THE MURIEL AWARDS START TODAY!

Do you know this guinea pig? She’s Muriel, the official mascot of (HYPERBOLE ALERT!) the online community’s most prestigious annual award, The Muriel Awards, organized and hosted by Paul Clark, he of The Screengrab and, of course, his own home turf, Silly Hats Only, from whence the Muriels originated three years ago. This will be my third year of having the honor of being among the voters, and this year the number has increased to nearly 40 excellent online film writers, each of whom contributed votes in 17 different categories, from Best Film to Best Cinematic Moment of 2009, to anniversary awards for the best films of 1998, 1983 and 1958. Each day Paul will be posting the winners in each category, along with short essays commissioned by some of the writers involved, leading up to Oscar Night, February 22. So don’t forget to check in each day for Muriel Awards updates—all you have to do is punch the Muriel Awards tab on the sidebar to your right. I’ll be posting my own ballot later on in the game, plus links to days on which Paul has asked me to write about a couple of specific awards (don’t ask; I ain’t tellin’).

It’s the 2008 Muriel Awards, and they commence today, so get prepared! It promises to be more fun, and certainly more all-over-the-map, than the Oscars could ever be.

Here's a sample of some of the fun Paul is having with Muriel-centric imagery over at Silly Hats Only.


Check his blog out for more examples of why this lovely little rodent really must be considered the lettuce-chomping epicenter of the cinematic world.

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