In order to vote in a category, voters are supposed to see all the contenders (ballots are due April 20). The discerning (and increasingly international) documentary branch voted the South African “My Octopus Teacher” into the final five nominees — unusual for such an accessible and manipulative heart-tugger (see: “Jane,” “The Biggest Little Farm,” “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”). Now, an Oscar win for the Critics Choice, IDA, and PGA-winner (and DGA and BAFTA nominee) seems like a foregone conclusion....

The Verge reports that users can “stream at either 0.5x or 0.75x speeds for slowed-down viewing and 1.25x or 1.5x speeds for faster watching,” but that “subscribers must opt in to use the playback speeds with every single title they want to watch; it won’t just remain active when you pick something else to watch. This prevents people from accidentally watching everything at 1.5x speed if they don’t want to.” The feature reportedly became available on August 1....

Longterm shareholders are breathing a sigh of relief alongside the streamer’s co-founder and co-CEO. While nowhere near year-ago heights, NFLX shares are up 15 percent. The strong Q3 performance on the heels of two bad quarters led Wells Fargo to open its investor note by declaring “The dark days are over.” “The worst appears behind” Netflix, the bank’s equity analysts wrote, adding that it’s “now tough to see sub loss in future years” — especially with the upcoming ad-supported option....

The company said Tuesday it expects to add 1 million subscribers in the ongoing third quarter. In April, Netflix forecast Q2 revenue of $1.354 billion of net income — or diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $3 — on $8.053 billion in revenue. Execs foresaw a subscriber tally of 219.64 million. On Tuesday, the company reported net income of $1.441 billion — or diluted EPS of $3.20 — on $7.970 billion in revenue....

“The Shape of Water” may have been a bold choice for Best Picture, but that Oscar-winning fable about a mute cleaning lady who falls in love with an imprisoned fishman stretched del Toro’s lifelong obsession with poignant genre stories to a fairy-tale ending. It was hard to imagine what “happily ever after” might look like for someone whose B-picture heart earned him prestige-picture hardware. Would he pivot away from his pet obsession, or would he use his newfound pedigree to double down like never before?...

It might seem that during the golden age of documentaries, the nonfiction community is among the most diverse in the entertainment industry, with a seeming flood of opportunities to tell their stories. But as Williams pointed out at the start, there are plenty of challenges. “We all know that we have traditionally been defined by other people’s lens,” he said. “The documentary community is seen as progressive and ahead of the game....

The preview for the 1950s-set psychological thriller featured Florence Pugh and Harry Styles entangled in a myriad of compromising sexual positions, with their throbbing marital desire culminating in cunnilingus on the kitchen table. Yet director Wilde shared that the MPA cut out the truly tantalizing sequences from the R-rated feature, in theaters September 23. “Oh, yeah. There’s a lot that had to be taken out of the trailer,” Wilde told the Associated Press ahead of the “Don’t Worry Darling” world premiere at the Venice Film Festival....