The Oscars are in just a few short weeks, and plenty of movie buffs—I’m the furthest thing from a movie buff you’ll find in the West—are excited for some reason. Good for them. Pertinent to us here at CG is the phenomenon of movie piracy, specifically: how do screeners of these Academy Award nominated films wind up available for download on BitTorrent, Usenet, etc.? Considering that only Academy members have access to these screeners, it stands to reason that Academy members themselves are responsible for this type of piracy, no?
This guy takes it further with “Pirating the 2009 Oscars,” in which he tracks the piracy progression of all the nominated films. He’s got a spreadsheet of when all the nominated films were leaked, and in what quality (DVDSCR, R5, etc.). For example, The Wrestler was released to Academy members on December 3; it was leaked onto the Internet on December 28. The Reader, which, from what I understand, Kate Winslet should win the Oscar for her portrayal of a hot former Nazi, was released to Academy members on December 18; it was leaked just three days later, on December 21.
The full Google docs spreadsheet is here, if you’re into that sort of minutiae.
I hear Steve Martin will win an Oscar for “Most Thorough Destruction of a Beloved Character” for his work in the new Pink Panther movie.
via Digitalwerks