NYC Theaters Welcome the Long and Short of Oscar

(Photo: Eleni's New York)

Finally! A sampling of Oscar news you can use: Thanks to David Carr for alerting The Reeler to an Oscar-nominee marathon shaping up at a smattering of AMC theaters around the country (including its flagship Empire venue in Times Square), where viewers can take part in an all-day screening session of all five 2006 Best Picture nominees on Feb. 24. It's kind of horrifying when you think about it -- nobody should be subjected to Babel at 11 a.m., especially on a Saturday morning (or ever, really) -- but you can't really beat the $30 prix fixe admission, and this is the world capital of cinematic endurance art, after all, so the joint should be packed.

Meanwhile, Magnolia Pictures continues its splendid tradition of domestically distributing those hard-to-find Oscar-nominated short films; the 2006 batch -- including the 10 live-action and animated nominees -- arrive in theaters this weekend, plus the added bonus of NYC's animated short-film short-listers The Wraith of Cobble Hill, One Rat Short and Guide Dog. IFC Center opens the program this Friday, Feb. 16.

Perhaps most indispensably useful, however, are the Oscar nominee cookie sets offered by Eleni's Bakery over in the Chelsea Market. Featuring Best Picture, Actor and Actress nominees, each collection yields a mild sticker shock -- $65 for 18 cookies in the Best Picture set alone (pictured above), and you don't even get a sugary Letters From Iwo Jima kamikaze hand grenade! But once you realize this is as close as most of you will get to tasting Penélope Cruz or Leonardo di Caprio, the price quickly settles into perspective. (Hat tip: Cinematical)

Posted at February 13, 2007 11:43 AM