Annie Nominations

by Nathaniel R

The 49th annual Annie Award nominations are basically the Disney show this year. The Mouse House squashed its competition at the annual event with Raya and the Last Dragon leading the nominations, Encanto in second place, and Disney/Pixar's Luca in third place (albeit tied with Netflix's Mitchells vs the Machines there). The most popular international titles were Denmark's Flee and Japan's Belle, both of which showed up in Best Direction, which adds confidence to our bet that they're likeliest to spoil Disney's all American party on the Oscar shortlist. Still we might have to rethink that bet that Raya and the Last Dragon is the vulnerable film. We thought it would have been forgotten by now as it wasn't greeted as enthusiastically as a few of its competitors at the time of its release.

As is our usual reaction, we don't really understand what's going on in the selections for voice acting, which aside from two great choices from Encanto (John Leguizamo and Stephanie Beatriz), usually defaults to lead work in productions where the supporting characters feature the best vocal acting. For example Kelly Marie Tran over Awkwafina in Raya ... really? Abbi Jacobson over Olivia Colman in Mitchells vs the Machines? Does not compute.

Full list of nominations is after the jump...

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FYC: "Flee" for Best Picture

by Matt St Clair

Flee, now playing in limited release, is transcendent. The animated memoir could break records by competing in three Feature categories: Animated Feature, Documentary Feature, and, because it’s the Danish submission, Best International Feature. Both Collective and Honeyland recently made history recently by competing in the latter two categories simultaneously, but no film has found itself in contention for all three. Flee might accomplish this historic feat, but it should go even further by also being nominated for Best Picture.

A nomination would allow the glass ceiling for documentaries to finally break. In the ceremony’s soon-to-be 94-year history, no documentary has ever competed in the top category...

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HollyShorts Pt. 3 Final Films and the Oscar-Qualifying Winners

By Ben Miller

The virtual HollyShorts Film Festival is at an end.  Showcasing the newest and best films under 40 minutes, I was able to watch dozens of great short films across a myriad of categories.  Here are my thoughs on ten more films as well the festival winners...

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Denmark names three Oscar finalists including "Flee"

by Nathaniel R

As we've long noted for the rest of the online world that doesn't pay super close attention to this category even if they'll dutifully share press release, Denmark is currently Oscar's favourite country (statistically speaking). In the past 12 years they've been nominated six times, won twice, and also made the finals twice more without actually snagging the nomination. That's the best run of any country in quite a long while in this category. They're the defending champion since the brilliant boozy Another Round took the gold at the 93rd Oscars. It's rare for countries to win this category in consecutive years but Denmark could given their hot streak. They've actually done that once before (1987 & 1988 with Babette's Feast and Pelle the Conqueror). Here are their three finalists for submission this time around...

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Over and Overs: “WALL•E” and My Son

Team Experience occasionally sounds off on super rewatchable films that hold a special place in their lives

By Ben Miller

As a parent, I have hoped to find common interests with my two children.  While my neurotypical daughter is outgoing and gregarious, my son is on the autism spectrum and does not relate as well.  His communication skills are limited and his specific interests are topic based, like dinosaurs and planets. In an effort to find a common love, I attempted many different activities.  While my love of baseball has yet to translate towards any athletic inclinations on is part, I was able to truly bond with my son through the magic of film, and that film was WALL•E...

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