11am MoviesWant to second-guess the academy’s choices...

11am Movies

Want to second-guess the academy’s choices for the short films? See which of the nominated shorts you think deserved the Oscar during screenings of the Academy Award Nominated Animated and Live-Action Shorts. Apollo Cinema presents two separate programs--one for each category--for three more weekends at Laemmle’s Monica in Santa Monica. In the animated category are the Irish films “Fifty Percent Grey,” by Ruairi Robinson and Seamus Byrne, and “Give Up Yer Aul Sins,” by Cathal Gaffney and Darragh O’Connell, as well as Ralph Eggleston’s Academy Award-winning “For the Birds” and Joseph E. Meredith’s “Stubble Trouble” from the U.S. and Cordell Baker’s “Strange Invaders” from Canada. The live-action program includes the U.S. films “the accountant,” for which Ray McKinnon and Lisa Blount took home the Oscar, and Kalman Apple and Shameela Bakhsh’s “Speed for Thespians”; Virgil Widrich’s “Copy Shop” from Austria; Johannes Kiefer’s “Gregor’s Greatest Invention” from Germany; and “A Man Thing” (Meska Sprawa), by Slawomir Fabicki and Bogumil Godfrejow of Poland.

Academy Award Nominated Animated and Live-Action Shorts, Laemmle’s Monica, 1332 2nd St., Santa Monica. Saturdays and Sundays, 11 a.m., through April 14. $6 to $9. (310) 394-9741.

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8pm Pop Music

You want eclectic? Just check the latest album from desert denizens Giant Sand. On its CD “Cover Magazine,” the veteran Tucson band (with such guests as PJ Harvey and Kevin Salem) digs into a pile of songs by artists ranging from Marty Robbins to Black Sabbath, X to Sonny & Cher. In addition to the Knitting Factory show, serious Sand-maniacs also want to be on hand for frontman Howe Gelb’s 2 p.m. solo set at Amoeba Music in Hollywood.

Giant Sand, Knitting Factory Hollywood, 7021 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, 8 p.m. $12. (323) 463-0204.

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midnight Movies

Even if Steven Spielberg and George Lucas excise all of the objectionable parts (whips, guns, snakes, Nazis?) for the inevitable DVD release, we will always have midnight movie screenings to enjoy the original cut of the 1981 adventure “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” The action extravaganza--featuring comic-book-style hero Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford)--combines the whiplash pace and wild cliffhangers of Saturday-afternoon serials with the bigger-is-better blockbuster mentality. Karen Allen plays Jones’ feisty love interest, and Denholm Elliott appears as a fussy academic. Spielberg directed and Lucas produced, from a script by Lawrence Kasdan. And, of course, John Williams provided the stirring title theme.

Midnights at the Rialto, Landmark’s Rialto Theatre, 1023 Fair Oaks Ave., South Pasadena, “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” Saturday, midnight. $8. (626) 799-9567.

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noon Leisure

While some Catholics celebrate the Blessing of the Animals in October, during the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, at El Pueblo de Los Angeles, the holiday used to be recognized on Jan. 17, the day patron saint of the animal kingdom San Antonio de Abad died in AD 356. But bad weather--and who wants to take Fido out in a storm?--led organizers to move the blessing to Holy Saturday, the day before Easter. So put a leash on Fluffy and get in line behind the Holstein cow to be blessed by Cardinal Roger M. Mahony. The blessing is at 2 p.m., but the free family fun lasts all afternoon.

Blessing of the Animals, El Pueblo de Los Angeles, Cesar E. Chavez Avenue at Spring Street, noon to 6 p.m. Free. (213) 628-1274.

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8pm Jazz

Singer Nnenna Freelon is joined by the duo of pianist Kenny Barron and violinist Regina Carter for a night of Grammy-

nominated jazz talent in Long Beach. Freelon was nominated for her CD “Soulcall” in 2001, while Carter and Barron were nominated this year for their solo work on “Fragile.”

Nnenna Freelon, Kenny Barron and Regina Carter, Carpenter Performing Arts Center, Cal State Long Beach, 6200 Atherton St., Long Beach, 8 p.m. $30 to $35. (562) 985-7000.