Oscar Breakup: Motion Picture Academy Creates Separate Branches For Animation And Short Films

David Seidler, best known for his Academy Award-winning writing on The King’s Speech, died on Saturday, March 16 while on a fly-fishing expedition in New Zealand.  He was 86 and no cause was given.

With a new movie in theaters today in “Arthur The King,” Mark Wahlberg is making the press rounds. And that includes a memorable stop-in with Josh Horowitz on the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast, where the actor talked about some of the biggest films in his career.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor The curtains have closed on the Oscars, and as we peer over the horizon following a six-month Hollywood hiatus due to the union strikes, the initial trepidation over a sparse cinematic future will be sure to dissipate once you look at the road ahead. Contrary to fears, the film landscape appears not just replenished but vibrant, with several compelling titles that are already making waves. An annual tradition at Variety is to take a look ahead at what contenders could be brewing for next year’s Oscar season.

Louis Walsh has been sticking the boot in to many a famous acquaintance during his time in the Celebrity Big Brother house, but when he branded Jedward "vile" it sparked a furious reaction. Jedward just happened to be watching the ITV reality series from close pal Gemma Collins ' house and the trio hit back with their own anecdotes about Louis. But as viewers might have guessed, there's a long history to the animosity between the Irish stars after their X Factor collaboration turned sour.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Thailand is poised to get serious about its commitment to the film industry, and plans to launch a major new body, the Thailand Creative Culture Agency, with a budget of THB7 billion ($200 million). Long a destination for Hollywood, China and India productions, and currently playing host to the lensing of Season 3 of “The White Lotus,” Thailand has many of the elements that could contribute to building a major film industry. These include diverse locations, skilled crews, studio facilities and a location production, or incentive, scheme.

War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko won an Oscar for Best Animated Short Film tonight, marking the first Oscar win for filmmakers Dave Mullins and Brad Booker.

The Washington Post, federal prosecutors allege Corado took at least $150,000 of the $1.3 million that Casa Ruby had received in emergency relief funds aimed at assisting small business owners and nonprofits in navigating difficult financial times during COVID-related shutdowns.Corado was arrested at a hotel in Laurel, Maryland, on March 6 after an “unexpected return” to the country, according to prosecutors.She faces federal charges of bank fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, illegal monetary transactions, and failure to file a report of a foreign bank account.Following an initial appearance on March 6 in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Corado was ordered held without bond pending a March 8 detention hearing.

Russell Crowe has announced that his ‘Indoor Garden Party’ will be returning to the UK and Ireland this summer.The Gladiator actor’s gigs will kick off at the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin on July 1. From there, Crowe will make his way to Warrington, Paris, London and Leeds, before wrapping up at Eden Court in Inverness on July 26.Opening support will come from Lorraine O’Reilly at all dates.

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic If the Academy judged features by the same standards that they do live action shorts, the best picture ballot would be full of starry, quasi-political issue movies: well-meaning but manipulative films like “Father Stu” and “The Janes.” In this category, it’s the message that matters to Oscar voters, which makes this year’s “2024 Oscar Nominated Short Films: Live Action” program (available in theaters and on demand from ShortsTV) one of the most frustrating lineups in recent memory. Or it would, if not for the presence of one genuinely brilliant, liberatingly unserious nominee among them.

Love Island’s Nas Majeed and Eva Zapico have split after four years together.

Alex Ritman Ireland appears to be everywhere on screen at the minute — and it isn’t just a trend. Where 2022 and 2023 had “The Banshees of Inisherin,” Paul Mescal, “The Quiet Girl” and short film “The Irish Goodbye” making noise throughout awards season, plus John Carney’s “Flora and Son” being snapped up in Sundance by Apple TV+, 2024 has already shown that the Irish industry has become a global force.

Big Thief, Sampha, Sleaford Mods and Jon Hopkins have been announced as headliners for this year’s edition of Green Man festival.The Brecon Beacons festival will return for its 22nd edition on August 15-18. Also on the bill are Ezra Collective, Arlo Parks, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Black Country, New Road, Moonchild Sanelly, SHERELLE, Sofia Kourtesis, Loraine James, Model/Actriz, Bar Italia, Blondshell, Lambrini Girls and more.Tickets for Green Man Festival 2024 have already sold out, but you can find out more information about this year’s event by heading here and see the full line-up so far below.Last year’s edition of the fest saw the likes of First Aid Kit, Devo and Spiritualized headline.

The Sands International Film Festival has set third edition lineup and will feature Joe Russo, Avengers composer Alan Silvestri and casting director Debra Zane.

“I want you to be nice until it’s time to not be nice,” Patrick Swayze’s James Dalton says in the original Road House from 1989.

If you are aiming to win your Oscar pool you may feel relatively safe right about now predicting, as most are, a sweep by Oppenheimer, especially after its overwhelming showing last week winning 7 BAFTA awards, the DGA honor for Christopher Nolan the week before that, and on Saturday sweeping 3 of the 5 movie awards at SAG and winning top prize at PGA last night. However key to actually winning your pool will not be those marquee feature film categories but rather the three for shorts that run under the radar, but can spell the difference in triumphing over all others in whatever pool you enter. So who could – or should for these purposes – prevail in the Documentary, Animated, and Live Action shorts contests this year? Shorts TV in association with distributor Magnolia Pictures has, as usual. put all of them in theatrical release in theatres across the country, so if you are lucky you could have the chance to see the three different programs offered on the big screen. Some, like MTV’s The ABC’s Of Book Banning are available for free on You Tube, and some are available on the various streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Amazon, Apple. I have seen all 15 of the films spread across these categories with 5 nominees each. Here is my take on the artistic merits of each.

Palme d’Ors don’t grow on trees, so it’s small wonder that the world has fallen for Justine Triet’sAnatomy of a Fall, and the outstanding lead performance of Sandra Hüller, since it won the Cannes Film Festival’s top prize. Hüller’s turn dominates the ‘sort of’ courtroom drama of the film, in which her German novelist — also called Sandra — is accused of pushing her French husband Samuel (Samuel Theis), also a writer, from the top floor of their alpine home. Sandra maintains he fell, or jumped, and the film spends much of its runtime chewing over the truth, though never revealing it.

Angelique Jackson A new cohort of emerging content creators have been selected for the second edition of Hoorae and Walmart’s “Black and Unlimited” digital development program. The program aims to provide content creators from diverse backgrounds with the necessary resources, membership and exposure to “unlock their full potential and pave their way to success.” The new class will receive a $10,000 stipend to help them focus on limitless discovery and creation.

EXCLUSIVE: Ahead of its world premiere today at the Berlin Film Festival, Cohen Media Group has secured all North American distribution rights to Made In England: The Films Of Powell And Pressburger.

It’s apology time.

Tom Sandoval is getting some heat for what he said in a new interview.