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Meryl Streep Oscar Email Angers Voters, But It's Legal

February, 07, 2012 6:36 pm | On #Academy Awards, Awards, Meryl Streep, Oscar campaigning, oscars, The Iron Lady, The Weinstein Company

A Weinstein Company email that appears to skirt AMPAS campaign rules by using a third party to reach Oscar voters has stirred up anger among Academy members and rival campaigners.

But the email does not violate Academy regulations, AMPAS COO Ric Robertson told TheWrap on Tuesday. One of the organization's campaign rules, he said, "allows for media entities to send such things to valid subscribers who've opted into being a subscriber."

Meryl Streep Oscar email The email in question, which went out on Tuesday morning, is not part of Weinstein's aggressive Best Picture campaign on behalf of "The Artist," but instead promotes Meryl Streep's Best Actress candidacy for "The...

Oscar's Animated Shorts: Zombies Are Out for Pixar's Blood

February, 07, 2012 11:43 am | On #A Morning Stroll, Academy Awards, Awards, Best Animated Short Film, La Luna, Oscar shorts, oscars, Pixar, Sunday/Dimanche, The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, Wild Life, William Joyce

Pixar is riding a losing streak, Canada has two films in the running, and the contenders include everything from a bloodthirsty, chicken-chasing zombie to a kindly Humpty Dumpty.

That’s the landscape in the Oscar Best Animated Short Film category, one of the three shorts categories that TheWrap will survey this week.

The categories may still be the tie-breakers in everybody's Oscar pool, but they're easier to call than they used to be, when "look for the one about the Holocaust" was about as far as shorts-category conventional wisdom extended.

Now, for the eighth year in a row, the nominated shorts will be available on a series of three theatrical programs – one for...

'War Horse,' 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes' Nominated for Genesis Awards

February, 07, 2012 8:34 am | On #Awards, Born to Be Wild, Buck, Dolphin Tale, Genesis Awards, Humane Society of the United States, One Lucky Elephant, Rio, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, War Horse

"Rise of the Planet of the Apes," "War Horse" and the documentary "Buck" were among the films nominated for the 26th Genesis Awards by the Human Society of the United States, the HSUS announced on Tuesday.

Andy Serkis and James Franco in Rise of the Planet of the Apes The Genesis Awards honor films with animal-friendly themes and creative portrayals of animal protection. (In the case of "Planet of the Apes," that means a film in which apes engage in a violent revolt against mistreatment.)

In the feature film category, "Apes" and "War Horse" were nominated alongside "Dolphin Tale" and the animated film "Rio."...

Sean Lennon to Serve as Artistic Director of L.A. Animation Fest

February, 07, 2012 12:27 am | On #animated film, animation, Awards, Bill Plympton, Fantastic Planet, independent film, indies, Movies, Sean Lennon, Shrek, Team America: World Police

New screenings of "Team America: World Police" and "Shrek," a tribute to Bill Plympton and programs curated by musician Sean Lennon will highlight the third annual Los Angeles Animation Festival, which announced the lineup for its March festival on Tuesday.

Sean Lennon Lennon will serve as artistic director of LAFF, introducing screenings of "Akira, "Fantastic Planet" and other films. "Fantastic Planet" will feature a live score performed by onstage musicians and actors.

(Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Veteran animator Plympton will be the subject of a world-premiere documentary, "Adventures in Plymptoons," as well as a 20th anniversary...

Oscar Luncheon: Hints About the Show, and a Standing O for Max von Sydow

February, 06, 2012 5:10 pm | On #Academy Awards, Awards, George Clooney, Max Von Sydow, Meryl Streep, Nominees Luncheon, oscars, Rooney Mara, Sergio Mendes, Steven Spielberg

Judging by the applause inside the room at the Oscar Nominees Luncheon, Max von Sydow had better prepare a place on his mantle for the Best Supporting Actor trophy he'll win on February 26.

George Clooney and Max von Sydow One of the time-honored rituals of the luncheon, of which Monday's was the 32nd, is the procession of nominees to the stage to receive their certificates of nomination and their official Oscar Nominee Sweatshirts. Considering that the room is filled with Oscar voters -- nominees and Academy officials included -- gauging the applause level can be something of a parlor game for those trying to figure out who the favorites are.

By that standard, von Sydow (above...

Alexander Payne Makes the Cut with Cinema Editors

February, 06, 2012 8:48 am | On #Academy Awards, ACE Eddie Awards, Alexander Payne, American Cinema Editors, Awards, oscars, The Descendants

Alexander Payne, director of "The Descendants," has been named Filmmaker of the Year by the American Cinema Editors, the ACE Board of directors announced on Monday.

The ACE Golden Eddie Filmmaker of the Year Award will be presented to Payne at the 62nd annual ACE Eddie Awards ceremony on February 18, where "The Descendants" was also nominated in the Best Edited Feature Film (Dramatic) category along with "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," "Hugo," "Moneyball" and "War Horse."

Alexander Payne All of those films except "War Horse" are nominated in the Oscars' film editing category; the fifth Oscar nominee, "The Artist," is included in the...

'Up There,' Christopher Plummer's 'Barrymore' Win Awards at Santa Barbara Fest

February, 05, 2012 7:29 pm | On #Awards, Barrymore, Christopher Plummer, film festivals, independent film, indies, Movies, Santa Barbara International Film Festival, Starbuck, Up There

The afterlife comedy "Up There" and the Christopher Plummer showcase "Barrymore" are among the films that have won awards at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, which concluded its 11-day run on Sunday by handing out 10 jury and one audience award.

Starbuck poster Ken Scott's "Starbuck," about a sperm donor sued by some of the 500-plus children he fathered, won the festival's Audience Choice Award.

"Up There," Zam Salim's comedy about a newly-deceased man who's given a job welcoming newcomers to the...

'Hugo,' 'Harry Potter,' 'Dragon Tattoo' Honored by Art Directors Guild

February, 04, 2012 10:39 pm | On #Academy Awards, ADG Awards, Art Directors Guild, Art Directors Guild Awards, Awards, oscars

"Hugo," "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" and "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" have won the top prizes from the Art Directors Guild, which handed out its annual awards for film and television work on Saturday night.

The ADG separates its movie awards into three different categories -- Period Film, Fantasy Film and Contemporary Film -- which allows it to salute a broad range of films, only a few of which are Oscar contenders.

Hugo "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" won for contemporary film, "Hugo" (left) for period film and "Harry Potter" for fantasy film.

Even with 15 nominations spread out over the three categories, the ADG only...

'Rango' Tops Annie Awards

February, 04, 2012 9:39 pm | On #Academy Awards, Annie Awards, Awards, Kung Fu Panda 2, oscars

Gore Verbinski's inventive and unconventional animated Western "Rango" won the top prize at the revamped Annie Awards on Saturday night.

Coming on the heels of an organizational overhaul that brought Disney back into the International Animated Film Society, ASIFA-Hollywood after a year in which it had withdrawn, the Annie Awards saluted a wide-ranging slate of winners, with eight different films winning the 14 feature-film awards and no sign of the DreamWorks Animation sweeps that had caused controversy in the past.

Rango The Paramount release "Rango," though, was by far the big winner, winning awards for Best Animated Feature and for writing, character design and editing.

It also won the new...

Andy Serkis Strips, Patton Oswalt Riffs at Santa Barbara Filmfest Tribute

February, 04, 2012 12:31 pm | On #Academy Awards, Andy Serkis, Awards, demian bichir, film festivals, oscars, Patton Oswalt, Rooney Mara, Santa Barbara International Film Festival, Shailene Woodley

Andy Serkis and Patton Oswalt, who were passed over when the Academy handed out its nominations, stole the show on Friday night at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, which honored Serkis, Oswalt, Shailene Woodley and three Oscar nominees with its annual Virtuoso Awards.

Nominees Demian Bichir, Rooney Mara and Melissa McCarthy were the three Virtuoso honorees also saluted by the Academy, but Oswalt and Serkis, who were passed over for their work in "Young Adult" and "Rise of the Planet of the Apes," prompted the biggest crowd reaction.

Partly, that might have been because the popular McCarthy was a...

Description

The Odds is an informed, bemused, skeptical and authoritative look at all aspects of the Academy Awards race. Steve Pond, author of the L.A. Times bestseller The Big Show, has been covering this particular circus for more than two decades, much of that time as the only reporter with full backstage and rehearsal access to the Oscar show.

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