Inspired by Federico Fellini's brilliant 8 1/2, Rob Marshall directs Nine, a film musical following the life of director Guido Contini (Daniel Day-Lewis) as he suffers from a mid-life crisis that is stifling his creativity and leading him into a variety of complicated romantic involvements. Also staring Nicole Kidman, Marion Cotillard and Penelope Cruz, the film looks to be this year's Moulin Rouge... I am so down.

Ever since 2005's Alive in Joburg, I've been a huge fan of Neill Blomkamp's work. From Tempbot to the Halo 3 shorts, the naturalistic way that Neill integrates visual effects never ceases to amaze. District 9 will be his first big-budget Hollywood production (if you don't count the recently shafted Halo film) and if the trailer is of any indication, it's bound to be this summer's sleeper hit. Let's just hope it doesn't get lost amidst this year's big dumb sci-fi drivel.

A quirky animation short by illustrator-duo Overture Image, set to the instrumental track 'Freibad' by Hauschka. This is the final part of Overture's Bryum & Kapok Trilogy; watch the previous two here.

Stunning animation work by David Wilson on this video for Moray McLaren's "We Got Time". What's amazing is the fact that this was done entirely in-camera, with almost no visual post-production involved. Props to Wilson and Blinkink for making this happen. Check it.

Illustrator James Jarvis recently collaborated with Nike on this wonderful short film titled "Onwards". The film features a Martin-esque character jogging through a surreal, psychedelic landscape inspired by Jarvis' own experiences in long distance running. Set to a wicked track by Caribou, the short is directed by James Jarvis and Shynola's Richard Kenworthy. Check it.

Normally I'm adverse to the idea of fashion photographers taking on film (with the exceptions of Nick Knight and Sean Ellis) as most of their projects end up being a mess of incoherent imagery and sound being passed on as 'pseudo-art' at best. Anyway this one isn't that much better, but it does remind me a little of Blue Velvet and it features Amber Valletta doing something naughty so I guess that's good enough for me.

Moby's latest single 'Shot In The Back Of The Head' has a new video directed by David Lynch. The result (which features an animated Lynch) lies somewhere between Eraserhead and the crudely-drawn Dumbland series. The pair later sat down to discuss Moby's upcoming album 'Wait For Me', for which Lynch was quoted as an immense influence. Check it.

Since graduating from Nihon Univeristy's College of Art in 2002, artist Takafumi Tsuchiya has been working on a number of these fantastic experimental vignettes. "With Rain" is one of my favorites (largely due to the wicked track by Caelum); be sure to hit up his website for more.

Star director Chris Cunningham has made his anticipated comeback with this gorgeous spot for Gucci's Flora fragrance. Featuring Abbey Lee Kershaw and Cunningham's own take on Donna Summer's "I Feel Love", the advert expands on Inez Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin's original print campaign and is a curious departure from his previous, more darker work. Check it.

Providing an intimate portrait of Rick Owens in his own words and his own clothing, this filmic diptych, shot live during the action on set, explores Nick Knight's monograph of an American fashion legend.

Here's a lovely short film by urban anthropologists Andy & Carolyn London who animated commonplace objects off the streets of New York using the voices of New Yorkers they had interviewed.

This is absolutely stunning. For his master thesis at Arts et Technologies de l’Image, Mathieu Gérard created “Steel Life,” a breathtaking tapestry of textures and light that evokes themes of genesis and rebirth. While there’s no obvious narrative, the film uses abstract realism—lovingly rendered imagery inspired by nature—to build an associative network of ideas.

The lush soundtrack, composed by Mathieu Alvado and performed by the Star Pop Orchestra, adds a dramatic arc to the film. Check it.

Not to be outdone by a bunch of LED lit sheep from Wales, Honda and W+K Amsterdam put on their own grid-based light show with a new spot for the Insight... And if you were as impressed as I was, be sure to head over here for the "making of". Check it.

Spike Jonze. Where The Wild Things Are. New Trailer... need I say more?

Apparently there is an upcoming animated series titled "Cat Shit One" (bound to be retitled in North America) featuring various cute furries duking it out Call of Duty style. Tack on some amazing production values to this brilliantly absurd premise and we've got a winner. Check it.

PUMA's ad for its new LIFT footwear line tells a charming tale of two underwear-clad lovers through the use of some light projection wizadry. Spectacular work here by MJZ and MassMarket. The featured song is "Underwear" by The Magnetic Fields. Check it.

Here's to catching up with old news. 1st Avenue Machine's alter ego Special Guest recently signed on Brazilian director/illustrator Vinicius Costa, and to celebrate the occasion they commissioned him to direct this gorgeous short titled "The Journey". The concept behind the film emerged from Costa's own "journey" to his new home at Special Guest. Check it.

IKEA's latest interactive ad campaign takes us on an ethereal journey to IKEA PS, a world composed enitrely of IKEA products (and one likely to fall apart after a year of living in it). I was a huge fan of last year's brilliant IKEA Catalogue 2.0 so count me a little disappointed that they didn't up the ante with this one; that being said IKEA PS is still a great looking site, so if you do have a few moments to kill it's well worth a visit.

Every once in a while, I come across a music video so fucking dope that I could watch it a hundred times over and still be blown away with every subsequent viewing (think Chris Cunningham for Björk). This probably isn't one of them, but it does come close.

Directed by Patrick Daugthers of The Directors Bureau, the music video for Depeche Mode's latest single "Wrong" is as eerie as it is beautiful. Depicting a backwards traveling car wreaking havoc on the streets of Downtown L.A., it's a simple (albeit absurd) concept, but the top notch direction and gorgeous cinematography manages to elevate this into so much more. Check it.

So on Friday I watched Watchmen, and to my surprise it was actually pretty damned good. I could have done without Snyder's excessive use of slow motion (and yes, there is an assload of it here) but the film certainly wasn't the flop many fanboys had expected it to be. Anyway, this is not a film review so I'll just cut to the chase. One of my favorite parts of the film was (surprise, surprise) the opening credits. Created by L.A.-based yU+Co, the sequence features Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are A-Changin'" set to a gorgeous montage of historical events in the Watchmen universe.

Unfortunately, Flickr caps all of its videos at 90 seconds, so I've only been able to upload half of the sequence. Drop me a line if you want the full Quicktime video.