Yes, he's here. More street art from Oscar nominee Banksy has appeared in Los Angeles (below). The Melrose & Fairfax blog has lots of photos. Unurth Street Art has a video that puts the image of Charlie Brown, cigarette dangling and gas can in hand, in context: it’s on the side of a building that has been damaged by fire. And David Poland says Banksy's publicist has confirmed that it is his work.
The Academy, meanwhile, makes a few announcements of its own. First: Cate Blanchett has been added to the roster of show presenters. The 2004 Supporting Actress winner has been in Australia lately appearing onstage in Chekhov's "Uncle Vanya." Her co-stars include one of this year's nominees, Jacki Weaver. The day before, 2005 Best Actress winner Reese Witherspoon joined the presenter ranks as well. (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences)
But before the presenters can take the stage of the Kodak, they'll have to walk the red carpet. And there, said the Academy, they'll be greeted by the official quartet of hosts for "Oscar's Red Carpet Live," the expanded 90-minute pre-show. Those hosts are "Good Morning America" co-anchor Robin Roberts, "Project Runway" fashion guru Tim Gunn, Vanity Fair editor Krista Smith and "Access Hollywood" correspondent Maria Menounos, who according to the press release has written a book that explains "how to make day-to-day life easy and efficient." If she can do the same for the Oscar pre-show, I'll be impressed. (AMPAS)
One final word from the Academy: New Yorkers will get the first chance to look at two of the Oscars that'll be presented on this year's show. The "Meet the Oscars" exhibition will open on Wednesday, February 23 at New York's Grand Central Terminal, with an opening ceremony hosted by Oscar-winning actress (and New York Times foe) Whoopi Goldberg. Fans can see the Oscars that'll be presented to this year's Best Actor and Best Actress winners (i.e., Colin Firth and Natalie Portman), and hold a real statuette as well. (It'll be the one secured by a heavy cable and watched over by a security guard.) There's also interactive stuff and giveaways. (AMPAS)
There are still a few other awards shows left to go, too. The American Cinema Editors' ACE Eddie Awards announced its host and presenters on Tuesday. Their show, which will take place on Saturday night at the Beverly Hilton, will be hosted by actor Ken Jeong from "The Hangover," with presenters including Javier Bardem, Tobey Maguire, Aaron Eckhart, Amy Adams, Matthew Morrison and David O. Russell.(American Cinema Editors)
The same night, the Cinema Audio Society will present its CAS Awards across town, at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. It'll mark an awards-season reunion of sorts, because "King's Speech" director Tom Hooper will be on hand to present the CAS Filmmaker Award to Taylor Hackford.
