UPDATED: The shorts programs will be available in over 200 theaters across the United States and Canada. Check out theater information HERE! Earlier today, two things happened – I sat down with an iced coffee to peruse the latest offerings from Los Angeles’ American Cinematheque (which shows films and special programs at both the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood and the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica) and my inbox was hit with a press release concerning the all of the Oscar-nominated shorts and their release later this month. You can guess the connection! Every Oscar night, even hardcore cinephiles find themselves scratching their heads when the three shorts categories come up – documentary, live-action, and animation. What are these films? And how could I have seen them? Well, as of today, the full program of Oscar Nominated Short Films will be released (thanks to ShortsHD) in New York City on February 10, with Los Angeles openings for the animation and live-action programs coming on February 10 (Landmark’s Nuart Theatre and West LA locations, and Regency Theatres’ South Coast Plaza in Santa Ana), with the documentary program hitting Laemmle’s Music Hall 3 on February 17. Or, if you’re an obsessive art house calendar-reader like me, you’ll also realize that you can check out all three programs at the Egyptian on various dates: documentaries on February 17 and both live-action and animation on February 24. For those of you in New York or Los Angeles, I encourage you to take the opportunity afforded

What is Movie News After Dark? It’s a nightly collection of links and things that will make you smile, make you think and perhaps aid you in getting to that restful state known as deep sleep. Either way, it’s always a pretty fun read. We begin tonight with a new image from Pixar’s Brave, a film I placed on my shortlist as one of the 5 most anticipated movies of the year on my triumphant return to Reject Radio this week. This one shows Princess Merida and her family. There’s so much red hair…