Then again you could get busy making films..These guys at Element Pictures have been pretty successful when it comes to production. You’re bound to have seen at least one of the movies or TV shows they have produced.

On the animation side of things, Maeve Clancy’s site is nice link for the day. Her animated shorts have been screened at the Cork Film Festival in the past.

And although The Stub has not made the Irish Blog Awards shortlist (*sigh!), these movie blogs did (congrats to them), so check them out:

Average Film Reviews

The mOvie Blog

Check back next Sunday for another cartoon/links post. Same Stub time, same Stub channel..

As for the trailers this week, let’s go Irish too: here’s a taster of Eamon and Ondine. Note Colin Farrell’s Crazy Heart hair and Cork accent in Ondine..

The other big news for fans of The Eclipse, or all those waiting to see themselves on the big screen, is that it is to air on RTE this Patrick’s Day. Finally!

And in case you are also one of those people who stays up all night on the Oscar watch, here’s some handy links:

Know your stuff: Read all about the history of the Academy on the official site here.

If you want to be really fancy about it, make some Oscar cocktails. Follow the recipes here. Drinks include an Avatar, and a Crazy Heart.

And don’t forget your printable ballot, courtesy of IMDB.

Oscar buzz aside, check out insidefilm.com for film news and a really handy list of film festivals from around the world.

And now for your weekly dose of links…

For the latest audition news in Cork, and beyond, visit Laughing Mask.

Nice site for Hitchcock fans including a fun Cameos section highlighting all his brief appearances.

Visit Cablog, the blog for Dublin/LA based production company Caboom, for lots of interesting bits and pieces, particularly those related to animation.

For anyone whose seen W.C., one of the latest Irish feature films to hit screens, you can read this press release:(WC Lifting the Lid press release Feb 2010[1]) about the new documentary, Lifting the Lid, on the process of making the actual feature. More at www.wcthemovie.com.

And because there’s more to life than film..one non-film link. Yummy recipes and reading tips at Cornflour, thanks for the tip Laura.

As some of ye might know, this post was planned for last weekend, but much tweaking went on as I attempted to fit a rather wide comic strip into a WordPress blog. As it’s all sorted now, expect future posts to appear as planned, hopefully..

For a list of all the nominees in many different categories, go the the Irish Blog Awards site here.

“The Corona Fastnet Short Film Festival　is delighted to announce the continued sponsorship of the Festival by Barry and Fitzwilliam, who　import the worlds　biggest selling　Mexican Beer, Corona.　The Festival will run from Thursday the 27th May 2010 for four days. Maurice Seezer,　Film　Composer　and Chairman of the Festival Committee announced the sponsorship this week saying, “Securing Corona　as our title sponsor　was a tremendous boost to us last year and has proven to be a very successful partnership. It has enabled us to expand on last years successful event and to enhance the Mexican connection further by introducing a selection of Mexican Shorts donated by IMCINE, The Mexican　Film Institute. The collection includes a selection of short films from 2009 and　one filmed　to celebrate the centennial of　Mexican Independence. ‘We’ve just presented them　in Clermont Ferrand Film Festival and it was great, we hope you like them’, said Pablo Briesno, Head of International Sales at IMCINE.

This year’s festival will offer film lovers an exciting and packed programme　to include　screenings at various venues around　Schull,　(including the 100 seater mobile cinema),　workshops for film makers of all ages with a special focus on screenwriting and script to screen, interviews with various famous national and international　film personnel　and many more fringe events.　

A special　prize of €2,500 for the best young filmmaker aged 22 years or younger will be awarded. The Best of Festival Award is open to all filmmakers over 18 years of age and also carries a prize of €2,500, plus additional cash prizes of €250 for Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Drama, Best Comedy, Best Documentary, Best Animation, Best Original Music, Best Cinematography and Best Experimental/ Dance.

Some of our contributors will be, world renowned Irish Novelist Patrick McCabe,　(his books include The Butcher Boy and Breakfast on Pluto, both shortlisted for the Booker Prize　and adapted for　filmed by Neil Jordan),　Author, Director and Patron of the Festival, Gerard Stembridge, Jack Gold, who famously filmed the　feature film　Catholics in and around Baltimore and Cape Clear in 1973. BAFTA nominee, Chris O’Dell, Cinematographer of the ever popular Morse and Lewis series, Irish Director,　Ian Power will also contribute, showing a selection of his short films and exclusive clips from his upcoming feature film　The Runway, recently shot in West Cork, and Producer of The Runway, Macdarra Kelleher.  We await　final confirmation from other giants of Irish Film….

The Corona Fastnet Short Film Festival is an independent festival, dedicated to bringing together established and first-time filmmakers to celebrate the short film. The element of competition is not paramount and while the prizes are significant, the screening of as many as possible of the entrant’s films in a public arena is far more important. Participants will have the opportunity to meet established film　makers and take part in workshops as well as viewing the work of established filmmakers.

This　year’s festival promises to be bigger and even better than last years.　Keep an eye on our website for further information and announcements: www.fastnetshortfilmfestival.com

Or contact Hilary McCarthy on 085 1588 309″

Granny heads off to get ready for the Oscars

A number of Irish films, two animated, have received nominations for this year’s Academy Awards. The Secret of Kells (Tom Moore) is to be found in the Animated Feature Film section, while the highly amusing Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty (Nicky Phelan and Darragh O’ Connell) made the shortlist for Short Film (Animated). Meanwhile Juanita Wilson and James Flynn saw their live action short, The Door nominated in its relevant category. The Door is the moving tale of a family affected by the Chernobyl disaster, based on a true account.

This year marks a change in the oscar noms as there are now 10 Best Picture nominations, in comparison to the five of previous ceremonies. The reasoning behind this was that more scope for nominations would open up the Best Picture category to genres of film that are usually ignored. This year already sees two sci-fi movies (Avatar and District 9), as well as an animated film (Up) up for a Best Picture gong.

There’s no news as of yet on the Lifetime Achievement award, but there’s still