You may not have the chance to see the Oscar-Nominated Live Shorts (or the Animated ones, for that matter), and you probably will not even see who wins at the ceremony.

Hell, you may not even know that there are Academy Awards for shorts. I forget from time to time myself. After all, who goes to see shorts anywhere outside of a film festival? Do they even exist outside of film festivals?

No matter. Honestly, as far as the Academy’s selections, you’re not missing too much this year. I have a bit of a beef with the Academy for overlooking the best short of last year (hell, one of the best movies of last year, Jon Goldman’s fantastic Diplomacy).

There’s some charming films, and the best part is that all five directors look very promising. Only two of the selections (Pentecost and Raju) feel constrained by the running time; the former stretches on too long and the latter needed more. Time Freak andThe Shore are comfortable and left me wanting more, and Tuba Atlantic is a pleasantly self-contained eccentricity that’s totally Norway. Totally.

Anywho, on to the films. I’m going to provide a quick, TV-Guide-style summary and then include my thoughts.

This past week John Williams had his 80th birthday. One of the first thing he will do during his 80th year will be attending the Oscars later this month where the Maestro is nominated for 2 best score awards. Even at this age Williams is at the top of his game.

In honor of the most prolific film composer alive today I wanted to use my weekly film score soap box to celebrate the man who has provided the soundtrack to the imaginations of several generations.

Everyone knows about his contributions to Star Wars, Superman, Indiana Jones and Harry Potter, but how many people are aware that he wrote not one, but two classic themes for Lost in Space?

It was John Williams music that made me fall in love with film music. I can pinpoint it all the way back to a single moment in Jurassic Park when the helicopter approached Isla Nublar, the cue still gives me chills to this day, and nearly two decades later I still look to Mr. Williams as the inspiration for a life long passion.

Living in Los Angeles is awesome. There are hundreds of events, screenings, parties and exclusives that would make any film fan explode from joy. One of those awesome events has just been announced for the end of August. The Fans of Film Music gathering is a wonderful chance for film score aficionados to get together with some of the best composers in the industry to talk about their dual passion, film music.

The 2nd annual event has been put together by Peter Hackman, a film score die-hard who felt the need to keep an annual event going for fans of film music. Of all the niche groups of fans in the film world, film score fans rank amongst the smallest and most spread out. So this event is especially exciting as it brings film fans together from all around the world. And that isn’t hyperbole, Peter literally has people flying in from all over the world for the event.

More details on the event and a full list of attending composers can be found after the jump.

Diane here and fresh off  the red carpet premiere of Universal Studios’ Hollywood latest attraction, King Kong 360 3D.  If you have a chance to swing on by this summer, it is worth the wait.

Yesterday while walking among a 360lb Bengal Tiger, a 13 foot Python, a feisty monkey, and tribal dancers who kept on telling me to touch their dinosaur bones I became entranced with the world of Skull Island and a gorilla who’s eaten one too many Big Macs.

I was not alone, The Office’s Craig Robinson, Oscar Nunez, and Kate Flannery, along with Kevin Smith, Yvette Nicole Brown of Community, Wayne Brady,Wanted and King Kong’s Thomas Kretschmann, and a very shy Christopher Lloyd were all there sampling the gourmet apps and reveling in a filmed introduction to the experience by none other than a slimmed down Peter Jackson in 3D.

Back in 2005 an unknown director named Neill Blomkamp made a science fiction short with a few friends, a modest budget, and a Canadian production team. The short, titled Alive in Joburg, blew away many powerful people with its premise and blend of CG effects and documentary stock footage. Included in those powerful people was mega-director Peter Jackson, who decided to aid Blomkamp in adapting his low-budget short into a larger film called District 9, which turned into an overnight success.

Now, independent writers, directors, and 3D render artists everywhere ran back to their typewriters to come up with interesting and original new ideas, knowing that Hollywood is turning to them for a fresh start to an industry bogged down with sequels and reboots.

There are hundreds of nice attempts, but none of them have really stuck out as something that could be expanded into a major film. A year ago, a Uruguayan science fiction short titled Panic Attack!, by Fede Alvarez was the subject of a Hollywood bidding war, in which Sam Raimi got the rights to adapt the short. Now, it looks like we’re getting another great short for Hollywood to set their sights on with Ricardo de Montreuil’s The Raven.

The film is set in a dystopian future (2074), where futuristic robot cops have the authority to take down those who break the law with extreme force. The only person who has the potential to change everything is Chris Black, aka The Raven. Black has supernatural abilities that, if used in the right way, could save the free world.