Well, what have we got for ya today? Howsabout a chat with Oscar-winning director Torill Kove, fresh from her Sunday night win at the Academy Awards for Best Animated Short with The Danish Poet? Our own Josh Armstrong, in his continuing series of discussions with this year’s nominees, talks to Kove about her film, from its conception to its reception, as well as revealing Kove’s links with the National Film Board of Canada and her thoughts regarding her future in animation. Speaking days before she picked up her award, it’s a very nice little read. Look for our final part in this series, when Josh speaks to The Little Matchgirl director Roger Allers, soon!

Next up is some cool news regarding the reinvention of the Star Trek franchise. For those who aren’t Trek fans and are questioning the value of this news on an animation site, I’ll keep this brief, but for those who get a kick from Kirk and co, this could be big. It seems Alias and Lost creator JJ Abrams has officially signed on the dotted line to revive and reboot Paramount’s flagship sci-fi series, with a new prequel feature that will “embrace and respect the Trek canon but charts its own course”, as Abrams puts it, adding that “Our goal is to make a picture for everyone – lifelong fans and the uninitiated”. Paramount has set a Christmas Day 2008 release date for the movie, with Abrams’ Mission: Impossible III scribes Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci penning the screenplay, which is said to revolve around a certain James T. Kirk and Mr. Spock during their Starfleet Academy years. Color me excited!

The excellent rare soundtrack collector’s friends, Screen Archives Entertainment, has just announced Laurel & Hardy’s Laughtoons, Volume One, which looks to be a collection of the original 1971 television scores created to accompany shortened, cartoon-length versions of the Boys’ silent two reelers. A 16 page booklet with informative notes sweetens the deal and, anyone who heard the recent All This And Tex Avery Too release will know the fine work Screen Archives puts into all their releases. As always, the recordings on this one have been restored and remastered to sound as good as new!

Finally, Buena Vista have announced Dinosaurs: The Complete Third And Fourth Seasons for release on May 1. Comprising the final two seasons of this popular Jim Henson series, the four-disc set will include some unaired episodes, a look behind-the-scenes on the final show, a music video and commentary from Brian Henson among others. Also in DVD announcements, Fox have settled on an April 24 date to release the excellent Night At The Museum in single and double-disc flavors. The two-disc will include commentaries, deleted scenes, featurettes, bloopers and comes with a special lenticular sleeve that combines the two theatrical posters and makes the museum “come alive”. Sounds fun!

– Ben.