There are at least 100 reports of acid attacks in Pakistan each year, and they're overwhelmingly against women. This figure only accounts for the reported cases — it’s assumed that many more go unreported.

The Academy Award-winning documentary short film "Saving Face" looks at this phenomenon through the experiences of three people: Zakia, a 39-year-old woman whose husband threw acid on her after she filed for divorce; Rukhasana, a 23-year-old woman who was attacked by her husband and his family; and Dr. Mohammad Jawad, a plastic surgeon dedicated to healing the faces of the injured women.

Excitement about the red carpet heats up as the 84th Annual Academy Awards will take place on Sunday. Will "The Artist" walk away with best film? And will the Academy take "Bridesmaids" seriously and make Melissa McCarthy the victorious underdog? Find out who our Movie Date podcasters think will go home with a little statuette. As always we hear from Rafer Guzman, film critic for Newsday, and Kristen Meinzer, culture producer for the Takeaway.

On May 5, 1993, the bodies of three 8-year-old boys were found murdered by a creek in West Memphis, Arkansas. One month later, teenagers Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley were arrested and later convicted of brutally raping, mutilating and killing the boys. After spending 18 years in prison, they were released after entering Alford pleas, a controversial plea in which defendants plead guilty while maintaining their innocence. The "Paradise Lost" trilogy has traced all of the case's developments.

In 2009, filmmaker Danfung Dennis was embedded with U.S. Marines "Echo Company" as the marines launched a major offensive on the Taliban stronghold of Helmand province in Afghanistan. Danfung worked closely with Sergeant Nathan Harris, one of the Marines leading the charge. When Danfung returned to U.S. a few months later, he discovered that Sergeant. Harris had been gravely injured, just two weeks before his battalion was scheduled to return home. The story of Sergeant Harris’s recovery is now the focus of Danfung Dennis’s newest documentary, "Hell and Back Again."

This year's Oscar nominations have been announced. Martin Scorsese's "Hugo" lead the pack with 11 nominations including one for best picture. Also nominated for best picture was the silent film "The Artist"; the George Clooney film "The Descendants"; the 9/11 drama "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close"; the Southern story of domestic workers "The Help"; the romantic fantasy "Midnight in Paris"; the sports blockbuster "Moneyball"; the family chronicle "The Tree of Life"; and the World War I epic "War Horse." 

Here are the Oscar-nominated and Oscar-associated actors, directors, producers, and writers we've had on The Takeaway:

The last week of the year brings with it Hollywood's last chance to release movies eligible for 2012's Academy Awards. "The Iron Lady" (trailer after the jump), the Margaret Thatcher biopic starring Meryl Streep is among them. The movie is getting mixed reviews, but Streep's performance is said to make her a shoo-in for this year's Oscars. The Takeaway's Movie Date podcast team gives their assessment of "The Iron Lady," and look back at their picks for the best and worst movies of 2011.

"The King's Speech" took home best picture and three other trophies last night at the 83rd Academy Awards. Meanwhile, "Inception" also won four awards, mostly in technical categories. Other memorable moments included an exasperated Melissa Leo dropping the "f-word" while accepting her Oscar for best supporting actress, and co-host James Franco appearing on stage in a dress.

If you missed last night's broadcast, don't fret. Rafer Guzman, film critic for Newsday, and co-host of The Takeaway Movie Date Podcast with Takeaway producer Kristen Meinzer, are here to help with their Oscar hangover cure: a hearty mix of the winners, losers, and surprises that will be heating up YouTube and the water cooler conversations today.

After nearly four hours of winners and losers and montages and speeches and glitzy gowns and fancy jewels, all I can say is … not every Oscars can be magical.

Or, more accurately, the Oscars can be downright boring.

In this week's Movie Date podcast, Rafer and Kristen share their Oscar predictions and preferences for the big five categories — supporting actress, supporting actor, lead actress, lead actor, and picture. They also throw in a wild card category that they both admit they know nothing about.

It’s hard to believe that Oscars day – my favorite day of the year – is only 48 hours away.

All year, I’ve been gearing up for the big day, watching everything from awful foreign language flicks (the worst: "Biutiful") to amazingly touching animated shorts (my favorite: "The Lost Thing").

Below are my predictions for who I think will win and who I want to win for a dozen randomly selected categories. Check back in late Sunday night/early Monday morning to get the final (and full) list of winners and be sure to follow my live Tweeting on Oscar night.

And don't forget, to make your own picks before Sunday!

The Oscars are this Sunday at 8 p.m. Eastern Time and all week long, we’ve been gearing up for the big night, interviewing nominees and blogging about the awards show. And even before their nominations were announced, we were sitting down with Melissa Leo, Colin Firth, and Danny Boyle. Today we'll make our final bets on the weekend's winners and losers.

This Sunday all eyes in the movie-watching world will be focused on “The King’s Speech.” With twelve Oscar nods, it’s the most nominated film of the year. Inspired by the real story of King George VI and his speech therapist Lionel Logue, the film celebrates their friendship, and the unorthodox means Logue enlists to help George overcome his stuttering. Mark Logue is the grandson of Lionel Logue.

Last season, the New York City Ballet and other large dance companies in the U.S. had an average attendance of only 73 percent, according to Dance/USA. But this year, the City Ballet is facing a different attendance issue: sold-out tickets for their entire two-week run of “Swan Lake.”

What changed, you might ask? Two words: “Black Swan.” And one more word: “Oscar.”

Today’s Los Angeles Times features an article about the lack of recognition that casting directors get at the Oscars. Today’s New York Times features a brief piece on the lack of recognition that opening and closing credit sequences get at the awards. For years, there have been campaigns to remedy the lack of recognition that stuntmen get at the Academies. And no doubt, for as long as the Oscars continue to exist, there will be even more categories (many that we’ve never heard of) that some people think ought to be added to the awards show.

Over thirty-five years ago, a woman in traditional Apache dress named Sacheen Littlefeather accepted Marlon Brando’s Oscar for “The Godfather.” But do you remember why Brando chose her to take his place?

Twenty years ago, the red AIDS ribbon was every star’s favorite Oscars accessory. But almost as quickly as it became trendy, it disappeared. Do you remember the last year all the celebrities wore red ribbons?

And a mere two years ago, the Kodak Theatre exploded into thunderous applause when Sean Penn said protestors outside the venue should be ashamed of themselves. But do you remember the reason for the protests?

Let’s make something clear. I am not a gambler. I hate the stock market. I have no interest in watching celebrity poker. On the two occasions I visited Las Vegas, I played only the penny slots (and limited the value of the pennies to $20 total for 6 hours, not counting the extra $20 my sister pushed on me).

That being said, I cannot resist a little Oscar gambling. And I’m not alone. According to Gambling911.com, the Oscars are “the 3rd biggest single day betting event of the year after the Super Bowl and Kentucky Derby” and “the most wagered on nonsporting event after the U.S. Presidential race.”

I'm thinking about the Oscars and looking at Justin Bieber, and his new film “Justin Bieber: Never Say Never.” No doubt, you’ve heard of the film, and, even if you’re not suffering from Bieber Fever, you’ve heard of the young teen heart throb (or, in the very least, heard of his bangs).

Now, you might be wondering? what does Justin Bieber have to do with the Oscars? He’s never been nominated. He’s only ever appeared in one movie (his new documentary, out today), and that movie is not up for any Oscars at this time (though, who knows, it might be when the 2011 nominees are announced…the Beliebers can dream).

But regardless of whether his film wins any awards down the road, it can be used to demonstrate what a small world Hollywood truly is, and as we all know, getting along with others in that small world is what winning an Oscar is all about. Our demonstration will come in the form of something I call Six Degrees of Justin Bieber.

A lot of people seem to be in a big uproar over Oscar-nominee Melissa Leo’s audacity. As you may have heard, she’s been campaigning for an Oscar, and not in the usual ways. Yes, she’s doing interviews with Oprah and other national media outlets (including “The Takeaway”). And yes, she’s stopping and chatting with the press whenever she hits the red carpet. But in addition to the usual tactics, she’s also mounted her own campaign, paid for and orchestrated not by a PR company or a film company (as these campaigns usually are), but by herself.

It’s February 4, less than three and a half weeks before the Academy Awards telecast. For some people, three and a half weeks might seem like the perfect time to start discussing the big awards show. But if I had my way, everybody in America would be talking about the Oscars every day of the year. I already do. And now I'm blogging about the big show as much as I possibly can.

The biggest movie news of the week, and the second biggest movie news of the year, happened this week: The nominations for the 83rd Academy Awards. Kristen and Rafer size up the field of Oscar contenders, how "The King's Speech" became the favorite and why "True Grit" was redeemed. And Kristen laments the lack of diversity in this year's lineup.