Oscar Horrors: Japan's Ghost Story "Kwaidan"

Boo! It's "Oscar Horrors". Each evening we'll look back on a horror-connected nomination until Halloween. Here's Dancin' Dan on a spooky Japanese beauty...

Have any of you ever seen Masaki Kobayashi's Kwaidan? I wouldn't be surprised if you hadn't. Even among Japanese films, it's not much talked about today, though it deserves to be. Kwaidan is a rarity in so many ways - an omnibus film made by one director, a truly artful horror film, a groundbreaking work of art. It was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film in 1965 (losing to the heartrending The Shop on Main Street from Czechoslovakia), and it's a bit hard to imagine it getting that far today, even with its arthouse bona fides like a Special Jury Prize at Cannes...

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One Mississippi Burning (Episodes 3-6)

By Steven Fenton

Welcome back to Bay Saint Lucille, readers. Join me in wrapping up the last few episodes of this fine comedy's short first season.

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Academy's Documentary Shorts Shortlist - Watch Them!

When you’re trying to be seen as a short film, it can be difficult to step outside the feature-length shadow. If you’re Oscar-nominated, you’ll eventually be packaged into a multi-film program and play a handful of theaters across the country. Perhaps you’ll be purchased by HBO and find yourself showcased for a premium cable audience – like last year’s Academy Award winner A Girl in the River. Or you may screen at an infinite variety of regional festivals, submitted and curated for a different niche audience. Bottom line: unless you’re being actively scouted, many beautiful short films go unnoticed by moviegoers who would likely be eager to absorb the material if they knew it existed.

So, without further ado, here is the Academy’s ten-wide, recently released shortlist for Best Documentary, Short Subject. You can even watch half of the titles online now. While only half of this list will compete for the gold once nominations are announced in January, here’s hoping the whole group finds a lasting reception that goes beyond the jokes of its category’s presenters at the Oscars.

• Brillo Box (3¢ Off) Reviewed
• Close Ties
• Extremis Now Streaming
• 4.1 Miles Now Streaming
• Frame 394 Now Streaming
• Joe’s Violin Now Streaming
• The Mute’s House Trailer
• The Other Side of Home Trailer
• Watani: My Homeland Trailer
• The White Helmets Now Streaming

Oscar-nominated or not, what are some of your favorite short films you’ve checked out recently?

AACTA Awards Hail Mel Gibson, Tanna and... Gods of Egypt?

by Glenn Dunks

Mel Gibson certainly won’t object to waking up to 13 nominations from the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (the AACTA Awards) for his directorial comeback, Hacksaw Ridge. This canny bit of career rehabilitation for the former Oscar winner began, by association, with the revival of Mad Max. Even if Hacksaw Ridge doesn't ultimately pan out in terms of Oscar success, it should at least go some way to redeeming him in the eyes of many who have been turned off by his personal dramas and increasingly violent movies. I have not seen the film which leads today’s AACTA announcement, but a big-budget international co-production with a big name at its helm is catnip to this group --it’s not surprising to see it nominated in every category possible except one (Best Original Score).

The pleasure in these nominations is the swathe of nominations for much smaller, unique titles like the desert noir Goldstone, the quirky coming-of-age fantasy Girl Asleep, and Australia’s foreign language Oscar entry the Vanuatu-set romance Tanna that in any other year (er, one with bigger hits) would have likely been left with scraps. These four films are nominated alongside the all-star Ibsen adaptation The Daughter in the Best Film category. Alas, Gods of Egypt had to settle for technical nominations.

And, in case you’re wondering, Lion is not here because it doesn’t receive a local release (in its home country!) until next January. This time next year, folks.

The full list of nominations with commentary after the jump...

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On This Day: Silly Walks, Full Frontal Oscar Nods, and Bell-Bottoms

Is today your birthday? If so you share it with multiple Oscar nominees and winners, the great John Cleese, the US President with the cutest name, Macy's Department Store and the NYC subway system.

That's quite good company which we'll explore after the jump (warning: one NSFW photo ahead) on this day in showbiz history...

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