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After a long-haul awards season, the 94th annual Academy Awards are finally upon us. Hollywood’s biggest night will see Oscar statues doled out across 24 categories — though eight of those honors will, controversially, be handed out in the hour before the ceremony officially starts at 8 p.m. Pt.

Tonight will mark a moment of redemption for many of the most dogged Oscar campaigners, who’ve been on the awards circuit since the fall of 2021. The telecast this year features three hosts: Wanda Sykes, Regina Hall, and Amy Schumer.

Plus, they’re joined by a variety of musical guests including Beyonce (“King Richard”), Billie Eilish and Finneas (“No Time to Die”), Reba McEntire (“Four Good Days”), and Sebastián Yatra (“Encanto”), among other musical guests. Plus, the Academy has assembled an “all-star band” featuring the likes of blink-182 drummer and “The Kardashians” star Travis Barker, percussionist and singer Sheila E., and genre-spanning pianist Robert Glasper.

When the initial announcement was made that eight categories would be pre-taped and then edited into the 2022 Oscars broadcast, we all knew the short film categories — Best Animated Short, Best Documentary Short and Best Live Action Short — would be the first on the chopping block. While these projects are the least seen of all the Oscar nominees, the categories have given us some amazing moments over the years. So rather than wallow in our sadness about not seeing these doled out live, let’s take a look back at four of the best speeches from past Best Animated Short winners. Hopefully the academy realizes soon that the short categories are something special and should be left alone.

The five Oscar nominees in contention for this year’s Best Animated Short prize are the following: “Affairs of the Art” (Joanna Quinn and Les Mills), “Bestia” (Hugo Covarrubias and Tevo Díaz), “Boxballet...

Chances are, you landed on this review because you’re trying to game your Oscar pool, looking for a clue as to what will win the always-underseen shorts categories — in a year when they were unceremoniously booted from the telecast, no less. Well, if it’s predictions you’re looking for, there’s little contest among this year’s cartoon contenders: Academy favorite Aardman Animations has delivered a delightful frontrunner in “Robin Robin.” But don’t stop reading there! In an unusually adult-leaning year, the traditionally kid-friendly category is well worth watching in its entirety, whether in theaters or on demand, thanks to stalwart distributor ShortsTV.

The program opens with “Robin Robin,” which seems poised to earn Aardman its fifth Oscar. This half-hour Christmas musical was hatched by Dan Ojari and Mikey Please, who joined the Bristol-based studio for the express purpose of co-directing this Netflix holiday special, about a...

Variety's Awards Circuit is home to the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars and Emmys ceremonies from film awards editor Clayton Davis. Following history, buzz, news, reviews and sources, the Oscar and Emmy predictions are updated regularly with the current year's list of contenders in all categories. Variety's Awards Circuit Prediction schedule consists of four phases, running all year long: Draft, Pre-Season, Regular Season and Post Season. The eligibility calendar and dates of awards will determine how long each phase lasts and is subject to change.

To see all the latest predictions, of all the categories, in one place, visit The Oscars Collective

Visit each category, per the individual awards show from The Oscars Hub

Revisit the prediction archive of the 2021 season The Archive

Link to television awards is atTHE Emmys Hub

2022 Oscars Predictions:

Best Animated Short

Updated: March 24, 2022

Awards Prediction Commentary:

The animated short race seems down to two very different contenders.

Gaumont, the venerable French film and television group behind “The Intouchables” and “Lupin,” is launching in Italy with Marco Rosi, an industry veteran joining from Lux Vide, and a bullish first slate.

The company is already well-established in the U.S., the U.K. and Germany. Its expansion in Italy represents a logical step in Gaumont’s global strategy since the country ranks as a key European market and boasts a fertile ground for content creation.

Rosi, who was Lux Vide’s head of international co-productions and worked on prestige Italian series such as “Medici,” “Devils” and “Leonardo,” has been appointed general manager of Gaumont’s Italian operation. As such, he will lead a dedicated team across development and production and will report directly to Christophe Riandee, vice CEO of Gaumont. The banner will be headquartered in Rome, and will be focused on Italian-language TV series. Gaumont suggested that it...

Welcome to this week’s Ring Of Honor review, right here on Nerdly. I’m Nathan Favel and disco is not dead! Disco is life! I’ve gotta take a crap, so let’s make sure not to linger here too long. You don’t want my dookie on your kitchen stookie. Schploingk! We’ve got a big ol’ fight between The Foundation and La Faccion Ingobernable, so shut the mouth and enjoy the matches. Wait. That was done too early. Did you know Mark Harmon is a psychopath? His dog is evil. I don’t know how Pam Dauber deals with it. He has a face made of wrinkled evil. Do you think she ever boinked Mork from Ork? I would plow his goofy ass ‘til next July. Wait…am I a man or woman? Let me check… I…can’t tell. Huh. Screw it. I’ll just go out with Jessica Biel.

“Nahuel and the Magic Book” and “A Costume for Nicholas” and TV shows “Petit Season 2” and “I, Elvis Riboldi,” are nominated for the 4th Quirino Ibero-American Animation Awards.

The Awards will be held in the Spanish Canary Island city of La Laguna, in Santa Cruz de Tenerife over May 27-29.

Targeting family audiences, German Acuña’s fantasy movie “Nahuel and the Magic Book” is produced by Chile’s Carburadores, Brazil’s Levante Films and Chile’s Punkrobot, which won a best animated short Academy Award for “Bear Story.” Sold by Spain’s Latido Films, it mixes adventure, myths and legends from the Southern Chilean island of Chiloé while telling the story of a Nahuel, 12, who has a deep fear of the sea. When his father is captured by a malignant sorcerer, he sets out to rescue him, overcoming his fears along the way.

Eduardo Rivero’s “A Costume for Nicholas...

“Soul” and “Wolfwalkers” led all films in nominations for the 48th annual Annie Awards, the most comprehensive awards show devoted solely to animation. The two films each received 10 nominations, with “Onward” receiving seven and “The Croods: A New Age,” “The Willoughbys” and “Over the Moon” receiving six.

“Soul,” “Onward,” “The Croods: A New Age,” “The Willoughbys” and “Trolls World Tour” were nominated in the Best Feature category. In the Best Indie Feature category, which was created in 2015, the nominees were “Wolfwalkers,” “A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon,” “Calamity Jane,” “On-Gaku: Our Sound” and “Ride Your Wave.”

Netflix led all companies with 40 nominations, with Disney/Pixar receiving 29 and DreamWorks Animation receiving 20. In the film categories, the two Pixar movies, “Soul” and “Onward,” received 17 nominations to 15 for the Netflix-distributed “The Willoughbys,” “Shaun the Sheep” and “Over the Moon,” and 10 for Dwa’s “The Croods” and “Trolls.”

Since the Annies split the two categories,...

Two very different animated features lead the way as the 48th annual Annie Awards nominations were announced today. Disney/Pixar’s Soul and Cartoon Saloon’s Wolfwalkers scored 10 noms apiece ahead of the virtual trophy show on April 16. Read the full list of nominees in 31 categories below.

Wolfwalkers, a “relatively small European movie,” as the filmmakers described it — is rooted in the history of 1650s Ireland, while Soul follows a middle school music teacher’s journey to “the Great Beyond” via “the Great Before.”

Soul will vie for the marquee Best Feature prize at the Annies, going up against another Pixar pic — Onward, which scooped seven noms — along with Netflix’s The Willoughbys and a pair of DreamWorks Animation sequels: The Croods: A New Age and Trolls World Tour. Willoughbys and Croods picked up six noms each today, and Trolls rocked away with four.

Wolfwalkers is up for the Best...

Netflix and Federation Spain, the Spanish division of Paris and L.A.-based Federation Entertainment, are teaming to produce “Las niñas de cristal,” a psychological drama set against the world of classical ballet that toplines “Money Heist” and “Elite” star Maria Pedraza.

The movie is one highlight in Netflix’s first announcement of a production-distribution slate focused entirely on Spanish original movies. The eight titles it profiles that are moving into production or set for release in 2021 and 2022 are a sign of Netflix ramping up its production of Spanish movies as part of its bet on Spanish scripted TV and movies, with Spain punching above its weight in the number of Netflix originals compared to Spanish subscribers. The Netflix slate highlights:

“Las niñas de cristal”

Alison Parker in “Money Heist” and Guzmán’s fated sister Marina in “Elite,” in “Las niñas de cristal” Pedraza plays Irene, a classical ballet dancer...

Do Introverts Dream of Electric Carousels?: Wittock Waxes Fatuous in Debut

A finely wrought tradition of European cinema includes a bounty of infamous depictions of humans engaged in sexual or romantic congress with non-human counterparts. Always courting or breaking taboo, they’re often also girded by an eventually recuperative shower of cultish devotion, and a sterling range of examples would be the slimy alien in Andrzej Zulawski’s Possession (1981), the chimpanzee in Nagisa Oshima’s Max, Mon Amour (1986), or the bestial frolicking in the perverse fairytale La Bete from (1975) from Walerian Borowczyk. In her directorial debut, Belgium’s Zoé Wittock conveys the romantic and sexual odyssey of an introverted woman suffering/enlightened by her mechanophilia, a sexual attraction to machines.…...

Brad Rutter may be one of the greatest “Jeopardy!” contestants of all time, but the quiz show maven also has plenty of experience in broadcasting — dating as far back as the original 2012 pilot for “The Chase,” the U.K. quiz show import he’s starring on again nine years later.

“So it’s more than just the money that ‘Jeopardy’s’ given me,” Rutter said with a laugh in an interview with TheWrap.

Set to premiere on ABC Thursday night, “The Chase” is a game show which pits trivia fans against pros. Rutter will star as one of the so-called “Chasers” looking to crush contestants’ hopes and dreams alongside fellow “Jeopardy!” G.O.A.T.s Ken Jennings and James Holzhauer. “The View’s” Sara Haines serves as host.

Rutter says his natural on-camera ability made him a good fit for TV work post-“Jeopardy!”, but he gives credit to...

2020 was a big year for trivia. Starting in January with Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time tournament, continuing with AMC’s excellent Who Wants to Be A Millionaire? scandal miniseries Quiz, and concluding with an impassioned response to the tragic passing of Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek, this was a year that highlighted Western society’s fascination with competitive knowledge-sharing. And at the center of much of it, as he often seems to be, was Brad Rutter.

If there ever was a trivia competition Hall-of-Famer, it’s Rutter. The Lancaster, Pennsylvania-born former Quiz Bowler has been a staple of competitive trivia for years. Rutter has had one of the most impressive Jeopardy! careers of all time having been a five-time champion (the show used to cap contestants at five wins), winner of the 2001 Tournament of Champions, the Million Dollar Masters, the Ultimate Tournament of Champions, the Battle of the Decades Tournament,...

Since it's Netflix debut on November 27, 2020, Ludovico Di Martino's Italian kidnapping thriller The Beast has remained among the streamer's most trending movie titles. The action-packed crime thriller follows Leonida Riva (Fabrizio Gifuni), a hardened Italian soldier whose violent lifestyle has estranged him from his family members. When Leonida's daughter is abducted, the trained fighter does everything in his power to find the one he loves and restore his name among his family.

Related: 10 Netflix Original Thriller Films To Binge, Ranked (According To IMDb)

While proving its popularity on Netflix, The Beast has garnered middling reviews from audiences and critics alike. Here are other examples of cinematic kidnapping thrillers.

Kurt Russell shot to mainstream attention as the ruggedly handsome lead of several classic genre movies in the 1980s, positively radiating star charisma and boasting one of the most finely coiffed hairstyles of an era almost entirely defined by them. However, as hard as it seems to imagine given his chiseled features and twinkly-eyed charm, the actor initially got his big break in the industry when he was barely into his teens.

The young Russell scored his first credited role for three episodes of The Dick Powell Show all the way back in 1962, before signing a ten-year contract with Disney in 1966. In fact, in a bizarre bit of trivia, the final words ever written down by Walt Disney himself were ‘Kurt Russell,’ which he scrawled on a piece of paper shortly before he died.

Once he grew out of being a teen idol, Russell went on to build a filmography...

Two recent films shared top honors this week on leading VOD charts. Of top significance is the early success of “Let Him Go” (Focus), one of several current releases from Universal and its specialty unit that is available for $19.99 only three weeks after its theatrical debut. “The New Mutants” (Disney), which was released in August and has a lower $5.99 cost placed #1 on two charts.

“Let Him Go,” a contemporary Western starring Kevin Costner and Diane Lane, soared on FandangoNow and Apple TV, two charts that provide the most immediate response. The former ranks by dollars paid; the latter lists by number of transactions. Placing ahead of films with much lower prices suggests very strong interest and hints that the Universal/Focus strategy could be working. The film also placed #6 at Google Play. With an earlier deadline, Spectrum usually lags behind the others; expect it to show up next week.

Also scoring well this week,...

The final week of November is upon us, meaning December is just around the corner. Netflix has a bunch of great new titles to come over the next seven days, then, including numerous original movies and TV series. And yes, there are a few early festive treats counted among them.

First of all, Monday the 23rd brings Bruce Willis’ latest actioner, Hard Kill, along with Shawn Mendes film In Wonder and the first season of Strongest Delivery Man. Moving on to Tuesday, we have one of the week’s biggest releases – drama Hillbilly Elegy, starring Glenn Close and Amy Adams, as directed by Ron Howard. Also going up the same day is new docuseries Before 30.

For more, check out the full list of everything hitting Netflix this coming week below:

November 23rd Hard Kill (2020) Shawn Mendes: In Wonder (2020) N Strongest Delivery Man (Season 1) November 24th Before 30 (Season 1) Dragons: Rescue Riders:...

November is among the least respected months on the calendar. Falling between objectively the two best holidays, November is usually all about recovering from the spookies of Halloween while getting ready for the good vibes the holiday season. For its new releases of November 2020, Netflix has decided to just go ahead and get Christmas over with.

Netflix has already released a list of all its holiday offerings for November and December, and it’s those holiday offerings that take the most prominence this month. The biggest project of all of these is undoubtedly The Christmas Chronicles 2, which premieres on Nov. 25. In this holiday sequel, Kurt Russell reprises his role as Hot Santa Claus who must save the season once again.

On the non-holiday side of things, Netflix’s Emmy-winning series The Crown returns for season 4 on Nov. 15. And speaking of things that desperately want to win awards, Ron Howard...

Though we’re now beginning to see life starting to return to at least some sense of normality, a lot of people are still spending much more time at home than usual thanks to the Coronavirus pandemic, and that probably won’t change for a while yet. As such, streaming services are more popular than ever now and thankfully, all of the major players have been delivering the goods when it comes to adding new content.

Of course, Netflix are still the leaders and each and every month they bring us a healthy helping of fresh material that ensures subscribers are kept entertained at all times. Admittedly, the summer was more fruitful in terms of new releases, but there are still a lot of great titles coming down the pipeline as we head into the fall and today, the streaming giant have revealed their November lineup, which you can check out below.