying to figure out whether its a documentary at all, so it might be strange if it wins. Plus, will Banksy show up or send a trained rat in his place?

5. I should probably try to see Winter's Bone.

The list of nominees is below the cut.

This video of two women climbing up the border wall in 18 seconds is making its rounds on Facebook, but check out the documentary it comes from, The Other Side of Immigration, by Roy Germano. Check out the film's website here.

About the film:

The Other Side of Immigration is an award-winning documentary based on over 700 interviews with men and women of the Mexican countryside. The film explores why so many people leave small Mexican towns to work in the United States and what happens to the families and communities they leave behind.

By understanding “the other side” of the story, we’ll begin to think about new and more creative ways that the U.S. and Mexican governments can work together to solve our undocumented immigration problem. Filmmaker Roy Germano holds an M.A. in international relations from the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Texas at Austin. He has conducted extensive research in the Mexican countryside with support from the National Science Foundation. The Other Side of Immigration emerged from his research and has screened at dozens of film festivals, universities, and community events throughout the United States and Europe.

Salon's attempt to pick the Top 10 scenes from 2010 movies is an interesting one. After all, there are movies that are great because of the entirety of the work, but you might not be able to remember a specific scene. Then, of course, there are movies that have one or two great moments, but over all, the story doesn't hold up, or something else keeps the film from being great.

Salon's No. 7 scene, from Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island, reminds me of how much I admired the filmmaking in that movie, but hated the actual plot and the overall lack of subtlety.

While the filmmakers' claim that this short film didn't cost them very much rings a little hollow (after all, the computers needed to render these sort of graphics aren't cheap), it's still a fun little sci-fi clip that's cheaper than a ticket to Tron: Legacy.

MODERN TIMES from BC2010 on Vimeo.

I'm not entirely sure what the new Terrence Malick film is about. I just know that based on the trailer and the poster, the 7:40 p.m. showing of The Other Guys at Century Gateway has lost whatever meager appeal it might have once had.

Today's announcement of the Golden Globe nominees reminds me how far behind I am on seeing movies this year. After all, I'm still trying to get around to seeing The Social Network, much to my own personal disappointment, and I'm not entirely sure if The King's Speech has even screened in town yet. Not that a clever edited montage of all the times birthday candles were blown out in movies this year really helps anyone contextualize the year in film, but the work YouTube user "genrocks" put into piecing 270 movies into one cohesive video is still astounding, even if it does regrettably remind me that the Bruce Willis/Tracy Morgan buddy comedy Cop Out exists.

This Saturday, Dec. 11, the Border Film Festival—including a panel discussion—takes place at the Loft, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. (3233 E. Speedway Blvd).

This festival is free and sponsored by Sierra Club, Center for Biological Diversity, Coalicion de Derechos Humanos, Sky Island Alliance, Defenders of Wildlife, and No More Deaths.

From the festival press release:

The three films and panel discussion will highlight the perspectives of environmental and human rights organizations, public land managers and private landowners living and working in the border region.

"The Fence," award-winning filmmaker Rory Kennedy's HBO documentary, features candid interviews with Border Patrol agents, ranchers, environmentalists and voices from both sides of the border security debate. Kennedy uses humor to highlight contradictions and politically-driven misinformation, as well as the ineffectiveness and costliness of the controversial border barrier.

Sierra Club's "Wild vs. Wall," produced by local filmmaker Steev Hise, is an overview of the environmental effects of current border policies, including insightful interviews and impressive footage demonstrating the long-term ecological effects of border infrastructure.

Cornell Lab of Ornithology's "Fencing the Border and its Birds" gives an inside perspective on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's concerns about the wall's possible effects on wildlife and protected refuges in south Texas.

Last week, we ran a TQ&A with David Flores. It focused on the fact that he and his Ryan Bloom, Roman Arriola, Thomas Dylan DiMaggio and Steve Kundrat make films together.

Their production company, One-17 Productions, will screen their shorts tonight at the Loft, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Check them out.

Heidi Houston's new film Hot Flash Havoc will be screened at the Fox Theatre on Tuesday, Dec. 14.

After the film, the co-producers and their team of medical experts will host an informative discussion on menopause, and other related topics. Tickets are $20, and doors open at 5:30 p.m. Visit www.hotflashhavoc.com for tickets and info.

Synopsis (per a press release):

Over 6,000 women enter menopause every day in the U.S. alone and by 2015, the number of menopausal women is expected to reach 1.7 billion! Never before in the course of history has menopause been more socially relevant with thousands of “Baby Boomer” women aging at an exponentially fast rate. The number of premenopausal and postmenopausal women in the United States alone is over 100,000,000 and it affects women as young as 35! Despite these staggering statistics, menopause remains one of the most taboo and misunderstood of all natural occurrences facing women with a tremendous amount of confusion and misinformation amongst the general public and medical community.