Winners of the 34th annual Independent Spirit Awards

by Nathaniel R

Richard E Grant getting his supporting actor trophy from Glenn Close at the Spirit AwardsBy the time the Spirit Awards roll around each year we've completely forgotten about their nominations. They're the group with the the longest annual stretch between nominations and trophy handouts each year! As a reminder We the Animals led in number of nominations this year despite not showing up in the top category. Unfortunately it was entirely shut out of actual wins. The nomination leaders within the Best Feature category were Eighth Grade, First Reformed, and You Were Never Really Here, which all at least won something.

After the jump the winners list and cute photos and such...

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"Kitbull"

*purrs*

This wonderful short is directed by Rosana Sullivan and it's traditional animation rather than the CG usual from Pixar. The drawing is so expressive -- how great are the cats eyes? -- and as someone who once adopted a ratty-looking nervous and unfriendly street kitten, this really struck a chord. My heart melted when it learned to make a friend. Perhaps other cat owners or pitbull fans will be similarly moved? 

There have been six new shorts from Pixar's new initiative. Here's what they say about this program:

The SparkShorts program is designed to discover new storytellers, explore new storytelling techniques, and experiment with new production workflows. These films are unlike anything we’ve ever done at Pixar, providing an opportunity to unlock the potential of individual artists and their inventive filmmaking approaches on a smaller scale than our normal fare.”

PETA's "Oscat" Winners: Bradley Cooper, Black Panther, Annihilation

by Nathaniel R

Here's an award you might not have heard of. PETA, the animal rights organization, gives out "Oscats" each year honoring the most animal friendly films and stars. So, even though Bradley Cooper has PETA's senior vice president says:

PETA is thrilled to recognize the people and projects behind Hollywood’s most significant animal rights advances of the year.”

The winners and why they were chosen after the jump...

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2018: All Creatures Great and Small

Each day a different year in review list...

We're all animal lovers here at TFE, so we asked contributors and friends to talk about their favourite non-humans from the year's movies. 

To show love to all Film Experience readers, whether you be a cat or a dog person, we dedicate this list to two extraordinary creatures: That elusive cat in Burning, who may or may not be a figment of our imaginations but sure feels real since we can't shake him, and Bradley Cooper's own dog Charlie playing Jackson Maine's dog in A Star is Born. Like Lady Gaga, Charlie is essentially playing himself and like Lady Gaga he's doing it fabulously. Where's his Oscar buzz?

Not every memorable screen animal was covered in the following list -- our apologies especially to that tragically outmatched racoon in Incredibles 2 -- so do add to it in the comments. Here are our seven favourite beastly movie stars of 2018...

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Can You Ever Retweet Me?

Tweets!

The dog in Widows is named Olivia. The real, credited name of the dog in Game Night is Olivia. Is it... is it the same dog? pic.twitter.com/zU787tQhwG

— kateyrich (@kateyrich) November 16, 2018

 A semi-weekly curated collection of tweets for your seconds-long amusement. After the jump Julianne Moore, Tom Hardy, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez memes, Widows, Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Gone Girl, Fantastic Beasts 2, Beetlejuice and more...

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