A still from Pixar’s La Luna, nominated for the Best Animated Short Academy Award. Photograph courtesy of Pixar.

Oscar-Nominated Shorts

One of the most welcome features of Oscar season is the opportunity to see short films in an actual theater, rather than on YouTube or a DVD extra. Shorts don’t have much of a life outside festivals, since they don’t lend themselves to lucrative distribution. But every year the nominees in all the short film categories for the Academy Awards get packaged together and screened in cinemas nationwide, and the full houses are testament to just how much people enjoy these pithy presentations.

This year, Landmark E Street is showing the animated and live-action nominees. The animated shorts include two selections from Canada, two from the US, and one from the UK. There’s the usual Pixar nominee in the bunch—La Luna, a film about the Canadian frontier in the early 20th century—as well as one film, The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, that promises reference points to sources from The Wizard of Oz to Buster Keaton.

The live-action nominees are often dominated by films that have serious messages or attempt to uplift, and this year appears to be no exception, with a movie about an altar boy choosing between faith and football, one about a missing child, another about boyhood friends divided for 25 years, and one about an old man looking to make amends with his brother. The odd film out here would seem to be Time Freak, about an inventor who creates a time machine and merely travels to the day before. Last year’s quirky God of Love beat out its more serious competitors, so that could bode well for that last title.

West End has the documentary shorts, including one film that screened at last year’s Silverdocs festival, The Barber of Birmingham, as well as films about the following: a successful actress who left her career behind to become a nun; an air strike in Baghdad; women in Pakistan who have been attacked with acid, a depressingly common occurrence there; and survivors of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami.

All three series open tomorrow, the Live Action and Animated Shorts at E Street Cinema, and the Documentary Shorts at West End Cinema.

Violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg and pianist Brian Ganz come to Washington this weekend. Photograph of Salerno-Sonnenberg by Christian Steiner; photograph of Ganz courtesy of the artist’s website.

Be sure to check out our Valentine's Day guides for couples and singles. Some events start this weekend.

Thursday, February 9

MUSIC: Violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg joins the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center. The concert will feature Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1 and Bruckner’s Symphony No. 9. Tickets ($20 to $85) can be purchased through the KenCen’s website. 7 PM. The show runs through February 11.

FILM: The Smithsonian American Art Museum hosts a free screening of Modern Times in the Kogod Courtyard. In the 1936 comedy, Charlie Chaplin falls in love with an orphan girl. Food and beverages will be available for purchase in the Courtyard Cafe. 7 to 8:30 PM.

THEATER: Synetic Theater’s new work, Genesis Reboot, opens tonight. Written and directed by Ben Cunis, the show takes a fresh look at the creation story. A limited number of $10 tickets are available for this performance only through the box office; regular-price tickets ($45 to $55) can be purchased through the theater’s website. 8 PM. The show runs though March 4.

Catch a preview of WSC Avant Bard’s Les Justes tonight at the Artisphere. Based on true events, the 1950 drama follows a group of Russian revolutionaries. Tickets for tonight’s performance are pay what you can; tickets for future showings ($25 to $35) can be purchased through the theater’s website. 7:30 PM. The play runs through March 11.

The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s Kirven James Boyd and Linda Celeste Sims. Photographs by Andrew Eccles.

Monday, February 6

THEATER: Signature in Schools presents Un-American at Signature Theatre. In this limited engagement starring Arlington students, two rival high schools face off in a local TV game show. If you can’t make this performance, there’s another one on February 10. Free. 7:30 PM.

Cary Grant and Irene Dunn in The Awful Truth. Photograph courtesy of Columbia Pictures.

AFI Retrospectives

As awards season (thankfully) starts to wind down, the AFI ends its annual break from retrospective series—January usually being spent letting folks catch up on the end-of-year prestige films—and begins four new collections of older films, three of which will be with us until early April. Here’s what you can look for at the AFI in the coming weeks, all starting this weekend:

Screen Valentines: Great Movie Romances: Better for you than a box of chocolates and more enduring than a bunch of flowers, the shortest of the new retrospective series fills the month of February with eight classic romances spanning more than a half-century of cinema. Things get underway tomorrow with Cary Grant and Irene Dunn playing that most romantic of couples, the would-be divorcées, only they’re going to have to last a year apart before they’re granted their walking papers. They’re both desperately trying to find someone to replace the love of their life, but maybe, just maybe, the awful truth of The Awful Truth is that they’re really made for each other. The series also includes probably the best of the bunch, The Lady Eve, on Valentine’s Day itself, and other titles include selections with the Hepburns, Katherine (The African Queen) and Audrey (Two for the Road), as well as more-modern favorites in Dirty Dancing and—for fans of a kinder, gentler Ryan Gosling than is on display in this week’s Blu-ray pick— The Notebook.

The Kinsey Sicks return to Theater J with Electile Dysfunction. Photograph courtesy of the group’s Facebook page.

Thursday, February 2

ART: Phillips After 5, a popular after-hours event at the Phillips Collection, returns with live jazz music, acting classes led by Arena Stage staffers, gallery talks, and more. Food and drink will be available for purchase. Tickets ($12) can be purchased through the gallery’s website. 5 to 8:30 PM.

THEATER: Constellation Theatre Company’s Blood Wedding opens tonight at Source. Written by Federico García Lorca, the Spanish tragedy is about lovers torn apart by murder and old feuds. Tickets ($20 to $40) can be purchased through the theater’s website. 8 PM. The play runs through March 4.

MUSIC: Trumpeter Andrew Balio joins the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra at Strathmore. The program will feature works by Bach, Rameau, Haydn, and Mozart. Tickets ($28 to $88) can be purchased through the Strathmore’s website. 8 PM.

Indie pop band the Jackfields are performing at the Iota Club and Cafe. The Virgina natives fuse Pink Floyd psychedelia with Beatles piano pop. You can listen to some of their songs here. The band will be joined by Aaron Thompson and Bobbie Allen. Tickets ($10) can be purchased at the door. 9 PM.

Montgomery Clift and Lee Remick in Elia Kazan’s Wild River. Photograph courtesy of Academy Film Archive and Twentieth Century Fox.

The Grey

While the ads make this look like just another in the recent spate of Liam Neeson-beating-people-up films—this time with the actor taking on wolves—it’s not quite as simple as that. Writer/director Joe Carnahan has something a little more thoughtful in mind here: Neeson plays a sniper who works at a northern Alaska oil outpost taking out any wildlife that might threaten the roughnecks working the rigs. When a plane carrying these guys back to civilization goes down in the Alaskan wilderness, seven survivors attempt to make it through as both the cold and a territorial wolf pack stalk them with ruthless efficiency. It’s clumsy and over the top at times, but engaging on much less of a guilty pleasure level than the marketing would have you believe.

View the trailer. Opens tomorrow at theaters across the area.

Adam Green and Euan Morton star in the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s staging of The Two Gentlemen of Verona. Photograph by Scott Suchman.

Thursday, January 26

ART: Art Soiree hosts Apocalyptoon 2012’s opening reception at the Artisphere. The pop-up exhibit will feature works from the country’s top cartoonists, including the Washington Post’s Tom Toles, the Economist’s Kal, and MSNBC’s Daryl Cagle. Guests can enjoy live music, complimentary snacks, and a cash bar. Tickets ($25) can be purchased through the Artisphere’s website. 6 PM. The exhibition runs through January 29.

THEATER: Don’t miss opening night of Josephine Tonight! at MetroStage. Directed and choreographed by Maurice Hines, the musical follows Josephine Baker’s journey from small-town girl to French movie star. Tickets for tonight’s pay-what-you-can performance are available at the door; tickets for future performances ($45 to $50) can be purchased through Box Office Tickets. 8 PM. The play runs through March 18.

MUSIC: Clarinetist Jörg Widmann joins the National Symphony Orchestra in “Armonica.” The program will also feature works by Mozart and Schubert. Tickets ($20 to $85) can be purchased through the Kennedy Center’s website. 7 PM. The show runs though January 29.

Jazz-funk artist Roy Ayers performs at Blues Alley tonight. The venerable musician has brought us hits including “Everybody Loves the Sunshine,” “Running Away,” and “We Live In Brooklyn, Baby.” Tickets ($40) can be purchased through the club’s website. 10 PM.