David Wallechinsky

Unlike last year, this year's set of live action shorts nominees is dominated by comedies, which was good news for me since I am a fan of short comedies.

Tuba Atlantic (Norway)
Oskar, a misanthropic farmer who is obsessed with killing seagulls, learns from his doctor that he has...

I have to recuse myself from giving objective opinions of this year's animated shorts nominees because one of them, The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, is so close to my heart that I'm not a proper judge of the others. First, here's a look at the other four.

I saw 50 of the 63 films entered in the Best Foreign Language Film category and I am happy to report that this was an exceptionally good year. If there was no single masterpiece that stood out, there were a couple dozen good films that I would recommend for film...

With this year's nominees clocking in at an average of 34 minutes, the Academy might want to rename this category Documentary Mediums rather than Documentary Shorts. Perhaps because of their length, they are a solid bunch.

The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom

In a sense, The Tsunami...

In the days following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, many people I spoke with simply could not understand why anyone, anywhere, would not like Americans, even if it was just a few dozen fanatics. In one form or another, they asked: Why do they hate us?

Back in...

Here is one more example that the gap between the super-wealthy in the United States and the rest of Americans is growing wider and wider.

A group of 25 hedge fund executives in 2010 managed to earn a combined $22.1 billion -- an amount equivalent to 441,400 American...

This year's documentary shorts nominees are, well, earnest. All five of them center on uplifting responses to difficult situations.

Killing in the Name (USA)
You might recall the 2005 terrorist attack in Amman, Jordan, in which an Iraqi terrorist blew himself up in the middle of a wedding party...

This year's animated shorts nominees include two children's cartoons, two non-U.S. entries noteworthy for their skillful and creative animation, and one political satire.

Day and Night (USA)
If you've seen Toy Story 3, you've probably seen Day and Night, the Pixar short that accompanied its showings. When...

This year's live action shorts nominees are a strong bunch, and there's even one comedy to break up the serious fare.

The Confession (United Kingdom)
In The Confession, nine-year-old Sam, the son of a farmer, and his best friend are preparing for their first confession. The problem...

This was not the best of years for foreign language entries. There were a lot of good films, but so many of them were bleak and depressing, a reflection no doubt of the downturn in the global economy. As for the nominees, the group is tainted by the inclusion of...

The recent fall from the sky of thousands of dead birds in Arkansas and Louisiana appears to be a disturbing development. However, incidents of unexpected substances falling from the sky have a long, long history. Here is a sampling.

Sometimes a policy or concept becomes popular because it acquires a catchy name. The Car Allowance Rebate System, for example, would not have captured the public's imagination had it not become better known as "Cash for Clunkers." Here are four concepts in serious need of new names if they are...

Olympic filmmaker Bud Greenspan died in New York City, at age 84, on December 25, 2010, with his partner and business associate, Nancy Beffa, by his side.

As the vice-president of the International Society of Olympic Historians, I had the honor of presenting Bud, during the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics,...

On November 2, California voters, by a 7.4% margin, defeated a ballot measure that would have legalized the use of marijuana for those over the age of 21. The main storyline coming out of the overall results of this election was that, despite whatever may be happening in the rest...

You would think with all the hoopla surrounding the end of the U.S. "combat mission" in Iraq that Americans are no longer fighting a war there. Unfortunately, the reality is much different. Americans are still being killed in Iraq.

Sgt. Brandon Maggart, 24, of Kirkville, Missouri, sadly became the...

I try to remain objective when I write about sports, but in this case I have to admit that I was loud and demonstrative when Landon Donovan scored a late goal to put the United States into the round of 16. I want the Americans to go as far as...

Here is an introduction to the four teams in Group H, with their FIFA rankings in parentheses.

Group H
Spain (2)
Chile (18)
Switzerland (24)
Honduras (38)

It's a good thing that most Swiss are multi-lingual because Group H is definitely the...

Here is an introduction to the four teams in Group G, with their FIFA rankings in parentheses

Group G
Brazil (1)
Portugal (3)
Côte d-Ivoire (27)
North Korea (105)

Having Brazil, Portugal and Côte d-Ivoire in the same group should guarantee some juicy matches, with North...

Here is an introduction to the four teams in Group F, with their FIFA rankings in parentheses

Group F
Italy (5)
Paraguay (31)
Slovakia (34)
New Zealand (78)

Defending champion Italy got the luckiest draw of any nation, as none of the other three teams in...

The World Cup, by far the biggest single-sport sports event in the world, kicked off on June 11 with 32 teams competing for a place in the final on July 11. Except for the host team, South Africa, the other nations qualified through regional tournaments. The 32 finalists are divided...