41.3 million people watched the 82nd Academy Awards telecast. It was the largest viewership for the Oscars in five years. Neil Patrick Harris's short opening number was entertaining and hosts Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin were both funny.
There were two firsts at this year's Oscars. The Hurt Locker director Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to win Best Director and Geoffrey Fletcher and became the first African American screenwriter to win an Academy Award.
The Hurt Locker won the most awards with six, include Best Picture and Best Director. Avatar won three awards. Sandra Bullock and Jeff Bridges won Best Actress and Best Actor. Here is a list of this year's winners.
Best Picture: The Hurt Locker
Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
Best Actress in a Leading Role: Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side
Best Actor in a Leading Role: Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Mo'Nique, Precious
Best Actor in a Supporting Role: Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds
Film Editing: The Hurt Locker, Bob Murawski and Chris Innis
Original Screenplay: The Hurt Locker, Mark Boal
Adapted Screenplay: Precious, Geoffrey Fletcher
Documentary Feature: The Cove
Animated Film: Up
Original Song: "The Weary Kind," Music and Lyrics by Ryan Bingham and T-Bone Burnett (Crazy Heart)
Visual Effects: Avatar
Original Score: Michael Giacchino, Up
Cinematography: Avatar, Mauro Fiore
Sound Mixing: The Hurt Locker
Sound Editing: The Hurt Locker
Costume Design: The Young Victoria, Sandy Powell
Art Direction: Avatar
Makeup: Star Trek
Live Action Short Film: The New Tenants
Documentary Short Subject: Music by Prudence
Animated Short Film: Logorama
Foreign Language Film: The Secret in Their Eyes (El Secreto de Sus Ojos, Argentina)
You can find ongoing coverage of the Oscars, including fashion coverage, here on ShoppingBlog.com's Oscars' section.
Video: Josh Groban and Ellen DeGeneres Sing an Oscar Duet
Josh Groban and Ellen DeGeneres team up for a duet honoring this year's Oscar nominees for Best Picture. Josh showed up dressed as a Naavi from Avatar: apparently no one told him that the skit had changed and a costume would not be needed. Blue or not, Josh sounds fantastic. Take a look:
Deadline reports
that Neil Patrick Harris and Martin Short will open the Oscars with a musical number. Deadline bills it as a spoiler, but this is news that will make people tune in early. We know we will.
Anything can change, but that unlikely duo has been rehearsing an original opening song and dance routine that is one of 2 big production numbers choreographed by executive producer Adam Shankman. (The other involves extreme street dancers who’ve performed on So You Think You Can Dance where Shankman is a judge and who’ll hoof to samplings from the Best Original Score nominees.) Though Harris is predominantly a TV star, he's an awards show regular. Short also is a TV regular these days, but he has a long relationship with the broadcast’s musical director Marc Shaiman, who put together the opening number.
Deadline says that Robin Williams was approached for the number, but he declined. We say: a Neil Patrick Harris musical number is a brilliant way to start the show. We're not sure about Martin Short singing and dancing, but he is funny, so that could work.
The Nominees Luncheon was held for all this year's Oscar nominees. The nominees got a briefing on how it all works, and got tips for making thank you speeches. In this photo, the Best Actor nominees Colin Firth, Jeff Bridges, George Clooney, Morgan Freeman and Jeremy Renner sat for a group portrait. So who will win the Oscar? Jeff Bridges is the favorite for his turn in Crazy Heart, but there could be an upset.
Rumor: Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie to Skip Oscars
E Online is reporting that Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt will not be attending this year's Academy Awards. Angelina Jolie will be missed on the red carpet.
As for why the couple, not seen together publicly since a December outing in New York, has suddenly caught a case of the camera-shies?
Jolie will be heading to Venice at the end of February to start production on The Tourist, a remake of a French thriller costarring Johnny Depp in which Jolie plays a vengeful Interpol agent.
The Oscars are being held on March 7th. Angelina Jolie shooting a film at the end of February is not a good excuse for missing the Oscars. There is no film that shoots during the Oscars. It's the Oscars. Plus, the film crew and cast would love it if Angelina attended and mentioned the movie. The news that they are not attending comes amidst rumors the hot Hollywood couple is splitting up.
The official trailer for the Oscars is out. The trailer was directed by John Singleton. The 81st Academy Awards telecast will be hosted by Hugh Jackman and air on ABC on February 22nd at 8PM et/5PM pt.
The Oscar nominees were announced this morning very early in Los Angeles. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button had a total of 13 nominations. Slumdog Millionaire had ten nominations and The Dark Knight and Milk received 8 nominations each. The biggest shocker is the almost total snub of The Dark Knight. Heath Ledger got a nod for Best Supporting Actor and the film got some technical nominations, but it was totally shut out for Best Picture, Best Director and other major categories. This is going to make for a very boring awards telecast. Even with Hugh Jackman hosting, we expect the audience numbers will be disappointing. Here are the nominees:
Best Picture:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire
Best Actor:
Richard Jenkins, The Visitor
Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn, Milk
Brad Pitt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler
Best Actress:
Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie, Changeling
Melissa Leo, Frozen River
Meryl Streep, Doubt
Kate Winslet, The Reader
Best Supporting Actor:
Josh Brolin, Milk
Robert Downey Jr., Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt
Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
Michael Shannon, Revolutionary Road
Best Supporting Actress:
Amy Adams, Doubt
Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis, Doubt
Taraji P. Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler
Best Director:
David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Rumors are abounding that Justin Timberlake will host
the 2009 Oscar telecast. He got raves for his hosting duties at the ESPY awards and the Academy would like to attract a younger audience.
Oscars bosses were wowed by Timberlake's naturally funny performance as the frontman for the ESPY Awards last month (Jul08).
And they allegedly want him to join the illustrious club of Academy Awards hosts, taking over from 2008 master of ceremonies Jon Stewart.
A source tells the National Enquirer, "Justin is more than a singer, he's a song-and-dance man - and turned in a performance (at the ESPY Awards) any comedian would envy. Our first question was, 'Can we get him?'
"Justin does it all, and knows how to work a star-studded audience."
Some will say he's too young, he has no movie career to speak of and he's not a comedian. But he can sing, dance and improvise like nobody's business. We say: why not?
Here is a list of the winners for the 80th annual Academy Awards. No Country for Old Men took home four Oscars including Best Picture. The Bourne Ultimatum won three awards.
The Oscars are this Sunday. Here are the nominees for Best Picture:
"Atonement" (Focus Features) A Working Title Production: Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner and Paul Webster, Producers
"Juno" (A Mandate Pictures/Mr. Mudd Production) A Mandate Pictures/Mr. Mudd Production: Lianne Halfon, Mason Novick and Russell Smith, Producers
"Michael Clayton" (Warner Bros.) A Clayton Productions, LLC Production: Sydney Pollack, Jennifer Fox and Kerry Orent, Producers
"No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage) A Scott Rudin/Mike Zoss Production: Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Producers
"There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax) A JoAnne Sellar/Ghoulardi Film Company Production: JoAnne Sellar, Paul Thomas Anderson and Daniel Lupi, Producers
We think No Country for Old Men will win Best Picture. Juno would be a big upset. You can see the full list of nominees here.
Oscars President Wants Answer From WGA About Telecast
The Oscars bigwigs are putting pressure on the Writers Guild to give them an answer about whether the show will go on.
Academy prexy Sid Ganis has again reached out to the Writers Guild of America about Oscar's fate but still hasn't received an answer. "We're running out of time," he told Daily Variety.
WGA leaders obviously have a lot on their plate this week, but Ganis on Wednesday said the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences needs to know ASAP "as a matter of logistics. We have nominees and potential presenters who live all over the globe. I'm nervous. We're getting down to the final moments; we need to make plans."
Guild reps have told reporters several times that they don't intend to grant the Academy a waiver, but have never given a definitive yes or no to the org itself.
"We've asked several times for a waiver or a one-day truce to move ahead," Ganis said, with the latest request delivered Monday afternoon. WGA reps told the Academy that they could expect an answer sometime next week. Ganis said he is sympathetic to the guild's sensitivities at this time -- but next week is too late for a show that involves not only travel arrangements for dozens of people, but complicated plans for a stage show, TV production, etc.
Logic would dictate that since the guild gave waivers to such kudocasts as the Image Awards and the upcoming Grammys, then Oscar would be given the OK. But nothing's been firmed.
Ganis is hopeful, because all 13 nominated screenwriters attended Monday's nominees luncheon at the BevHilton, as did James L. Brooks and Frank Pierson, who are governors of the Acad's writers branch. All the scripters were "thrilled at being there," Ganis said.
The Oscars staff has prepared two shows: one which uses writers and movie stars and one which doesn't. Needless to say, they'd rather have the one with the writers and actors. The WGA meets this weekend to look over a proposed settlement to the strike. If all goes well, the Oscars will move forward as planned, with a red carpet and everything. If not, then it will be something truly horrible like the fiasco that was the Golden Globes newscast.
Here's a list of this year's Oscar nominees. No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood have eight nominations. The Michael Clayton film written and directed by Tony Gilroy has seven nominations including Best Picture and Best Director. Atonement is also up for seven awards. Miramax led studios with 13 nominations.
The Oscar nominees will be announced Tuesday, but there may not be an awards show because of the writers' strike.
However, Gilbert Cates, producer of the award telecast, remains adamant that on Feb. 24 there will be a red carpet outside the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood and an Oscar telecast on ABC despite the Writers Guild of America strike and the threat of a boycott by George Clooney, Angelina Jolie and the rest of the Screen Actors Guild. He hinted that he might not need actors onstage.
"There are enough clips in 80 years of Oscar history to make up a very entertaining show," Cates said in an interview Friday with The Times. "We'd have a lot of people on stage." He declined to give further details but added, "I just hope that the actors are there. I pray that the actors are there. I'm planning that the actors are there."
Still, the joy is already being drained from Tuesday's scheduled Oscar nomination announcement. A group of 30 award-winning writers, actors, producers, directors and authors will be protesting at Gramercy Park in Manhattan, sending this message: "Awards are nice, but we'd rather the writers get a fair contract." Later that day, in Los Angeles, the board of governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will be holding an emergency meeting to discuss the 80th annual Oscar ceremony.
Gil Cates knows full well that an Oscar telecast without movie stars is like a Monday night without Heroes: totally boring.
Longtime producer Gil Cates announed that Jon Stewart has been chosen to reprise his stint as host of the Oscars. Jon will be the host of the 80th Academy Awards telecast on Sunday, February 24, 2008, at the Kodak Theatre. The show will be televised live on ABC.
"Jon was a terrific host for the 78th Awards," said Cates. "He is smart, quick, funny, loves movies and is a great guy. What else could one ask for?"
"I'm thrilled to be asked to host the Academy Awards for the second time because, as they say, the third time's a charm, he quipped.
Jon is our favorite Oscar host, by far. We don't care what the naysayers say, we thought his last outing as Oscar host was hilarious and we can't wait to see him again. Because we'll be in the middle of a presidential race, there should be plenty of material for Jon to sink his teeth into.
Here is a list of the winners for the 80th annual Academy Awards. No Country for Old Men took home four Oscars including Best Picture. The Bourne Ultimatum won three awards.
Longtime producer Gil Cates announed that Jon Stewart has been chosen to reprise his stint as host of the Oscars. Jon will be the host of the 80th Academy Awards telecast on Sunday, February 24, 2008, at the Kodak Theatre. The show will be televised live on ABC.
