the BEAT of the week: Oscar-nominated shorts at the Nuart.

Ah, Oscar season is upon us once again. I, admittedly, have some reservations about the nominees among this year's pack, but I still have faith in one category: the shorts.

They're often overlooked and forgotten within the short span of a minute and a half (or however long they give you for a speech), but the quick spurts of passionate cinematic work are usually quite fun and moving. They're perfect for the short attention span. They might even clue you in to filmmakers to watch. And if anything, they'll surely help your Oscar party ballot.

So here's your chance to check them out for yourself! The Nuart will be screening the animated and live-action nominees up to the Oscars themselves. Have a gander and let me know what you think (The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore is quite beautiful, yes?)!

The Oscar Nominated Short Films of 2012 will screen beginning this Friday, Feb. 10 at the Nuart Theatre, located at 11272 Santa Monica Blvd. in West L.A.

-- Chau Tu

Do It. Saturdays Off the 405 at the Getty.

It's crazy thinking that even though the museums in L.A. are amazing enough as they are, they still offer great, fun and often-free entertainment on top of the usual exhibitions. And as the Natural History Museum ends its getting-better-each-year First Fridays 2010 season, everyone just has to look westward to keep their weekends rocking.

That's because this Saturday, the Getty hosts the latest installment in its own cool-concert offering: Saturdays Off the 405. A surprising choice of artist for a museum setting, Les Savy Fav, kicked off the series last month (if anyone attended, please comment, I'm curious), but this month's pick is sure to please museum goers of all types; who can resist the charms of Mayer Hawthorne and the County, after all? If you've been paying attention, I picked the Detroit transplant as a must-see at Coachella, and boy, they did not disappoint. With style and swagger, Hawthorne got the hot crowd grooving, and you couldn't help but grin your way through his cover of ELO's "Mr. Blue Sky." So what could be more perfect as you gaze your way out onto the California horizon from the Getty gardens?

And beyond that, there'll be a DJ, "Spotlight After Dark" tours of the museum, and food and drink (Getty-tinis?!).

Saturdays Off the 405 begins at 6pm on Saturday, is free (the usual $15 parking is also free after 5pm), and is located at the Getty at 1200 Getty Dr. in Brentwood. The series continues for the rest of the summer, check the website for more details.

-- Chau Tu

Check It. Best Worst Movie at the Nuart [Guest Post].

There are many films that vie for the title of "Worst Movie of All Time:" Manos: The Hands of Fate, Gigli, The Room, and Paul Haggis' Crash (boo!), to name a few. Yet there are a certain number of these films that develop cult followings (I'm looking at you, Battlefield Earth) and raise their status from "leave it in the VCR that you're taking to Goodwill" to "get wasted and watch with friends on low-key Saturday nights." One such film is Troll 2, and the documentary Best Worst Movie is a hilarious and sometimes troubling look at the cult surrounding this unbelievably bad film.

Best Worst Movie is directed by the child star of Troll 2, Michael Stephenson, and documents the film's journey back into popular culture after its straight-to-video release in 1990. Starting with a screening at Upright Citizen Brigade's New York theater in 2004, Stephenson follows some of the stars of Troll 2 as they take the film on the road to sold out theater after sold out theater (including our very own Nuart!).

At the center of the film is one-time actor and full-time dentist George Hardy. The father in Troll 2, George now lives in a small southern town, splitting his time between his daughter and his protein shakes. George is a kind, ever-smiling guy who is impossible not to like, laughing his way through Q&As (where he recreates his awful performance on stage for his adoring fans) and proudly boasting to his patients and friends that he was in the "worst movie of all time."

But as the film progresses, you begin to see George fall under the spell of his "celebrity." He even hosts a hometown screening of the film, making the receptionists in his office cold-call patients to ask them to attend. The visits made to some of Troll 2's cast are often sad and always utterly bizarre, and when the Italian director (who still makes films in Italy) and his wife who wrote Troll 2 show up to join in the festivities, things get seriously awkward (and funny!).

But for the most part, the film is hilarious and thoughtful. Though it never fully comprehends why Troll 2 has become such a favorite in the so-bad-it's-good line of filmmaking, the clips that they show sure make it look like a helluva good time.

Judge for yourself at tonight's Nuart midnight screening of Troll 2. Hardy and Stephenson will be there, as well as at the Friday and Saturday screenings of Best Worst Movie. I'd recommend watching Troll 2 before Best Worst Movie, or just check out the excellent "Best of Troll 2" youtube collection below.

Best Worst Movie is showing at the Nuart Theatre, located at 11272 Santa Monica Blvd. in West Los Angeles, for one week starting tonight.

-- Daren Sprawls
Daren is currently unemployed, and available for birthdays and bar mitzvahs.

Do It. British Noir at the Nuart.

The "Rialto's Best of British Noir" festival starts tomorrow at West L.A.'s Nuart Theatre. Brighton Rock, adapted from the Graham Greene novel of the same name, It Always Rains on Sunday, Peeping Tom, Carol Reed's The Fallen Idol, and the one I'm most excited to see, Reed's The Third Man, are all included in the week's screenings. The series runs February 5 - 11. Check www.landmarktheatres.com for exact showtimes.

The Nuart is a very cool one screen theater just west of the 405 that most often screens interesting films--I last saw M. Hulot's Holiday there, and before that Harvard Beats Yale 29-29. They also sell Fiji water. Tickets are $10.50.

The Nuart is located at 11272 Santa Monica Blvd. in West Los Angeles.

-- Leslie Anne Wiggins

Photo credit: www.impawards.com