By Jay A. Fernandez

“Baby got back, baby got front…”

A few of the organizers of the upcoming L.A. Comedy Shorts Film Festival slipped me this outrageous music video they shot to goose the lead-up to the fest, which runs April 15-18.

By Jay A. Fernandez

Colleague Georg Szalai just passed this along. It’s pretty clever and well executed with excellent timing given yesterday’s Hollywood earnest-fest.

Behold, the trailer broken down into its basic elements:

By Jay A. Fernandez

While the Oscars ceremony played much like a film directed by show co-producer Adam Shankman — cozy, a bit precious and pretty tame — there were some great unexpected lines delivered from the stage. Here are my favorites, but I invite you to send in your own nominations.

Steve Martin, during the opening bit with co-host Alec Baldwin, referred to Meryl Streep’s record for most acting Oscar nominations: “Or as I like to think of it: most losses.”

Baldwin, during the opening, described Gabourey Sidibe’s character in “Precious” as being told she’s worthless and that nobody likes her. Then: “Hey, I’m with CAA, too!”

By Jay A. Fernandez and Lesley Goldberg

Well, the drizzle threatens to dampen dresses outside the Kodak Theatre, but the air seems to crackle as always in the run-up to this most glamorous and ludicrous of awards shows. Before we get to the meat of the ceremony, THR staffer Lesley Goldberg is manning the press bleachers out front, feeding me chatter from the carpet arrivals.

Here are some of her dispatches:

By Jay A. Fernandez and Borys Kit

Fox is getting “Big” again.

The studio has purchased a pitch from writers Adam Cole-Kelly & Sam Pitman called “Premature Maturation” that puts an ensemble spin on the concept behind the hit Tom Hanks comedy from 1988. Though the project is sure to get a new title, it follows a group of kids who suddenly find themselves grown up.

Former NewsCorp president Peter Chernin is producing through his Chernin Entertainment. Fox exec John Fox is overseeing for the studio.

Repped by WME and Management 360, Cole-Kelly and Pitman also have their project “The Misadventures of Fluffy” in development at Paramount with Eddie Murphy producing.

Chernin has the projects “Animal Rescue,” “Man and Wife” and an untitled “Daredevil” reboot in development at Fox.

By Borys Kit and Jay A. Fernandez

He passed away last year, but John Hughes may still extend his film legacy.

On the eve of a potential tribute at Sunday’s Oscar ceremony, the writer-director has an unproduced screenplay, “Grisbys Go Broke,” floating around the industry ether. Word crept onto the web Friday that Paramount, which has a long history with Hughes, was picking up the script with hopes of turning it into a family comedy with Joe Roth (“Alice in Wonderland”) producing.

On the contrary, the studio has told us that it isn’t currently negotiating to purchase the screenplay, which follows a wealthy Chicago family that loses everything and is forced to move to the sticks. But Paramount certainly has no problem with digging back into Hughes material.

By Jay A. Fernandez

As the SXSW film festival looms, the makers of “The White Stripes Under Great White Northern Lights” and opening night premiere “Kick-Ass” are testing out some quirky ideas to gain extra exposure.

Lionsgate has hired “Kick-Ass”-branded SUVs to shuttle festivalgoers around downtown Austin from 6 pm to midnight all ten days of the fest, March 12-22. The rides are free and include swag movie gear, and passengers can Tweet their location with a photo (and hashtag #KICKASS@SXSW) for a shot at making a video en-route that could be featured on official “Kick-Ass” websites.

White Stripes fans can order a screening kit by March 10 to host a viewing party of Emmett Malloy’s concert documentary. The kit comes with the retail DVD, popcorn and peppermint swirl candy in time for a March 16 viewing. The film debuts at SXSW March 12 at the Paramount Theatre right after “Kick-Ass.”

By Jay A. Fernandez

Quick quiz: Watch these two trailers — of upcoming summer action comedies with similar set-ups — and see if you can determine which one has actual actors/movie stars and a talented director:

By Jay A. Fernandez

The SXSW film festival is again partnering with IFC Films on its “Direct From SXSW” program. This year, IFC will screen three SXSW films simultaneously via nationwide VOD during the fest.

By Jay A. Fernandez

Jeff Bridges continues his triumphant, graceful stroll to the best actor Oscar this weekend with another magazine cover, this time for Guitar Aficionado.

No, that’s not a little gold statue in his hands. It’s a late 1930’s Gibson Roy Smeck stage deluxe. According to the editor-in-chief of GA, these guitars were originally meant to be played Hawaiian style on the lap, but Bridges’ has been converted to play like a normal guitar.

The issue doesn’t come out for another two weeks, but in the story Bridges springboards off his heralded performance as Bad Blake in Scott Cooper’s “Crazy Heart” to talk about his own musical obsessions and notable guitar collection (cover line: “The Dude Collects!”).

“Bad Blake is one of those ‘Dude’ parts,” Bridges says in the piece. “It’s the kind of part you know you’re born to play. Bad’s the last of a breed, one of those guys they just don’t make anymore — like Kris [Kristofferson] or Waylon Jennings or Merle Haggard. The role was such an open canvas for me to work with. And hey, the chance to actually do my own singing and guitar playing on film — what a trip!”