A year ago, venerable film critic and academic Roger Ebert declared on his Twitter, "Pixar is the first studio that is a movie star."  Right he is.  The Pixar name, synonymous with quality storytelling and incredible animation, guarantees a level of interest as surely as globally-recognizable names like Will Smith, Angelina Jolie, or Johnny Depp.  Disney and the Emeryville, California-based animation studio has announced a November 27, 2013 release date for a new original feature film, but details on the project are virtually nil.

Pixar is not merely an animation studio; the Pixar name on a poster is as powerful as just about any movie star's, and while their feature films are justifiably beloved, their signature short films are also incredible, compact little works of art.  Today, Disney and Pixar revealed the logo and a new image from La Luna, the directorial debut of Enrico Casarosa, who worked as a story artist on Cars, Ratatouille, and Up.  Check out the gorgeous image, the logo, and a previously-released image from La Luna right here.

Netflix's streaming Watch Instantly service is fast becoming America's favorite way to watch movies.  The library of available titles is so vast and mutable that you, the avid instant watcher, could no doubt use a guide as you navigate the streaming frontier.  Luckily for you, I'll be here every Tuesday to update you on the latest titles available for instant-watching, as well as bringing attention some gems out there in the instantly watchable wilds.

Last week, Pixar dropped two knowledge-bombs on their prequel to Monsters Inc, revealing both that the film is titled Monsters University and that its director is Dan Scanlon, a co-writer of Cars and story artist on Toy Story 3.  Now, The Pixar Blog has unveiled the official logo for the prequel, which again features the vocal talents John Goodman and Billy Crystal.  Additionally, the film has a new release date about eight months later than the previous November, 2012 date. 

Next year will see not one, but two new animated features from Disney and Pixar, the undisputed masters of contemporary computer animation.  First, in the summer, there's the medieval Scottish adventure Brave, then in November, we'll be treated to a Monster's Inc prequel which we recently learned will be titled Monsters University.  Now, Coming Soon has the scoop that Monsters University is directed by Pixar veteran Dan Scanlon.

After two sequels in row, with last summer's Toy Story 3 and the upcoming Cars 2, animation powerhouse Pixar returns to its first original feature in the summer of 2012, with Brave.  The film is an adventure tale set in the highlands of Scotland, where Princess Merida, an aspiring archer, becomes entangled in epic battles and goes toe to toe with mystical beasts in an old fashioned adventure that requires every ounce of the princess's pluck and courage.  The good folks over at Disney have graciously provided us with four pieces of concept art from Brave.  The artwork both gives a glimpse at the Princess and capture the evocative and artful style used to depict ancient Scotland.  Take a look.

Following the welcome emotional sucker punch that was the last fifteen minutes of Toy Story 3, most everybody assumed that the world had seen the last of Pixar's beloved animated playthings.  Not so, though, as Andy's toys will return this summer in Toy Story Hawaiian Vacation, a six-minute short that will precede Cars 2.  Entertainment Weekly has premiered the first clip from the short, which reunites Woody, Buzz, and the gang with Barbie and Ken, who believe they're headed away on a tropical vacay, only to find themselves making a considerably shorter journey.  Check out the clip from the short film, and just try not to feel warm and fuzzy inside.

It's the Friday before Oscar Sunday, and all of America prepares to bask in the reflected glow of such glorious pomp and circumstance.  By now, you've probably had your fill of Oscar predictions, which are all just semi-educated guesses anyway.  Nonetheless, you have the insatiable Oscar hunger, and you're going to gluttonously devour this particular set of Academy Award predictions,  in which the title of each award explains the Academy's reason behind their choice.  Keep in mind that these predictions (unsubstantiated guesses) do not reflect the actual tastes of myself or anyone else here at IAR; they are instead attempts to set aside personal tastes and accurately call the Academy's tastes.  So read away, and see how my predictions compare to your own.

Less than a week before the big show, all movie-based discussion is legally required to revolve around the Oscars, but here we're going to tell you about the winners at the 61st Annual Eddie Awards, given by the American Cinema Editors, without commenting on how they could possibly predict Oscar winners.  The Social Network won the award for Best Edited feature film, while Alice in Wonderland was awarded for being the Best Edited Musical or Comedy.  Inception director Christopher Nolan was given the ACE Golden Eddie Filmmaker of the Year Award, while Michael Kahn and Michael Brown both received Career Achievement recognition.  The other winners of adorably-named Eddie awards are listed below.

Hey there, compulsive gamblers and frequent contest-participants.  Did you know that if your Oscar predictions are more accurate than those of venerable film critic and academic Roger Ebert, you could win some money?  Specifically, everybody who outguesses Ebert will receive a free three month subscription to MUBI.com, and everybody whose predictions correspond to the winners in all 24 categories will split a $100,00 pot.  This year's Outguess Ebert Contest is sponsored by MUBI.com and the Sun-Times.  Check out a sampling of Ebert's picks: